The Washington times., 1904-05-31
The Idols Eye" at the La
fayette--Arden in SOL
dierS of Fortune" at the
Columbia.
SpadOni at Chase On the
Bridge at Midnight" al
ACademy-"POlicy Play
ers" at Empire.

The same one of the Milton and Sar-
sent Aborn operate organizations which
sang The Wizard of the Nile" at the
lafayette Opera House last week pre-
sented last evening another of Frank
Daniels former successes. THE Idors
Eye This comic opera Is also by Vic
tor Herbert and Harry 3. Smith, the
composer and librettist of THE Wiz
ard"
The Idols Eye" was almost the
pioneer in the style of musical enter
tainment most popular today. The fact
that it still retains good share Of its
charm-one might also say Of its novelty
indicates the true worth Of the work
from the standpoint Of light amusement
Many gibes have been turned at the
expense Of the fecundity of Harry b.
Smith as a librettist, and to tell the
truth he has at times worked his ma
terial down 10 a pretty fine point. But
THE Idols Eye" shows plainly enough
that Mr.. Smith has other merits besides
that of being able TO do a great deal
of work in a minimum OF time. There
are many clever cOnce1tS In the business
and book of the opera together with
considerable spOntaneity and a fair al
lowanCc of dramatic development. Such
things do not come by chance in any
mans work.
less ambitious than the average of his
later compositions. but 1t is a ques-
ton II IL suffers any In comparison with
more recent productions on that &C
count. The tune is the main thing when
it comes to composing for popular con-
sum ption. II was by contenting himself
with the Simplest statements OF Ell
achieved his greatest successes, and Mr..
Herbert has inserted much of this sim
pie. tuneful quality in the music OF
THE purposes OF grand opera. and light
opera are radically different Grand
opera lives for the sake of the music.
Light opera lives for the sake of the
book and the music Consequently, IN
the case OF grand opera, the musician
rightfully has full sway, while the
lbrettist takes a back seat But IN light
opera the librettist is always IN control,
while the musician faithfully follows his
lead Wagner made his name great
among men because he was the first to
adopt light opera theories to grand
opera usages, but he wrote ms own
librettos. and therefore did not have to
Sight a musical genius in order TO pre-
serve a dramatic idea i'm the hbretto.
The performance given by the stock
company at the lafayette was very
good and met the full approval or the
gCod-sized audience assembled. Fred
Frear, who has Daniels old part Of Abel
Conn. is an excellent stock comedian,
honest and sincere and fairly effective
in his work. BE has no great indi-
vidualitv, but on the other hand he has
an excellent sense of proportion. In his
iaudable endeaTor to make points, he
does not overclOwn ii. Consequently his
work excites modest laughter without
getting one ones nerves.
Estelle Wentworth made a fairly
pleasing impression in the prima donna
part OF Maraouita. 1t is not a charac-
ter overexacting in its requirements,
and Miss Wentworth found IL entirely
within her range. William II. West was
excellent as Jamie MacSnuffy, the
scotch kleptomaniac for all Of whose
-nnisdeueanors Abel Conn is held respon-
sible and Albert Wilder was effective as
Don Pablo Tobasco. the Cuban hunter
Of big game Grafton q. Baker has q
pleasing tenor and filled all the require
ments as Ned Winter the juvenile low
er Helen Rockefeller was a shapeiy
Lieutenant Desmond. and May Emory
pleasing 10 look upon as the chief priest
csc
The honors Of the performance. how
ever. unquestionably went to Norma
Kopp. who appeared IN her original part
OF Damayanti. the Nautch gin. As
pretty of feature and as shapeiy Of
body as ever. she showed an authority
and completeness Of conception and ex-
position that lifted TIE entire perform
ance several notches on the scale Of
merit