Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-06-22

sooted beneath the glltterlng dome
AZ, Mulyeys new temple of amuse-
,ont and listening to the strains OF
oSorbach's Grand Duchess one finds
,,msslf subject to triple charm, iirst'
,he wtchery of the music that not
ION the drawbacks of twenty-five
,t opera can totally Destroy second
MA sense OF novelty In the surround
,ass the airlness Of which almost
mixes of II taste Of opera al fresco;
add last. but by no means least, the
o,slng into life. under the magic touch
:, music. Of host Of long buried and
,',ootten memories Of by-gone days,
salt Lake was very young in operate
,vperience when for the first time she
ssord the strains Of Say to Him.
orbe Sabre OF My Sire and the other
,ne,odles Of offenbachs opera. 1t was
T. tbe later sixties, when the old Des-
.,et stock company was at It's helghlh,
NAT the Howson company group OF
English strollers an offshoot Of LYDIA
rhompson's British Blondes, came to
IA salt Lake theater and gave among
number Of glittering burlesques and
nnslcal pieces the first production OF
nrhe Grand Duchess" Emma Howson
n,os the duchess, John Howson her
,o,hsr the General Boum, and her
brother John or Jerome, and her SIS
,or Cella, were also members Of the
company
They had little or no CHORUS, for
travel in those days cost a figure that
,,,de the rowing companies economic
% the keenest degree, but IT was al
most our first taste Of anything that
resembled opera, and the work of the
uowson company for years remained
the standard 10y which all later musical
companies and buslesques were meas
ured.
"The Grand Duchess was seen
here from time to time alleT
that but. II we remember Alright, never
IN complete form, with chorus ana
orchestra I'LL Alice Oates brought II
an The memory OF her first appear
once Is always Il bright and charming
one but the picture is sadly impaired
nv the recollection Of later visit, Wnen
che was fat and fifty; and when her
company, too had gone badly to seedshe
continued to lag superiuous' on the
stage. and died In the harness some
years later
Still another rendition Of "The Grand
Duchess" which created most pleasant
IMPRESSIONS at the time, was that CIV
on by Prof. A. e. Smyth's juvenile
Opera company. which had just made
decided success of "PinafOre" This
was twenty years ago or more, and II
vas at that time that the star OF
M H. S. Goddard first began TO rise on
onr musical horizon he was the youth
an General Boum of the occasion, but
was "a slender that he had 10 use a
couple Of pillows to give the necessary
rotlndiy 10 the part nature has since
remeded all that, and added lot OF
other gifts as well. Maggie Freeze,
noW Mrs. Bassett), a member OF the
Salt Lake Opera company played the
youthful duchess and Annie Peterson,
a talented singer of those times filled
the part OF Fritz. Prof Smyth had a
capital chorus Of a hundred or more,
many OF whom are now scattered
among our various cholrs. or have
their progeny there: Prof Smyth, him
self the author of many well-known
hymns and Sunday school songs long
ago disappeared from Salt Lakes mu-
steal circles. but he still labors In the
divine art in the city OF Manti, His
work among the children of twenty
and twenty-five years ago has borne
much good fruit but Of all his achieve
ments. none are better remembered
than his production Of "The Grand
Duchess"
The third week Of the Wilbur Kirwln
| Opera Co, at the Salt Palace was near
y as large as the opening one; the ex-
pectation Is that the record will be
more than maintained as the warm
season advances. Next week, bill
that has always been strong in Salt
Lake In spite OF the many times II has
been presented 1.-THE Chimes Of Nor
mandy will be brought forward for the
first three nights and a Wednesday
matinee Thursday evening, another
popular work "Boccaccio" VII be put
on. The final performance OF THE
Grand Duchess which has proved
very popular, VIII be given to night.
The name OF Gentry is as familiar to
me boys and girls Of this day as those
OF Barnum, Robinson and Sells were TO
me boys and girls Of the last genera
tlon Gentry's dogs and ponies are to
oe with us once again next week, and
II goes without saying that their pat
fonage viii be limited only by the size
81 their tent. The manager claims
that his company Is bigger brighter
and fresher than ever this year, and that
mas several animal stars not before
seen In Salt Lake Among the big fea-
lures is the herd OF performing baby
elephants. The engagement opens next
Monday evening on Fourth South and
state streets and Is limited TO four
Gays There will he street parade at
il o'clock a, m. daily.
The combination OF the Passion Play,
coward and Vests vaudeville and the
huerbach orchestra have served TO
uraW large numbers OF people at CAL
GERS resort during the week. Few
thlngs have ever been seen here more
beautiful than the yitascope presenta-
uoh Of the Passion Play Everyone
VINO has not seen II should not miss this
opportunity.
mi