Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-15
MUSIC

Raymond Hitchcock, the comedian of the
| hempen hair, of the sawmill voice, has the
most congenial role in ''The Yankee Con-
sui" The piece proved very agreeable
| bit of diversion with a certain tinge Of
! current interest in it's story. Despite its
minute observances Of the roles. there is an
absolute plotlessness. which all modern
| musical shows are expected to infinitely
observe. Mr.. Hitchcock is the backbone Of
| the enterprise, despite the gorgeous cos
tuning, the multitudinous chorus and the
| big orchestra, which serve to maintain in
terest even when the book and the music
fall into scant and shallow places Eva
| Davenport is one Of the most remarlkab BILE
condolences that the musical stage can
boast. She combines art and avoirdupois
| with unprecedented liberality. In many
| scenes she is a valuable adjutant to Mr..
Hitchcock. and the piece is remarkable as
one in which the principal figures. instead
OF becoming occasionally tiresome, are not
permitted to occupy as much time as the
audience would gladly spare them. How
Raymond Hitchcock has grown since the
| time when he and Marie Cahill played to
starvation business in this city in the piece
called the Three Little Lambs!" And it
| is doubtful whether he will ever have any,
thing more amusing than the burlesque on
Becky Sharp which he presented on that
| occasion.
| Louis Mann has stepped from the farcf-
| cal into the idyllic with suddenness that
has made a considerable splash, and it was
| a grateful relief to his admirers who saw
him at the National Theater this week to
find that he had not gone beyond his artis-
| tic depth. His character in THE Second
Fiddle is one which accommodates itself
| to his peculiarities of dialect which have
distinguished his work, and at the same
| time allows him to present a creation Of
| sentimental dignity. The cast supporting
Mr.. Mann has not been happily selected,
| and it is a fortunate thing both for the
play and it's auditors that its construction
| is such as to enable the central character
to maintain interest independently of his
| surroundings.
That veteran actor J. H. Stoddart was
| welcomed by those who admire Scottish
| humor and pathos at the Lafayette Thea
| ter this week. The Bonnie Brier Bush
has survived more seasons than many Of
its critics expected at the outset but the
gloom which originally distinguished it
has been greatly mellowed in the course of
| revision. Mr.. Stoddart is one Of the nota-
BILE figures of the present theatrical gen.
Grafton, one whose work will long be re-
called with satisfaction by the admirers of
i legitimate artistic effort.
! At Chase's Theater Mr.. Charles Hawtrey
makes his farewell appearance in vaude-
| vile this evening. The appreciation of his
| work has been manifested by the size of
his audiences rather than by any remark
1 able tinn N of
| formances. The quietude of his method
| does not invite demonstrative appreciation.
He will return to the legitimate stage with
! a production of IA Message From Mars
| a play whose artistic success was so very
| much out of proportion to it's popular sue
cess that in the minds of many theater-
goers it will rank as an absolute novelty.
| ROBERT BLOSSOMS EXPLANATION
| "Heredity should naturally be my plea for
| adopting a stage career said Robert Eide
| son recently, for my father was the late
George r. Edeson, well-known as an actor
| and a director of productions. But any
promptings of heredity should have been
| stiIled by the countless admonitions I re-
| ceived from him against following in his
| footsteps. AS youth l needed the parental
| counsel to this extent of combining my the
atrical association to the box once. My
! change of base was the result of a wager
with the late Colonel Sim. the lessee of
| the Park Theater, Brooklyn, where in the
| season of 1887 I was employed as treas
| urer. The colonel was introducing new
| play, Fascination and a new star, Miss
| Cora Tanner. During the rehearsal on the
Friday previous to the opening night he
| received word that a player of one of the
| minor parts had been taken ill. / was
| busy balancing my cash accounts for the
| week when the colonel intruded on my la
| bors with a lengthy account of his man.
| agerial troubles. Finally losing my pa
| tience, 1 suggested that If he would re-
| main quiet and allow me to complete my
| accounts l would play the part. The col
| onel offered to bet me 500 that l could not
| make good my bluff. l accepted the wager
| and won it on the following Monday night.
| while the ferry boats plying between
| New York and Brooklyn were not over
| loaded with managers seeking the new ap-
| plicant for professional honors. felt lit