The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-16

| nne lass night at the Academy of MI
sic, and one Of the biggest houses of tn,
year decided that the Australian is pref
! ty good sort of an actor. much better, /,
! fact. than most of the heroes of tn,
/ squared circle who have adorned tn,
stage during the past decade In the frs
! place Fitzsimmons makes no pretence t,
/ art; he doesn't deliver his lines from tbs
side of his mouth after the fashion of hi.
! esteemed contemporaries. Mr.. T. Mccoy
ern and Mr.. ]. L. Sullivan: he goes at hi:
stage labors with the same nonchalance
az man starting out for the foundry at
SEQ a. M. swinging his dinner pail, and
happy in the knowledge that he can get
away with anything that may come his
way. Fitz does no side stepping with the
he-oics of THE Honest Blacksmith and
when he is called upon to take the centre
of the stage he does so with the same
alacrity and confidence that he jumps in
the ring at the sound of the gong. The
audience of last night applauded all of the
scenes most enthusiastically, and there
was no doubt as to the success of the
performance.
The programme puts the blame for 1.-The
Honest Blacksmith" upon William Gill,
who has hitherto been regarded as a
rather good dramatfst The present Acad-
envy Offering has been obviously built for
the special use of Fitzsimmons family
for IL should be borre in mind that Mrs.
FitZsimmons and young Bobby Fitzsim-
mons have prominent places in the COM
pany. and go through their work very
cleverly. The little fellow in particular
seems to enjoy his part. while from across
the footlights he is one of the most popu-
lar members of the organization.
The first act of the play shows Fitz as
blacksmith, forging a horseshoe, and
let's the audience into the secret of the
he iS
training quarters, in which he does some
bag punching and indulges in a three
round bout with bis. sparring partner. Ed
Dunkhorst, and this scene is quite natural
ly the most appreciated of the evening.
The play works out to the entire satisfac-
ton of the Fitzsmmons family. and they
come out In the lead at every turn.
In the play F'itz has young brother,
whom he lectures about the evils of ci-
gazette smoking and incompetence. This
is the way in which the big fellow does
1t:
Look at me; / never smoked one of
those things in my life. and you have one
in your mouth all the time. In the con-
dition | am in. have good liver. heart.
wind, and conscience. And you-your heart
is on the bum; you haven't enough wind to
initiate a scent balloon. your liver Is like
lump of lead, and your conscience Is
dead to the world"
OF course the gallery emits a yell that
can be heard on the Avenue at this speech.
The enthusiastic element of the audience
gets another chance. to WhoOp II up Tor
Fitz when the villain asks Mrs. Fitzsim-
mons If Bob is in condition. Then the
good lady hands this to the scoundrel:
Bob is always in condition. He Is
good husband, and stays at home nights
instead of going to barrooms.
There are plenty of similar speeches In
The Honest Blacksmith and they are
just frequent enough to keep up con-
tinuous applause.
There are quite number of really capa-
bic actors in the piece, but they are of
secondary Importance to the Fttzsim-
and are never permitted to linger
in the limelight.
The Honest Blacksmith" Is clean
play and will please, those who admire
the Australian tighter, As a dramatic
masterpiece it will never take an exalted
rank, although it serves its purpose in OK
plotting the elongated Fftz and his family
very we'll The Exposition Four. a re-
markably good quartette. plays upon a
number of musical instruments and sings
greatly to the delight of the au-
dience FitZsimmons. pere, also proves
that he is a fair singer by warbllng When
He's Full" which the hero of the play
does to give the villain the idea that he is
in no condition to win prize fight. The
gallery enjoyed Fitz's efforts at Nocaliza-
ton hugely. There will be matinee per-
of The Honest Blacksmith
today. Thursday, and Saturday. The IieCe
Is well worth seeing.