The times., 1901-04-16

| line last night at the Academy of Mu.
| sic, and one of the biggest houses of the
| year decided that the Australian is a pret-
! ty good sort of an actor. much better, ir
/ fact than most of the heroes of the
squared circle who have adorned the
| stage during the past decade In the first
! place. Fitzsimmons makes no pretence &c
art he doesn't deliver his lines from the
side OF his mouth after the fashion of his
esteemed contemporaries, Mr. T. McGov-
ern and Mr.. J. l.. Sullivan: he goes at his
stage labors with the same nonchalance
man starting out for the foundry at
$50 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
heroics of The Honest Blacksmith, and
when ne 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 THE
Honest Blacksmith upon William Gill,
who has hitherto been regarded a
rather good dramatist The present Acad-
the special use of FitZsmmons family
for ii should be borne 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 footights he is one of the most popu-
lar members of the organization.
7 he first act of the play shows Fitz as
a blacksmith forging a horseshoe, and
let's the audience into the secret of the
s..~k,t ~. \
training quarters. in which ne does some
bag punching and indulges in a three
round bout with his sparring partner. I'D
Dunkhorst and this scene is quite natural'
ly the most appreciated of the evening.
The play works out to the entire satiSfac-
tion of the Fitzsmmons family. and they
come out in the lead at every turn.
In the play Fitz has young brother,
whom he lectures about the evils of ci-
garette smoking and intemperance. This
is the way in which the big fellow does
it:
.. .ook at me; I 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, 1 have good liver. heart,
wind and conscience. And you-your heart
is on the bum; you haven't enough wind TO
initiate scent balloon, your liver Is like
a 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 cnance 10 WnOOp IL up LOT
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 Fitzsim-
'monses, and are never permitted TO linger
in the limelight.
The Honest Blacksmith" is a clean
play and will please those who admire
the Australian fighter, AS a dramatic
masterpiece il will never take an exalted
rank although il serves its purpose in cX-
plotting the elongated Fitz and his family
very well The Exposition Four u re-
markably good quartette, plays upon
number of musical instruments and sings
parodies greatly to the delight of the au-
dience. FitZsimmOns, pere, also proves
that ne is fair singer by warbllng When
Hes 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 tocaliZa-
ton hugely. There will be matinee per-
formances of THE Honest Blacksmith
today Thursday, and Saturday. The Ilece
is well worth seeing.