Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-02
At the P~LAYHOUSES

"The House That Jack BuiIt' at the
boyd.
The natural anxiety incident 20 an ANA
teur performance was wholly dispelled last
evening by the initial presentation Of THE
House that Jack Built" for the big audi
ence that filled Boyd's theater had only
we'll deserved applause for the youthful
performers, who proved themselves a credit
to the skilled coaching OF Miss Margaret
Martin OF Chicago. who has had their train
ing in charge. Every one Of the 100 child
rem lived the parts they took, but their
enjoyment was not more keen than that Of
the grownups on the other side OF the foot
lights, who laughed and applauded as they
enjoyed all over again the dear old nurs-
cry rhymes so infectiously tuneful that
half the town is already famliiar with It.
The children sang with accord and brisk
ness, and entered into the spirit Of the
piece with an abandon that gave It all the
natural beauty and grace Of a real child
ish frolic. The action is brisk and anus
ing and the tableaux, exquisite, blending
the sweet childish faces and brilliant cos
tuning. Everyone enjoyed It, for everyone
understood it and Mother Goose's introduce
tion OF the guests as they arrived was
quite super1uous, for It was a matter OF
memory rather than Of education. The
principals are equally we'll known off the
stage, Mrs. Charles Urquhart, as Mother
Goose, Mr.. 10 Barton as Old King Cole, Mr..
Elmer Anderson as the KnaVe OF Hearts
and Miss Belle Beedle as the Man In the
Moon, having the solo parts and respond
ing to frequent encores, while Miss Hazel
Musick, as Queen Of Hearts, and Master
Hubert owen as My Son Jack were equally
appreciated.
Nothing could be more beautiful than the
little sweet peas in their dainty tarletar
frocks of green and white and pink set of
by pea blossom hats, and attended by their
grass-blade knights in green tights and tall
peaked caps.
Equally lovely were the star and moon
beams, the clouds, peoples, milk weeds.
daisies and blaek-eyed Susans, in gauzy,
1ower-like costumes that contrasted strlk-
ingly with the quaint gowns Of the at
tendants of the Queen Of Hearts. sixteen
high school cadets, in the uniform of the
guard OF Old King Cole and armed with
long spears, presented a drill that was an
effective feature Of the first act. All un-
consciously, the four and twenty black
birds in their odd little black cloaks and
heads were funny enough to keep every
body laughing, and were a close second
TO Old hlng Cole, the comedian OF the
play, while the three huge black crows
and the three gilded Humpty Dumptys
were almost as funny.
And then there we're all OF the invited
guests, stars, every one OF them. Little
Red Ridinghood, Little DO Peep, Little
Boy Blue, each recalling some sweet mem
DRY as they arrived. There was the Woman
who Lived in the Shoe, who with tho
Little Crooked Man and her numerou;
children, some Of them wee toddlers, die
a cakewalk. Simple Simon, with his rod
fshed patiently in his pail; Jack Hornel
had a real plum pie that looked quite al
tempting as the bread and butter that Ton
Tucker munched contentedly. Little Jacl
Spratt and his wife and Jack and Jill eacl
did a dance that would have been q credl
to professionals, but 1t was the three TIM
blind mice that caused the real sensation
as they ran out onto the stage and sen
the others running and screaming in genu
Inc excitement, that was only quieted b!
the appearance of the Farmers Wife, VIII
chased them away with her carving knife
4. cutting off their tails as they ran. Mis-
: Muffett was genuinely scared by the BIZ
. spider and Old Mother Hubbard had a rea
; dog that barked. Bobby shafto was tn
small %soloist.
But 1t would require pages to tell oil
l the delightful features Of the play, TO
all OF the little stories and songs OF tn
childhood days were woven into one con
s~ecutive tale that ended with a dance an
song. The performance will be repeate'
, this afternoon and evening.