The San Francisco call., 1903-01-04
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IF the 'uobiest Roman Of them all-
and the amorous queen Of the Nile
could have looked ahead a couple OF
a thousand years and seen themselves
as others see them they doubtless
would not have been so careless about
letting their good names get mixed in
the society scandal Of the day, for it
is certainly a novel spectacle to see one
hundred and fifty enthusiastic little Cal
ifOrnia children merrily enacting a tray
esty on this famous classic love affair.
OF course all-star performances by chill
dren are not new by any means. We have
had them in Cinderella and "The
Brownies" and very nearly the whole line
Of nursey fairy tales of ancient legendary
and modern comic operas of more or less
popular repute, but this burlesque of
Cleopatra" does not come under any
OF these ciassifcations. 1t makes up
class all by itself Moreover it is sur
prising that SO much humor has been ex-
tracted from such heavy tragedy.
Nothing more unique has ever been
done in this city for charity or for any
other purpose for the matter O. that.
With the exception Of the two leading
parts. which for the Ike of variety were
enacted by Professor Boutwell, Browne
as Cleopatra and his brother as Antony,
every role in the extravaganza was taken
by child. IN many instances by a wee
tor Of small frame but lusty lungs and
nimble limbs. There were resplendent
Roman soldiers and brave Centurians,
Greek slave girls and African slaves,
Egyptian dancing girls and swift run
ners from the Nile, Roman matrons ana
Oriental sooth-sayers and all manner Of
people that made up the glory of the
Caesars and all of them cleveriy por-
trayed by children in such serted ranks
that the stage of the Central Theater
was crowded at every one of the six
matinee performances until there was
scarcely elbow room.
What made il all the more nota BILE was
the fact that it was a performance by
children for children as well as for
grown-ups-
In consequence the whole burlesque was
d perfect kaleidoscope OF color daringly
interblended in an ever changing variety
OF beautiful costumes For the most part
IT was a grand pageant divided into
three full ensemble tableaux to fit the
trsvesty 70 the understanding of the lit
tie ones in the auditorium as well as the
abilities OF the tiny performers on the
stage. Hence, too, ii was a great sue
cess.
The first act, following the lines OF Sar-
oou's famous tragedy. showed Cleopatra's
arrival In Rome in her royal barge, sur
rounded by brilliantly attired slaves and
her first meeting with Antony, who, in
this burlesque was fearfully and wonder
fully disguised with a nose OF bubous
dimensions and carmine hue and Roman
toga that looked more like a French har-
leouin's habiliments, while Cleopatra her
self, or rather himself In this case. was
''exquisitely gowned," )" as the society re-
porters say, in soft fImy creation that
clung close 10 the figure, with a head
dress OF jewels and pearls and diamonds
at the throat and about the arms to COM
plete the ensemble effect
After their famous Irritation scene. as
IN the tragedy, the budding OF love was
httinely celebrated with a long list Of
srecialties-most Of them modern-which
Antony had arranged to please the ca
rricious fancy Of his royal sweetheart.
The first Of these was the Colonial Oc-
tet.' very prettily executed by eight little
tots from Alameda, where they have more
than a local reputation for their clever
ness and versatility Attired as they were
IN the costumes and the powdered wigs
that we're in vogue last century their
stately minuet made an amusing contrast
&c the distinctly Roman pageantry with