The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-04-07
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rue oI JennlcO, the play toulid-
Gu upon the Well known novel by Edger-
ton and Alice Castle and made famous
py James *. aackett and Bertha Gal
idhu' was presented at the Metropolitan
!aSI nishC before an audience which gave
~ enthusiastic approval, despite the fact
lhdC they refused to accept the last act
save IN spirit of burlesque.
Inc very fact that the last act of the
play does not wholly discredit it Is
proof Of the fact that it has intrinsic
merit. An audience is hardly to be taken
10 TASK Tor accepting such wholesome
Tragedy as marked this act, with laughter
AKIN TO derlsion. When a young swords
man. single handed Stays a dozen brig
anus III the space of a minute, as the good
young Jennlco does in the last act of this
play, neither the ability Of the actors nor
the seriousness and sincerely of their
performance, can wholly condone the
melodramat1c recklesSneSS of the author.
Inc ease and rapidity with which BasiIs
good sword played havoc with his foes
In that last act made the gallery indeed
heaven" and the gods fairly made the
rafters ring with cheers for the hero and
misses for the villain. 1t was rather an
unusual thing for the Metropolitan.
Notwithstanding the extravagant i'm
probability Of the last act, the play is
worthy one of its kind, and tells a most
interesting story. Its main theme is the
desire of Ottille, the beautiful and frolIc-
some Princess of Dornheim, to be loved
for herself alone regardless of her rank
70 this end she changes places with her
waiting maid, and in this guise wins the
love CT Basil Jennico, who has sworn to
ms ancestors not to marry one beneath
him in station. Perceiving that JennIco
loves her, and knowing that she loves
him, she tricks him into marriage with
the maid whom he thinks is the prin-
cess
He discovers the trick Immediately after
the marriage. but confesses that he loves
the maid. The course of love runs smooth
until Prince Eugen, of Lusata, who has
schemed to marry the princess, arrives on
the scene, and with the help of a gypsy
girl whom he pretends to love, contrlves
TO separate JennicO and his wife in a
quarrel After Jennico has in anger sent
his wife from him he discovers that he
mas loved her more than he knew ana
he sets about at once to win her back
Up to this point the play is interesting
and appealing. From this point on It
| becomes exciting and melodramatic The
two last acts are crowded with the claug
ing OF steel on steel, villainous machina-
lions, attempted assassinations, whole
| sale murders. Jennico Wades literally
! through seas of blood, laying brigands and
| bandits low before his prowess with such
| rapidity as to stun the senses of the on
| locker
Every time he turns about it is to be
waylaid by hired assassins, thirsty for
! his gore, but with true melodramatic eff
/ feet they all fall before his mighty arm
But, however improbable the story ard
| however ludicrous some of it's situations,
! 1t has proved its claim to popularity This
| has been largely due to it's heart-inter-
| est, and especially due, no doubt to the
! fact that it has always been interpreted
| by capable artists.
| An inferior company would make it alb
| solutely ridiculous. The company pre-
| senting it last night is on the whole
/ strong one.
! Wallace Worsely who plays the role
! of Basil JennicO, is an actor of ability
and his Interpretation of the gallant
! fearless. nOble-hearted Jennico, was all
that cOuld be desired. He has a fine
stage presence and admirable bearing, his
acting is marked with ease and natural
grace, and whenever necessary with ro-
mantle fire and fervor, REQUESTS to the
| character His sword play was unusually
| clever He received tremendous ap-
| plause at the end of the third act last
! night, and was forced to come before the
curtain and make brief speech.
Miss Frances Nelson, as the princess,
was wholly admirable in the first two
acts. In the last two acts she was not
import
| ant than the first two. She portrayed
the loving, tender, passionate, capricious,
WlnSome woman with rare force and
sweetness. 1t was easy to believe that
Jennico loved her, and she justified all
mis- future actions.
William j. Roman, as Sir John Bed
does, the gallant boisterous, happy-go-
! lucky Englishman, friend of Jennico.
was splendid and deserves warmest com
nendatiOn for his work Miss Suzzane
t1alpren as Michel, the gypsy girl, played
with unusual intensity and abandon and
| her work throughout was above the
average She rightfully shared the hon
ors with Miss Nelson. Theodore Kern
Wald, as the Baron Won Krappitz. was
very good in the first act, but added
| atrociously to the burden of unpardon-
! able offenses the authors of the play
| have committed in the last act, by q
most pitiable attempt to be funny in
the face of the eliminating slaughters
that were about to be pulled off
The Climbers" which will be present
cd Tor the drst time here at the Metro
politan Thursday night contains the emf
sode most talked of by New York theater
! goers last season. 1t concerns the con-
1eSSlOn Of the embezzler Richard Star-
ing, and occurs at the end Of the SEQ
ind act, and on the first night the audi
torium was plunged in total darkness for
several minutes. But. although a the
alter full Of people will sit in the dark
through four hours of the "Gotterdame
rung, they became so uneasy durinf.
the few moments of Mr. Fitch's plav thar
on the following night the scene was
played in semi-darkness. This rulA has
! since been adhered to.
All you devotees of wit, beauty and
song have got good reason for iollifica-
ton. The Explorers is coming hack
to town, with all it's original wealth of
ga1ety, girls, music and fun that char
acterized it's late financial and artistic
career at the Metropolitan a few weeks
ago. Thls merry musical oddity is an
nounced for the Metropolitan on Sunday.
Monday and Tuesday evenings. and on
Wednesday afternoon and evening
grand revival of the original New York
! production of THE Burgomaster', will ba
given, with all its environments of on
cratic burlesque extravaganza and high
class vaudeville features.
Fiddle Dee Dee may lack the nrinci-
| pals of the cast that made If Sucb a
| pronounced success during the Pan
American exposition last season. but in
the substitution that has been induIead
| in, no crime has been committed
| For its first appearance in st, Paul. the
attraction last night had an audience
! that was the largest of the season, while
to its credit must be said the major nor
! ton who witnessed it were provided for
| long before the doors were opened fo,,
| the evening performance.
potpourri of dramatic nonsense f,1
| or life, dialogues that are witty. scenery
mat is gorgeous, music that is catchy