Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-11-26

play. and in the hands of such eminent art
ISIS Sardou's heavily pathetic story is pre-
scented with hreath-taking realism. Some
years ago Miss Davenport created quite a
! sensation in Ia Tosca.' and the piece met
! with much comment. both from the press
and public, Like all of Sardous heroines,
/ La TosCa' is a woman of conflicting emo
/ tons. Her love for Mario predominates
over all else. but mingled with this is a
strong vein of jealousy which causes the
undoing of both the woman and her lover.
1t is in characters like these. which afford
! strong contrasts that both Mr. MacDowell
| and Miss Blanche Walsh excel The scene
! in the room of the Baron Scarpia is said to
be one of the most dramatic stage pictures
| ever presented. Fedora is a singularly
| interesting drama. Its incidents are full of
vital strength and its leading chara tiers
tuii OF force and most distinctive. While
| familiar 10 theater-goers. not only through
| MISS pavenports fine portrayal of the part,
but also through that of Sara Bernhardt.
tor whom the play was written by the great
| French author. Fedora" remains a play of
rare interest and one that is always recall
| ed with appreciation.
NEW NATIONAL TIIEATER-Mr Sol
Washington tegfns at the New National
1heater MOnCay hight. Mr.. Russell will
/ present Charles klein's new play, Hon.
John GriSS5y," which scored an unqualified
! success upon its first production in Phila-
delphfa last eek. The general opinion of
al! who hav5 seen the play is that Mr.
| Klein has produced and Mr.. Russell acquir-
ed a valuable dra matte property. Sol smith
| Russell is one Of the most charming Of the
| actors of today. There is homely sweet
| less in his method of portraying pastoral
character which makes it forever appealing
| 10 the hedft Unfortunately. the average
| playwright las seen but this single aspect
! OF a nature which really has breadth AMI
| depth and height other dramatic ma
| lures have and thus simply varied the
! usual lines for its exploitation. In Hon.
! John GrlSSby' the actor pOrtrays another
| OF the quiet. humorous. heart touching
/ characters that have made him famous the
| cot ntry over.
| one of the salient virtues of Mr.. klefn's
i work, ii is said is that both in the play and
| In It's pivotal character he conveys the no
! ton Of force without the use of violence
| The gentle Ircods of Mr. RusseIrs art ali
| remain, for to eliminate them would be To
! cast away the primal charm of all mis- work;
| nut one is conscious there is an aggrt ssive
spirit under this blandnesS and docllttv
WHICH cannot be pushed too far without "A
| volcanic Du-st 1t is for this reason prin-
| c!pally that John Grigsby'' is said to b,.
| Mr. RusselFs il. ost vital and most satisfac-
| tory portraiture. 1t is thing of life. of
bIoof. of silcW, made suave and Cnttcing
| by The docila manners and answering di-
ItctneSs winch. being the prime traits of
me man. should be blended into his arts
| tic creations. The playwright has plough
ed UP new field. taking the auditor back
TO the fOrties, when the protagonists of
the institution Of slavery were making de-
4 y.
locale is in the old law office of Judge.
GrlgSDy In Illinois. and offers as an in
terestlng study some of the quaint char
acters OF that period, when the women wore
BELL hoops. and the man rode the circuits
and used the stump speech as their most
potential weapons. The story is pathetic
and dramatic, and SO admirably diversified
with humors that tears and laughter are
constantly mixed. Mr.. Russell will be sup
ported by his always capable company.
COLUMBIA THEATER.-When Col. !. f.
Haverly was the most Important factor
that the minstrel business tas ever known
which was about six years ago, he made
1t point to always present to the public
a con Fany of such uniform excellence that
mis- audiences invariably left the theaters
in happy frame of mind AMI thoroughly
dehS hted with the performances of the
Havtrly Mastodonic Minstrels: and when
h. decided to re-entar the field of rninstre.-
sy this season he concluded that as his
name had never been associated with an
inferior entertainment, now would be
a mighty bad time 10 commence As his
Ministries Were in years past the very best
Of this form of entertainment. so with his
present company, which will be seen at
the Column bIa next week. with matrices
thursday and Saturday Every perform
ance is under the personal direction of
Col haveriy, and is given with mis- personal
guarantee to the public that as q specimen
of modern minstrelsy, up-to-date, and a
little bit ahead, In every respect il is alb
sOlutely Incompatible with any of his com
pettCrs, occupying a pinnacle OF its own
Special attention has been paid to the
musical portion of the PROGRAM and in
cluded in the Haver1y forces are a number
OIL the best Vocalists that the minstrel
stage has ever heard. And in the denart-
ment OF hiarity, as well, the funmakers
are numerous and capable and with such
names as are given below it Is easy to figure,
, out three hours of brilliant wit and undi-
| luted fun. The company is headed bv that
mad llNr
the other members of the organization are
Arthur Deming, John II. Blackford, Neil
OBrIcn, Buck Shelter, E. II. Bogert Geo.
Biakely, Master Martin. George w. Lewis,
Billy Lyons, John DAILY, William Riley
Eddie La Barre. II. c. La Barre Fred A
johnson, VIM. Eunice Jos. NJ. Norcross.
Chas. Whyte, John W. Early, Jos D.
Green, Thos. Woods Gustave Vernon
Chas. f. Foreman, Ole Peterson, the Mich
OILS Sisters and many other artists all of
whom have proud records in the art OF min
streIsy.
ACADEMY OF MUSIC.-A fair damsel in
distress, Jim handles on deck, devils of the
deepest dye, a daughter of deceit, a prom
lslng planter. a true son of the sea, a mer-
/ cenary mate, cruel captain, a wandering
Waf, queer quadroOns and DiXie's darkest
and del ghting deniZcns are among the
characters exploited in the plot of Thomas
II. Davis and William T. Keogh's new
comedy drama, ION Land and Sea- which
/
Music next week. Among the various
strong scenes in which they appear is one
| Of shiDwreck. which Is pronounced the
masterpiece of its kind i'll both realistic
magnitude and correctness of every detail.
| When the action shifts from Columbia's
unstable platform to Mother Earth's solid
| one in southern plantation a real steam
! thTcshing machine is for the first time
introduced in operation the stage and
| performs its part with immense eciat i'll
| an attempted murder and a Embarrassing
| rescue. The fact that John II. Young
/ supplies the scenery and Dave Graham the
| music leaves nothing to be desired in that
direction
| PASSION PI4AN.-At The request of the
| managers of the Grand Opera House, the
| owners of the Passion Play have decided to
| continue the play ior another week. with
| daily matinee at i:15 . clock. for the benefit
| Of the school children. The public has
| awakened to the fact that one of The great
| est attractions to the tourist in EuroDe
| can be seen here at our V1ry doors with
| out the expense and troubie of = trip
| abroad. Those who have seen the original
| are unanimously of the opinion that the
! play presented I: the Grand is as perfe
| a reproduction as conld be given. 1t only
! lacks the words we see clearly formed by
.-;l.,