The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-26
"Robin Hood at the Matinee.

The train which brought the Bostonians
TO Indianapolis yesterday over two
hours late and. as result, the Christmas
matinee performance, scheduled to begin at
2:15. did not begin until almost half-past
3 o'clock. The engagement OF the famous
musical organization opened with the after
noon presentation of robin Hood before
a good-sized audience that enjoyed this
beautiful musical work as thoroughly as If
the sweet melodies and delightful stage
pictures were entirely new. Undoubtedly
the greater portion of the assembly had
heard the De Koven and Smith masterpiece
more than once before, but the plaudits
were as frequent and as genuine as though
the opera were fresh and surprising. 1t is
a most unusual opera-this Robin Hood
with a charm that is all its own.
OF the old Bostonians who appeared with
the original production of the opera, thir-
teen years ago, only four remain-Henry
Clay Barnabee. William Macdonald. George
rockingham and Samuel l.. Studley, the
excellent musical director. MIR. Macdonald
did not appear in the performance yester-
day afternoon, choosing to take a day off,
in honor of the glorious holiday and turning
his part over to his understudy, Joseph
Ratcliff-a very pleasant arrangement for
Mr.. Macdonald, Out not SO satisfactory TO
the audience which had been given to
derstand that Macdonald himself would
be seen and heard in his original role of
Little John. However, Mr.. Ratcliff sang
and acted the character of the jolly long
standard. One finds it hard to believe that
robin Hood has become such an old
story to them Mr.. Barnabees portrayal
of the eagle-eyed old Sheriff of Noting
ham has never seemed more droll and
certainly the good old comedian has never
sung the part better than he is doing this
season. Mr.. rockingham was just as in
imitable as he has always been in the role
of the unctuous Friar Tuck-nobody could
possibly play the part as well as he-and
as for the musical director, Mr.. Studley,
he held his instrumental and vocal forces
under good control.
Agnes Cain Brown, who sang the role
of Maid Marian, was very dainty and
winsome, giving an Interpretation of the
part which differed greatly from that of her
predecessors. Her voice, which is purely a
lyric soprano, was we'll suited to her share
of the score, and she won much applause
upon several occasions during the per-
Torrance. Douglas Ruthven appeared in
the part of the heroic Robin, he sang the
role in a sweet tenor, and acted il ac-
ceptably If not with real dramatic fire.
Howard Chambers gave only fairly sat
isfactory portrayal of Will Scarlet. AS
was the case with the other new members
of the company, his singing was better than
his acting. The minor parts were in COM
petent hands and the chorus was well
drilled-WEjle on the stage. This last
| phrase is added because of the fact that
holster chorus, while off the stage, has
never turned up at Epglish's. Perhaps
| the spirit of Christmas had something TO
do with it, but the fact remains that the
chorus singers talked so continuously, and
| i'm such loud tones while behind the scenes,
| that their babble all but ruined several
important musical numbers. robin Hood"