Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-05-09
MISS MAYHEM MAKES A HIT.
IN HER TRIPLE ROLE AT
COLONIAL THEATRE.
"The Show Girl" Musical Ex-
travaganza With Music
Left Out Small
Audience.

Miss Stella Mayhew appeared here
for the first time last night with her
excellent company. She gave The
Show Griln at the Colonial Theatre.
TO an audience that was not large,
owing perhaps TO the fact that the
great social function of the season
in honor OF the new admiral was GO
ing on at the same time at the Naval
Academy aud Naval Academy people
and their contingent were conspicuous
by their absence
Annapolis cannot stand for two big
things in one night, and both Miss
Mayhew and navy "doin's are big
things. Miss Mayhem is built that
way she can't help it; the navy isn't
built that way (except its big battle
ships), but il gets big in time and by
grades. Perhaps Miss Mayhews' avoir-
dupois, which some who admire the
sylph-like form might call overweight,
has something 10 do with her jollity.
Her very appearance makes You laugh
and physically she is great success
as we'll as histrionically. She is just
full of vivaeity, and her mirth-pro.
voking talents are bv no means latent.
You don't have to dig or grope for
them they are as plain as the nose on
your face.
To use the stilted, hackneyed term,
Miss MAYHEM is certainly versa
tile" actress. She takes three char
acter in 1.-The Show Girl and her
variety of characters and costumes is
only exceeded by the dispatch and
cleyerness with which she drops one
and gets into another. making the
change from cook lady, blacked up,
to the society giIl in just one minute
and forty three seconds. She is very
fetching in Them all, but especially
so in the Geisha girl. AS the "cook
LADY, she cannot be excelled. Her
coon songs are typically southern, and
no Virginia nanny ever was more
natural in her walk aud "capers"
than Miss Mayhem. Her voice has
the rich plantation ring about it, and
carried some of us. in memory, Away
Down Souf in Dixie Land.
Miss Mayhem scoIe ed a great hit, and
in her May Irwin has formidable
rival, indeed in many respects she is
Mays superior, for she has youth on
her side as we'll as good looks, fetch
ing ways and the art of knowing how
to sing to please her audience. 1.-The
Show Girl'' has no plot, and needs
none. The program pleases to call IT
a Musical rmnfoolery in Two Acts. -
1t is this aud much more. 1t is made
up of singing and dancing girls, of a
thaaqits gaeaqit ii I'll Z cfrrer anu InuIans
and greatest of all, real live naval
officer thrown in TO give it so
ciety" flavor. All the characters kept
things moving along to accomplish
the desired end, that of entertaining
the audience, which it, did. and no
mistake.
The one thing lacking about the
whole show was the orchestra. There
was none. 1t, with big IL all of
III was doing business at headquarters
and the soloists and choruses we're
obliged to sing with only piano ac-
Compartment, which detracted much
from the musical numbers. Annapolis
only possesses one band (heside the
colored band) and that one belongs to
the navy. When the navy doesn
need its services the band may toot
elsewhere-in town for instance, or in
the Baltimore. But on an
occasion like last night-well it was
1.-The Show Girl without music, but
we could stand it so long as there
was a naval officer in the cast and
down on the program.