The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-11-04
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AT The Theatres.

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Bracketed with The Ticket OF Leave
Man and The Silver king" The Two
Orphans of Messrs Dennery and Cor
mon. ranks among the best melodra,na
ever VT tton To-Day. as ali la.e.
an audience for hours III thrall Shorn o;
something of its old attractvcness by
tiie loss of several actors impossible to
70 replace. 1t stitl touches apsorfs. cx-
cites, and thrills as no play of M Kind
has eyer done, Still we need not be dis
consulate, for the pay is leit-the plavt
and Miss Kate Cla3ctcn.
AS in the early days Of lis Introduction
into this country. Miss ClaSton is the
hind. Louise, and it is not enough TO say
that her Louise is an eeNquisitelE heauti-
iil and touching piece of work. 1t were
not too much TO assert. that of its kind,
nothing can ever nave been seen more
nelicatclN outlined. more patiletieailB.
true. than this helpless sightleSs .8r..
condemned by inhuman wrelches to sing
and beg. and starve for Their gain iu#
Paris streets a heart Of stone would
melt In gazing on her wan. white face.
and big desltairlng fearless eyes; in
listening to the hopeiess wall in her sor-I
rowful heart. For SO fine an artist. so
rare an actress as Miss Kate claxton
isis not much perhaps, to do. Every
thing beeets sympathy, the kidnapped
girls foriorn condition. her rags her
hunger. her obvious misery. But behind
all this. and the cunning aid OF pa4,.,.
Miss Claxton brings into play an un-
erring insight, 4 simplicity, j sincerity,
which trahsmnte the painted sham into
startling reality
With such a Louise, one could cheer
fully ignore lack Of color here
dreadful superahurdance there. else
where & wofu! want Of elegance and dis
tincton. and i'll many parts a curious
blindness to the period of the drama and
the manners and customs OF those pre-
Revolutionary days on the stage or
off, II was all one. Hcrzinfluence was
supreme. Miss Claxton held the house
completely captive. the story of the
blind girl dominated the whole piece,
end when. in the famous garnet scene
fine finest bit of meiodranaa ever COM
posed--the brothers had fought, and the
cripple had won. and the reunited sis
sers We're restored TO freedom, from GAL
Jerry TO orchestra the delight at her de-
livery knew no bounds
Ctrclng around this wcnGrousiy pa
fhetic figure of Miss Claxton's sensitive
Imagination are many excellent actors Of
whom several al any rate are seen to ad-
vantage. MIR. Arthur Bcrifelet gives an
artistic reading OF the hapless Cripple
here. The naughty Count fallsto clever
Gnd Inc sire George BeclSs. and his beau
tiful Countess. with the sad face and
: the accusing conscience to Miss Florence
Robinson. always an Interesting and il1l-
pressive actress. Miss Marion p Cliff
ion made admirably raucous. brutal.
and brandy drinking Frnchard and
Roger Lytton. prone 10 slap the coiors
on with a BIN stickeris brush. was the
swaggering. handsome. daredevil gypsy.
the criaples burly. clustering brother.
The fine old play has every advantage
OF picturesque setting and appropriate
costume, and from all appearances. Miss
Cla.ton ts to enjoy the golden fruits Of
a long run.
"A Stranger. in a strange Land. at the
B!5ou Theatre Tor the Ween as d fofl.cKIuG
boislerous. not to say Strenuous euter-
sa4nmeni. tia, Is Distinguished ey novel;
~ In general and in particular.
istle; com4ng' OF The I,loou Comedy Com
yally TO town is sometning OF an event.
It punctuaies he round of bills Win a
breezy exclamation point and II is al
together delicious.
Taste III musical comedy differs SO
widely. no one can say any piece is for
innate enough 10 win the liking even OF
ti1e ma jojaty Of theatre soers. 1t is per-
fectlN reasonable. therefore, 10 expect
yciy decided dissent from the opinion that
places "A Stranger in a Strange Land
We'll up among the best traNesttes1 that
3 the Bl1on Company has given us. Ihere4i
IS no occasion to dissact affairs so slight, /
so slender. this play. but II is in or
der to name causes for giving It praise, !
End here are z few: 1t has a real story
nairabiie dictu-whicb is developed with
nluch more Difference 10 common sense /
than is usually noted in this class of en- 1
tctletatnnent: there are bright lines and
diverttnE situations. brilliant costumes. 4
catchy music Of the Hoffman variety. i
and, Of course, the well drilled chorus OF !
pretty girls MIR Wells has not stinted
the piece in the matter OF scenery or fur |
nishinE. and the performance goes with /
life and spirit
The farce Is we'll known here for il
has been seen twice within the past two |
seasons at the Academy. but the attrac-
tions Of the piece have been multiplied |
by numerous~ specialties. one of which, /
the .'Ioot-hail Song n Is one OF the best /
things from spectacular point OF view,
that the company has ye, done
With one or two exceptions tho min |
cipals Of the company are not at home
an straight farce and lines and siina-
stons are allowed to drag. This was par
fic,,larly noticeable in the first act but
The piece gathers speed and Interest when
the musical numbers multiply and the
audience last night was reused into en-
tI,,sss SIN in th- second act. There is an
on,,lence Of color and af1iueice of melody |
distributed through the last two acts 1
!. GREG, was the exhibition of eirl in all 1
her ,nul,fplex cha rms and graccs. II WAS |
a triumph Of nonsense az In the past and
again the triumph Of the chorus girl.
Thia version CT - Stranger In a
strange land. is well worth while. The
irdiyidualitv OF Harlan. Little Chip Tony