The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-31
GOSSIP OF THE THEATER
Strong Attractions for the Close
of the Season.
ROLAND REED Is COMING
First Appearance in Three Years In Butte
His New Comedy Has Scored
an Immense Success
in the East.

S1oSiiis oays oL the regular sea-
son at the Grand opera house in Butte
VIII bring several of the strongest at
fractions of the whole season. One of
these is the popular comedian Roland
heed, who will open an engagement of
three nights and Saturday matinee
Tomorrow night, and the other in
Guides Blanche Walsh and Melbourne
/ MacDoWell in the late Fanny Daven-
ports production of Sardou's great
| plays.
Roland Reed will make his first APP
pearance in Butte tomorrow night in
| three years and he will no doubt be
| greeted with packed houses of his old
| admirers. He will present, for the first
| time in Butte, his new comedy, 1.-THE
Wrong Mr.. Wright" which has scored
an immense success. 1t is highly anus
| ing and entertaining and Mr.. Reed has
been fitted with strong character in
Seymour Sites. 1t is that of a wealthy
man who has been famous for his par
| simony until he becomes interested in
! pretty woman, when the lavishness of
| his generosity exceeds all bounds This
| individual had been robbed of $4,000
| by trusted clerk. In hopes of cap
| turing the thief himself and thus save
| the reward offered, the merchant as
sumes the name of Mr. Wright. 1t so
| happens that the absconding clerk also
| assumes the name of Mr. Wright
Numerous complications result A fas-
| chatting young woman is engaged by
| a detective agency to take charge of
| the case. She meets the wrong Mr..
| Wright, and believing him the guilty
man, strives to make him fall in love
| with her, but she also learns to love
him herself. and is heartbroken until
| she learns that he is not the right Mr..
| Wright when happiness comes to her
| self and everybody else who deserves
it. There are half dozen other char
| acters, an amusing English lordling, an
heiress who wishes .'to be loved for
herself alone" changing places with her
maid, an "unappropriated" spnster.
who longs to be loved on any account,
a hypocritical psalm singer and
| United States artillery officer.
On Friday night Mr.. Reed will pre-
sent his new play, His Fathers Boy"
1t is said to be one of the best me-
diums this favorite actor has ever had
In this play, it is said, Miss Isadore
Rush is given the golden opportunity
of her life for the display of her versa
| tile dramatic ability. and also for her
exquisite taste in the display of her
| gowns, which are more handsome than
any she has ever worn. and that means
| much
Blanche Walsh and Melbourne Mac
| Dowell will open an engagement of
| four nights at the Grand on June s,
| presenting La Tosca" and Fedora
Miss Walsh has proven herself wor-
4 thy successor to the lamented Fanny
4 davenport She has been royalty re-
ceived and her work and genius have
i been warmly praised The characters
she enacts call for talents of the most
exalted sort and she would quickly fail
did she not meet the weighty require
ments of the Sardou roles completely,
| particularly in the artistic sense.
Splendidly endowed by nature. she
| looks the characters she impersonates,
| yet she triumphs because of her his
trionic abilities and her genuine mer-
its as an actress of the highest order
An idea of her work may be obtained
| from the following expression of opin-
ion in the Buffalo Express concerning
her La Tosca:
| "'Always a woman-solely a woman
| was what Sardou wrote of La Tosca in
| describing to Miss Davenport the crea-
| ture of his pen. 1t is almost enough
to say that Miss Walsh's impersona
ton fits Sardou's description. Faint
praise will not do for her playing. In
every word and gesture she is faithful
10 Iile Tole. Sue Is uEdUldtlC-nOl So
much so as Miss Davenport, who could
not be else-and at once she is magnifi
cent a magniticence more striking be-
| cause her stage presence is less i'm
posing than that of her predecessor in
the part. The strength of the young
actress seemed to have been put to its
4 fullest test at the close of the third act,
when Scarpia utters Mario's death
| sentence, but there was in reserve
| dramatic force which electrified the au-
| dience in the next act, when La Tosca
kills Scarpia, and won such salvos of
applause as have not been heard in
| Buffalo in many week.
Melbourne Mcdowell, of course is
all that his legion of friends expect of
him. He is on familiar ground. but is
constantly spurred on to new effort.
The productions will be presented on
the same scale of magnificence made
| famous by Fanny Davenport, which
| means a constant fascination of the
eyes and the artistic sense.
Roland Reed, who returns to Butte
| tomorrow after an absence of three
| years, has been identified with the
| theatrical profession from his boyhood.
He was born in Philadelphia June IS,
1862, and his first appearance was made
at the Arch Street theater, Phladel-
phia, where he was call boy The role
assigned him on this occasion was Tom
| III 'Ine jealous VIE. w men ne was
II years of age he was prompter at the
same theater and upon occasion during
an engagement of Lolita, Robert Craig,
| who was leading comedian of the stock
at that house, was taken i'll and Mr..
Reed was asked to take his place in
the cast The play was 1.-THE Firefly,"
and Mr.. Reed acquitted himself SO well
that the following year he was engaged
as second low comedian at that house.
! He afterwards had valuable stock ex-
| perience at the Walnut Street theater,
| Philadelphia; Bidwelrs Academy of
Music, New Orleans; Olympic theater,
st. Louis; John Ellsler's Academy of
| Music, Cleveland, and Mr.. McVickers
theater, Chicago, with which compan-
les he was first comedian. During the
season of 1S79-S0 he was principal sing
ing comedian of the Colville Folly COM
| pany, and in the fall of 1880 he began
his first starring tour The niece heinz