The times., 1898-11-06
FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK.

in many cases great deal more.
FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK.
That the king can do no wrong is an
established fact. More than that, it is
sometimes extremely dangerous for those
about the court to accuse royalty Of mis-
demeanor. But correction and criticism
may help even kings when they begin to
be so certain of their power that they
become careless of holding If. and so one
feels that a wholesome dose of advice
might help the Bostonians, despite the
position they have achieved in popular
esteem. The performances given by the
company here last week were not the
performances that it has pecn giving by
great deal. and there are few people
who went to the National without real
izing that fact. The productions offered
We're well sung and smoothly acted, but
neither was in any respect the equal of
what II had once been and both were in
many ways inferior to the presenta tions
of less reputable organizations. OF course,
even artists must grow Old and it is only
seemly that defects caused by long work
before the public should be promptly ex-
cused. but all the faults noted could not
be ascribed to the fact that Henry Clay
Barnabee and William Macdonald and
Jessie Bartlett Davis are not so young
as they used to be. There were any num-
Der of little slips and careIessnesses in
the performances-trifies that might have
gone unnoticed with other combinations
hfIr that xx-f4b he.
were quite as grave as dramatic lapses
would have been with the Empire Thea
ter Stock Company.
William Broderick. too while a go1d
basso, could hardly be compared to The
Eugene Cowles of old. and Alice Nielsen
was missed despite the cleverness of
Helen Bertram. Worst of all, perl aps
the scenery and effects carried were o q
and unseemly in appearance. while the
chorus-well, II any other company in the
country had ventured to appea- with such
chorus as that brought here by the
Bostonians the critics would never have
ceased condemning. Not only was this
part of the organization lily costumed
and badly drilled but most of the womel
were wholly unattractive and looked o.d
enough to have been charter members
of the troupe. In common with the men,
they did not sing at all well and were
not strong enough numerically to give
the necessary power TO many of the se-
lections rendered. This defect was shown
with unpieaSant prominence when. in the
second act of THE Serenade,' local su-
pers were brought on to act as guards.
These men were clumsy, ignorant of W at
to do badly fitted in their dress and 50
familiar to theatergoers that on one night
the gallery boys amused themselves b.
.IaN~ had
sumed in other local productions The
cheapest comic opera company that ever
played in this city would not have VEN
tured to do such a thing as place these
men on the stage with its chorus. but the
Bostonians did and apparently with i'm
| punity THE Serenade" and Robin
Hood were well presented, as they al
ways are, the principals in the casts per-
| forming heroic service, but the Boston
| ians are no longer what they once were,
and their place at the head of orSanlzl-
! ,ions of the sort is to be filled by--whom
| II there is anything more disaSreeaoie
| than seeing people who are not qualiRee
! attempting to entertain. that spectacit
| ;s afforded in noting how some perform
| ars who are qualified refuse TO make
I. tho effort. This latter state of affair:
nrevailed through the week ar Herman S
where Russell and Tyllyne went through
n very bad turn nightly with indifference
/ and carelessness that was positive IN
silt to the audiences present Nelthe
member of the team seemed to have an
! interest in the performance. and ire
ouently. when the expected applause fail
ed to reward their efforts, both descend
ed to the cheapest methods OF letting
the house understand how little they re
spected its intelligence. From some o
the things Mr.. Russell accomplished dur
ing his act it might be inferred that HI
could be amusing. il he wanted to be
and there are number of people in tn
citv whom he bored last week who hear
tily wish that something ha@ inspires
him with the desire.
The real feature of William II. West
Minstrcls last week at the Academy wa
Ezra Kendall, who ranks as the mos
able monologuist on the stage TO-DAY
with the possible exception of Lew DOCK
stader. Mr.. Kendall is SO unique in hi
methods. so quaint In his character de
lineation and so successful as a laugh
proyoker, that one understands after see
ing him how the word artist came I
be used in connection with vaudeville er
| tertainers. Were there more people G
of his intelligence out of it. inferior sp'
cialty work would become an impossibi
ity.
The chief virtue in the Strand Con
edy Company's performance of the sketci
Goodbye" last week was to be foun
in Cecil Thornbury's conception of HI
, ratio Parr. The part was not only we
. acted, but with a degree of confidence an
consistency that showed the care wit
which Mr.. Thornbury had eked out Il
, manners and mannerisms most likely
, | exist in such character as that offere
| Parr was cad and an idiot. and Il
/ player made him distinctly that. withol
| cheap effects or tricks of any kind, TIL
: the nature of the man might have bee
! told had the work been done in pant