The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-17
THE BRIDE ELECT
First Local Hearing of sousa's Opera at
the Worcester Theatre.

The Worcester theatre. filled to the
rear limit of gallery, family circle and
standing room, was a gratifying sight
to managerial eyes last night As THE
Bride-Elect' is by no means of ex-
traordinary merit it is only fair to as
sumo that much of the excess patron
age was due to the presence of the To-
cal prima donna, Miss Alice Camp
bell. Miss Campbell scored a great per-
sonal triumph, and must have been
grati1ied at her reception in her home
| city.
Inc composer who writes his own
| horettos ought to go in the same pro
| Nerp with the litigant who pleads his
! own case. Those people who have been
regarding Mr.. Sousa with envfous ewes
When they heard of his enormous roy
altles ana his universal fame, will have
the strain on their bump of reverence
| largely relieved when they hear his
Brlde-Elect' book. Mr.. Sousa's story
| is not bad. A princess, doomed nv a.
national treaty to marry the unattract-
I'VE monarch of a neighboring realm,
contrlVes to have the expectant groom
| ABDUCTED by brigands before the cere-
mony. The captive king in turn is
! threatened with marriage by the brig
| ana queen, and is placed in several I'M
| comfortable dilemmaS. whence he IS
| rescued only to find himself dethroned
| and supplanted by another. Both in
| ms dialogue and in his development.
| the author has failed to realize the pos
siollltles of his part, and as for the ly-
| TICS those that seemed to win the most
! favor We're the 'Tra-la-las' and a ia
! miliar quartrain by LongfelloW.
| The music, on the other hand, is wor-
thy the fame of its composer. 1t is
sparkling and bright, though never tri-
wal nor commonplace. OF course, the
march movement predominates in ev-
cry form from the delicate strains of
| me midnight patrol to the brilliant fl
male of the second act. but in Sousa s
hands this never grows monotonous.
| many OF the numbers were already IA
! mlllar, but this apparently added zest
| TO the enjoyment Of the audience.
! IL does not require local prejudice to
! acknowledge that Miss Campbell. in the
pflma donna role, made a most vigor-
! Gus success. Her acting of the brig
and queen was full of fire and spirit
| and in her great number. the fortune
telling aria, she fairly took the house
! by storm and was literally buried lin
der bouquet after bouquet Of roses Miss
CampbelPs voice is q clear, strong So
praho' ana few leading singers evince
as much dramatic ability as she.
| Christie Mcdonald again piled her
fluctuations with great effect as the
Princess Minutezza. One never realizes
| how thoroughly charming Miss NC
| Donald is until he has seen other sing
| ers In her roles Albert Hart strug-
| gleG hard with the unfunny part of
| the King and we'll earned every laugh
| that he got. Melville Stewart and Har-
| ry Luckstone were good as the prin-
cipal robbers, and Mabella Baker made
q handsome and stately queen.
The chorus sang we'll though it con-
| tanned no professional beauties-not
| even amateur ones The costumes were
! noteworthy, Miss Campbelrs gown in
act being fac-simile of the corona
! ton robe Of Queen Wilhelmina Of Hol-
| land. The enlarged orchestra did ex-
| cellent work and the accompaniments
were frightened and localized bv a
| narp in the orchestration
The Telephone Girl" with its pref
| ty music, its prettier women and its
clever stars, Clara Lipman and Louis
Mann, will occupy the theatre tonight
| Mr.. Mann's impcrsonation &C the Ger
| man telephone inspector and the
| French maid Of Miss LipInan are two
| of the most artistically funny charae-
terizations on the American stage