The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-11
WORCESTER THEATRE.
Everybody Goes to See Alice Nielsen In
THE Fortune Teller"

ne r tune IGIEIs
Nobody can deny that Worcester
likes comic opera. The magic words
opera company" at the head of an
announcement are always sufficient to
pack our cosy theatre TO its limit, and
the audience will sit and encore num-
Der after number till they forget there
is such a place as home, and rouse
themselves in mild wonder when the
curtain finally falls and the clock
chimes out 1890. That has been the
case many times this season, and that
was the case last night, when THE
Fortune Teller" was presented by Alice
Nielsen and her opera troupe.
Victor Herbert today stands at the
head Of light opera composers, so far
as this country is concerned. With a
single exception, all his works have
brought him TenOWn and success, and
he is equally fortunate in such trivi-
alities as The IDOLS Eye" or in
higher grade Of music like THE Sere-
made Though The Fortune Teller
does not quite reach the level of the
last mentioned, it is a noble example
Of composition, nevertheless. The keen
III GLldllC sense OIL the true GIllS- Is
manifest in the harmonic coloripg of
the characteristic Hungarian melodies,
Mr. CoWles' inspiriting solos, and the
distinction between the simplicity Of
the first finale and the martial ring OF
the second. Mr.. Herbert has evident
" taken a leaf out of Sousa's book
here, and his march finale is fully as
noisy, il not as swinging, as those Of
the specialist in that line.
h Sc
Mr. Herbert's score. 1t is not sur
prising that the fecund librettist begins
to weaken a little after the tremendous
tax on his invention in the past half
dozen years. The dialogue, plot and
lyrics are very claptrappy, and the
whole piece seems to have been made
TO measure.
Miss Nelson's previous reputation up
to last night was based on hearsay, so
far as this city was concerned, for she
has always been resting whenever the
Bostonians visited Worcester She is
a petite and pretty blonde, with a glo-
riOus voice and a demure archness of
manner that reminded one of Della Fox
at her best, ten years ago. There are
three comedy parts in the piece, of
which the funniest is a Hungarian mu-
stefan with German accent, played by
Joseph Cawthorn-or at least Mr.. Cav
thorn made it seem the funniest. Jos.
Herbert, who will ever be gratefully
remembered here as the best Of the
many KO-kos, has a novel character,
that of a composer whose inspirations
turn out to be the mouldiest of musical
chestnuts. When he starts to hum
one. the other characters take the re-
frain right up, and he walks off saying
That will be popular in time" Rich
ard Golden completes the trio, and is
remarkably humorous, at times, in a
role which is down on the program as
a balletmaster, but might be anything
Eugene Cowl.s was completely dis
guised behind the black hair and
beard of a gypsy, but his voice was
still grandly in evidence. The chorus
is comely. artistically costumed and
well drilled The orchestra was a spe-
cial one, and did excellent work under
the skilful baton Of Director Paul
Steindorf.
Altogether it is doubtful whether
Miss Nielsen did wisely in seeding
from the Bostonians. There she had no
new operas to learn. for Robin Hood"
and The Serenade" will last forever:
no worry about salary day; was the
pet Of the whole company, winning
golden press opinions, and could lay off
whenever the company struck a back
woods place like Worcester. Now,
what with changing costumes and
clIdI HCLIIS ColltlLludl4E, anu uJ-IS eF~
erything from a cakewalk to a high c
aria she has to toll every minute. Then /
there is the worry of making the piece
a success, and Of maintaining ones
place as acknowledged star Miss Syl-
va sings exceedingly weld. But the
fascination of large type and the stars
dressing room is powerful.
Mrs. Lillian Hanson Gray sang be-
fore the director of the company yes
terday afternoon.
Sowing the Wind" the most reason /
able and longest lived of all the prob
lem plays is at the theatre tonight Il
is told in a literary fashion that COM
mands the highest respect and comes
here under Charles Frohman's super
vision, which insuTes that every detail
will be attended to perfectly.
The Waite comedy company, at pop
ular prices, will be here all next week.