The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-21
THEATRES



Rye last night entered into the hearts
of MONTGOMERY theatre goers. The
frat time she had ever appeared in the
CapjtaI CITY of Alabama she took the
audience at the Montgomery Theatre
by storm.
Whether as the ambitious Mrs.
Knobb. Fitted oy nature and Govern
ment bonds" for position In society,
with her "llpsus liquids" or as the
clever Imttator in dialect songs. II was
Ali the same From the first few sent
ences she uttered in the early part OF
the evening until the drop of the finai
curtain the audience was hers to COM
mand, and laughter and applause spon-
taneously broke forth at the wave OF
her hand
There was no question of the ropu-
larjtv of the talented actress. Clever,
artistic, hilariously amusing. she con-
/ trolIed stranger to her audience
when she first came on the stage. be-
| fore the close of the play she was the
object of the enthusiasm of the pack
ed house. She excels Marie Dressler.
| She is the equal of Marie Cahill
Nor was she alone in her conquest
Frank Ialor was another who made
| his initial performance before MONT
geometry audience last night. Those
who saw him carried away with them
a memory of Mott. the tailor. which
4
| fore becoming effaced fro mtheir minds
| Those who did not It would do no good
| to tell For Frank Lalor deserves MS
| reputation His every word has sign
| for a laugh, HIS every facial contortior
| was the signal for scream. When
he left the stage there was almost q
sigh of reIicf--he had been so funny 1t
hurt.
Last night as the crowd which had
| attended Coming Thro' the Rye. at
the Montgomery Theatre, left the play
house and poured out into the cooler
air of the street. whistler lowly
struck UP the first bars of II Know a
Girl Like YOU" The strain rose IN
| volume. and at different points along
the street the refrain of the catchy
music was taken up and passed along.
the echo of the song which had made
the musica, hit of the evening
A musical production with good
/ songs, catchy music. clever perform
ers and at the end of every sentence
a laugh. Coming Thro' the Rye" be-
came in one night favorite with pat
rons Of the theatre in this city. There
was no question of this It's merit was
recognized the people caught the spirit
of the delicious humor, and entered
into the rhythm of the swinging music.
1t was good-it was of the best
i Perhaps one of the best things In the
play was the imitation work of Miss
Mayhew. Applause repeated and pro-
longed brought her again and again
before the footlights until out OF very
courtesy the audience was impelled to
desist Her impersonation of the girl
who had made up her mind to become
an actress" her Irish song, and Camp
Meetin' Time" were things which come
too seldom not to be recognized at
their worth when they are seen. Her
characterization, too, of Mrs Knobb,
the capitalist. was delightful.
AS for Frank Lalor, he was treat
always His song. CLANCY" with a
chorus of seven male voices was en-
cored no less than seven times.
OF the others who came "Thro the
Rye" John =. Park and Alma Youlin.
arc no strangers to Montgomery. Both
have been here before and both arc
warmly admired. The Vandyke Brown
of the former and the model, Loleta, of
. the latter, were second only to the
work of the two principals. Vincent
MacCarthy as Macon Spayce. the adapt
| able press agent of Mrs. Knob, was
success. He played the part as
though he enjoyed it. William Riley
! Hatch as William Cactus Claude. the
cowboy and Bess Gibson AS Bessie
, Claude, were two other characters which
will remain in the memory of Mont.
, | 9omerians, while If Lord Battersbee
/ should ever be forgotten. the laugh oil
! Frank Doane. who played the part, VII
be remembered always.
OF the full list of songs of the pro-
, duction everyone made a hit and every
made up of pretty girls, artistically
! dressed, and the dances were clever
and original.
Coming Thro' the Rye" gave proof
that the people of Montgomery will &c
far to see the good show. Notwith-
standing the fact that during the early
hours of the evening heavy rain fell
when the curtain rose on the first act
there were few vacant seat in the
house.. One unpleasant feature, how
> ever, marked the close of the perform
ance. 1t is one which is not new tc
: Montgomery audiences. AS the last act
was about to close, hundreds from ev.
cry part of the house rose in haste tc
leave the playhouse. The arrange
ment of the finale was one of the bes
. things during the long program of good
, things which the play offered. But
haste to reach the doors on the part
of the few spoiled the entire effec
of the close. They themselves missed
1t. More than that, they prevented
! those who wished to see the finale from
seeing it by standing In the aisles OIL
at their seats shutting off the view
, of the stage.
! Coming Thro' the Rye" was So good
1t was a surprise. Let us have more
of such persons as Miss Mayhem, Mr.
! Hatch. Mr.. Labor and Miss Youlin. Il
I the Bloch Amusement Company keep:
to, the standard they have set in this
show we may look to the Blochs fol
the best in the amusement line.
THE Toast of the Town" with Jane
Remark as the star is the next at
traction at the Montgomery Theatre
coming Saturday of next week.