The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-22

New YORK. Jan. 20.-Napoleon Bon
IN aparte in The Duchess of Dant-
zic" is just the same that he was
IN Madame Sans Gene" He poses
again with one hand thrust into the
breast OF his coat and the other under
/ the tails, strides TO and fro with his
oralh-heaVy head sagged forward,
takes snuff abstractedly without ever
oHering the box to anyone. and has 4
tCck OF hair pulled down the middle of
ms forehead. Howard Blinn. the pres
ent imitatOr, has a face and figure like
the original and is equal to the rest of
the requirements of "A faithful inpeT'-
sonation. But the other characters in
the new version Of the Sardou comedy
sing many of the things they used 10
speak coaVersauonaly, While he does
Lot, and II Is funny when, for example.
sans sans Gene pleads for her husband
through soprano range of two
or three cctaVeS. while the en-
peror responds like an ordinary
talker. In making d light opera
out Of the weil-known play, Hen
ry Hamilton hes not thought il well 10
transform his majesty into a singer.
Nor has he changed in any other than
that vocal way the behavior of Mar
shall LefebTe or his wife. the laundress
who becomes the Duchess of Dantzic.
The aeticn begins as before with the
Little Corporal unable to pay his wash
senting it TO him when he is despot.
whereupon he settles it by giving her
husband back to her.
The gaucheries of the good hu7nored
yet bad-tempered woman during her
progress fr-m a washtuo to a coronet,
her difficulties with foot and train in
the royal ceremonies, her abuse of the
BOnaparte sisters and her agonies OF
grief when the emperor decides TO d.
vOTce her beloved husband and give
him seemly girl fer new wife, have
been illustrated by such actresses as
Gabrielle Rejane in French, Agnes SOr-
ma in German and Ellen Terry and
Ada Rehan in English. Now we get
them with an Irish accent, for Elvie
Greene, who is brought here with an al
together London company is Dublin
born and bred. She is handsome.
though, and clever, and il is rather
agreea BILE than incongruous when in
her tantrums her Irish tongue develops
an outright bTogUe- The cast is made
up Of strangers practically. though
Blinn is Of American birth and has act
ed here d little, and COurtiCe Pounds,
the fat comedian who plays the dancing
master, reminds US by his name alone
OF the pretty tenor who. years az me,
enraptUTed our matinee girls as the
minstrel prince in THE MikaGC.' 1t
is ii relieving change TO see no familiar
faces in a musical play We like our
their absence once in awhile. This en-
tertainment is a welcome variant too.
by reason of its impecca bly, legitimate
methods and its haWlessly correct COS
tunes and scenery. There isn't a Ten
derloin touch in the production.
The composer CT the music, Ivan
CaryI Ga Belgian really named Felix
Tllkin, who married our Geraldine III
mer and lost her by divOrce). sat In the
erlat
George Edwardes the millionaire man.
ufacturer OF musical comedies, made a
speech. saying that he had never felt
as anxious about any other venture
But he needn't have worried. We were
ready for something different in a nlu-
steal show, and we accepted this with
enthusiasm.
Richard Harding Davis, the most
popular Of our nOVeliStS. with pub
fishers sitting on his doorstep waiting
to buy whatever story he is going to
write, must needs be a dramatist, too.
although he can't look further thanA
William Dean HCwells or r. Marion
Crawford TO sec that a conspicuous
bookshelf isn't a sure springboard 20
the center of the stage. 1t was fully
ten years ago that Mr.. Davis stepped
into the calcium with a one-act play,
and presumably he kept up his efforts
till. last season. he Il the big Sic
come of the tentative production at 4
matinee of little comedy of his called
Miss civilization Why dCes a man
to whom writing stories is like writing
checks waste work on such an unmar-
lSetabl product as a one-act play2
Again. why should we argue his pur-
pose in his disposal of time that is
money? Isn't it enough to know that
Miss Civilization" is a very bright
half hour?
Picture A typical Gibson girl in man
ner and mentality coming into view in
a nightTObe. She is the daughter of a
railway president, in the family's coun-
try house. with her invalid mother
some maid servants and no man. and
she has heard burglars outside. These
particulars we get when she calls
through a telephone for help. Then she
goes to reassure her mother, and in her
absence the thieves break in. She re-
turns to find them at work. Here en-
sues a cOlloquy, the essence OF sprigh--
~ Wit, OF local mOdernity and of the
kind of graceful pleasantly that has
characterized many Of Mr.. Davis nov
elettes- Having played the polite host
ess to the hungry leader of the three
robbers, she discusses with him the dis
advantages OF his vocation. In the
swag she sees her watch and assures
him that now il "will go, for the first
time" and as 10 an unsightly brooch,
only because it was a gift from her
father. But anger drives away her,
smiles when she Identifies a sentiment
tally valued trinket taht has been stol-
Ell from neighbor, and she denounces
the gang vigorously. AT this IN 3ment
the whistle of locomotive announces
the rescuers she has telephoned for,
and a dramatic furry eliminates in the
capture of the robbers. But the girl
begs the men TO he quiet. steadies her
trembling voice to SOothe her alarmed
mother i'm a room above. and finally
relieved of the nervous strain, falls in
a swoon.
There is connection over a burglary
in Augustus Thomas new play of Mrs.
LeningwelFs Boots" and Thomas OUT
numbers Davis by bringing three young
women from their bedrooms in robes
of night. In beth cases, however. tho
peignors look to a mere mans eyes as
suitable for the breakfast table as for
the sleeping chamber. There was a
time long ago when nightcaps went
with nightgowns. and a burglar could
know whether a woman was properly
dressed 10 encounter a strange man.
However, Thomas burglar is we'll
born, college-bre and socially cultured
to the point of probably discerning st
sight the subtle differences between
fashionable women's private night and