The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-03-25
AmHSemeHtS.


GO forth. Gods outlaw; go to meet
his wrath"
The Cardinal Giovanni de Medici was
speaking to Andrea StrOzzi, and the
fashionable audience in the Salt Lake
theatre all but cheered in its enthEsias-
tic appreciation of the great actors
work. After an absence of more than
nine years, E. s. Willard opened the
most notable engagement Of the season
in the Theatre last night. Those who
had seen him in the Professors Love
Story" and THE Middleman" found it
hard to reconcile Professor GoodWillie
and the simple potter with the smiling
man in the red robe, but he was there
there with the sweet voice that rings SO
clearly and so true, there with the smile
that has won the hearts of American
audiences ever since the gentle English
actor first set foot on this country 5
soil.
In THE Cardinal Mr.. Willard finds
a medium of expression entirely differ
ent from that in his other plays. but
he does it so naturally, so unaffectedly.
Sc humanely, that in spite of them
selves he wraps his cardinal about his
hearers and they live. they suffer, they
rejoice with them. 1.-The Cardinal is not
a great play. but Willard is a great
dClDls anu OutSiQG OF EudkGS ptdICs Ut
in it, either. one rarely finds the two
combined. There are scenes in the play
which would be tedious in less capable
hands. Indeed, almost the whole Of the
third act might almost be omitted, ex-
cept for the cardinals magnificently
pathetic description of his visit to the
pope to intercede for the life of Gu
lianO, his brother, and his denuncia-
ton of Andrea Strozzi.
There are other spots where Mr.. VIII
| lard's genius saves the play. No actor
who has been seen in Salt Lake for
years could have played the mailman
as he did. He was mad. to all seem
ing, but there was method in it. Lured
by the priests desperate cunning,
SUrOzzi confesses publicly that he has
committed the murder OF which GiU-
lianO stands accused. and a play
through which the dominant note is
| tragic, ends happily at last.
Mr.. Willard has surrounded himself
by a most capable cast. Miss Marie
Linden as Clarisia de Medici, mother
o. the cardinal. filed the part most
aCceptably. The GiulianO Of A. S.
/ Homewood was more than credita BILE
/ and Miss Ellen O'Mauey's Filberta was
all that could be desired. A character
/ that deserves, however. to rank second
| to Mr.. Wizards cardinal was j. G.
| Taylor, who appeared as Becpo, the
| bell ringer OF the capitol He was the
I only member of the cast, aside from
/ the star, who won and deserved spOn-
| taneous applause.
The play is very handsomely staged
the accessories being perhaps more
elaborate in their every detail than
/ those of any production seen in salt
| Lake this season. Not that there was
I so much of it. for the four acts con-
/ tanned only two scenes, the garden OF
4 the cardinal and his study, but they
We're worked out to the last detail and
/ approached perfection as nearly as
anything of the kind could.
/ \ strikingly restful feature Of the
/ performance was its naturalness. Al
] though many OF the episodes were ex
tremely distressing. there were no hys
terics, very little sobbing and no hard
/ drawn breaths. 1t was life, real life
/ with its dark clouds and its occasiona
brightness, and despite its tragedy. NJ
one need fear an attack of the horror.
/ from seeing it. The curtain calls wer,
/ numerous. but Mr.. Willard wisely re
Trained from remarks or anything els,
/ tending to mar the effect of his work
The audience. while not the larges
ever gathered in the Theatre. was one
/ of the most fashionable. A large pro
portion of Salt Lakes society was Their,
in evening dress, and the auditorium
presented a brilliant appearance
Tonight Mr.. Willard will be seen IN
what many Of his admirers consider hi.
best play, The Professors Low,
Story" Tomorrow night he present,
David Garrick:' Thursday night
Tom Pinch;" Friday evening and sat
urday matinee The Cardinal" and
Saturday night the engagement closes
with the second presentation Of 'Th'
/ Professors Love story
Last night Arthur Shepherd made hi
first appearance as conductor of the or
chestFa He was applauded as he pickle,
up his baton, and at the close oAeacl
of his selections the audience testified
10 its appreciation by liberal applause