The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-10-25

THIS WEEK At
The THEATRES

SALT LIKE THEATRE :
= Monday. Tuesday, wednesday. ,
= Thursday and Friday evenings =
= and Wednesday matinee, s'Ben =
= Hur." =
? Chamberlain, band con- =
? cert; Monday, Tuesday and =
Wednesday evenings and Wed y
> nesday matinee, Jessie Shirley >
? In ''Erilby'; Thursday, Friday =
? and Saturday evenings and Sat -
= uTday matinee. Jessie Shirley In y
, "a Modern Magdalen-" ,
= = , , , y = = = y = = y =
I'VE DON'T hesitate at times to
w sharply criticise our American
plays and players. but we dis
tinctly resent outside criticism e. an
unfayorable nature. This Is W. T.
Jules Huret. dramatic critic c. re
Paris Figaro has drawn down OF ., ~
self maledictOns from many 0~ t--s
dramatic critics Of the United s--Stt Z.
Recently M. Huret visited this con-
Try. on his return, after stay O. 60
few days. he wrote
The typical American piece is r.sj~s
END puerile to an extraordinary Co. :.
1t is usually a kind of vague ope- "a.
turning upon the intrigue and Ells-
understandings Of a pair Of very youth
iul lovers. who are happily married in
the end. after having dropped into
ambulance at frequent intervals,
upon every possible preteXt. or with
out any at all. ~ Everybody dances,
from the principals 10 the chorus girls,
and usually to the accompaniment Of
singing, either in chorus or solo. The
HI.fn a.
the women know how to sing and the
men ignore the art completely"
IL is quite apparent that M. Huret
butted into a mess OF musical come
dies We can't blame him for being
disguised with them, but we are sorry
ne considers them typical American
pieces. In doing so he displays an
astonishing amount OF ignorance about
the American stage. The worst plays
we have over here, morally speaking
as well as from the artistic standpoint.
are the French adaptations. Let NJ.
l1uret clean up his own yard before he
points the finger of scorn at ours.
This Pen Hur" business almost
amounts to a mania. The whole town
and some sections Of the state are Ben
Hur' mad. We are willing to admit,
without wasting time in argument,
tha- Ben Hur' is the biggest thing
OF its kind that has ever come so far
west as Salt Lake, but we seriously
question whether ii is worth the great
amount OF time and patience and
money it is costing some people. For
instance, a street car conductor some
time ago made an engagement with his
NO. ! gin 20 go with him to the open
Ing Ben Hur" performance.
he ordinarily goes on shift about IL
O'Clock in the morning. Bright and
nHNr h.
but, early as he was ne was a long
way back. The hours slowly passed. /
IT was after 3 o'clock i'm the afternoon
when the street car man finally Sc
cured his seats. They weren't very
good seats, either. He had forgotten /
all about his work. When he finally
reported for duty he was Informed /
that ne must take his place again on !
the waiting list, a list he escaped from /
about a year ago. We hope he'll find 4
Ben Hur" worth all it has cost him.
The feature OF last week in theatri- ]
calls was the James Warde engag cement. /
The patronage accorded 10 these emf 4
nent actors was not up to former Salt {
Lake standards. but il was heavy /
enough 20 show that they are still IA +,
vcrites here. Under more suspicious I
circumstances they would have filed .
the Theatre at every performance. And .
speaking of James and Warde reminds /
us Of a fact not generally known in /
connection with their production of (
Julius Caesar
Wednesday afternoon was the first f.
time they had put the play on this Z
season, and they did il with Just four
Tehearsals, an of them in salt Lake
or course Mr.. Warde had played MARI
Antony before and Mr.. James had ap-
peared as Brutus. but the other MEM
bers of the company were entirely now
10 the piece The fact that it went /
along so smoothly is altogether to the I
credit of both players and manage
ment ar. Wagenhals OF the firm OF
WaeenhaIs & Kemper. under whose di-
reCtiOn the James Warde combination I
is appearing. expressed himself as
~ the point. the public was pleased
also.
actor who plays Clitus in Alexander
the Great" and Cassius in Julius
Caesar" is enthusiastic over the his
-oric old Salt Lake theatre He says
K IS the Dvury Lane of the west. And.
come 10 think about &c. Mr. Hackatt
les entirely right. No playhouse in the
United States has graduated more stars
man the salt Lake theatre Built At I
b time when the drama was compare it
lively i'm its infancy i'm this country. !
Tie greatest actors and actresses the !
world has ever known have trod its
'tage. ITS influence on western theat- 1
IcaIs-indeed. on American theatricaIs ,
has always been good.
PRESS AGENTS PROMISE. e