The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16
If wasn't tlii the second performance that he got his balance.

Iu wasn't tiii the second performance that he got his balance.
 The company for the New York pro- lduction of .'-rhe Light Eternal" is mads lup in It's principals of leading men s'aa ano Heading women from stock companies lof other cities. This religious drama was written by Martin V. Merle. st,l- ident at Roman Catholic College P 1California. After being pionsiy per | formed by that scholastic institutloni lie was taken up by resident company lin san Francisco, and the earthquake shook if off the stage where tt had stayed nearly three months EdytnN fChapnan was 1t Roman princess who Iloved a Christian soldier, conslgqed ihim to death in the arena when she llearned of his religion. became con vert to it. and strove In vain 10 save lhim from the death Of matyr. Mlss % 1 Chapman was its Roman princess wno Ithe Pacific coast, but to The lsight ITternars'' first Atlantic shore audience she was a stranger. and satisiactors
 lis is a pleasure to see her arrive lin Broadway at last" said one lar iWesterner to another between actS'
 Tt is pitiful to see her arrive ten Iyears too late" was the reply.
 And so 1t was; for here was an ex- ltremelv facile artist whv If she were onlv thirty with the face to make up for twenty would capture the theatrt- lcal town; but her opportunity mas lbeen delayed too long. Several or thres or four most prosperous actresses are as old as she, but they began "iVn us
 when they were young. .. | Along with Miss Chapman comes lJames Neill. e Pacific coast actor lfah- slI lager, whose name counts Tor notnInS lhere, unless 1t be to make tolhs eN- lpect the James o'NeiiL or H'o lcvisto fame and fortune Neill plays lpcman captain. The Christian martyr lis assigned to Edward Maekay, son loS YFranIs F. Mackay and inheritor VI lhia voice. His Roman roe in reilgloh land love is embodied by Malcolm WI IUafns. Thus four players get Ics" from stock commotion, with Us stsn llS, cl,anne of role, and find ease n lhr $ l--IyaarASni calm of a religious drams
 1ghIcn seens sure to last the season ltbra,Ioh They are fine quartette z. laior,,tionists. and are Veritable spslt flinders with their long passages :" iChristian assertion and Pagan contra co T dictioh. For this is a declamatory piay. iaiI so,II in a pious sense, and no heart lJr an amorous sense. It is eomposl- ltion of simple dignitys ana reHs slously Itn,,.rnsstve. resembling the recent Am- lerISan nlays of early Christian persS, lcution in the Quo Vadis" lot' as y,sal MeiI las he older English examples Tn l"" lsign of the Cross" class: ,- ..rha
 There is not novel idea m i, lrteht Eternal" either literary, rells' linns or theatrical, but it illumines tne InId material in the newest manner lof stagecraft. as practiced py fashFy IMilier it's producer with Hresp any lbeautiful outfit. There Is scene oI woolng of the daughter Of caesar ps | r1NA rd " 1.-two participants were ansolutely Lha s
 ldihIel woulu still be a gdod entertaih' Iment in living views of a ronahce. lTbav are pIcturesquely clothed, theH
 avsyv stir or attitude Is eloquent the
 garden is moonlit, but with no susSeS Ition of stage device. ana every -. iIteis
 sItsratIon of the view makes a sehsu.
 'H ,-,e,,, ,Icture. There is but single
 U'nrrent of lapse into merely theatrlcaI
 erect This Is when, the Caesar ,..,l's naEins lcuraed Christ, there Is loud eAplOS'vI
 ana n blfnding blaze of divine "r"eili ltbe imperial palace Is snakeh aS oy s"
 earthouake, all the lamps are eAtli, e
 guished. and in the biaCkilsss ,ien-
 sudAanIv shines forth in electric sPtSA- Jor And. of course. that end or an act u,IlI be more popular than anythinE
 .t.o tn tha nlay However. eoneessloh It6s not baen made to the common ae-
 mand for happy concInslon' .o
 Christian hero is not saVeu .,,, Dn tortnre bv some illogical and belittHhs
 expedient but Is last seen on ms ""S
 to he devoured by wild beasts.
 Grand opera Is another theatrical
 field than mine. and l must hoU iet
 even the Conried- -Hammerstein riValry'
 or the Caruso monkeSIsnine tempt me
 to climb the fence separating rum drama But I-may look over the renee
 wben h familiar play. "FedoY,"' is
 brought out in an operatic versiorh Tor L tha first time Robert ManteH ana Fanny Davenport made joint leap lh-
 to fame in Sardou's melodrama of Rus-
 siar plot and passion. Now the iaoy or
 the hercely glowing temperament IS Ia Lena CavalieFi. soprano new 60 us' lwho sings the role, not particularly
 well tin the judgment of the mus.cai crIticst. but Is such a beauty as may
 If you ever see her. make you untrue
 to Lillie LaugtrSI and disioyal to Lli-
 Han Russell. No matter that She ish
 a new Patti or Nillson. she Is Italian , Ghot-sfuff; that Is to say, she. is trans oerdentaily beauteous human growth or the land of warmer wines and out bursting volcanoes. Her face IS Ike Madonnn of Angelo vitalized from the snirItual to the carnal; and in a ball
 gown she uncovers more than Ninci
 does in hls paintings or tle MauoIha
 | eowned bellies of the boxes despits ! inc roseatte hue imported by. pink ] rrhts, took on tinse or enviouS There was Caruso the monkey -doo- dle. how-could- you-do-so Caruso, look ing so fat and squat in a Norfolk hunt
 ing jacket that the people forgetting for inc moment that he vas their graAd opera pet, Uttered at the first }, sight of him. And then when he had ,. , t',r,,eIous voice. and was at a cumula- l t'nr 4 high c with the guests of re- ceptlon grouped around hin him 9.,ss,,o' waiter with astray of glasses fell ciatterine down the stairway. This brought on - lanother spell of merriment for Carusc 3 lto subdue before he got sober consid- eration of his performance Of Fedora | Loris.
 . For more than an hour the ne" l opera was a weak reminder of the |, Istrong old play; Cavaleiri did nothing . to justify her shift from music hai'