Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-09

Interest in the amusement offerings Of the
last week c~entered chiefly in the two musical
events, sousa's band concert on Tuesday
evening and the Kubelik concert on Sat
urday night. the latter attracting by far
the largest audiences OF the season. Sousa
had fairly liberal patronage. yet his audi
ences we're not nearly as large as have
greeted him on the occasion Of former visits.
On Sunday Morrison's Faust" drew the
usual large Sunday audiences. Monday
night the theater was filled with admirers
of Ben Hendricks and his impersonation Of
"ole oleson." Walker Whiteside played
20 larger audiences than are usually at
tracted by him during his regular yearly
engagements here. Mr.. Whiteside lie not a
bad actor himself and with the aid OF
good support he might easily establish him
self in the good graces Of theater-goers to
such an extent as to hll the theater at
each OF his performances. As II is be Is
seriously handicapped by the appearance
OF his wife, who Is known upon the stage
as Leila Wolstan, in the leading feminine
roles. Miss Wolstan has neither beauty
nor ability to recommend her as a leading
woman.
At the Orpheum the vaudeville bill. al
though headed by two we'll known stars
from the legitimate, Mr.. and Mrs. Sidney
Drew, was one Of the least entertaining OF
any that have been offered at this theater
during the present season. The patronage
was good during the first half OF the week.
The Trocadero, with a fairly good burlesque
and vaudeville bill, attracted the usual
large audiences that attend this place Of
amusement.
For the week opening today there is a
rare treat in store for lovers Of the IegitI-
mate drama. It is In the appearance DUR
ing the last half Of the week OF e. s. Will
lard, the well known English actor. Mr..
Willard has not favored Omaha with a
visit since 1892. when The Middleman'
was the feature Of his brief engagement.
He was booked to appear here two seasons
ago, but owing to illness, which forced him
to end his American tour In Chicago and
return to England, his local dates we're
cancelled. He has remained since then in
retirement aud returns to this country
after having fully recovered his normal
good health.
Some expressions of disappointment have
been heard because Mr.. willard has declined
to produce his new play. 1.-THE Cardinal
here. but Is to give us plays which have
been included in his repertory for some
years. tn announcement that he is to
play The Professors Love Story and
David Garrick' should be a welcome one
rather than a disappointment. THE Card
inal" is said by competent critics to be a
lamentable failure and their judgment is
borne out by the fact that after announc-
ing that he would play the piece a week in
Chicago, during his recent engagement
there, It was shelved after but a few per-
formances and one Of his older ones sub
stituted to ali the week out
One Of the largest and quickest advance
sales ever conducted for an amusement
event in Omaha was the one for the Ku-
belik concert. BY the new plan Of seat
selling. which was inaugurated at the Boyd
with the opening OF the present season.
mail orders for tickets will be accepted
any time after the announcement is made
that the attraction has been booked and
these orders are filed In order OF their re-
ceipt and filled accordingly before the reg
ular window sale opens. II has been known
for weeks that Kubelik was to appear In
concert at this theater, yet ON Monday
morning, February "a. when the seats we're
put on sale at the box once window there
were less than twenty mall orders to be
Allied and the longest line OF seat buyers
that has been seen In the lobby of the
theater since the Inauguration OF the new
plan was waiting to be served when Treas
urer Scott opened the ticket window. In
speaking Of the sale Treasurer Scott said;
"In all of the years that I have been con-
nectsd with the box ONCE end Of thu the
alter ! have never handled an advance sale
with such ease and apparently so s~atisfac-
torily to the seat purchasers as the Ku-
belik sale. There we're no spectators
IN line and very few regular theater-goers.
The purchasers were almost all Bohemians,
and while they were not familiar with the
location OF the different seats, they knew
exactly what price seats they wanted. how
many and whether they wanted them In
the parquette. the circle, the balcony or
the gallery. They stated their wants
plainly. each person giving the name OF