The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-06
which, by majority OF few thousand
votes. now controls the administration
-~~ooo~~o--oo-~~~~-S~~
At THE THEATERs.
METROPOLITAN

METROPOLITAN.
A good sized audience saw .The ViIleg e
| Parson' played last evening at the Met
! ropolitan theater The play is melo-
drama with a pastoral atmosphere. and
| like all melodramaS, it possesses a strong
heart interest. This interest and a num-
! Der of very thrilling situations, how
| ever, hardly atone for glazing faults of
construction and ineffective lines. The
story is by no means wildly improbable,
| but it drags in spite of the murder, rob-
| berry, abduction and numerous incidental
! hair breadth escapes that enliven it. In
a melodrama one is disposed to take
much for granted, but it is certainly
straining a point to have husband who
I is really in love with his wife and heart
! broken over an eStrangement play the
piano or organ or whatever instrument
| it is while she is sobbing her good-by
outside, even when he explains it is his
! faVorite hymn one is not quite satisfied.
Andy, another of the characters, also
| gives one a rude shock. In the first act
| he is simple. loyal fellow, man of all
work about the farm. In the next he is
| a man of the world-an intoxicated man
of the world-whoSe language is the
! language of an educated man, although
it is maudlin. Considering that eight
! years are supposed to have elapsed be-
| tween the two acts one is somewhat pre-
pared for a change, but when the last
! scene of all finds Andy a policeman with
! the old farm patois back, it's bewilder-
! ing. That first act had led one to hope
! better things of Andy and his author
e: Lawrence Lee, as the parSon, is not
very satisfactory in che first act, but
when one becomes accustomed to his PEI
culiar manncriSms he is more convincing.
| Mr.. Lees appearance is very much in
his favor and if he would forget S
Delsarte, or whatever it is that causes
him to move his arms always in curves
and to iatone rather than speak, he
would be much more effective.
Miss Anna Viola Risher is good as Fern
| Cooley, the parsons wife, but her taste
| in dress is open to criticism. William
/ Webb, as Bud Gordon, is the best player
in the company. Charles De Boise, who
| plays the part of the cold, cruel villain,
| possesses repose of manner and a clear
| enunciation. Mrs. George w. Barnum
| did some fairly good character work as
| Gretchen Van Grams. Josie Mcmahon,
! as little MYRTLE is a staccato-voiced
! cherub with an engaging stage presence.
! The makeup of the minor male char
acters was very bad The stage settings
| on the other hand were rather good
! The play will DC repeated the rest Of
the week, with Wednesday and Saturday
matinees.
GRAND.
Carl Carlson, the new Swedish meri-
can comedy, which has been written as
a vehicle for the rather limited talents
OF which Arthur Donaldson is the pos
SCISSOR, has, like most of the other plays
OF It's class, but little merit to commend
1t. There is a small vein of human in
terest running through the piece but
nothing worthy OF particular mention.
The company is not strong, and, even
were they better than they are, it would
avail but little. owing to the inherent
weakness of the drama which they are
presenting. Mr.. Donaldson. as Carl Carr.
son. is probably the best in the cast.
winch isn't saying much. He has some
| how become imbued with the idea that
he is the whole show, and his self
esteem is exhibited on every possitne
pretext. 1t mars his work measurablv
however and If he could forget himself
occasionally he would show to better ad-
vantage. The other members of the com
pany do not evince enough ability to call
for individual mention.
orion CONCERT.
~ large and enthusiastic audience at
fenced the excellent concert given bv tina
Arlon Singing society at Mozart hall last
night: The programme contained soma
| classic musical numbers, which were well
rendered and received several encores
a feature of the entertainment was the
comic one-act operetta entitled 'The
Soldiers Are Coming or ssJJproar in a
Young Ladies' School," which was ar
tlstcally presented by the ladies' chorus
OF the society, under the direction of
John S. erode, musical director of the
Arion society. Mrs Julia Schumacher
took the part of the school teacher in a
very creditable manner Anna j. erode
theresa Esch and Hildegarde Rentz. as
school girls, were all given an opportunity
during the act to use their excellent
voices with good effect in several solos.
assisted by the ladies' chorus. The bari
tone solo by Frank J. Ellis, assisted by
the male chorus, was very good and
called for an encore Another feature of
the programme was the comic duet bv
Jacob Simmer Jr., and Nc. F. Gardner
The mixed chorus sang two pretty selec-
lions In very artistic manner. The bass
solo by Mr.. Anthony Frank was also
good. Rodenkirchen's orchestra played
several well received musical selections
that called for encores and played for the
dancing that followed. Mrs Louis Mich
was the accempanist of the evening.
STAR.
The Moulin Rouge, from which the COM
pany at the Star takes its name. must be
located in Paris, Ky, for there is nothing
IN the performance to suggest artistic
French naughtiness. The humor that
crops out here and there is undeniabiy|
American smut. The two farces which
open and close the show are cid variety
standbys, in which water squirting. stage
money, the B0wery dance and other stale
methods are employed to raise a laugh
One of them is copyrighted, but this
seems an unnecessary precaution Bert
Baker, comedian, is distributed through
out the programme. appearing at both
ends and the mid,]e His hest work was
done in a sketch in which he OCCASION
ally showed flashes of originality The
best feature of the show was turn
which introduces FIVE cute little picKa-
ninnies, and some dancing by the Sohlkes.
which was artistic. Az and Mamie An
lerson, colored, gave the same speciality
they used in a vaudeville performance
at the Metropolitan recently and made
quite nit. The ether features of the
olio were buck dancing by Robert }
Conwell, some plastique pictures, and a
musical sketch by Green and Thompson
None of these specialties was above
mcdiocrity.