The Minneapolis journal., 1901-10-15
..voxx oui,ler. at the Metropolitan.

ssFoxy Quil1er'' at the metropolitan
The success of Foxy QuiIler, comic opera
detective parallels that Of Sherlock follnes'
Conan Doyle's literary creation Inc tales
first published narrating the explolts OF tne
latter were SO well received that Dr. Doyle
was forced to invent many more EXPLOITS until
at last in self defense he killed on tne
famous detective. Foxy CUTLER nrst mace
his appearance in "The Highwayman anu
scored the hit of that opera. Tne saure Oh
the craze for detective stories was SO oppor-
tnne and so quantity humorous that Foxy be-
came very popular parsonage so popular,
In Fart that the opera making firm OF De-
Koyen & Smith, Unlimited, decided 10 make
him the central parsonage or a. new OPERA
where his naive egotism might nave unre-
stricted play. Even in 'sThe Highwaymanr Y
the great detective betrayed strong 1amily
resemblance to the original egotfst bearing
the Smith hallmark, the SherlH Oh Nottlns7
ham. But the sheriff was merely his an
cee+or and Foxv had peculiarities Of his own
that entitled him to be considered new
creation. Now in the new opera, which is
the bill this week at the Metropolitan, we
have the sequal in a way OF Fne HlgnWay-
man." Like most sequels Foxy Quliler
lacks the freshness and spontanetity OF tne
original Our old friend, the detectlve, THINKS
as well of himself as ever and@ quotes US
freely and as unctuously as Of yore from me
vet be written story OF his EXPLOITS, Dut
somehow the merriment he eVokes lacks the
ring of heartlness Perhaps this is due 10
the tenuity of the story with which Mr..
Smith has fitted out the new opera. Truth 70
tell Matchmaking is not the strong point In
the work Of this librettist. He turns out
some delicately humorous dialogue with now
and then situation of merit, from comic
opera standpoint and he fits the composer out
with some dainty lyrics, but his DOCK IS
usually lacking in cumulative interest IN
deed this is the serious Iault OF MOST eN-
amples of modern American comic operas
thew tell no story worth while. There Is,
alas. no Gilbert now furnishing librettos for
the use of composers.
The score of Foxy Quiller'' reveals many
glimpses of DeKoven at his best-not so
many perhaps as princess Chic, which is
full of good things, but enough to show
that he is far from having exhausted his
resources. Seldom has the influence of en-
vironment On musical expression been more
deftly handled. The contrast between the
music that illustrates the action in England
and that which makes the shift to Corsica
picturesque is handled with the art of a
master The bright sunshine and warm pas
sions of the Mediterranean isle are described
in glowing coors The second act is aglow
with the sparkle of many brilliants Some Of
| them recall in way other Dekoven sue
| cesses but it is merely the family resem-
| blance which one might expect to note in
| the children of one composer
Jerome Sykes in the role of the great detec-
| tive is mildly but genuinely funny. 1t is to
| be noted, too, that his comedy Is OF the gen
uine kind with no resort to bufoonery and
| grotesque mannerisms. He issblessed with a
| good voice whether used in speech or song,
and despite a certain rotundty OF physique
| dances as lightly as many lighter man.