The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-14
MUSIC AND THE STAGE.
METROPOLITAN

more ginger into "A Rag Baby" this
! week S attraction at the Metropolitan,
| those who saw the fetching farce when
| 1t first appeared as ''one of HOyt's" will
be able to place it In their memories.
The cast which presents the attraction
! this week IS excellent and contains sew
eral comedians whose place in popular
! favor is established
Mathews and Bulger are here again
Sherrie as Old Sport, the man whose JOY
is to clasp the hand that clasped the
hand of Jeffries." and Harry, as Tony
Jay, one of "a Rag Baby's" most enter
tanning characters. Bessie Tannehill Is
another of the old school who makes u
hit as Miss Pl att, the boarding school
principal, and little Mary Marble, as
Venus, somewhat rough, but clever just
the same, carried her role in a way to
establish her as one of the breez!est
members of the cast
Hoyt used to say that ga Rag Baby"
was just any old thing" Mostly farce
and fun, its success as an entertainer
depends much on the cast. The company
which handles 1t this season gives an
entertaining presentation, but fails to
draw from it the best which it can afford
| The play contained much, however, that
was clever and pleasant. Several spe-
cialties are introduced which are of suffi-
! hcient excellence to win recalls and iip-
plause. The pony ballet and the English
dancing girls, as well as the eight mas
cots in songs and dances, were very
good. Wtseman's serenaders, a male
Quartette, sang several very pretty ball
lads, and Mary Marble and a chorus
were well received. Walter Jones, as
an average policeman" made a hit and
scored, several on his facial expression.
Miss Maude Courtney rendered a num-
Der of the old familiar airs, displaying
a very pleasing voice to good advantage
and winning her fair share of apprecia-
ton.
Mathews and Bulger made the hit Of
the evening, however, in their specialties,
and produced a corkscrew melody of top
ical songs which was something new and
novel The chorus was good, and the
songs were sung by people trained in the
business, a recommendation in itself.
Philip Ryley was acceptable in dual
role, and David Andrada was fair George
H. Wiseman, Nicholas Sebastian, Tony
Hart and Gertrude Wood appeared in
minor roles.
"a Rag Baby" will have a second per-
formance this evening.
Miss Anna Eva Fay, whose clever ex-
hibitions mysttfied and startled the pa
irons of the -, Metropolitan opera house
last week, will return to that theater for
another series tomorrow night.
GRAND.
Patrons of the Grand opera house will
be treated to an agreeable surprise this
| week in kidnapped in New York" an
absolutely new melodrama without any
! features of the old-fashioned blood and
| thunder dramas, in which some person is
killed in every act. The play has for its
groundwork a crime committed in New
York city two years ago-the theft of
child named Marion Clarke who was re-
covered after her abductors disclosed their
identity by attempting to secure a. ran
som for the child The only familiar scene
in the drama is the kidnapers' den and
even that is changed to a degree that
makes it more acceptable
The story told in the drama is that of
the kidnapping of the four-year-old daugh-
ter of Mr.. and Mrs. John Clarke. Mr..
Clarke is wealthy broker, and in the en-
deavor to recover his child he never loses
sight of the necessity of catching and
Furnishing her abductors for their crime
| The drama opens with the story of A safe
| robbery in which Henry Brandon is m
| justly accused, arrested and sent to prison
as the robber when Sig Mazzeotti, leader
of a band of Italian criminals is the
guilty one. Barney Gilmore takes the
part of Mr.. Dooley, newspaper corre-
spondent and detective, who has a clew to
| Mazzeotti's real calling and guilt MAJ
zeotu has the confidence of the Clarke
family, finds them at their summer home
on the Hudson and plans the abduction
of the child, which is accomplished in
| Central park, with the aid of Birdie Bo-
| len, an adventures. who is employed as
4. governess for the child by Mazzeottf's sug
| gestion, in the place of Mary Brandon. the
daughter of the unjustly accused man.
| Dooley loves Mary Brandon. who will not
! listen to him while the stain upon her
name stands as a result of her father :
conviction. Dooley's task is therefore to
prove Brandon innocent. prove Mazzeotti
guilty and recover the child
The part of Baby Clarke is taken bv
! little Bessie Burt. scarcely five years old.
with such winning intelligence and child
| lihe grace that the audience is at once
in love with and all sympathy for. her
| George Leslie. an actor, and Lillian
! Shirley, as 'Crullers," p" the pride of Null
| berry bend accomplish wonders in the
! way of saving the performance from be-
| coming irksonle. Leslie has new gags
! and new business as tramp dancer. and
| Miss Shirley sings new song about '.hot
! air. that goes home to the sensibilities of
! the occupants of the front rows and ms cts
with the warmest approval of the gallery
| gods. Her dancing might be considered
more effective or fetching than decorous.
| but the first nighters were of the opinion
| that it was good form. AS Birdie Bolen.
the adventures and accomplice of the
king kidnaper. Miss Nina Shirley per
forms a difficult role admirably, winning
the approval of the audience in her adroit
dual part of eoVerness and accomplice of
the king of I1idnapers
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