The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-14

existed between them. They remember her
as Juliet and him in all the male roles Of
the tragedy except Romeo. They laughing
" recite a little from the parting scene in
the fiction and that leads 10 their making
"a new alliance in matrimony. This comed-
letta was a contribution 10 a matinee en-
tertainment OF the Actors Church Alliance.
II was acted with that quiet grace which
io9ks so very easy as to make amateurs
believe they can do quite as we'll.
=
a demonstration Of the folly Of those
amateurs who subject themselves to pro-
fessional tests was afforded at this
same matinee. Everything in the bill with
one exception was the work Of experts.
Romeo and Juliet Up to Date was the
sorry attempt Of two Understandable
women in society and In the cause Of the
c~hurch-and-stage mOvement-tO write and
perform a burlesque Of the Shakespeare
Sase1y. Inc younger one was so futile In
hSI Iflsklness as juliet, so pointless and
clumsy. that 10 seemed as though nothing
more inexcusable could be put before an
audience in which people from stageland
abounded. But she was subtlety and grace
Personihed when placed alongside the wad-
ding matron who tried to be lightly sport
I've as Romeo. The programme had been
MADE longer than the time between 1 O'Clock
ana > o'clock would hold. and the assem-
OlaSe, SLOW 10 assent TO the omission Of an
act or The Virginian." was quick TO be
vexed when it saw what stuff had been re-
tanned instead. Romeo and .Juliet I'D 10
Date was the final piece. TIL people began
tency or the two amateurs was manifest,
and when the misguided women sang top
lcai songs, with accompanying dances, the
exits became clogged In a way TO startle
the attaches with the thought Of a panic.
scarce a hundred OF the thousand who had
Deen in the theater were there when the
curtain went down.
The Actors Church Alliance was origi-
mated and has been industriously promoted
by the Rev. Walter Z. Bentley, once a
player. 1t has Bishop Henry c.. Potter
and Actor Joseph Jefferson for president
and vice president. The Rev. Thomas G..
Sicer and Actress Rosa Rand are the Of
fetal heads of the local chapter. The sin
cere and at least harmless object Of the
organization is to remove the religious,
moral and social barriers between the
churches and the theaters. Mr.. Blossoms
play, with its suggestion of Mr.. Bentley in
the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS hero, was polite
Iy pertinent 10 the occasion. So was THE
Sacrament OF Judas" in which the religiO-
ethical problem is reverentially presented
OF an apostate priest of the Roman Catholic
Church hearing the confession of a profit
gate and granting absolution. These two
men are in love with the same girl. The
sin of one. repented only In the face of
death, Is that of wronging her. So the
other, who is blameless morally. though
5NAAtH " tht IEllBAOuS OlltuEt VI AGuOblIln6
holy orders, is wrenched and torn by con-
ficting emotions. The numerous clergy
men in the audience watched the develop
ment or the case with close attention and
Were manifestly thrilled when the poor fell
low, after performing the rite demanded
by his rival in love, saved him from what
had seemed certain death, made him prom
fse to marry the girl and then stood forth
to be shot by a file of soldiers.
In this correspondence l described how
kyrle Bellew. In the first New York per-
Torrance. fell headlOng down a stairway
at the mortal vOlley and struck on the floor
below. l said that evidently the feat was
In imitation Of what the actor had seen
two trained gymnasts do in his remarkable
sword fight with assassins last season in
that he would get a damaging bump before
long. A week wasn't over when he had
70 quit the stage for his bed for two days
owing TO a twisted spine. 1 noted at the
matinee that he no longer took the plunge,
but instead slid down the steps and caught
against the newell post-which was less
dangerous and more picturesque.
The good work of the Actors Church AL
lance won't be hindered by a telling OF
some inappropriate things that were done
at the matinee Probably a censorship COM
mittee will be appointed for the next occa-
sion of the kind. 1 saw no clerical mouth
curve upward with a smile. while the rest
OF us were merry, at the singing by Thomas
q. Seabrooke of a ditty entitled "A Little
Street in Heaven Called Broadway" in
which the Sunday-schooI work Of the
younger John ID. Rockefeller and the re-
ligious benefactions of Pierpont Morgan
are ridiculed and the exploits Of chorus
girls as sirens are toked about without a
suggestion OF cenSure. Nor did the gentle
men from the pulpits evince any satisfaction
when Andrew Mack sang of an Irish col
leen whose brogue betrayed her nationality
while she was frisking as a g~risette in
Paris.
Some or the parsons frowned plainly when,
In Charles BradshaW's mother-in-law farce,
Fix in a Fix, a crushed husband got
drunk in his wife's absence. threw off the
yoke OF conjugal tyranny and made up to a
visiting danSeuse. The grew uneasy when
Bradshaw'S whisky courage became reck-
less and he invited the ballet girl to show
out to change her costume several Of them
near me wriggled in their seats as though
they wanted TO go out, too, but by a diff
ferent door. And when she came back I'm
sure they wished they had gone. Alta de
kermen, who played the danseuse. is one
OF the dark, Timber, sensuOus actresses who
are picked out to initiate naughtiness Oh
the stage. She did not adapt her dramatic
art to the semi-piOus character Of the &C.
casion- Her skirts reached To her ankles
In their longest moments but when she
shortened thCm with high kicks they UNI
covered her black StOckinged legs to above
the knees. You know how much wickeder
that sort of an exposure looks than the
more revelatory but conventional ballet
dress Besides that, the mutes of the bal
let don't seem quite like human beings, but
rather like mechanical figures. But Alta
talked. walked and was = real. all-alive
creature. She shocked the ministers great
~. Yes. indeed-the Actors Church Al
it gives another theatrical entertainment
FRANKLIN FYLES.