Evening star., 1900-12-11

THE NATIONAL THEATER-Among
the couplets which occur in THE Girl From
Up There is one which naively informs
the auditor that
The wind is on the breeze
And the ice is on the Freeze
This is the sort Of frolicking idiocy that
pervades the piece. C. NJ. S. McCleland,
or, as he prefers to be known, Hugh Nor
ton, is an exemplification of the fact that
great wits oft to madness close allied
1t would of course, be libeIous, as well as
unjust. to insinuate that Mr.. McCleIland's
reason is tOttering on Its throne. But when
the occasion calls for it he can simulate
mild. genial insanity more closely than any
one else. And the competition in this direc-
tlon among extravaganza writers is very hot
IN some instances his lyrics, had they been
offered as literature, would be hailed by the
pink COW Worshipers of posterdom as gems
| of polished Gecadence. There is positive
triumph for Mr.. McClelland in the fact that
his lyrics carried away a heavy share Of the
laughter and applause, despite the presence
or galaxy of burlesque and vaudeville en-
tertainers, Who engaged in a grand go-as-
you-please competition, which lasted from
o'clock till midnight. And the audience
was present clear to the end.
The story, outlined in the first act ha c
a certain poetic beauty, in addition to the
freakish and fanciful qualities which adapt
II 10 present purposes. The story of the ice
maiden. who has lost her heart and been
s.
simplicity. Indeed the delicate thread of
plot Is rather too fragile to support in their
present rough-and-tumble form some of the
specialties introduced last night. AS the ice
maiden Edna May is sufficiently frappee TO
content the most exacting stickler for dra-
matte consistency
Her temperament might entitle her to be
known as the Mary Anderson of extrava-
ganZa She IS fair to see, sings as much
as and as we'll as is expected of her and
acts conscientiously but she keeps the au-
dience at its distance. Miss May is a star
by force of circumstances rather than 'by
right of conquest. She is one of the people
about whom everybody talks and whom
everybody is anxious to see. And when on
view she is so sarenely fair and so unaf-
fected and demure that you can't help lk-
ing her There Is no gainsaying the prop
oSIton that the specialtieS are essential 10
the enjoyment of the piece. Yet as thew
are now Introduced. it is often too easy to
discern where Morton and kerker have
left off and abandoned their regulations to
the tender mercieS of the monologue en-
tertainer the knockabout team The
piece as initialiy presented was like finely
woven fabric which has had holes made in
1t so as to admit patches of other material
undoubtedly fine of its kind but Unmatched
There is barely time before the last car to
permit each speciality performer TO do what
he really knows and what the audience real
ly wants. The comical burglar act of Chas
I. Aldrich was an example of how deftly
a production of this kind. His work. al
though a little too protracted in one OF
two OF its features. moved along with the
story without friction. On the other hand
Montgomery and Stone demonstrated how
clumsily the trick may be done. Their
dancing amused the audience immensely
| but they failed TO get into the action of the
| piece, and ,..er leftover vaudeville chatter
| Jared.
Virginia Earle supplied the element of
| reflned feminine vivacty charmingly. She
| has admirers a-plenty 'mongst theater-
| gcers of all types, so there is need to
sing her praises. Little Edna Aug the
pretzel comedienne, is dry, crisp, appetiz-
| ing and so sinuously surprising that 1t is
| impossible to keep track of her curves
| Her song about Wilhelmina, who plays the
| concertina, was one of the hits of the
| evening, and her heart-to-heart talk with
| the audience had enough of her vaudeville
| act In 1t to give it spice without making II
| incongruous. Each Edna is complete and
| happy contrast to the other. Miss May
| never forgets her stellar dignities for a
| moment and Miss Aug romps as II she
| didn't care whether anybody thought she
was "a awtist' or not, so long as she and
| the audience were having a good time.
/ The most sustained and consistent hu.