The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-08
PYThIANS GIVE A
RAT1lING SHOW
Present Minstrel and Burletta
Before a Large and Admir-
ing Audience.

After weeks of preparation and re-
| hearsals, the Pythian minstrel and
| burletta was given its initial perform
ance before a large and highly appre-
| ciative audience at the Metropolitan
| theater last evening.
| That the entertainment scored dis
| tinctive hit was demonstrated by the
enthusiastic manner in which it was
received Each succeeding number on
| the well arranged programme was
heartily, cheered until the numerous
encores responded to added an extra
hour to the entertainment.
A most pleasing feature of the pro-
! duction was the absence of anything
amateurish, the programme being car
ried out with a dash that would have
/ reflected credit upon any professional
| company. Every number on the pro-
| gramme showed careful training at
the hands of competent persons, while
the chorus was all that could be ex-
pected of it.
In the minstrel part which preceded
| the burletta a number of most cred
| liable speeialties were introduced, each
| in turn being accorded most enthusi-
| astic applause. There were songs and
! there were dances and there were jokes
| and other things, all of them Of high
order and well executed.
| Harry E. George, who possesses a
| melodious tenor voice sang IT'S
/ YOU new musical number, written
1 by Charles Laird especially for this
| entertainment, and A. A. Perkins won
applause by singing when Indy
Smiles,' new and catchy popular
song, which took unusually well when
| sung by Mr. Perkins.
A Remarkable contraIto.
Miss Ada Coombes, by the splendid
| manner in which she sang "a Dream"
1 fully demonstrated that she has a con-.
tralto voice possessed by very few peo-
| pie of her age. The audience showed
it's appreciation of Miss Coombes
| talent by compelling her to respond to
| a hearty encore.
Frank Meyers, in song and dance
| speciality, won favor from his first
| appearance on the stage and the man
| ner in which he did his work fully con-
WINGED the audience that he was not a
| novice.
49, of the most pleasing numbers
of the minstrel was the singing of
| Charles S. Laird. Mr.. Laird has a
bass voice of great possibilities and the
| manner in which he sang my Alger-
ine,'' Won for him the admiration of all,
and the audience would not permit the
entertainment to proceed until he had
responded to an encore.
The minstrel part was brought to a
close by J., F. Barrow, who sang Keep
on Shining Silvery Moon" in a manner
most pleasing. He was ably assisted
by Miss Clarice Twombly and the en-
tire company.
| In the second part and just preced-
ing the burletta, William Chapman and
James Nelson did a clever and original
stunt in ladder balancing.
'The Rajah of Bingapore," the clever
burletta with which the entertain
ment was closed, furnished an oppor-
tunity for any number of good turns.
The book is by ]. F. Marrow and the
lyrics by C. S. Laird and while there
was no more plot to it than the ordi-
nary musical comedy, there was
enough to carry it through.
BurIetta Was Success.
Comedians who did not overdo their
parts, pretty girls in abundance and a
chorus of splendid voices combined to
make the burletta a success in every
sense of the word
Charles S. Laird as His Nibs the
Rajah was equal to the task, and he
was ably assisted by his two servants,
J. F. Morrow and A. A. Perkins, whose
appearance upon the stage was ever a
| signal for applause.
w. II. Kamman as Ravensplit made
an ideal comic opera landlord. In fact,
| every character in the cast was in
most competent hands.
One of the most creditable features
| of the evening was the drill Of the
Rajah of Bingapore drill team, COM
posed of sixteen pretty girls, under
the leadership of Margaret J. Nelson.
These girls went through formation
after formation in a most astonishing
manner. The drill team of st. Paul
Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias, I'M
der the direction of E. D. Schroeder,
was another pleasing feature
Miss Nina Beiber and her japanese
girls sang up in the Cocoanut Tree,
and were given a half dozen encOreS,
while other musical efforts received the
| same liberal treatment.
Something good might be said of
I every number on the programme.
There are a score or more of musical
hits and-but, what's the use to go
| ahead and try to tell about all of
| them.
The same entertainment will be re-
| peated this evening and tomorrow
| evening, and there will be a matinee
Wednesday afternoon, and 1t is safe
TO predict that each of the entertain
ments will be greeted by an audience
fully as large and just as enthusiastic
| as was present to witness the initial
performance last night.
1t is a show we'll worth seeing; it is
a credit to the people responsible for
its production, and an entertainment
of which the ST. Paul Knights OF
+ Pythias have every reason to feel
, proud.
nNaY THTITIO OWE