The San Francisco call., 1903-12-27
By BLA<CHE~P PAERTE MGION
lere-Antonia Dolores."

But the crowd will stand outside
the theater and cheer her-they like
her for her sweetness and simplicity
as well as her singing-as they never
cheer Melba. I'll tell you what I've
seen. I've seen Dolores follow MeIba
the same week and pack the houses.
where Melba has had only half a
house. Nellie Stewart-'our Nellie
they call hers another great Aus
tralian favOrite. She is the most ac-
complished all-round actress ever
knew. She was the recognized prima
donna for twenty years down there,
and has now turned to the drama.
She is leading woman in plays like
'Zaza,' and equally successful as in
opera. There's a woman now you
could justly say is a thousand times
more popular than Melba. But all
this rather makes me out an Aus
tralian, and"
It's greatly to his credit that he
is an Englishman," l laughed. "Oh, 1
know that you were with Gilbert and
Sullivan, also that you fought in South
Africa-"
Butt isn't necessary to talk
about Africa" Lieutenant Brownlow
carries honorable scars from Zulu
land, but he certainly looked like rum
ming away at this moment.
Wen take the Savoy first" 1 tenn
porized. You know Teddy Webb was
an accomplice of yours in those
days?"
We'll, I was in the same 'Mikado'
company as Teddy Webb. that came
TO America in 1885" the barytone con-
fessed. We were both understudies
Il for the Mikado, Webb for Koko.
I made my first American appearance
then. 1t was awful. l knew then, for
the first and only time, what stage
fright is. 1 shivered like a dog in the
December rain. wasn't allowed to
play the part again and l don't blame
the management There wasn't even
this" and the barytone patted one
limp palm with the other to illustrate.
The understudy's lot is not hap
py one, happy one 1 quoted. Tell
me something about the Gilbert and
Sullivan regime at the Savoy. Did
you begin as a singer 20
MY first appearance was as
comic policeman" Brownlow replied,
with bogus manager named Mat
thews Monk. got pound a week
most Of the time-and slept in the
greenroom with the rugs off The floor
over me to save expenses. If I raised
siXpence for dinner I was lucky BY
Jove! this is a good one, too! I'll tell
you who was in the same company,
a dashing Juvenile then-Lawrence
d'Orsay. He made a bully Due de
NemOurs. ! hear he has a swagger
position in The Earl OF Pawtucket!'
He may perhaps be interested to know
that another member of that miser-
able company is still on deck. How is
he?"
The only king I ever saw that
looked the part" 1 testified. "A Sec
ond Dundreary those say who knew
the elder Sothern.'
We'll, well, I'd like to see him. No,
I went afterward to the Savoy on the
advice of some other poor devils that
Monk exploited-principal because
Mr.. Monk happened to fall down.
stairs after little argument we had''
the Brownlow fists squared them
selves here. 4 was Immediately en-
As"
"In the chorus of the road COM
pany. I had four years of that and
then went up to London, judging the
opportunities better there. One heard
there all the good people, and the
chances as understudy were much
better-they had first, second and
third understudies there, and the ri
valry was very keen. My first real
chance came-you really want to
know Pin a front piece The Carp
We played that fish for two years until
he was positively er-"
/ waited for the characteristic rot
ten" but instead Mr.. Brownlow de-
cided charmingly to put it "putrid."
Then came" he continued, IAN ap-
pearance as the lieutenant in the
'Yeoman of the Guard Grossmith
was the sergeant, I remember-that
was his last engagement with Gilbert,
by the way"
They had been long associated?"
-All of those parts. the Mikado and
so on were written to fit Grossmith--
in fact all OF the Gilbert parts were
written round particular personali-
ties"
That's interesting, i'm view of the
dictum that the drama is suffering
from the written-to-fit play"
THAT was always Gilbert's habit"
MIR. Brownlow insisted But Gros-
smith and he fell out very curiously.
Gilbert insisted on one being an au-
tomaton. individuality had no play at
all-except his. Every infection had
TO be made according to his judgment.
Grossmith- it seemed, couldn't-or
wouldn't-inhect one sentence he had,
where he had to say: Suppose I were
to sit down on something sharp re-
ply: Sit on the spur Of the move
ment-' But there was a Touchstone>
gesture and an infection that ne didn't
get We rehearsed for four mornings
on that sentencei"
Il gather that Gilbert was no great
favorite?"
NO, he wasn't. He was one Of the
worst would-be cynics that ever hap
pened. Didn't mind whom he hurt if
he could he funny. He WOuld aim at