The San Francisco call., 1899-10-21
SNAP SHOTS AT
TLRY-FOLHS ON
MANY STRCES

l - dltS anu dldCh Wfen many a good
! singer, nay, good actor even, tries
10 wear costumes pertaining to Louis
: NV, or Louis-any-other-tee for
that matter. Some of the best people at
the Grand Opera-house are making sad
mess of it in ''Nanon." But Thomas Pers-
Sc, snowy of wig and snowy of satin. can
dangle the four corners of a lace hand
kerchief as tradition teaches they should
be dangled, and it's Thomas Persse who
carries the day.
Hattie Belle Ladd is a sorry sight as
Ninon. 1t wouldn't be quite so bad if an
impudent programme had not promised
in her "a professional beauty" Hattie
Belle takes to tights like a duck to water,
and there bound to be brisk work when
she plays boy But the outward elbows
that so along with Forward, march,
are not salon elbows, and gauze fan is
not at ease when shouldered like a bay
onet or cracked like a riding whip.
The buXom Miss Mason is NanOn. This
is as it should be. The sign of the Golden
Lamb COnjures UP vision Of exactly such
a hostess as Edith Mason renders. And
though the opportunity be less, it's better
to be good Nanon than poor Girotie.
1t is so long since The Masked Bali"
has been seen in town that Alcazcr audi
cuces this week are guTghng with delight
as If the soap-eating maniac and the tin
pan serenade were handy spandy new.
of complications that were never created
in sane moments and a drearily thr cad
bare series of domestic chickering's. But
wkO ever cares about such analySiS2 The
Masked Ball" is funny with ali the fun
nness that BissCn and Carre could invent
when they put their heads together. A
laugh always slips away embarrassed
when some one asks whence it came. Meet
it on its own ground and greet it in its
own spirit. for It's shy visitor at local
theatcrs of late days.
= is n do
Montaine partnership. The cast stops
abruptly at nine parts, almost forgetting
Charles King and Helen Henry, and lcav.
ing Charles Bryant and Carlyle Moore to
their own devices at home or abroad But
Mr.. Ormonde and Mr. Montaine are a
busy team from the up of the curtain un-
I'll the down Of it.
1t is a secret all Mr.. Ormonde's own
why he has not chosen to show before
just how charming he really can be. Feo-
pie have been talking about his reserve
tive kind of admiration therefor. And
now he has up and exploded every one OF
our blessed old theories, and we may be
cross because he fooled US or good ma
tured because we've got a far and away
better man than we guessed.
lie is a rollicking mischtevous, tenn
peetuous and altOg adora BILE Young
husband as Paul Blondet He is the only
-grown-tall style that isn't half so
usual as the proverb would have us be-
lieVe. The lies which DR.. Blondet told
big bold black ones Suffice it to saw
that Mr.. Ormonde can make even these
furgiVable.
Francis Powers has a new play. which
viii soon be seen here. 1t has a stunning
title Mother Earth" Also stunning
subject, for It deals with life in the Mex.
lean provinces. And if the play itself
prove as stunning as 1.-The First Born -
then has San Francisco indeed man to
be proud of, and he's feather in the cap
of the sound Alcazar management that
brought him out
"Ah!'
beauty
It starts at the baldheaded row and rip
pies back to the smokers against the Or
pheum wall 1t swells toward the bal
cOny and Is caught up there and rippled
back toward the stage. Mile Lofty is re-
spOnsible for II.
There is no question about mademois-
promised poses. There is one pose, with
variations Even Mile Lofty is in danger
Of becoming monotonous so long as she
remains mere f screen cree !. for magic lantern
all the work TO the calcium man.
The best of last weeks performers are
holdovers. Next week will see more
changes. Besides Mile Lofty, a ventrilo-
qust and a monologist have come to re-
cruit the goOdly ranks. Tom Brown
whose color lies between the dark and the
daylight partakes of the intelligence of
whiteness and the real thingness Of black
ness, and is therefore one Of the best of
cOons. He manages to be calmly serious
about his work which makes him an i'm
provement on recent entertainers of his
class.
MIR. Winton. the ventriloquist, is clever
enough in his way-ano a spooky way it
is Ventriloquists must be most unpleas-
ant persons to have in the family If they
indulge at home in their little eccentric
itv. This particular ones turn Is too much
devoted to mechanical dolls-it moves
slowly But he's a wonder himself.
The lie Page sisters begin with their
usual bunchiness. and gradually become
decoIIete It is very pleasant to sit at the
side and see just enough Of their "phe
nomenal changes" to speculate upon the
how Of the rest.