The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-06-05
BY Franklin FyIes

ny aAhkAAtAl K yEGS
East for the infant Jesus. aud their
finding of Him. These are thrown ON
canvas by q stere0pticou. and au eff
foTt is made without avail To GET Il
spectacular effect. with changefui
lights and shades They are common
place. Not so is the dnal disclosure
of the show which has lasted about
am hour. The stage setting IS changed
tc "a scene Of neeCy clouds and soft
Illumination in heaven. Angels float
i'm and out and round about with gent
~ waving arms and wings, and they
look divine 10 most of the folks who
/ have just seen the imps below. Hymns
are sung finely by invisible men and
women, while the angels float among the
clouds An unimaginative cvuic might
sin here and bethiuk him thet the con-
tingent from the angelic hosts are
quite mortal ballet girls, showing legs
through Thin white draperies. and that
the heavenly choir is made up of the
same chaps who. "a feW minutes earlier
down below, hoWled and wa led as the
t0rtureTs and the tortured. L tried 20
join the majority i'm their feeling OF
awe as the performance ended with
a swirl of the angels ana a sonoTOus
finish TO the hymn Of Jerusalem
Russia and India have theatres on
tie Pike Asyet no play has been gwen
in either Both are devoted TO native
songs and dances that are Characters
tic OF those contrasting countries. The
Russian performances are as cool as
the gO0sehesh of 81. Petersburg in
winter and the East sIndian are as
warm as the sweat of Calcutta in sum-
Haa MIA FrIa
MuscOvite show you see rear row of
twelve men on their feet and a front
row of twelve women on their knees.
] say women and not girls for con-
sciences sake IL is polite usage 90
call female ballots and ch1rusas girls
as long aas they live, and 10 ok the
average OF age midway betW cen six
teen and forty, which keeps them coll
iectively under thirty. But The years
of these Russians ranged upward from
forty, not downward They are Wp-
men. sure enough, and of a most re-
spectacle aspect. IL was q shock TO
see, vixen they arose to their feet, that
their skirts didn't reach below their
knees. The possibility that those
matroniy creatures might 40 some
thing indecOrOus gave rise TO dread
rather than hope. But they did not
The mems OF their frOcks were never
Tapped mp an inch and TIE feet. i'm
Polish boots, were never lifted more
than shin high. This exhibition might
be given without Offense tn church
Indeed DC would seem more apprO-
PIRATE there than i'm a theatre. so un-
broken was its staid dignity. The sing
ing was mostly Eymnal whether re-
llgious or patriotic and the folk songs
were not gay In tunes, whatever they
may nave been i'm words. Altogether
clTcumspect was this representation Of
Russian peasant customs on occasions
or village tesuv1ty and it was faithful,
TOO, except In the vOcalism. These per
formers may have been born peasants,
DuI not for many year had they
tarmed IL for living. All had been
musicaHy educated. / have no doubt
it Is true. as told to me by a Russian,
that some of them were from ST.
Petersburg cEoirs and others from that
city $ operate chOruses. I am further
willing 10 believe that the soprano
soi0ist has been a Drima donna in
opera earlier i'm her career - Cul-
lured and strong was Der voice
The Russian native dances had en-
ersy, but no grace. The Polish ballets
seen on our stage away back I'm tie
time when The Black Crook" was
young. but which have faded out of
sight. were professional forms of these
amateur originals The KiralfEs who
came To this country first as q dancing
family of TWO girls and three young
men were wonderfully nimbIe in the
Polish exercises. and a recollection of
that quintette made these unideal Rus
sian representatives, seem all the more
clumsy.
While woman was singing, with
ner arms akimbO and her booted feet
marking time, q man darted forward
from the line and stamped demoustra-
lively around her. Probably his mo-
tive was amOrous, but she received
him stolidly and he soon reiterated To-
his place with no show of chazrin at
the rebuff Another man made a more
vigorous onslaught stamping harder
swinging lis arms and joining his
voice with hers I'm song. She smiled
amiaby at this one. but wouldn't let
him touch her and nothing came OF his
NOOlug- a slalUart woman led the
whole company in a single file of hop
pers shippers, jumpers and stampers
around and around The stage All sang
while doing that. The instrumental
music was faint. Tie dancing was set