The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-13
RIP AT THE THEATRE.
Great Audience Saw Joe Jefferson's
 Masterpiece.

dreaC Auo1euco saw Joo JeuerSOn 8 Masterpiece.
 Some of you who have been so gener- ous with your applause tonight may not know that I appeared in the role of Rip Van Wrinkle on this very stage thirty-fve years ago. It Is therefore quite possible that some of those who witnessed the performance over thirty years ago were not only the parents but perhaps the grand-parents of some who are in to- nights audience. It is a source of pleas kle we. are able to please the descend ants of those who sat in the audience when. Rip Van Wrinkle was first seen here.''
 Joseph Jefferson. the greatest comedian the American stage nas produced. stood before the curtain at the Montgomery Theatre last night and in these modest words drew attention to the most unique of the modern stage. He stood there with his seventy-flfth birthday behind him. For the ordinary man 1t is tho ''lean and slipper'd pantaloon" age. but MT. Jefferson Is in no sense an ordinary man. His distinctiveness had been em- phasized in the first act in his artistic human and effective portrayal of the vil- lage ne'er do we'll. As he stood there evil associates had dressed Rip in, the audience caught the full significance of the occasion and its enthusiasm was
 In what was the Rip of last night dlf- ferent from the Rip of thirty-f1Ve years | ago? In the crowded Theatre there was perhaps not one who had laughed and cheered the delightful Rip of a quarter Of a century ago. It may be safely said that the old Rip was not whit more natural nor more delightfully lovable than the graceful unfortunate MT. Jefferson showed last night.
 There were men who had seen the great actors Rip of twelve. fifteen and twenty years ago. They had but one verdict, He was better tonight than I ever saw him"
 Many there were. no doubt. who went that they might say in later years T saw Joe Jefferson play Rip Van Winkle." Their expectation probably was that they would see a splendid relic, a magnificent ruin. An agreeable surprise awaited them.
 There was no necessity for imagination to be aroused to supply deficiencies or fill up gaps which time had eaten away. It was q symmetrical. rounded out portrayal, beautiful in its parts, and perfect in It's proportions.
 The true actor was on the stage. great in his simplicity and naturalness and standing well outside of any need for ex- cuse or apology. What mattered 1t that off the stage Rip Van Wrinkle was 76 years of age? The audience which went to the Theatre full of this thought forgot 1t be- fore the first act was over. The Rip they met, at whose griefs they wept and at whose jokes they laughed. with whose pathos and trouble they sympathized. was the careless and happy frequenter of the village tavern at Falling Water. Most assuredly he was not three quarters of a century old He was the village ne'er do well, beloved by every dog and child ill the village, with a sharp tongued. shrew- ish wife in his poverty-stricken home.
 It is a peculiar play. this Rip Van Wrinkle. The public has so fallen in love with the big hearted generous vagabound al Jefferson shows him that his true character has been lost sight of It probably didn't occur to the audience that if the village constable did his duty and filled his job as 1t should be filled Rip would have been breaking stones on the public highways instead of rousing his loving wile into frenzied rages by his drunken ways
 In sober truth Rip should have a fine of ten dollars and costs instead of the many good things that came to him in the last act.
 But he was so delightful in his worth lessness, such humorous bic hearted unfortunate, that not only the dogs and the children, but the audience clung to him. He walked right into their affec- tions with his humanity his frank and humorous weaknesses It was Jefferson who made Rip the great popular char acter Were the ordinary player to do Rip the audience would heartily approve of Gretchens act in driving him out Into the storm and VOW she ought to have thrown the fiat iron after him.
 To find the secret of this is mt far to go. In the best that Is in RID. Jef- fcrson is Rip and Rip Is Jefferson. Was he not frank, full of humanity. charit- able and winning? Jefferson and Rip in this go together and they cannot be di- vorced.
 >he sources of the delight that comes from Jererson,s art are not easily picked out and tabulated To say that if is simple and natural Is too general, \ It is too strong and forcible to be dis missed without specialization. Ita |strenStn ana magnetism fin the main comes from the instant understa ndins he reaches with his audience. His entry up- on the stage establishes immediate com munieation with tho audience. The air is