The Saint Paul globe., 1904-10-31
At St. Paul Theaters

There are things both new and good in
The Jewel Of Asia, an Oriental musical
ST. Paul at the Metropolitan last night,
but that which is good is not new and
that which is new Is not good.
In other words, the music credited to
Ludwig Highlander. is either colorless or
BADLY reminiscent, and most Of the jokes
have grown gray in the service. Handi-
capped as they are by such poverty Of
severely judged, though one or two of
/ the principals gave little evidence of
capacity to undertake more than was re-
quired.
The taking numbers of the score were
two trios. "Oh, What's the Use?" and
"Woman's No Means. Yes an Irish ball
lad, with chorus katie From Dublin.
and two songs by the comedian in the
first act.
And to this comedian, William BIais
dell. the spectators owed their enter
tainment last night 1t was he who sup
Piled the life and snap and made the the per g
Torrance tolerable. While he was off the
stage the performance Jagged, for there
was not the vestige of a story. not
climax to awaken the slightest anticipa-
tion. True, the score of chorus girls dis
played attractive costumes, varied and
always in good taste, their evolutions and
other business were calculated to eX-
hibit them to the best advantage. and
the scenery notably that of the last act,
added to the pictureSqueneSS OF the en-
semble, but it was of little avail. The
librettist and composer failed to furnish
any substance. The music for the greater
part is a succession of ineonseauential
tinklings and the story utterly bare OF IN,
terest. For these reasons Mr.. Blaisdelt
deserves the plaudits of the people. He
certainly made them laugh, even though
some of his witticisms were greeted as
old friends.
The bill of the play .'stars" Miss Vera
Michelena. In view of the scant oppor-
tunity afforded her for vocal achieve
ments, there is bound to be a sense of
with the chorus-one of them not new
Sadie, Sadie. Little Oriental Lady
and sings them acceptably. Miss Mlche-
lena is young and pretty, but llstiess-
nant soprano, with a trace of shrliiness
in the upper register, which might, it
would seem. be overcome.
William v, Strunz, VINO played SlnoQh lle;9,,
Pasha, was the only male principal with
a suspicion of a voice, baritone WITH
musical upper register, but an lndlstlnc1
enunciation, unfortunate in muSlcaf
comedy or light opera, where the words
are frequently just as important as the
music-much more important than TINS
music
Bessie Graham, who played til the soy. a3,, :.
brette role of Mimi and was Biaisdeil s
opposite. co-operated in spirited fash
ion with the comedian in Frightening an
otherwise dull and conventional affalT;
The latest Pixley and Luders' musical
comedy woodland will be given at tne
Metropolitan opera house on Ihursoag
evening. The productions OF Henry w.
Savage are their own recommended ton,
but especial interest attaches to the latest
offering, because of its novel character.
1t is a musical fantasy of the forest; ~ IN
which all the characters are BIRDS Inc
costumes are fancifully arranged to sug-
gest the various songsters represented and
the story is romantic and dainty, rather
than broadly comic, though there are Salo
to be abundant humorous incidents.
"Her First False Steps at the Grand
melodrama Astounding in thrilling ac-
ton. ingenious scenic effects and comedy
consistently introduced, is that at the
Grand this week entitled '.Her First False
Step" Unlike many OF his more careless
confreres Joseph LIE Brandt, the author,
has not maliciously abused dramatic u
eense. In spots the characters OF the
drama do and say some of the old ia
miliar things, but this is almost unavold-
able, and for the most part the dialogue IS
crisp and the people human. The nero,
for instance, does not scorn to use an ad-
jective that is befttingly forceful, though
impolite, and butter would certainly melt
in his mouth. for he is not a wax model
hero. The villain is vicious, but he spares
the audience that knocking laugh and
does not smoke cigarettes nor slap anyone
in the face with his glove. He doesn't
want the girl for her money, but because
he momentarily loves her and perpetually
hates the man whom she is to marry. He
SpoilS the wedding and marTleS the heroine
and afterWard deserts her, reJoin1ng the
woman whose life he had formerly ruined.
The company is large and the piece is
Splendidly and ingeniouSly staged. The
bank robbery scene in the second act and
the ejcuS scene in the fourth are eSpe-
cially. clever. In the circus scene two
magnificent lions are used. They roar and
oh
hero enters the cage to rescue the little
child whom the villain had thrown in to
them. Another good scene is in the shad-
ow of Brooklyn bridge, where a fight be-
tween the criminals and the police takes
place on the river.
The introduction of the necessary COM
edy element has been cleverly and con-
SiStently performed
A musical speciality by the Dale Broth
erS is executed outside of a circus tent
as specimen of what is contained in the
the "barker'' Were given with the f1uency
of speech that is familiar to every circus
patron.
The company presenting the play is
more than ordinarily capable. James Nor
val as the hero, and Garret Campbell as
the villain. give very. good interpretations
of their respective roles. Willie and Josie
Barrows, who were last seen in yaude-
vile. in this city,. are intrusted with ju-
venile comedy roles. and their perform
ance Is most creditable.
Edna Allen is entirely satisfactory as
the heroine, as is Ella Fontainebleau in
the role of a very disagreeable and re-
vengeful woman. ]. o. LIE Brasse con-
tributes a convincing portrayal of the
father of theeheroine and Josie Morris
Sullivan is quaint and pleasing as little
Irish applewoman. The Rube quartette
deserves mention. especially the tall mem
Der, who furnished much of the amuse-
ment
The inevitable precocious child is very
prettily played by diminutive Dorothy
Gish. a sweet little maid whose every
word. is. clearly enunciated and who is ex-
ceedingly "cute. +"
The Transatlantic Company at the Star
An excellent @olio. and an unusually pre-
tentious two-act musical extravaganza
entitled 1.-THE Pirates of Panama" COM
prise the entertainment at the Star this
week An a ttra etiye chorus artfstically