The San Francisco call., 1905-01-10
Burnt Cork Is
a Diversion at
Central.
MinStrelS Deal
Out Some New
JeStS.

How do you feel, Mr.. Mayallf" in
quired the interlccutor.
| me, Mistah Webstah? Oh, sab, An
feels quite spiritualistic, All does" was
the prompt answer.
"Spiritualistic? How so, sir?"
''Kase All feels medium, sab"
That was neither the Oldest nor the
newest of the quips launched from the
"ends" at the "conversationalist In the
center" Of the Central Theater minstrel
show, first part. The shelf-worn tale
of the two little fleas, one Of whom
urged the other to 'get on to the dog. "
was narrated in detail. and the same
Mr.. MayalI declared that he did not de-
sire to go to heaven because there are
no ladies there. Interlocutor Webster
laughed the idea to scorn and vehe-
mently declared that heaven was pack
ed with femininity, but he was instant
ly driven to confusion by Mr.. Mayalfs
quotation from the Bible: There was
silence in heaven for half an hour"
But 1t was an extremely interesting
show. The troupe" comprised the
players who have been mouthing melo-
dramatic lines on the same stage all
this season-men and women whom one
would suppose were least fitted by
temperament and training to undertake
delineation of the Ethiopian of min
strelsy either old-time or modern.
That's what made the performance so
interesting. Nobody expected lifelike
portrafture-and nobody got it. From
the stately leading man down to the
humbIest actor of bits the spirit Of
the "legit" refused to be eliminated.
When pun was expounded the tone
was heavy and the delivery deliberate
Mr.. Mayalrs voice descended to subter-
raneanism in his dialogues with Inter-
locutor Webster, who also measured his
words with the precision essential to
effective enunciation.
OF the singing, the least said the bet
ter. if serious criticism had been angled
for by the vocalists. In the opening
chorus the voices were as uneven in
attack as squad of rockies tackling
the goose step, and when they were not
lodging each other they were either
leading or chasing the orchestra The
solos Jared better as to tempo, but the
singers were undisguisedly gratified
Wnen permitted to resume their seats
Thank the Lord" fervently exclaimed
Mr.. Corrigan after he had toiled
through topical ditty. But his prayer
was made premature by the laughing
audience compelling an encore When
Mr.. Shubert toed the scratch to venture
Come Back, Babe" he glanced whim-
sically at the grinning spectators and
audibly hoped they didn't have 'em
with EN-" thereby meaning eggs, of
course. But he was rewarded with
hearty handclaps instead of hen fruit
Only one conundrum-a metrical
poser-was sprung during the even-
ing, and Ben L. Dillon, formerly of
Fischer's and later of the Tivoli, did
it. Mr.. Dillon, by the by, was as much
at home in blackface comedy as he
ever appeared in burlesque or comic
opera eccentrics. He joked, sang and
danced with an ease that provoked
envious glances from his stage COM
panions. Just wait till they get him
in melodramal
Mr.. Halifax, on the tambo end. de-
plored the spectacle of so many
straight actors descending to negro
impersonation, and averred that they
should be with Booth or Barrett or
Mccullough. Whereupon the inter-
locutor reminded Mr.. Halifax that the
once great hiStrionic named We're
dead ones" But not a word of his
averment did Mr.. Halifax take back.
Mr.. Webster's announcement that
he was going to sing "A Warrior
Bold started wordy alteration be-
tween two young men in a stage box,
and their discussion waxed so loud as
to provoke indignant murmurs from
the parquet, angry glances from
the stage, and finally to interrupt the
song. No sooner did the singer re-
commence, however, than the squab-
BILE reopened with augmented fury
and developed into a fight with fists.
One of the combatants fell, the other
stopped over him, and next instant a
heavy body was hurled to the stage.
1t was a dummy. That brought the
curtain.
A regulation olio embraced the
usual sketches, songs and dances.
Walter Shannon. the new Juvenile
man, proved possession of a remark
ably fine barytone voice. The per-
formance concluded with a farce
that brought out the entire strength
of the company.
The Central Minstrels will be one
of the weeks big drawing cards. Their
exact like was never attempted be-
fore, but the cordiality with which the
innovation has been received indicates
that other dramatic stock companies
will relieve their routine once in a
while by donning the burnt cork.