The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-12-09
AT THE THEATERS
Metropolitan Eva Taneuay In "The
81 Sanbo Girl" .....-

. :, . ,ne
1t is a success Of esteem only that Eva
Tanguay, clever 1ittIeii f1utterbudget that
she is, wins In, 1.-THE SaInbo Girl" Wheth-
er Miss :Tanguay and her hackers will be
able to rear on the foundation of Phrosia,
the girl detective Of 1.-THE Chaperones,' a
permanent and stellar Success, is a prob
lem yet to be solved It is at@least GER
tan that no lasting success can be won
with so poor and adreary a collocation as
1.-THE Sambo Girl 'y Harry B. Smith, arti-
ficer OF books for 9nusical comedies, has
turned some good things and many bad
ones out Of his shop. The present effort
must have been evolved when the ma
eh1nery was: in unusually bad condition.
Nor has Gustav Kerker succeeded in CIV
Ing Miss Tanguay more than one song
really worth while. The most effective
song of the evening" '"The FREELY" is an
Interpolation. The story upon which Mr..
Smith has attempted to hang his dialogue
and his situations Is nonsense, and not
even clever nonsense.
Miss Tanguay, however, by sheer force
OF her entertaining; personality and her
quaint .grotesquerie; contrived last night
to satlsfy and even arouse to enthusiasm
an audience already predisposed in her IA
vor. She sang little songs and danced
little dances and cracked little jokes all
| in the inimitable Tanguay style. She wore
a bewildering series of costumes, auda-
cious in design and bosterous in color.
There are so many Of them that her
rare intervals off stage must have been
busy minutes. And when in sight she
was never still moment. The audience
showered her with approval and after the
last curtain mistakenly demanded Sam
bo" the song that made her famous. But,
alas for the laws of copyright, she could
not sing it, and was obliged to say So.
The gallery, however, had ALREADY en-
j?yed it's recently acquired right to whis-
tie one Of the stars songs for which pop
/ nlarity Is sought, and Miss Tanguay sang
the chorus of that in lieu of, the forbid
H$: There are some clever. entertainers in
the company, but they have to work out
their own. salvation. Harry Short, who
is quite the reverse Of what his name
| would indicate, won favor with his gro
tesque dancing and Cuisines" in spite
| Of the fatigue caused by his incessant
references-called for by his lines-to a
mysterious sum Of $4,000 francs. Why he
was in danger Of losing that sum and how
he eventually escaped that loss, are mys-
teries too deep for solution. Melville S.
Collins makes a personaole young artist,
sings rather we'll and plays classical Sc
| lections on the piano in, ragtime at a ter
rife tempo. Verdi must have turned I'M
easily in his grave when the "Miserere'
was given to ragtime exploitation! Harry
Lane, another stalWartS young fellow,
sings well and does his best to be funny
under depressing circumstances. Then
there is Arthur O'Keefe, a little fellow
with twinklng feet and an unintelligible
italian accent. Ethel Morton is beauty
and songstress, while Florence Morri-
son, as the strong woman of the circus
trying to break into grand opera; looks
the. part and sings as badly as the role
demands.
| The piece is not mounted with the mag
nificence that usually attends musical
comedy nowadays and the chorus is small
and ineffective -; : ~~~ "'
/ / "a! -. wv n Cha,oberlain