The daily sentinel., 1905-10-24
4 BRILLIANT AUDIENCE
ENJOYS THE PIT

the distinguished young actor and
his superb company in William
Brady.s great production of The
PIT Long before the time for the
curtain to rise every seat in the house
was occupied and many additional
seats mad been placed down stairs
A brighter or bigger audience has not
gathered at the Park in years and the
attraction richly deserved snch "a
splendid gathering for The PIT
VIII stand as one of the stellar at
fractions of many seasons at the
opera ltouse
Scores OF people in the audience
had read Frank Norris great story
and were anxious to see the manner
IN which the great scenes of the novel
We're portrayed, and we do not be
lieVe that any of those who read the
book We're disappointed with the
dramatizatlon. Necessarily many
changes We're made, some characters
were presented in a somewhat diff
ferent light but on the whole the play
follows the book pretty closely.
Wilton Lackaye was not n stranger
TO many who witnessed the perform
ance last night and with those who
mad not seen him before he at once
became favorite. Among the many
ed during his years Of success on the
stage surely non fit him better than
that of Curtis Jadwin. the Chicago
business man. the hero OF Frank
Norris novel, As the lover, as the
husband, as the popular and good
natured society man he was most
pleasing but as the daring and fear
less speculator and Napoleon of the
Board of Trade he was truly great
No better Interpretation of the strong
character could have been desired
In every line, in every situation either
light and happy or dramatic and
troublesome he was always at ease.
He was the ideal Curtis Jadwin, He
disappointed no one.
The company supporting Mr.. Lack
aye is admirably balanced and strong
throughout, The part of Laura
Dearborn is taken by Jane Oaker
who has won high favor ON the stage
during the past few years and who
is young lady of exceptional beauty
and delightful ways. Men who eX-
pected Laura Dearborn to be state
ly. cold and naughty as the book
makes her TO great extent were dis
appointed, but 1t must have been
pleasant disappointment for while
Miss Oaker was queenly enough and
truly charming she did not wear that
somewhat selfish and cool air that
characterized to great degree Nor
ris' heroine Everybody was pleas
ed with Laura, as portrayed by Miss
Oaker. Ii would be hard to tell in
which scene she was most pleasing.
Beaulah Watson as Page. Laura S
sister, aud the determined yivacious
lovable little miss, was immense She
was the ideal Page. She was refresh
ing and delightful every minute and
was decidedly one of the very best
members of the large cast Miss
Watson fitted the part and the part
fitted her,
Walter Pennington. as sheldon
Corthell. the artist so devoted to
Laura, was highly satisfactory Cal
win Crookes, the unscrupulous broker.
was in the hands of Hale Hamilton
and his delineation of the character
was able at all times. Ada Gilman
made a great and lovable Aunt
Wess. % Kenneth Davenport as George
Roland was good. The part of Chas. /.
CressIer. the delightful old man who
lost his all In the wheat deal and who
in his despondency ended his life was
taken by George o. Nor
ris. A. II. Stuart was eXcellant as
Samuel Grety. All of the other
characters were satisfactory as we
said before 1t was an evenly balanc-
ed supporting. There were no
sticks" in the organization.
The company is good looking one, /
there being many pretty women and /
a goodly number of handsome men, /.
both young and old.
"The PIT" is in four great acts. |
The scenic establishment is massive {
and resplendant. Four great pictures
OF stage beauty were presented, Per
haps the most magnificent setting was
that of the first act showing the lob
by of the Chicago theatre. The cos
tunes worn by the ladies in this act
were richly beautiful and among
them were six that took first prizes
at the great fashion show at Madi- ]
son Square Garden in New York city. [
The four other settings presented in
the last three acts were extremely
beautiful and correct in detail
There are many strong situations
in The Pit" and IL is hard to destg- ]
nate the strongest in the play. Opin-
ions widely differ there The love
making of Jadwin in the first act was
of course perfectly beautiful the
quarrel of Laura and Page was al
most unsurpassed in strength, IN"
moments In the nfphtI > Oultt ia AAAt
board of trade when Jadwtn sees MS
dreams of victory vanishing and
hears anly the ever singing din OF
wheat. wheat, wheat, and sees
everything lost is powerful and highly
dramatic. the hatful taunt and insult
of Crookes' thrust at his crushed
foe followed by the fight. were GER
tainly wonderfully thrilling while the
return Of Jadwin to his neglected and
heart-sick wife and her loving recep- .
tion of him, forming the last scene
was superb. These were in our opin-
ion the strongest situations OF the
great play. although there were
others almost as strong.
The music incidental to the first
act. Grand opera choruses, was well
rendered and was well received. The
carries several noted grand
opera soloists.
owing to the massive scenery and /
the time required to make the
changes on the none too large local
stage there we're long waits between |
acrs but the company did something
that not many of the big companies
would be kind enough to do, special
features, vocal solos were rendered
between acts in order to entertain
the audience during the long waits
ond the audience made plain its ap-