The San Francisco call., 1904-04-10

such pearls of Ibsen wisdom as l might
from Mrs. Fiske's prophetic lips. II
was at the Grand Opera-house and
1 was to see the actress after the '.Di-
vorcons'-my second view of the de-
lightful comedy. 1 had decided just
what Mrs. Fiske should decide for me
concerning little Nora Helmer's make
up. 1 had my own views of the re-
bellious child wife's conduct. but mod
estly fancied that Mrs. F'iske might
have hers. So, not knowing what
awaited her, Mrs. Fiske consented to
see me.
That was before the 'Divorcons,''
before an hour and a half of Sardou at
his best I watched the performance
through with the same, or increased,
lively delight with which 1 had seen it
on Monday night. The delicacy of touch.
quick, light, sure, the admirable wit OF
the fooling, the wholly French key and
rhythm of the performance. from Mrs
F'iske's Cyprienne to Macks waiter,
anew surprised and charmed me. The
gayety and insolepce of the whole thing,
in fact, intoxicated me afresh. and I'm
afraid 1 had quite forgotten grim, ofd
Ibsen as the riotous curtain went down.
/ went behind then, to see Mrs. Fiske
with her young girl coiffure. the dress.
the saucy face of Cyprienne. and 1 gave
1t up.
Il wanted you to tell me a little
about Nora Helmer," 1 said but"
"But?"-
But
"But"-she burst into a peal of Cy-
prienne-like laughter, that. however.
fully comprehended my predicament-
I'VE can't talk Ibsen with that"
said pointing to the Partisan frou-frou
of her get-up- But it was not that
Mrs Fiskes very personality was
changed. 1t was a very Parisienne,
chic, spirituelle, elegant. that faced me.
'rOf course we can't" she laughed.
Lets talk Sardou.'
She told me then that Harrison Grey
Fiske, the worthily famed editor of the
famous Dramatic Mirror, and the for
tunate husband of his distinguished
wife, had made this translation of ''Di-
vorcons'' in three days. and never even
read it over. A brilliant feat. AS the
highest compliment in my power.
told Mrs. Fiske that I should like to in
terview him.
But we left Ibsen severely alone.
"a Dolls House. will, however. in
spite of that, be given tomorrow even
ing Lighter, and yet with the same
triumphant, biting realism of "Hedda
Gabler," "a Dolls House is likely to
prove even more popular. "A Bit of
Old Chelsea" precedes the play each
night, and on Friday evening. in re-
sponse to innumerable requests,
"Hedda Gabler" will be repeated.
From the seriousness of "A Dolls
House" to the lovely picture book of
''Mam'selle Napoleon" is a far step. Yet
is ''Mam'selle Napoleon" for the people
who like the kind of thing. best worth
seeing Of it's kind. Ziegfeld who pre-
sents the piece, has outdone himself in
the lavish beauty of the costumes and
scenic investiture. There are costumes
innumerable, from their quaint and
correct beauty, their admirable splen-
dor, alone worth going to see. Zieg-
field is an artist of the first rank here,
of a fine eye and ungrudging purse.
Not less may be said of the just mag
nificence of the scenic settings-the
Artists Foyer at the Comedie Fran
caise with its gallery of portraits, the
Kiosk at Compiegne, with it's lily
starred lake. the Grand Opera-house
with a ball in progress, a scene of al
most unexampled splendor. OF course
there are pretty girls galore. the pref
tiest still the dimpled and bewitching
Billy Norton. What a sonsie, bonny
creature she is, in that rustic white
satin gown of the second act, with
oh -of fIa
periodi The lighting, too, is a fea-
ture of the production in which Mr..
Ziegfeld has points galore for his
rivals.
OF the comedy one finds "Mam'selle
Napoleon with moments of unexpected
seriousness. NJ Richepin, who is its
Partisan progenitor. furnished the play
with a pretty little plot that has not
wholly disappeared under its expert
editing for the American market at
Joseph Herbert's hands. And Herbert
has added a whole arsenal of jokes and
popular ditties and generally brought
the comedy within what M. Richepin
would doubtless call the coarser Amer
lean comprehension
As Mile Mars, Anna Held has an
unusually varied opportunity and dis
plays unsuspected resource therein.
She looks timer than ever among her
regiment of stalwart maids, and as
ever is the acme of serpentine eIe-
eance and seductive prettiness. She
has moments in the second act, where.
as Mile. Mars, she meets Napoleon TO
plead for her lovers life, and to refuse
at the same time Napoleon's devoirs,
that make one soundly regret the un-
deniable suggestion of her Same Old
Girl" for example. Mile. Held does
not need to depend upon that kind Of
thing. The little scene with Napoleon
showed her bewitchfng and dainty
little artist, the climax reached in her
entirely delightful recital, in delightful
French, of "The Lion and the Mouse"
In the first act also she did some nota-
II e