The times., 1899-01-15
FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK.

FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK.
One OF the most Iaughable personages
the stage has to offer is the theatrical
| poseur. who has been carcatured By the
comic press, made nonsensical by his fell
low actors and generally ridicuIed with
| out much effect. True, he has been made
to realize that. far from evidencing gen.
ius, long hair and feigned eccentricity in
everyday life proclaim the lack of talent
and has regulated himself accordingly
when in the society OF his comrades.
He has come to understand that the truly
great are known without the necessity of
affectation. and that the minor people may
do better with their time than devote it
% making themselves absurd. But there
are still many players who imagine that
they become more artistic by being less
natural and who strut about behind the
| footlights in a vain effort to excite the
| admiration of women in the audience
| These fellows invariably makeup in
| eneminate fashion, use their voices with
| a great outlook for fine notes. and are
| otherwise the fops OF the stage. Now and
| again-as in the case of E. II. Sothern or
| James K. Hackett-they have real ability
which cannot be hidden. More often they
| are mere imitators whose boorish attempts
| TO seem gentlemen are less successful than
| they are laborioU5 Such man is John
| Drew and such one Is also Stephen GTat-
| tan, whose imperSonation OF Percival in
| Jim the Penman" last Tuesday night
| at the Grand excited only laughter Pos
! sibly Mr.. Grattan is a man of learning and
\ intelligence. but it cannot be said that
| much Of either possession crept out
| through his reading of the part assigned
| him. The lines he spoke were delivered
without meaning. his face never betrayed
| emotions Of one sort or another, and his
| gestures StIifPd the last dGpyraes
| Never was a more pronounced stick
and never a less capable portrayal. After
| the work of Charles Pitt. who was last
seen here in the part. the impersonation
was thoroughly disgusting and created the
| very impression Mr.. Grattan probably
least wished TO exist-the impression that
| his intense refinement and immobility
were only the results of acting
| a more capable band Of players than
that composing the "Bowery Burlesquers''
| has seldom been seen in a local variety
| house and there is no doubt that all who
/ attended last weeks performance at Ker-.
mans were thoroughly satisfied. There
must be exceptions to all rules. however.
and bad members in every company The
/ one turn in Hurtig and Seamon's olio that.
| did not prove enjoyable was that offered
\ by Loney Haskell, whose ideas OF the eX-
| preston OF humor are quite as feeble as
| the expression itself was noisy. Mr.. Has
kell beloved at his audience all the jokes
| he had told On the roof garden during
| last summer and then laughed ar it for not
| laughing at him. Some of the stories
| would have passed muster had they been
well told but they were not The COM
edian" merely made enough noise to
drown that caused by the men who were
| shifting scenery and proved less pleasant
| than that would have done.
| One OF the most notable features OF the
| Primrose and DOckstader minstrels was
| the absence of bad English-English OF a
sort that makes the educated auditor shud-
| der and which is so frequent in most va
| riety performances. When the average
person attends the average black-faced en-
tertainment he finds himself moved to en-
| dow school for comedians before the first
part is over and often only fear of being
/ elected prevents him from rising to COR
rect some of the gents whose language
annoys him. But there was nothing to
| cause this sensation in the Primrose and
| Dockstader performance. True, Lew Sully
| once remarked that he seen" something
| but then Lew is funny enough TO permit
| of his being forgiven one lapse so long as
no one else followed with others. The
organization did not contain a member
who said Il have saw" ..thankin' you
| fer" Il didn't do nothin - or other things
of the same sort As q result there were
| no cases of nervous prOstration reported
| during the week and the show was gen
| orally said to be thoroughly enjoy
| able. 1t would have been perfect had its
| proprietors made up their minds to break
! faith with the various manufacturers
whose wares they made a point OF adyer-
tising throughout the offering.
| After a line of puerile one-act farces
and absurd playlets those who went to the
| Bijou during the latter half of last week
must have been delighted to find that Mr.
| and Mrs. RObyns' new sketch Straight
| Tip Jim,' is one OF the most charmingiy
amusing little efforts ever seen here in
| vaudeville. The two entertainers are so
! thoroughly legitimate in their methods
and so absolutely intelligent in their por-
| trayals that the critic who had ever wit
| messed their work in THE Counsel for the
| Defense" could not have helped being de-
| lighted that both have found less fa-
miliar and better vehicle. The little affair
| offered for the first time on Friday de-
! serves all the praise that can be given it.
| Though the effort has plot that is really
| strong its real force lies largely in the
| Coherency and cOhesiyeuess with which it
is told in the flashes of humOr and the
! touches of pathos that are so skillfulIv
blended and in the excellent opportunities
| for character work offered.
| This being true. one can hardly do the
| piece justice by telling its story. Never
| theless even this would make agreeable
| reading and so here it is. Straight Tin
| Jim is 4 race track gambler rough in man
| ner and in speech. whose better nature
| has been drowned in early youth. when q
| sister had run away with and been left to
| die by the man against whom he said his
| ''mudder" had warned her. With his re-
| spect for the fair sex gone, with his gen.
| erous impulses stifled this fellow goes
| through life with the one idea of sending
| 20 prison the villain who had wronged his
| ''runnin' mate. At least Jim finds that
| the scoundrel has welded after quitting his
| first wife and offers TO the detectives 4
| large bonus to secure conviction. This
| stage has been reached when one day Il
| woman enters the booking Office and asks
| for the proprietor's help. Her husband
\ has got into trouble and the little she has
| earned by hard work must be trebled tn
secure his release. She wants Jim, whose
reputation for picking winners" is unlim-
tied, 10 invest her money in such a way
| that she may increase it
| The horseman at first will have nothing
! to do with her. He does not believe her