The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-11-10

a Lake T~heatre-Monday, \
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs =
day, Mr.. and Mrs. Bruno in
"Theodora"; Friday and Satur-
cay and Saturday matinee, 'In =
= Old Kentucky"
New Grand "Theatre-Monday, =
Tuesday, Wednesday and We'd =
nesday matinee, "A Female =
Drummer; Thursday, Friday, =
Saturday and Saturday matt ,
= nee, AT tie Old Cross Roads,
HERE is something to excite
curiosity as we'll as marvel in the
number of theatrical productions
thaL owe their success to trivial things.
AT best. the business is a speculation
and your most successful manager
realizes that every time he places a
uolldr In an enterprise, he is merely
wagering It against the public taste.
than which nothing is more tickle.
rays which It seems should succeed
ran utterly; pieces which are mediocre
oIten make the biggeA n Little
thlngs-a bit of stage business that the
stage manager doesn't like or a song
winch the composer himself doesn't
care Tor, often make" a play.
shore Acres" furnishes q striking
example of this sort of thing. Now a
standard drama and still q money!
maker, two little incidents in the piece
brought il success ten years ago. One
was the turkey dinner-which Mr..
Herne chung TO ver afterwards-and
lie other was the finale Of the last
act.
To have a finale with only n per
son on the stage, and that person silent.
never had been attempted before.
herne suggested it 20 his managers.
They laughed at him.. A different
climax had been presented each night.
but the audience did not take kindly
10 IT at all. One night, without a word
OF warning. Herne played the last act
IN his own way. For five minutes he
moved about the stage, locking the
doors, shutting the windows, and at
tending 10 the stove without a line Of
speech. Then ne walked off the stage.
The idea appealed to the audience.
From that moment the box office
showed mere encouraging receipts and
the play has the enduring qualities.
from present indications. of an Uncle
Toms Cabin"
How "~FlOrodOra" became a success
through the Tell Ne. Pretty Maiden"
number has often been told. It will
be recalled that One song made" Edna
May. Had Follow On" not been
written in The Belle of New York; it
is extremely doubtful if Miss May
would nov a stellar rank. Another
sort of song would have fallen fat.
Follow On" just happened to suit her
personality exactly. and from an un-
known member Of the chorus she be-
came known IN both sides of the At
lantic, and later headed her own COM
pany.
Josephine Hail made a hit in The
Girl From Paris" which. by the way,
IS to appear here this season, by means
Of song, called Sister Mary James
tTOp-nOte. Tt was not especially tune
ful nor brilliant. 1t was novel. Until
then Miss Hall had never done any
thing startling. One light. thinking
the song did not get the applause il
deserved, the singer emitted one long
shrek in Imitation of the top-note re-
fecred TO in the ditty and was reward
ed thereafter with five encores night
y. That one shrek made her and
contributed largely to the success Of
th5 Iiece.
Atoat the most recent example is in
Liberty. Bell " now running in New
York. For its financial success. the
piece practically depends on the first
act As the curtain rises, two beds
are disclosed il a sleeping apartment
of a girls dOTmitory. This is a start
ling enough way to begin a play, to
be sure, and or the first night the
audience gasped. From one of the
beds jumps q young woman 3 attired
only in pink pajamas. She Is Pauline
Chase. The audience liked the novelty
Of the thing and now Liberty Bellies"
IS seldom spoken of without some ref
erence TO the girl in the pink pajamas.
Eugene Elair has long enjoyed the
distinction of being Of the best
dressed actresses on the American
stage, aud this season, 4. her admir-
able production Of Peg Wellington, %
she has perhaps eciipsed all her
FORMER trlumphs IN sartOrial magnih-
cence. IN speaking yesterday ~ the
preparations necessary for her pre-
sentation, Miss Blair said:
Selecting the gowns for the piece
was a pleasant part Of the preliminary
work The costumes of about 1740-
the date in which the story is laid
len themselves to exceeding pictur-
esqueness both for men and women.
The gown, for example. in the third
act-a white duchess satin petticoat
embrOide I'D in silver with an over
gOWn en- train n very long, is a
reproduction Of a plate of Peg WOf-
hngtOn, Eade during the reign OF King
George III.
"Other gowns 7 wear in the play ere,
in the first act. a white satin duchess
petticOat with an O~verdress of black
satin, trimmed with appIiqued Renais-
anc lace G4ld WON with a large
Gaingb0rough hat. The same act gives
opportunity for change of costumes in
che 5-ressing-room scene. where a blue.
br0Cated negligee is worn. and later
changed for a bl~ack-spangled cloak OF
the period.
The second act permits the wearing
Of 4 gorgeous gown Of crimson br0cade
with satin petticoa- embroidered in
garnets, While the fourth and last act
affords a setting for an exquisite robe
of pale blue, trimmed with duchess
lace With an overgown embroidered in
silver. All were selected fr0i6 pictures
of the time, with cOloring adapted 10
the wearer.
Il wear a large, black a with
each gown continued Miss Blair.
"aad," she added naively. 81 think ii
rather effective, especially with the
white gown In the third act, Offset by
q spsngled black fan"
II the daily mail Of the average
theatrical manager there are many Gu
rious letters, most Of waich come from
atage-struck girls, but Mr.