The times., 1899-05-30
THINGS THEATRICAL.
coIumbin-"The Dancing Girl.-

btu-"Ihe Dancing
4 scaDt three months since the scholarly
Nine. Modjeska, in deploring the decline
of the modern stage, predicted that ere
| long an actress would come out Of the far
| West to startle the world with her in
| finite genius and establish anew the stand
! ards OF a perfect art. The time since then
has given proof of her prophecy and the
metrcpolis-tardy. indeed, to recognize
| merit-has pronounced the fuifillment OF
| the prediction of the Polish artistic Wash
ington last evening stamped with its seal
of genuine approval the verdict of the re-
mainder OF the East, and new queen
reigns in professionalism as far as the Ma
! tional Capital is concerned in the person
OF Miss Blanche Bates, whose coronation
| took place at the Columbia last evening
| I. Daniel Frawley standing as sponsor and
goodly portion of theatrical Washington
| applauding the ceremonies incident to the
| realization of Miss Bates youthful dreams.
1t was happy decision which selected
| for the premier appearance of the Cali
fornia actress that best OF dramas from
the pen of Henry Arthur Jones. The
| Dancing Girl" Opportunity too often
makes the artist and il there siumbers
| genius in the breast of an actor or actress,
| the chance for its exhibition is found in
| many of the parts of this masterpiece of
| dramatic construction. Add to this the
presence of a magnificent and well man
| nered audience. a temperature happily
| moderated for the occasion and the COM
bination is perfect for success.
Critically considered. no less than four
| persons equally shared the plaudits of the
audience. These are Miss Bates. Augustus
Cook, little Georgia Welles. and Mr.. Fraw
! ley. True, the sensation of the evening is
| Miss Bates. as she has been wherever she
has appeared. Miss Bates is graceful, ac-
| tive, natural, distinguished potent and
! pathetic as occasion demands, and, above
| all, possesses that indefinable unanalyZa-
| BILE, mysterious, and ineffaceable quality
| known as charm. In the light scenes of
| the initial act Miss Bates is bright,
| piquant. and natural; in the second. artful.
sinful, and Jezebel like; in the third, au-
| dacious, thrilling. magnificent, superb.
| Probably no more enthusiastic reception
| has ever been seen than that following this
act. Recall after recall summoned the
| principals before the audience and the
| applause only ceased when Mr.. Frawley
| briefly, but with sincerity and pride,
| thanked all for the reception rendered his
| protege.
| But this triumph was won only after
struggle and masterful one. Cast in the
role of David Ives was that magnificent
| character actor, Augustus Cook. Only once
1
| sweep of his power-in the third act. Lit
| tie by little Miss Bates and Mr.. Cock lead
| up to the climax, the audience enthralied
and entranced, forgetful that art and not
| nature had charmed them. Then came the
| great curse scene and as the aged fisherman
rushed from the place of revelry, his
! daughter pitched headlong down the long
| fight of stairs after her parent. implorins
| him to renounce the ban uttered. Then.
as a graceful semi-climax comes the at
| tempt at suicide of the duke, only frus-
| trated by the loving watchfulpess OF his
| crippled worshiper. The restful final act
brings to an end a perfect and harmonious
| presentation
Ideals would be fractcrcd were the i'm
| preservation of the part of the Duke by
| Mr. Frawley to surpass that of E. Fl.
| Southern Frankly. it does net. At times
! Mr.. Frawley rises to the magnificent, and
again, his reading is mediocre. He fails
to realize fully the depth, the sincerity,
| the hidden meaning of some Of his lines,
especially in the second act. Yet he fills
all hopes and expectations in the third.
| and leaves as his heritage of the evening
| a pleasant taste in the mouth, and pret-
ty portrait to the eye. 1t would be far
from just, in recording the individual and
\ organized successes OF the evening. to fail
| to mention that of Miss Welles. Always
| of charming personality. the character OF
the little cripple girl fits her like glove.
Every shade of meaning each little sug-
gestion and tirge of feeling. all possible
touches of art, are brought out in her
reading. Close indeed. after those pre-
viously mentioned. is the triumph of little
| Georgia Welles.
OF the other characterizations. all are
well done. Harrington Reynolds possesses
a deal of fire and reserved intensity in the
part of John Christian. An admirable COM
edy creation still more admirably inter
preted is that of Reginald Slingsby. by AL
fred Hickman, and Charles King is seen in
well done bit, as are Godfrey Stein,
| George Castor, ]. r. Amory, and Frank
| Mathieu. Miss Van Buren is acceptable
as Faith. while the chief requirement of
Kathleen Chambers, Mrs. Bates, Violet
| Kimball. and Corrinne Parker is to look
| pretty and do 1t naturally, which duty is
gracefully done. Ada Levick as Mrs.
| Christian-to use a Hucklebsrry Finnish
makes one feel creepy" and is truly ex-
cellent. In short, Washington has seen
two previous performances OF The Dane
ing Girl" by Beerbohm Tree and E. Fl.
Sothern, yet neither has surpassed in ex-
celience that OF last night by the Fraw-ey
company.