The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-11-20

Two audiences that counted up close
to thousand dollars each, a matinee
that reached To half that mark, and
closing night that went to figures be-
tween The two-such is the financial
record OF Secret Service" 1t is a rec
ord that forms the high-water mark
of the season thus far, and there are
not many things ahead, since the Inter
national Opera company has gone the
way OF eli opera OrganiZationS-th
will be likely to excel it. Not less
proud :l3s been the artistic side of this
engagement, and It will long hold its
place IN the memory of theatre-Soers
here as a rare instance of perfection
in all that goes to make up a dramatic
production. Mr.. Gillette has confirmed
the verdict long ago rendered here that
he was in the front line OF American
dramaIists, indeed, that he was crowd
ing Bronson Howard close for the very
first place in that line. He has, be-
sides, daepened the impression he left
before that he is one Of the ablest eX-
ponents of the purely natural school in
acting. Miss Perry grows on one as
tonishingly. and while there were those
who found fault with her lisp at first.
her grace, earnestneSS and feeling quite
0isarmed criticism when she had been
followed through her work. Mr.. Gal
Ian, who played the very industrious
villain, is an excellent actor, but his
pronounced British accent made him
seem somewhat out OF place in the
confederate secret service. Miss Hope
Ross is q regular Queen Nab in her
daintiness, but i trilie monotonous,
don't you think, in her amending, unde-
Waiting, unchanging attempts at cute
ness? 8ir. Thomas, the boy soldier,
could hardly be bettered, and old Jonas,
the operator. the general and all the
others gave some beautiful touches Of
character work.
Despite its novelty and the startling
surprises that each act contains, it IS
easy enough to see that Secret Ser
vice" came from the same brain that
conceived Held by the Enemy" Mr..
Gillette appreciates no one better, the
rich field our civil war presents to the
dramatist and his two great plays
twin plays, $hey might almost be called
show with What rare taSJe he has
culed from the eXhaustiess garden.
Were net both plays so strikingly good
Mr. Gillette might almost be accused
Of re -eating himself in his latter Gre
alton. Held by the Enemy" IS laid in
q southern mansion, presided over by
an autocratc southern lady, and oc-
\
Of the house falls in love WITH @ Union
officer. and all through it is a strug-
gle between her love for Colonel Pres
cntt and her loyalty to the south.
Secret Service" is laid in g, mansion
in Bichmond, which is beleaguered by
the Union troops d northern spy gains
access TO the house. also presided over
b.. one Of your Virginia danes and en-
cages the affections Of the daughter;
Uncle Rufus in Held by the Enemy"
has almost his counterpart IN old Jo-
mas: Miss Milford in Secret Service"
is painted with the same rose and
lavender tints used IN depicting Susan
in the other play. but we do not think
that the little Milford and her lover
ear compare for true comedy with Su-
san and Bean; the escaping northern
prisoner SPIN Secret Service is
something like the escaping confeder-
ate-also a, SPIN Held by the En-
envy Both are stopped by a pistol
shot, though in the former ii is by a
most clever and dramatic thought
self-infiicted: the several timely en-
frances of the general in Secret Ser
vice." and the resultant circumstances,
are very suggestive of the sudden ap-
pearaGce Of the general in the hospital
scene in Held by the Enemy" Rachel
in that play is dominated by the same
struggles and emotions throughout
that move Edith-so charminglY played
by Miss Perry-iD the other; in fact.
one is a close portrait Of the other
from beginning to end. pitched and
played 81 the same key.
There is. Of course. nothing in this to
criticise. Gillette wrote so admirable n
play in Held by the Enemy that it is
a marvel that he could have turned
cut another so admirable, even along
the same general lines. Secret Ser
vice" justiffes the pubic in expecting
something extraordinary from the
work on which its author is al present
engaged. a play with Sherlock Holmes
as the central figure.
q .
How did Held by the Enemy sue
coed in London?"
y This question was asked Mr.. Gillette
in his dressing room between the acts
Of Secret Service" on Friday night
: 1T was a strong success was The