Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-03-12

III RS. Flske, Blanche Walsh ana
MI Mary Mannering, all within the
" same week.-Mrs. is a conjunction
OF hstrionc planets not often
20 he observed upon any one theatrical
horizon. Salt Lake should feel natier-
ed that II falls to her lot to entertain
three stars OF such magnitude, and we
win all join in the hope that each
may do the business her merits entities
her TO, and that neither will suffer be-
cause OF the others close proximity.
II Is not a pleasant task TO read a
lecture to friends Of such long stand
ing. friends whom we have held and
still hold In such high esteem-but
really Messleurs the Bostonians, when
we arise from seeing your queen OF
Laughter" we almost feel as though
the limit Of forbearance had been
reached. II rasped our senslbllltles
somewhat when we saw the kind OF
material you asked us TO accept In
some Of the roles In robin Hood and
The Serenade," after you yourselves
had taught us to expect everything
ideal where the founders OF the old
'ldeals' were concerned, but we were
willing 10 pass that by, knowing that
Alice Nelson's, Bartlett Davises and
Eugene Cowles do not grow on every
bush, and hoping that mayhap YOU
were reservlng surprise for US In your
new opera. The surprise came, but
II was not OF the sort we
were looking for. After seeing
the new work, which In charity
to themselves the Bostonlans
ought to have announced as being only
on It's third or fourth presentation
one Is simply lost In wonderment that
the peerless Bostonians, the first organ
ization OF itR kind In America, should
be found aiding and abetting In the
production OF work OF that class. IL
has many pretty music numbers, Il IL
true, and linked with another story, they
may have and should have future.
But the book Of 1.-THE Queen Of Laugh
ter" is impossible, and we do not know
where to begin In advising the compa-
ny 10 reconstruct IT, Barnabee, king
OF legitimate opera comedians, wander
ed almlessly through the night, yearn-
Ing for a chance TO be funny, the same
can be said OF rockingham, Mr. Mac
donald was not In the bill. he was prob
ably suffering from tho front what his
associates endured back Of the sceness
Miss thinner was the one charming re-
lief Of the cast, Mr. Donald had little
to do. Miss Donalds fun voice, good
as II is, cannot atone for her pronounce
alton OF the kings English, and her
reading generally Mr.. Ruthven sang
his solos fairly well, and Miss Oakley
was fairly funny In Ear fetched char
0cter SAL
II viii be welcome relief 10 turn
again to "The serenade' this afternoon
and "Robln Hood" tonight.
II Is not too much TO say OF Mrs,
Flske that she Is one Of the very few
actresses occupying the front rank on
the American stage No artist OF re-
cent years has attained her distinction.
and both Az an actress and producer
Of plays, she IL entitled to very high
place. Her previous engagement at
the Grand, where she played then as
she does now, ON account Of being per-
soma non grala with the syndicate that
controls the destlnes OF the theater IN
we'll remembered. That event took
place on Jan. II, 10 and i6, 1901, when she
gave her memorable presentation Of
Becky Sharp and Tess OF the Dur
bervllles." Although the prices werb
doubled for the OCCASION as they will
be next week. the house was not large
enough to hold her audience, and no
doubt a similar story viii be told for
this engagement
Mrs, FIske VIII only produce one play
here, Mary OF Magdala," drama
adapted from the German by the dis
tlngulshed critic, William Winter The
five acts of the play are laid In Ieru-
salem, in the days Of Plate, and the
story deals with the regeneration Of the
Magdalen under the influence OF Chris
tlanlty The prominent characters in
the play are Judas, Caiaphas, the high
priest, and Aulus Flavlus. young Ro-
man, The main dramatic scene IN tho
play occurs In the fourth act, where
Mary, about to make sacrifice that