The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-05-08
SENTIMENT AND TRAGEDY
ROMEO AND JULIET PRESENTED
LAST SATURDAY.
An Overlooking House Shows How the
Legitimate" is Appreciated by the
Honolulu Audience.

have vague memory of many Ju-
lets seen on a number of stages, and
among them a couple here, one whose
name | have forgotten, gave us the
balcony scene i'm the old theater, where
an actor named Leathes played Ro-
meo, and another Louise Baudet, who
played with Bandmann when he pass
ed through, in the Eighties. But they
have all faded into forgetfulness save
two; these were Adelaide Nelson
whom | saw in Newcastle and Stella
| Colas whom / saw in st. Petersburg,
where she played the character in a
| French version, and | can remember
very well deciding then, that French
| did not lend itself to Shakespearian
tragedy. In both these cases the play
was handsomely staged with special
scenery for the run. but the accessor-
| les We're lost sight of in the personality
of the ladies.
I do not mean to make any COMPARE
son between Miss Wadorf's Juliet, and
| that of Miss Nelson, but ] know that
| | shall treasure the memory of her Ju-
| iet as I do treasure the memory OF
| Nelson's. I suppose people are differ
| emily affected by the stage, and that l
| belong to an old school, which took its
| plays more seriously than the present
generation. and went to the theater to
! enjoy rather than to pick holes in the
!
| the players and marked an excellence
here and an excellence there, even in
| the minor parts. Regarding the stage
from this old fashioned standpoint
always enjoy myself, and last Satur-
day was a treat indeed.
Miss Waldorfs Juliet is a finished
study. From her appearance in the
second scene of the first act which is
Scene III. in the students version, to
the moment when she StabS herself,
uttering the words: 80, happy dagger!
This is thy sheath; there rust and let
me die" there was a breathless inter-
est taken in her every word which
showed that Miss Waldorf had her
house in hand. and that we We're lis
tening to one of Shakespeare's MASTER
pieces. interpreted by a gifted woman,
and that we We're fortunate to have
the opportunity of seeing and hearing
one, whose name will soon be known on
both sides of the Atlantic. for Miss
Waldorf has a future before her.
The innocence and light-heartedness
of Juliet was shown in the scene with
| the nurse and Lady Capulet, very pref
! tily. The sud zen dawn of love in the
| ball room scene was an exquisite and
refined bit of acting and wonderful
| facial expression. The balcony scene
was as tender and as delicate as it
could be. and displayed the wonderful
| sweetness of Miss Waldorf's voice. The
! parting scene commencing with wilt
| thou be gone? It is not yet near day"
was most sympathetic. And then the
| tragic scenes showed wonderful power.
The scene in F'riar Laurence's cell with
! it's change from despair to hope, and
| the grand climax before Juliet drinks
the potion We're immensely strong.
| These are test scenes and show the
! power of the actress-and it is on ac
count of this round of passion that Ju-
! liet is so favOrite a character. | never
| saw anything better done than the long
| passage Farewell! God knows when
we shall meet again" and Juliet de-
scribes all the horrors of awakening in
| the tomb. II was aWe-inspiring. with
! power like this, the deeper tragedy is
within the grasp of Miss Waldorf, and
no doubt it will come in time.
Romeo, who always sets the hearts
| of the young ladies ahame found an
able exponent in Norval McGregor. He
was gallant and gay in some of the
| scenes with his companions BenvoliO
| GA. DUNN and MercutiO (McVay), as
a young Montague ought to be, and
| he was lOve-sick for his ROsaline but
when once the flame of true love was
| lighted by Juliet, it burned brightly
and quickly and McGregor made a
| charming lover. AS an exponent of
| Shakespeare's characters, Mr.. Nc
! Oregon is a true and painstaking actor,
| and deserves the success he wins.
! The nurse is one of the important
| characters in the tragedy, and many a
reputation has been won by playing it..
! Though silly and old JulietS nurse is
/ refined. as she must have been in the
! atmosphere of refinement in the Capu-
| let palace. All this Mrs. Currier por-
trayed, and AIDES to her reputation in
| the portrayal.
NToUa1-'e NTara,,+io ,,,os a oro,,, 90 ~, -.
first-water. 1t was a brilliant piece of
work. How beautifully he recited the
lines describing Queen Nab in her
chariot, one of the most poetic fancies
of Shakespeare, and worthy of Mid
summer Nights Dream" How he
brought out the rollicl<ing humor and
yet the tender good feeling which I'M
derlies it, The advantage of the
Shakespearian drama is that it affords
so many excellent parts. To play Mer-
| QUITO well, is to win as much praise
from the true critic as to play Romeo.
His death scene, with it's "A plague of
both your houses" and it's grim humor
was eXcellently managed.
l have little space to speak of the re-
mainder of the cast Mr.. Hernandez as
Peter, was a case in point of a good
part in small compass, and he was
admirable in it, He is irresistably
comic and won the house. Miss Boyer
was ulBIllleu as Lazy Cdpulel, MT
Boggs gave good effect to the speech
es of Friar Laurence, and Mr. Shaw
was satisfactory as the weak but fussy
Capulet. AS BenvOlio, Mr.. Dunn gave
a pleasant reading and his make III
and rendering of the few lines of the
apothecary was a study
During the performance there were
many bursts of applause and there
were constant curtain recalls, showing
how highly the audience appreciated
the performer. Berger's orchestra fur
nished some pretty incidental music
I am sorry the Shakesperian season
has come to an end. 1 have enjoyed
every play that has been put on by thu
troupe. Whatever others may feel, t
me they have been a sincere pleasure
and 1 personally thank Miss Waldorf
Mrs. Currier and the troupe in gen
eral for their efforts, which will remain
in my mind as pleasant memory. 1 be
| lipVa that there are MANY in this city