The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-08

Smith may have assured MT. Herbert like the store keeper does when ne hasn't the article called for, that he had something just as good as those he had disposed of. but Mir. Smith was mistaken If he did that.
 great deal of Mir. Herberts music is worthy of the very best sort of a comic opera book It is none the less attractive because it has a sort of combined brass band and orchestra swing and dash to 1t. The military el- ement runs through and through his Fortune Teller" scenes and 1t was none the worse for that, either. The presenting company did well with the stirring. swinging choruses. First and last the company's singing was the feature and the audience ap- preciated it. There was much more dash and spirit in the company's sing ing than there was in its other stage business The musical director has done better work than the stage direc- tor. The company sang better than 1t acted The harmonious, symmetrical whole. which goes to make up fin ished- first class performance was not in evidence at times. If the baseball editor was writing this he would say "the team lacked ginger and failed to put up fast, heady game"
 Miss Grace Orr Myers was in Ethe stellar station and she filled the part The others while good enough, ranked lower down. The season is young, however, and may be the principals have not gotten down to their best work. There is some perceptible room for improvement.
 Miss Myers is an attractive young woman. The audience liked her huge ly. The criticism of lack/of dash and spirit does not lie against the young ha sufficiently v and sufficiently enthusiastic. Miss Myers Is a little--it really ought not to be mentioned-but Miss Myers is-er little, well she suffers from the same handicap that worries Lillian Russell. too much embonpont. But she cer- tainly did look nice. A partridge is always so much better looking than rail bird. And that Hussar costume certainly did fit snugly. She sang splendidly and there was too little of her dancing to satisfy her audience. The embonpoint could be forgiven if one had not seen Alice Nelson.
 Thanks and appreciation are due Henry Turpin because he both sang splendidly and looked so picturesque. That was fine gypsy he showed, tall. dark, romantic and ragged. He has a rich. powerful voice and he knows how to put it to dramatic use.
 The best comedy work was done by Hugh Cameron as sort of Alphonse and Gaston count with a table de hote dialect. He was funny enough in the few chances that Mir. Smith and his one joke system gave him.
 The fun of James McElhern, some- how. did not ring true. Was 1t the fault of the man who made the book or of McElhern? At any rate 1t is un- fair to saddle the sins of the world up- on the shoulders of MT. Smith even if he has an erroneous theory on the joke question. MT. McElhern appeared more like a cultivated comedian than a born comedian. There Is quite a diff ference between the two.
 Herman Hirshberg did better. He played a German of the Rogers Broth CTS brand, the "let me explanation" and don't interruption" kind. And he did it well enough.
 Miss Irene Langford was trim and fetching prifna donna She is some distance away from the stellar station, but she appeared an earnest worker.
 The chorus was well dressed and fairly good to look upon. All in all 1t was first rate chorus A distinct feature of the performance and one that would lend attraction to any mu- sical performance was the training of the dfQm corps, of eight young women garbedA in stunning Hussar costumes and armed. each with a snare drum. They made some stirring, inspiring mu- sic and the audience clapped for them again and again.
 In the last act Cameron. McElhern and Hirshberg had an opportunity which they improved.
 They answered at least a dozen en- cores so well pleased was the audience with their topical song.
 The Aberns have done we'll for The Fortune Teller in selection of star company, costuming and scenic equip ment and they deserve success with it.
 A large audience saw the matinee performance. The audience at night was not so large but 1t was enthusias- tic enough.