Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-02-23
THE ENTERTAINMENT FIELD.
Enjoyable Events of the Week-Carniva al
Concert a Splendid Success.

pleasure to report on a public event
that was accepted with such universal
favor as the carnival concert of last
Friday evening. The extraordinary
efforts of the Concordia to furnish a
novel entertainment of artistic merit
and at the same time full of ''frolic
and fun" proved a great success. The
appreciative audience received each
number with enthusiastic applause,
and when the curtain was rung down
for the last time many left their seats
reluctantly because the hit of the sea-
son now was thing of the past. The
younger element, however, soon be-
came reconciled with the new order
of things and imbued with merriment
made the best of the dance which end
ed this joyous affair.
The first number of the program,
GA Singing Society in Court" pre-
sented to our eyes a genuine surprise
as the we'll known members of the
Concordia stepped forward in such
disguises that their best friends were
at loss to recognize them. Better
cOmical make-ups were never seen on
any stage. The effective character
masks were the work Of two profess
sional stage artists from the Pabst
theatre, who certainly know their
business, as each individual face was
treated in such manner as to pro-
duce the most laughable effect. The
employment of men of experience for
this purpose was good point, as
much of the fun of the evening was
due to the grotesque appearance of the
performers. Max Rohr, as the Judge,
not only acted his part well. but
showed decided musical talent by his
rendition of the part His rich deep
voice rang through the house with a
good deal of dramatic power. Mr.
Baumann, as bailiff, greatly amused the
audience by his vivacious impersOna-
ton. Oscar Meyer deserves great
praise for the way in which he acted
the part OF Miss Knickmeyer. Too
many male imperSOnatOrS of female
! characters lack refinement and simply
vulgarize the role. A stranger might
have taken DR.. Meyer for a real wo-
man. He caused no end of merriment
when, as the bashful, insulted spinster
plaintiff, he told his tale of woe. The
| COncOrdia deserves credit. With each
year Improvement is noticed in its
singing, and on this occasion, as usual,
it delighted the audience. We have
heard complimentary remarks about
the COncOrdia male chorus from out
siders, who expressed the opinion that
even in the larger cities many a chorus
fails to produce the harmony of tone
and good taste Of the ConcOrdia.
As the most enjoyable piece Of the
entertainment from a comedy point of
| view we must mention the little Oper-
attic farce, Mrs. Nudelmueller and
Mrs. Strudelmueller," in which we
had the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Field
for the first time in a bit of acting
Her companion was Miss Bertha Stop
penbach, of Jefferson. The disguise
of both ladies as comical widows was
simply not to be improved upon.
When Mrs. Field first appeared, many
who know her well failed to recognize
her before she began TO sing. It is
needless to say anything about her
singing, as she has often been heard
here. On this occasion she proved
that she is perfectly at home on the
stage; the part she took was rendered
In a perfectly natural way, showing
much dramatic talent and training
Miss StOppenbach was worthy cOun-
terpart to her as Mrs. Strudelmueller.
She has very fine trained voice and
easy stage manner. Both ladies sang
and acted their parts as if they were
thoroughly familiar with the stage.
We hope to hear Miss Stoppenbach
again in concert and comedy.
The tableaux were very pretty and
pleasing, and the young ladies sweet
and charming in their peasant cos
TUNES. Together with the young gen
tlemen taking part, they formed pret-
| ty groups and were much admired.
Owing to the fact that the opera house
was occupied every evening for week
preceding the entertainment. many
accessories and details of the tableauX
had to be omitted; thus some of the
! pictures lacked the finishing touches
! USCduS6 proper I6uedfSdlS COulQ not
| be had. 1t was mistake not TO men
tion the names of the pictures on the
program, as the meaning of the tab
leauX was thus not always easy to
comprehend.
Nothing could be more amusing
than "A Jolly Scene in Court, given
by Messrs. Buchheit, Baumann and
Meyer. Both DR.. Meyer, as Judge.
and Mr.. Baumann, as constable, did
well in singing and acting their parts,
and Gust Buchheit surprised every
one; he was perfect as the bum-de-
fendant His makeup, voice and ges-
lures could not be more suitable. No
amateur could have done better. The
continual shouts of laughter were con
vincing Of the pleasure he gave the
audience by his impersonation of the
jolly, good-for-nothing fellow. Let
us see Gust again as a comedian! Does
it not take versatility in Oscar Meyer
TO play the whimsical spinster and the
sober judge in one evening? He has
a good deal of talent and fine voice.
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