The record-union., 1898-05-03

hearty recalls Mr. Thomas carried on
the palm in the olio by his artistic
singing. But the scenic effect intended
to highten the charm of his splendid
rendering Of Let Me Like a Soldier
Falr' was marred by slovenly stage
| setting. Indeed since it is the little
things that make up great successes, it
is to be said that Mr.. Thomas sang to
| the scenic effect Of camD with the
Stars and Stripes on pole which great
! ly suggested that the Spanish had been
around and achieved a victor-- over
American arms. There is no excuse
tolerable for such bungling work, and
it olainlv annoyed Mr. Thomas, accus-
| toned to effective stage business as he
! is. M. UDson and Mr.. Crocker did
sCme clever burlesCue acrobatic work
! that won much Applause. The ladies
in black" did Cleyerly, but not nearly
50 we'll as they can do, since they are
| cultured and practiced singers; but
! they created much amusement, and en-
| jCyed the fun cutie as much as did the
audience. In the clio some grotesque,
| absurd ridiculous living pictures
were spoiled by bad stage management.
| The tableaux were not posed in the cen
! ter, the work Of posing was exposed
| through fimsy curtains. and when
! these We're drawn aside they were so
/ little parted that only those in the cen
ter section saw the tableauX to advan-
| tage, while some Of the pictures" were
/ not visible 1T all to those in the boxes
and in the right and left sections, added
to which was too brief exposure. These
! pcsings We're by w. F. Purnell. c..
| K. Lipman. DR.. r. F. Tebbets. ]. G..
| Ing, joseph M. Anderson, w. f. Pc
! terson, Dr. w. O. Girardy and Fred
! Trout. Really. with SO much good
material on hand and SO many fun
makers and wits at command. the
Elks ought to have done far better than
! they did in these pictures. A strong
disposition to commend citizens who go
upon the STAGE for sweet charitys"
sake cannot wholly restrain from the
duty to point out failures to meet expec-
tation raised by profuse announce
ments. The afteraiece, arranged by
Herbert a. hidGer and e. NJ. Graham.
/ was ore ot the best numbers on the
| bill. and was a very clever. humorously
cCstumed and neat affair. In the first
! part there was some good singing, very
handsome setting of the stage, and ex-
cellent grouping; but the jokes and
witticisms for the most part did not
come up to the level Of the ability Of the
/ Ellzs to entertain. Some of these jokes,
/ by the way though probably by no
means so intended. were raw to put
! it mildly. However the audience came
| to be pleased, and it entered heartily
/ into the spirit of the occasion and ap-
plauded On the slightest pretense. Real
ly, the !Elks set so high a standard last
year that they must blame themselves
! only il the public and the press. in the
kindest spirit, judges them now by their
! own measure Of ca aDacity to entertain.
A finer audience has seldom gathered
in the Metropolitan Theater than that or
last night, testifying to the cordial es-
TEEN IN which the Elks are held here.
| By the wa. the lodge manifested its
pa triotic spirit last night by the beaul-
ful dressing of the Droscenium boxes IN
the national colors, and by frequent pa
trictic references. Indeed. the enter
tainment opened with the Star
Spangled Banner" by a chorus OF iOO
voices. led by good orchestra under
conduct of c. A. Neale, musical director
| Of the evening. and it closed with
! America A. the Introduction OF the
programme the chorus sar- the 'Elks
| Greeting Song" composed fer the occa-
sion by w H. Treichler, and a neat
song !. is.