The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-16
AT ST. Paul Theaters

night. that of a bachelor of forty-five,
whose hitherto lonesome heart is COM
pletely occupied by girl young enough
TO be his daughter.
The play, bearing the simple but
suggestive title 1.-TWO Men and a Girl -
is the work of an intelligent and am
bilious actor. Frederick Paulding, who
made his first bid for public favor
nearly twenty-five years ago as Ber-
tuccia in THE Fools Revenge" role
sacred to Edwin Booth and invited
Mr. Booth to occupy a box that night,
which invitation he accepted.
Mr.. Murphy again compelled admir-
alton for his easy, natural, spontaneous
ippersonation of a nliddle-aged man
| in love. Members of his company like
wise merit commendation for charac-
terizations that proved amusing.
A vehicle for the exhibition of hui
| man emotions, principally love and its
accompanying emotion jealousy, the
| play never loses interest, though it's
action is not very exciting or rapid.
The author has wisely avoided rank
impossibilities. Scarcely a scene taxes
the credulity of a sane, mature mind.
Sentiment, wit and humer take their
turns in a convincing sort of way,
much as happens in real life, when
a situation of great import is often
interrupted by a trivial matter or a
laughable episode.
John Crosby, the bachelor lawyer,
| played by Mr. Murphy, without any
| eccentric character makeup or odd
apparel, inevitably suggests the maga-
| zine editor exploited by "a Bachelors S
Romance" He is not therefore, as
distinctively fresh and original an in
! diyidual as one might wish to see the
comedian essay. But he is essentially
human and, as portrayed by Mr.. Muir
| ply, exceedingly interesting.
Mr.. Crosbys love affair worries him
| because it so happens his hancee, En-
| lily Allisford, was once engaged to mar
ry his rakish younger brother, Har-
old, effectively played by Maeey Har-
| lem. Harold appears on the scene of
action with the avowed intention of
reinstating himself in the affections of
Emeline. OF course he fails for the
girl, after beholding the contrast be-
| tween her fast lover of former days
and her steady, prosperous adnlirer of
| maturer years, discovers that John
| Crosby is the man she really loves and
Harold "haS to 60"
| Excellent opportunities are afforded
by the playwright to John Crosby for
the display of a manly, generous ma
| ture and to Harold Crosby for the ex-
hibition OF selfish and contemplate
disposition. That Mr.. Murphy is fully
adequate it is hardly necessary to
record. His speech near the end, made
under the mistaken notion that his
1 fiancee still loves his younger brother,
| is the dramatic climax of the play. 1t
was delivered in jerky, abrupt, in
tense, yet not theatric manner, by Mr.
1 Murphy, that carried conviction, yQic
/ ing as If did, the soul of a man. Mere
/ defamation of such sentiments would
| have seemed a mockery.
! The opposite role, Emily Allisford,
| was portrayed with sympathy by Miss
Gertrude Dalton.
/ An agreeable flavor is impaired to
| the play, by a young couple who pre-
/ tend to be in love with each other in
order to exaSperates another young man
and woman into decisive action. The
| make believe mutual attentions be-
| slowed on each other by Richard I'm
| defBood odzaAA a1tersz Re1aing gtenErand Jess
| Lerinder-AfisS Louise Whitfield-are
highly entertaining, when contrasted
| with the jealous antics of J. Chadwick
/ Valentine, of Yale, 1904-Robert Ober-
and Julia Remington Whitney, A. B., A.
! M.-Miss Dorothy Sherrad. The situ-
ations in which the four are shown
are original and, though overdone the
/ acting of each snstafT1s the Illusion and
contributes much to the merriment.
1
! Olney @8stsls8zf ms whose esffnpersonation
! of the fussy old valet, deeply attached
4 to his master, the retired DR.. Allis-
| ford, is as admirable a piece of char
acter acting as has been witnessed
upon the local stage. Cristie Millers
/ inlpersonation of Josiah Lorrinder, the
| elderly widower,s was quite satisfac-
tory.
For some unexplained reason the
| curtain did not rise on the first act
/ until 8:35 p. m. F. G. H.
Full houses are the rule at the Grand
| this week, where Blaney's stirring tenn
/ perance play, '"The Curse of Drink" is
/ holding forth There is much to enjoy
| in the performance for lovers of the
! sensational drama. The piece contains
/ much comedy and several excellent
singing and dancing specialties. The
scene showing the rescue of the hero
| inc from the wheels of the big locomo-
/ tive is realistically presented. p. Aug
| Anderson and the Transatlantic four
are the hits of the play. But three
more performances will be given, in
Guiding a matinee tomorrow at 2:30.
| An interesting theatrical event will
! be the production of Edmund Days
play, Pals" which will be presented
| at the Grand for the week commencing
| Sunday matinee. James J. Corbett
/ will appear in the heroic lead, especial
ly written to fit his personality, and
! is said to prove the success of his
| theatrical career. The leading comedy
part for Hal Davis and leading ingenue
| for Miss Inez Macauley are also writ
| ten in harmony with their peculiar
/ talent. Special and elaborate scenery
! for each of the four acts of the play
! is carried, together with numerous
| novel effects.
Modern vaudeville is unquestionably
! the proper thing among theatrical en-
! tertainments, and vaudeville of the first
/ class is rarely seen in ST. Paul. With
| the view of giving ST Paul patrons a
taste of this form of attraction which
/ is now in such vogue, Manager l.. N.
| Scott, of the Metropolitan opera house,
has secured by special arrangement the
! Orpheum show for one week, beginning
/ with matinee on Sunday afternoon.
/ Also, by special arrangement, ne has
1 secured as a headliner an extra attrac
| ton, Jessie Bartlett Davis, who made
| her name a household word with the
! Bostonians.
| One Of the best sketches seen in
many day, it is promised, will be
! that of Will p. Armstrong and Mag
dalene Holly. "The ExpresSman," as 1t
| is called, has a semblance of plot and
| gives Armstrong opportunity to detail
| the unhappy experience of the Eek
| pressmanp who carries a trunk around
! the room several times before its fem
ir,;-,a o4ry,ar aan tfraII3y dpcida where