The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-17
PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Splendid Performance at the Crawford
Grand Last Night


| The Elks benefit play The Pirates Of
Penzance.' put on at the Crawford Grand
last night by amateur local talent was
| remarkably well produced and what is
more unusual remarkably well attended.
Probably six hundred people saw the per-
1ormance and undoubtedly every one who
saw it enjoyed the play It was too long.
But that is not particularly a fault. Nearly
every professional play that has been sue
cessfully produced on the stage was 100
long at the outset and in many cases not
az Well acted as the Pirates last right
The length was necessarily the result Of
producing play for the first time and
considering the number of people engaged.
the amount of work done and the three
weeks in which the lines were committed
and the parts put in shape Cor public pro-
ductions last nights performance vas
very extraordinary. Several times The
principals and choruses as we'll were
cheered to encore and repeat WICHITA has
had in the last several years a number Of
professional shows here with more bad
actIng and no more good w)-k than was
given last night Manager Martling lad
spared nothing to attain the proptr ar
rangement of the stage and scenery AMI
the effects were pretty VIM. Riley Hatch
who has directed the renaa.sals, has
hardly let w day or night IN the lest
three weeks. nor permitted d melnoer Of
the company to do 80.
As is always the case with ama.uer
shows the play opened late, "Drifted
Apart" the curtain raiser beginning at
S:25. This pretty sketch was put on II a
very effective way by Miss Etheivn
Palmer of Chicago. and VIM. Rilc- es-ch
Both belong to the profession as was
plainly evident in the easy manner they
assumed and interpreted the parts Miss
Palmer's charm Of natural grace and
personal beauty lent an unusual interest
TO her part and intensified her excellent
WORK.
Mr.. Hatch IS easy on the stAge and old
extraordinarily good work as Sir Godfrey
Bloomfield. 1t was Mr. E.atcn's singing
as the Pirate King. however. THAI most
pleased the audience His voice Is musical
and Of great volume and he was fse-
quently appauded.
Il is seldom that 50 great number OF
handsome girls ara ever found in an am
ateur chorus, and more infrequeat still
that such good work is done as that OF
the twenty girls who occupied the sage
last night as the daughters of Major
General Stanley. They sang unusually
well, sang in time and on time IN every
number. There was no exception 10 this
and il was certainly a refreshing depart
IRE from the usual results in large cho-
ruses Of amateur plays. They were led
BY Mrs. Mabel Boyd Howe and Miss An
META Whey. and II IS only fair 70 say
that the go3d chorus work was due in
considerable measure 20 the excellent
work % the leaders. They never 6isap-
pointed the asdience and Gid What they
did every time in such way that the
audience was convinced every time thar
nothing elso would have been proper nor
any other way of d2lns 1t the rsEa- way
Both have Gne voices and use them well
The Pirate chorus did d7e work. szpe-
cially IN the opening number and in tie
second at. They have Eood voices and
their singinS shows good training and
careful woyk. Mr.. Charles PierpoaI as
the pirate lieutenant was q success. Ar-
PisrPoTt played the SANE role * 4 for