The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-16
MUSIC WAS ENJOYED TWEEN JOHNNY COMES MARCH ING HOME" WAS PLEASING. It Was Not Altogether . Success in Its Emphatic Modernity But
 Audience Spent Enjoy
 able Evening.

The effort made in "when Johnny Comes Marching Home'' to crowd the life, color and atmosphere of the great war period of the eos in Twentieth Century comic opera is not all together a success. Just how much this un- dertaking falls short of accomplishment Is what was lacking to completely satisfy the expec- tation of a great audience at the Montgomery Theatre last night.
 There was too much that was reminiscent of 'FloradoEA"i and too little of the war It was more like Broadway the whole than the South in the great internal struggle. Hoop skirts in q modern chorus and dance with booted and spurred officers was a little incon- gruous It was little startling that the bellies of the sos in balcony skirts and flower gar den hats should dance off the stage with a naughty ''Floradora' wink and jerk of the head.
 The time the music the scenery. the action did not harmonize in continuous whole That was perhaps the reason why there was some disappointment in the audience-not much but a little.
 The audience spent Q very enjoyable even ing. It was pleasing entertainment. It was not such a performance as grips the attention and rivets the interest. It was not an en- tertainnent that would make a man forget he had an engagement with the dentist tomorrow The applause was liberal. but not enthusiastic
 There was much in When Johnny Comes Marching Home" justly entitled to praise. In the first place it was magnifcently staged. The stage settings for the three acts were al- together handsome. TWO military tabeaux were impressiVely beautiful. It was a spec tacular success.
 Of special beauty a moonlight ssene and to heighten it's beauty there was ona of the prettiest charms of the evening to fit into 1t. The negro chorus with My Honey suckle Gfrl' in this moonlight scene will prob ably be longest remembered, although the splendid tenor of W. H. Thompson in My Own United States made the song a feature of the performance. One of the hits of the evening was the topical song of Miss Lou Harlow. But They Didn't" The music. all in l. very good if modern. The piece was frightened with a number of bounting airs and refrains It is possible that When Johnny Comes Marching Home'' is susceptible of a better interpretation than the presenting com pany gave it last night.
 The feminine portion of the compant su- perior to the masculine contingent. They were the better singers and the more convincing players. The best of them were Miss Florence Hayward. an arch and very attractive young woman; Miss Lou Harlow, of excellent voice and manifest ability, and Miss Lucille Saun- ders, who sang splendidly.
 Of the male voices w. H. Thompson was easily the best. He has a remarkably fine tenor and he looked the part of Col John Graham.
 But the greatest contributor to the evening s pleasure was James Francis, who gave ri- diculously funny interpretation of the part of Jonathan Phoenix. The authors did not give MT. Francis any too many opportunities. but he availed himself of all he had. He Is a finished comedian, who makes demands for roars of laughter rather than of smiles. Mir. Francis enjoyed
 Standing room audiences, it seems, are be- coming quite frequent there.
 The attraction tonight will be Virginia Drew Prescott in "Satana."