The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-30
ADJUSTMENTS
MetropoIItan-"PIff, Par, pouf ;,

=
There is a dash and snap to ''Piff,
PAN, POUR that co1npels the auditor to
forget that much Of the music is farnil-
lar and the jokes and incidents somewhat
old. "A musical play cannot have a long
New York run without some of the
features drifting west to excite interest
or to dull curiosity. In the case Of "Piff,
Paff, Pouf' the interest had evidently
been excited, for the Metropolitan had
an unusually large audience last even
ing. Mr.. Whitney has dubbed his pro-
duction a musical cocktail, a name that
serves as well as any for the miscellane-
GUS collection Of choruses, dances and
nonsense in which generous number Of
local hits have been happily introduced.
The pony ballet is to the play what the
olive is to a Martini, and anything fun
n1er than the eight Dutch girls has not
been seen for many day. The audi
ence was quite agreed on that point and
called them back again and again until
one wooden shoe was broken in two
Fred W. Mace as Peter PouffIe led the
ponies In their antics and with their as
sistance- gave sone . Of the catchiest Of
| Walks Mr.. Maces various DISCUSSES
included one which he gravely announced
was the wel-known local celebrity, s'the
rat man.
me company was most energetic and
from the smallest member of the chorus
| to the tallest Of the comedians everybody
worked to enable the audience. to enjoy
! itself. r. -. Graham as August Melon
was responsible for what plot there was,
for If his wife had not died and left him
a fortune on condition that their four
daughters were married before he took
a second wife he would not have been
obliged to seek an unkissed man, an ar
| fist possessed OF all the virtues and a
! man whose only claim to distinction lay
! in. the fact that his picture had appeared
1 in connection with a proprietary medi-
! cine. Mr.. Melon has fallen in love with
! a widow, Mrs. Lillian Montague, who
aids and abets him in his search for hus-
bands for his assorted collection OF
daughters with neatness and dispatch.
Mr. Graham Is most .amorous, hot.
headed Individual, and his song, "corde-
! liza Malone was given with swing.
Miss Katharyn Osterman proved a
charming widow with a most infectious
gurglfng laugh.
! A former Minneapolis man, Louis Lon
don, has the role of the Inevitable Eng
i lishman. Lord George Piffe, who proves
1 to be the unkissed man, a part nightly
suggestive OF Elder sDowie's eldest son,
/ and sings Good Night, NV Own Love =
| ~ a p4CdS11le LldullSI. S1ldIi0S morgan
as Macaroni Puffle. the lig41t-footed,
resourceful artist, was the third OF the
1 group that names the play. Miss Lulu
| Mcconnell as Cora Melon is an eccen-
| trio comedian after the style: Of Eva Tan
quay and Mabel Hite. but she has not
the strong personality Of either Miss Hite
or Miss Tanguay. Miss Nellie Mae Hew-
lit, another Melon girl, sang Under the
GoorGoo Tree" in most impassioned
manner, addressing man In an upper
box to the joy Of the audience and the
discontinue of the man. The chorus
danced better than It sang and the cos
| tunes were not fresh they once
were. The setting was pleasing. but not
1 at all elaborate In these days Of sunnpti.-
Gus stage pictures. but the action WIS
/ brisk enough to make one unconscious d
] any lack. IF. r. s