Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-08
WUSlC

The theatrical season Is still In the future
so far as the production of anything o.
noteworthy merit Is concerned. There !!
some consolation in knowing that "Hoch
the Consul" was not thrust upon this com
nunity in it's present crude and insufficient
state as a matter of deliberate purpose. II
was rung in as a substitute for Julia Mar
loves production of Queen Fiametta. II
was a shock in the first place to hear thai
the gentle Julia was going to perform q
play from the pen of that naughty and moi
very consequential Frenchman, Catulle
Mendes. 1t is given out that Miss Mar
loves nervous prostration was due to the
exactions of the play. 1t is not known
whether the collapse occurred during the
scenes in which tears were copiously de-
manded or when the box office receipts were
brought to her attention. However, such
speculations are of no Importance. They
belong to the past. 1t Is enough to know
that Miss Marlowe Is quite herself again
and that Queen Ffametta" will be placed
where 1t can no longer do any damage.
Louis Mann Is always funny. In 'Hoch
the Consul he is like the man in the move
The Man Who Laughs''-whose facia
muscles were surgically rearranged so thai
every change of countenance was merely a
different sort of laugh. What Louis Mann
must have been thinking about while the
few auditors who made GASES in a desert OF
empty chairs laughed at his drolleries, must
have been pathetic; pathetic enough to make
a plot for a current farce. And the COM
pany that Mr.. Mann brings for the por-
trayaI of kings and prime ministers-Ach
Louis Changes have been made in the
cast. Three new people appeared in respon-
sfble parts with the company for the first
time this afternoon. They are Olive May,
Charles j. Bell and George Christie. They
have a difficult task before them. for the
play although undeniably clever in its main
idea. has made bad start. But. as a cele-
brated philosopher has remarked, There
Is hope"
x u
1t may be merely from the surfeit OF
Florodora which the playgoers of Washing
ton have had during the past few months,
but it seemed to many who journeyed to
the Columbia this week that the production
the road is hardly up to the stand
ard set little earlier In the career of this
very successful musical piece sent over by
a clever English rhymer and an equally
clever composer of pleasing tunes Bob
Graham as Gilfain. w. P. Carleton as Lord
Abercoed, Philip Ryley as Tweedlepunch
and Helen Redmond as Dolores are remem-
bered from the company seen here the lat
ter part of last season, but the other faces
in the cast were new to this city. They
may have been in the chorus before but, at
any rate. did nothing so conspicuous as to
attract unusual attention.
Perhaps the principal interest in Floro-
dora is centered in the sextet. Heretofore
the girls have been undoubted beauties and
dpliunpncV
not commented upon. In this late produc-
ton there Is hardly any singing quality at
ALI and the girls-well, they look the very
best they can.
1t is difficult to tell just where all this
Florodora business is going TO end. If the
companies continue to multiply and undergo
reorganization the most humble chorus girl
OF the back row In the original production
will eventually be the star of some subse-
quent one. And as for seXtet girls, it has
been suggested they might form Society
OF the Sextet," with Red Stocking Council,
No. l." Black Stocking Council No Q"
and so on, until their number would be
equaled only by the Grand Army or some
other national organization. The fates OF
the real, true. honest-to-g goodness original
members of the F1orodora sextet will be
the topics of press agent stories and theat-
rical writings for years to come proba bly,.
Three Of the originals are being quietly
starred in The Silver Slipper Florodora s
successor on Broadway.
The lasting laugh qualities Of the Weber
& Fields potpouri. 'F'iddle-Dee-Dee," were
again in evidence this week at the Lafay-
ette where the Shea company enjoyed ex-
cellent patronage. The continued success
OF this musical burlesque. stripped of its
original all-star portrayers, speaks well,
not only for its inherent comedy strength
but also for the efforts OF the modest
lauSh-makers who now present 1t. While
suffering by comparison with gorgeousIy-
costumed productions. IN action and sue
cesslon of fun it leaves many of the So
called musical comedies far In the rear
After handling their German characters for
several years, Rice and Cady commenda-
bly, resist the temptation to overdo things
while Bobby North continues to give a
thoroughly enjoyable performance along
Dave Wartidd lines. With more energy
put into the role of Hoffman Barr and a
stronger dancer at the head of the chorus,
together, perhaps, with better costuming
and a polishing up of dialect drollerles,
''Fiddle-Dee-Dee" ought to go on enter
tanning people for time to come
Sir Arthur Sullivans first visit to Amer
lea is strikingly recalled by the deplorable
embarra ssments that have attended Com
poser Mascagnfs initial American visit. the
last of which woes a strike among his MIL
s:cians, has just closed the gifted Italian
American tour in Boston. Like Mascagni.
Sir Arthur, after his arrival soon ran Atom,
OF this countrys Musical Union. Unlike
Mascagni. toward whose opening perform
ances III New York the union succeeded in
directing much ridicule because Of the claim
that the Italians aids were not artists the
Britisher fought back. and fought hard and
successfully, waging a war of wit that in
spirit was more American than British.
Here is the story as Sir Arthur was wont
10 tell Il himself
Your question about the standard of ex-
cellence attained by orchestras In America
reminds me OF the one big game eff bluff
which perpetrated. We had been rehears-
ing The Pirates and IT was but two or
three days before the performance that the
whole band went on strike They ex-
plalned that the music was not ordinary on
eretta music, but more like grand opera
Perhaps II Is necessary to explain that their
method Is 10 charge according 10 scale so
much per week for EXTRACT music with an
ascending scale for operetta and SO on.
RAD they made their complaint earlier no
doubt matters could have been arranged
satisfactorily. but their going..on strike for
hisner salaries at the very last moment In
this way appealed to me as being a yery
mean thing 10 do. Under these cireum,
stances l felt there was nothing for II but
to grapple best 1 could with the erer-
gency. l called the band together and told
them that was much flattered by the com
pliment they had paid my music but de-
cilned TO submit TO their demands I uspt