The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-23
ft the 5heafers.

An immense audience witnessed the
PASTORAL play, THE Night Before Christ
mas" at the Grand last night. What is
more it was an appreciatiVe audience.
THE Night Before Christmas is
rural drama, realistic to a degree, and
sufficiently impregnated with the quaint
humor and amusing characters attendant
upon a country village of the Middle
West as to make it satisfying. 1t is
mixture of rural humor and pathoS, the
latter so dramatic in its character as To
call for copious weeping on the part or
many of the fair sex.
Briefly it is a story Of a hayward son.
his arrest for murder, the sentence OF
death by the father, who is presiding
judge, the latter's~ elevation to the guber-
Material chair, and who, holding duty
above parental affection, refuses a gov
ernor's prerogative, the pardon. The
curtain rings down on the son freed from
the electric chair.
The opening scene on Christmas Eve,
with the old farm house and its motley
gathering of characters peculiar to the
neighborhood, permits the introduction of
some scenes that are pleasing. Promi-
nent among these are the Clifton chill
dren, two diminuttve tots, yet sufficiently
versatile to call for repeated encores.
They have been seen in ''Shore Acres
Together with Miss Alice Clifton they
furnish a singing speciality that Is salts
factory and as father, judge and gov
ernor, and Sorely> tried in each capacity,
Elmer Grandin gave a portrayal that
neceSSitated answers to several curtain
calls. Edward H. Banker as the blind
fiddler, imperSonateS old age in a man
ner that is dramatic in it's exactness
Ned Risley, the tramp, Charles G. Will
son, a wealthy farmer and Fred Guest
as the pompous prosecuting attorney are
above the average.
The work of Miss Helen Courtney and
Miss Grace Estelle Clarke is meritorious.
Charles c. Dickey is also worthy of praise.
The remainder of the support is fair. The
scenic effects are the best that have
| been seen at the Grand this year.
The Gay Girls of Gotham put UP a
! lively show at the Star this week. One
| of them is quite gay, in fact She is
| Zoa Mathews and she sings coon songs
assisted by a pickaninny in very ging-
cry way. She is the friskiest soubrette
| that has come down the rag-time pike
| this season and her act is the hit of the
! snow. DICK Brown, who appears with
Winnie Richards in song and dance
sketch, got second mortgage on the audi
| ence's affections.
While the show is not as strong numer-
! lcaaly, as some of it's predecessors, 1t in
dividually averages better and the oIio
I
ballads with good effect; Billie Goss had
some original jokes in a monologue, and
| Murphy and Nolan, Irish comedians. got
| the audience warmed up with a whistlng
song. The cineograph pictures are the
best shown here for some time A min
strel first part with Winnie Richards as
! interlocutor, opens the show and COM
bination of the old-time farce Of the
| Irish justice, and the Seeley dinner
naughtiness closes it. The performance Is
| to be commended for an effort at novelty.
despite the fact that last years songs
predom1nate in the vocal illusions Peo-
pie were turned away at both Of yester-
| days performances.
! The advance sale of reserved seats
opens at the box office of the MetropoI1-
tan this morning for the engagement of
Mr.. and Mrs. c. M. Bruno the latter
part of this week. Thursday evening and
Saturday matinee they will play '"rheo-
DORA" Friday and Saturday nights they
will be seen in Cleopatra"