The times., 1901-06-06
CIssIE LOTUS SHOW.
The Mimic Surrounded by an Ordi-
nary Lot of Entertainers.

OF
| The conversion of Washington into a
! One-night stand was quite successfully ac-
complished by Cissie LOTUS yesterday,
when she gave two performances at the
National Theatre. If the quality of the
bin had been at all commensurate with
! the size of the audiences there would have
been little to complain Of, but those who
| attended the performances witnessed a
very ordinary vaudeville show-one that
has been frequently exceIled at local vau-
deville houses and at one-third the prices
| demanded by the Lotus management.
There is absolutely nothing about the bill
to warrant the charge of one dollar and a
half for orchestra seats, with other sec
tions of the house in proportion. 1t is not
even a particularly good fifty-cent vaude-
Vile entertainment, although doubtless If
Miss LOTUS discharged her company with
the exception of Mrs. Shaw and Flo Irwin
and Walter Hawley, the quality of the
offering would be materially bettered.
During the past few years local theatre
goers have purchased numerous theatrical
gold bricks in the shape of special one
night performances, but the apex was
reached in the Cissie LOTUS venture.
Miss LOTUS limitations were, as usual,
Incompatible. and decidedly the best that
have ever been offered on the native Vau-
deville stage by a woman. The list of
subjects included Ada Rehan, May Irwin.
Yvette Guilbert. Fay TempletOn. Jose
phine Sabel. and De Wolf Hopper Miss
Lotus grace of manner. her delightfully."-
sweet voice. and her utter freedom from
any affectedness add greatly TO the
strength of her work, and the audiences
could hardly have enough Of her imita-
tiOns. When, later in the evening, she
was seen IN sketch entitled II ndine.
OH
duce a song or a toe dance or a serpentine
dance. 1t would have added much to the
enjoyment of what was without any doubt
one Of the most tedious and weird things
that has ever been seen on a local Vaude-
vile stage. 1t continually held out hopes
for something good, but, unfortunately,
these expectations were never realized,
and when she gave her leading man, VIII
liam Courtenay stage stab the assem-
blage gave a sigh of relief
Frank Whitman, vlOlinist, displays an
ability to dance during his efforts with the
bow and plays with his violin in all sorts
of unconventional positions. Press Ell
dredge, Il black-facc comedian, repeated
practically the same mOnolOgue he deliV
cred at Hashim 5 earlier this year Even
when elevated to the digniied position Of
a place on a dollar and a half bill FL
dredge does not take the trouble to pro-
vide new material for his act, Mrs.
Shaw appeared without her charming
daughters but wkistlcd most delightfully."-
an ambitious operate selection. Ma Tiger
Lily" and another number and made one
Of the descrvedly big hits Of the perform
ance. Flo Irwin, looking more than ever
like Sister May, presented her sketch.
The Gay Miss Con, and was assisted
by Walter Hawley. The piece has been
seen at several local vaudeville houses
before and is familiar to WashingtonianS.
Both MISS Irwin ana her assistant worked
hard yesterday and succeeded in winning
"a great deal OF laughter. The Edgar and
Mabel Norton "company'-the company
being George Fox-played n sketch called
The Wrong Flat" 1t Is the product
Of the George Totten Smith sketch fouu-
dry and was evidently not nodded by
union workers. for it is about as crude
an affair as has been seen in this city
for many a day while the Interpretation
is entirely IN keeping with the worth Of
the piece Stella Tracey. billed as The
Young Australian Coincidence" contrib
utes twenty minutes OF rather pleasing
entertainmC mt.