Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-10
At TIE PLAY HOUSES



Boyd.
Lew Fields and the Lew Fields Theater
company in 1t Happened in Nordland.'
musical comedy in two acts; book and
tor Herbert; staged BY Julian Mitchell;
under direction ct Hamlin. Mitchell
Fields. the principals
Hubert. the long-lost brother of ksthe-
Prince George Of Nebula. who is sr-
dered by the car to marry Queen
. Elsa OF Nordland ..... Harry Davenport
Duke o. TOKEN prime minister %
Baron sparta. minister Of war and
peace and enemy to the ,, duke lux. r 81
Captain siivowitz. his chief assistant. b,
Princess Alinc. queen Elsa 5 aunt.
Dr. Otto Biotz d,rnatoiogist ana pro-
prietor Of Rlotz's Pain Killer -.
Dr. Popor, proprictol Of PePo,'s SAM.
Captain Gatling Of the United states
navy .4....................N William BurreSs
Parthenia schmitt, q country girl maid
TO the Princess Aline...... Anna Doherty
Hugo Won Arim, lieutenant in royal
Marquise Franziska. mistress OF robes
10 Queen Elsa ............. Roma Snyder
Baroness de Kalb. ............ Viola Hopkins
Rudolph peasant. Psrthenias sweet
Prince Karl in love with Queen Elsa.
MISS HICKS ufel secretary 70 the AilltI-
icsn embassy at Nordland .......:...
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Jessie Richmond
Katherine Peepfogei American ambas-
sadress to the court Of Nordland. 1900.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Phyllis Rankin
1T Happened in Nordland." maybe; but
| It couldn't have happened any place else;
for Nordlsnd is about the only place
| ina ginsble where such a thing could pos.
1 sibly be pulled of. And it isn't all Lew
/ Fields, either, for Phyllis Rankin and
others in the company get plenty Of room
/ on the stage, and then at times the stage is
so crowded with singing and dancing
| chorus girls. in bright, beautiful costumes
| that hardly another could be put on. Glen
| McDonough is a past master at stringing
| together nonsense and travesty, and Victor
| Herbert has applied music to McDonough's
| production in a way that is seriously COM
ical Try to imagine something more
/ ridiculous than a tenor aria exploiting the
| virtues OF a painkiler. sung by street
| fakir in imitation OF Caruso, with we'll
drilled chorus coming ON the refrain of
| Shake it." This indicates the spirit in
| which the thing is coaceived. Julian Mitch
! ell has easily surpassed his former efforts
| in staging the piece, for he has provided
| Kaleidoscope maze of colorings in cos
! tunes, settings and lights, that blend and
| melt together and fade away and form new
| pictures harmonious, soft and pleasing, or
striking the eve and stunning the sense by
| their brilliancy. The chorus movements
vary from the dangerous waltz to the
quickstep for the Jig, with an Indian dance
that is one OF the real gems OF the even
| ing. A song, "A Little Glass of one"
proved the whistling hit of the evening, and
was thoroughly enjoyed by the warblers in
the gallery as well as those downstairs
whose decorum could not be broken into a
quicker other high spots are numerous
along the way from first to last, and alto
| gether, II any fault is to be found with it,
there is too much of it.
Mr. Field himself is vastly different from
anything he has hitherto shown us I'm the
way of German caricature. In this he is
a big boy. and enters into it with boyish
zest. He is comical in a way that no other
dialect comedian has attained. His forte is
not buffoonery. and the little clowning he
does is brought about in a way that makes
il part of his character He Ats himself to
| the possible fun of a given situation and
makes the most of his opportunities with
out appearing TO strain at any time And
he has learned the valuable le sson Of know
ing how much of himself to present with
out giving more than is good for his au-
dence. He takes part in one little topical
song and for the rest contents himself with
Jokes delivered as only he can ieliver them.
Phyllis Rankin leads the other half OF the
show, which is the greater half by far, in a
way that is charming. She has 2oise and
self command, and doesn't overlook a
chance. Her songs are we'll sung her lines
are well spoken and her little dances are
gracefully executed. She and Mr. Daven-
port together established A Little Glass
for One" in the estimation of their hear
ers Miss Hopkins, Miss Snyder and Miss
Doherty also lead choruses most effec-
lively. Miss Hopkins has a particularly
pleasing voice and presence. Miss Witty
has one of those guy parts that are 50
easily overdone. but she manages It with
much taste and discretion, getting just the
right effect.
Harry Fisher Baron Sparta, Jules
Steger as DR.. Blotz, William Burress as
Dr. PopofI, Denman Maley as the duke OF
Token and Harry Davenport as Prince
George contribute we'll conceived comedy
characters TO the general good OF the whole
Mr.. Davenports song to an absinthe frappC
is accompanied by realistic exhibition OF
the effect OF a continued application Of the
drink to a properly developed package
, | only IL current accounts are accurate, one
, seldom sees things so pleasant as those thai
beckoued him on and ever eluded his grasp
The Boyd was filled to its capacity last
night by an audience that enjoyed every