The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-11-02
All THE PLAY LAST NIGHT.

At the Crawford last night a large
audience saw second-rate company in
the well vanished and highly FURNISHED
melange of time-worn farce comedy
jokes called 1.-THE Burgomaster." The
seats on the entire first floor sold for
$1.50 In the language of the old Dutch
ruler of New Amsterdam, rs it pos
sible?'
The audience was large, but did not
fill every seat, and the record for the
largest audience of the season is still
held by "A Runaway Girl" 1t was
a noticeable fact last night that the
loudest laughs and the most pro-
longed applause came from the rear Of
the first floor and the balcony and gal
lery. The performance did not go with
the vim and dash of last season, when
the original company was seen here.
In the second act is sung the now ia
nous tale of a Kangaroo and in the
third act the company whistles the air.
A year ago there were half a dozen
recalls when the tuneful little ditty was
sung in the second act, and when it
was whistled in the third the entire gal
lery, and part of the lower floor of the
house, took up the air till the stage
whistlers were drowned out by the ava
lanche of whistles and puckered lips in
the audience. But everything has its
day, even 1.-The Tale of Kangaroo,
and last night when Miss Edith Yer
ringtOn sang the song that made Gus
Luders famous there were barely two
encores. Miss Warrington was with the
company last season as Willie van
Astorbilt,'' and played the same part
last night except that the arrangement
of her work has been so changed that
when there has to be any singing that
requires the gurgling and gargling
effect she will be on hand. For when
Miss Warrington turns her voice loose
it hardly sounds like the much abused
ripping brook, but more like a hogs
head of rainwater trying to empty it
self through a half-inch bunghole- Miss
i 80 Oh
keeps within her limit and does not try
to force matters.
Herbert Cawthorn was Peter Stuy-
vesant' and in comparison with w NJ
Norris, who created the part at the
Dearborn theater, Chicago, and with
Harry Davenport who played the part
here last season, Davenport has them
all bested. There never was anything
funny in the leading role. which re-
quires a wooden leg in the first act and
songs and dances in the succeeding
ones, except the business injected into
the part by the. player. The authors OF
the piece never intended that the gov
ernor of the f1OuriShing Dutch settle
ment should be funny. The Cawthorn
family is always funny. Topeka theater
goers still remember the days when
Joseph and Herbert were seen here with
the better grade of farce comedies and
they never failed, in tn language of the
profession, ito make good" Cawthorn
put more fun into the part last night
than either Norris or Davenport. Sew
eral times he did some little bit of nom
sense ludicrOus that he had to re-
peat it. When it comes to singing too
much must not be expected of a musical
comedy star but it is enough to say
that if Frank Daniels, Edward J. Con-
nelly and Herbert Cawthorn were to
contest for prize the last named would
tell the others to Just keep cooI' and
he would carry off the honors. Cav
thorn rolled his RS in a manner hat
would have won him coronet in Eng
land.
The company was large enough and
the costumes were picturesque enough
to please. The chorus work was good
and the girls were pleasing fair The
performance whole would have
been creditable for half the price that
was charged. 1t seems like the days of
Claude Duva1l and Beau Brocade when
people have to pay $1.50 to see such a
production. The price last year was the
same but in return the audience saw
Laura Joyce Bell and Riley Hatch in
their inimitable series of burlesques.
There was Knox Wilson as "Doodles."
Gus Luders himself and a first @ass
orchestra that could keep up with the
leader and besides the piece was new.