The San Francisco call., 1906-10-08
Chanteuse at Orpheum Displays
Physical and Vocal Charm.
BY James Crawford.

~ HE sang in a language other than
English and her position on the
4 bill was unfortunately chosen.
To those two facts can only be
ascribed the failure of Bresina, her
aided as The Beautiful European Ar
tiste in a Dainty and Novel Offering"
to make the hit at the Orpheum yes
terday afternoon which was confidently
predicted by capable critics whom her
performance elsewhere had charmed
For she fulfilled all the promises made
IN her behalf. Physical graees she dis
played in abundance, and vocal and
dramatic talent as we'll, but her voice
was ventilated in French and her
words, despite the expressive gestures
with which she accompanied them, were
unintelligible to at least nineteen TWEEN
tieths of the audience Then, besides,
her act closed the first half of the
bill, and 1t was evident that many of
her hearers were impatient for the in
termission and the opportunity it af
forded to indulge in shooting the ohutes
and other refreshments.
BY way of kindly suggestion, and
not with presumptuous intent to- teach
anybody anything, the hint is hereby
dropped that Anna Held and Fougere
and most of the other chanteuseE who
have favored us may have known no
more of our language than Bresina ap-
parently does, and were less richly en-
dowed than she is with verve and
abandon and other qualifications. yet
they enlisted and held the interest Of
Orpheum patrons-gallery and abby
their studied mispronunciation OF our
current slang. A bit of that kind of
thing inserted here and there might
help Bresina quite little.
James Thornton, the veteran monolo-
gist, recounted a few street car and
barber shop jokes that actually savored
Of freshness. He told US of the car
conductor who asked an indignant lady
passenger for her name Helen
French" she replied. But what is 1t
in English7" the interroEator pursued.
Then a woman wearing a peek-a-boo
waist entered the car "and not man
present could look her straight in the
face" We were informed, also. of how
everybody in the car held their noses
and kindly made room for a German
carrying a smail package in his hand,
one man who had no nose of his own
hastily grabbing his neighbor's." And
the barber shop gags" were equally
funny.
Willie Eckstein, piano-playing
prodigy, gave us Liszt march and q
medley of popular airs without accom-
paniment, and Mendelssohn's concerto
in d minor and also rattling two
step movement with orchestral aid His
work was marked by strenuosity of
execution rather than expression, but
it proved to be the proper stuff for his
audience.
Then we had the four acrobatic
Bards. than whom no better performers
in their line are before the public,
fact which is almost as much owing to
their appreciation of dramatic values
as to their remarkable physical
strength and agility. They know how
to Undue the spectators with keen
feeling of suspense which usually finds
relief in demonstrative applause when
the awaited feat is triumphantly ac-
compIished.
Among the holdovers are Adamini
and Taylor, De Haven and Parker, the
Three Roses and the zazeIl-vernon
pantomimists. The moving pictures are
new and interesting.
Il o. u" is TO be started on a run