Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-01-20

Clement Scott, the great English
critic, now engaged on the New York
Herald, has Just witnessed Maude
Adams In ''The Little Minister" and
this is the way he records his impress
sions:
supposing that on last Tuesday night
| had not been In New York at all, but
In London, thousands OF miles away
across the sea, Surprising ! had seen
THE Little Minister" and strolled af-
terward into the Garrick Club, where
enthusiasts ana playgoers mostly con-
gregate. Supposlng-nay 1t Is not a
supposltion, but certalnty-all the
boys had gathered around me and
said-"Well, what do you think OF
Maude Adams2'-what would my ans
wer have been?
My answer would have been, "she Is
a little genius" You viii tell me that |
have no right 10 judge by first impress
sions, That is very good doctrine,
no doubt, but II does not suit me. /
am faster Of art " I am anything
A tea faster, q wine faster, feeler OF
silks or OF satins decides by first i'm
presslons. Thousands OF dollars or
pounds depend upon his taste or his
touch. That Is his commercial value.
He must stand or fall by his verdict.
Well, on Tuesday night | sampled Miss
-Maude Adams, and / shall pronounce
her 10 be, as an actress, "a little
genius"
Everything was against her, so far
as / was concerned. in that she APP
peared In THE Little Minister"
which 10 me is the most soporihc play
! have ever encountered. ! have tried
to sit It out again and again in Lon
don. but 1t Invariably sends me TO
sleep Those elders" with their eter-
nal Scotch dialect. are to me like a
dose OF morphia. Whenever Lady
Babbie is OFF the stage | feel ! am In
the kirk" They preach and preach,
and preach They drawl and drawl and
drawl. There IS no relief to their miser-
able monotony. A desperation OF
dullness has ever stolen over me when
have seen 1.-THE Little Minister"
aesthetlcally beautiful, no doubt, but
dramatically dull.
/ think l have slept more peacefully
through this piece than any play have
seen for many years. II may be the
dialect, II may be the Scotch accent, II
may be the monotonous drawl and
drone, II may be the clergyman or his
congregation, but "The Little Minister"
has always sent me to sleep until Tues
day night, when Maude Adams was on
the stage.
Maude Adams was the electric CLEAN
that In an instant awakened me from
lethargic dream suggested by the
subject.
Here YOU have the essential essence
OF the purest comedy Here you have
a vital spark. Here you have an en-
bodiment Of lightning flashes and
change. For years past have not
seen so mercurial an actress. She is
never acting, she is all temperament
and transition. When an everyday wo-
man acts you can see the tricks Of her
trade. But with Maude Adams she is
no actress as we understand acting, but
will O. the wisp, a phantom light,
and eerl. ELF like creatue. a meteor. a
glow OF dramatic PHOSPHORUS,
Her presence Is not remarkable or
imposing, but when she asserts herself
she instantly impresses an audience.
The tiny, almost insignificant figure
enlarges. The voice, full and rich with
cadences, rings out like the clear
chime OF bell. The small actress be-
comes a power
Think Of that scene at the end Of the
third act, when Lady Babbie hesitates
what to do and changes her mind a
dozen times in variety Of ways and