The San Francisco call., 1899-04-02
"BLgCK HUSS4R"
ut THE GRIND
Opening Of the Southwell
Season of Comic Opera
Reviewed by Hshton
Stevens.

~ UT will it pay?" everybody
| TX seemed to be inquiring of every
! j body else at the opening per-
- formance Of the Southwell
Comic Opera Company in the Grand
| Opera-house last night. And that is
the question. The. principal singers OF
the organization were divulged IN the
production of THE Black Hussar, and
the company proved to be a good one.
1t is large, Industrious, we'll stageman-
aged, well costumed, and, on the whole,
well voiced. 1t gave a disciplined and
picturesque performance of not over
exciting comic opera of the old Viennese
school, and the audience was noticeably
pleased. But-and this is a point that
might as well be argued now as at any
other time-will the Southwell company
be able to draw big crowds, or even
moderate crowds like that of last night,
for a season of fifteen weeks at the
present scale of prices, which range
from 81 down? I think not. The
Tivon has spoiled the people Of San
Francisco in the matter of comic opera
by often giving them for half the
money productions that while not as
lavish in points of chorus and acces-
sories, were quite as good as this one
of The Black Hussar" so far as con-
cerned the singing and acting of the
principal roles. The Grand Opera-house
is big place-comfortable and cheerful
when full and dismal and unpretty
when SCARED by rows of empty red
plush. One bad house will breed a sue
cession of others, even when the show
&c TI,o To 10
crowd. The Southwell company pros
pered for three years in Philadelphia
at a 5O-cent scale of prices, and there
is no reason why, with the same scale,
it should not do the same here for fif-,
teen weeks. In a season of this length
do not think that the town will stand
for the 81. And the company is too
good and Mr. Morosco is too earnest a
manager and too enterprising a towns
man to come to grief on account of a
foolish pride in prices. It's the gross
receipts that count in the theatrical
business whether the seats are IS or
so cents.
The Black Hussar" Is one of those
tuneful old-time pieces that display the
ensemble rather than the individual
strength of the performers. The mu-
sic is graceful and charmingly scored,
but the book is slow in action and more
or less dull in dialogue even when re-
furnished by modern hands. The sing
ing and the pictures and the playing
of snug little orchestra under an ex-
cellent leader were the features of last
nights performance; and I would find
it much easier to praise the company
as a whole than to individualize. But
here goes for a try, anyway.
First of all, the tenor gentleman,
Thomas H. Persse, who has the title
part, is the best in his line that we
have heard in some time. He would be
worth his weight in jewelry to the Bos-
tonians or to the Tivoli. His acting,
like that of most comic opera sky
scrapers, is not of this earth, and his
speaking voice runs to the mock heroic
and incarnation system Of ancient ex-
travaganza, but he is comely and clean
to look upon, and he can sing. His
voice was clear, sympathetic and true
last night, and might, to distinguish 1t
from the usual run of epicene comic
opera tenori be described as manly"
The soprano was Miss Edith Mason,
who not only sings but acts. She has
a 1.-the, birdie voice, with just the
hint of a cunning little gurgle in it, and
a plump, companionable personality. I
She is good looking and resembles, so
the press agent says, Miss Lillian Rus
sell. In the part of the funny mans
daughter Miss Mason was quite the
stellar luminary of the night. It
wouldn't surprise me to hear any day
that a brand of cigars had been named
after her, too.
The principal funny man was Will
liam Wolff. He was fairly good in
fairly legitimate way, and will doubt
less be better in better part than that
of Hackenback and one with fewer
German lines in it. These foreign in
terlardings suggested an aroma of
malt and cheese that did not tend to
promote the excitement of the piece The
assistant comedian is a chubby, ply
sically humorous gentleman by the
name of Arthur Woody. He contrib
uted an excellent bit of tomfoolery.
Mr.. Wolff and Mr.. Woody sing better
than comedians are expected to do.
The principal comic lady was Bertha
Ricci, who has been here before. un-
less I am badly mistaken. She infused
considerable fun into a grotesdue part
Miss Ladd was the cOntralto. who had
little chance, and seemed to make no !
special effort to show what she could
do. The others in the cast were not
individually notable for either disaster
or success. They contributed their
share to the general evenness Of the
production. The chorus was large and
tactfully stage-mannered and sang
with commendable snap and smash
especially the girls.
A stunning picture was made of the
close of the second act with seven live
horses, a real brass band, and what
looked like a hundred people on the
stage.