The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-04

and her launches on her heels. They
stay SO, and croak low, while their
leader sings a verse. at the end of
which they spring off their pedestals,
straighten out their greenery-yallery
legs, and hop as they let their voices
out in chorus. They have begun as
roses whom a malign fairy trans
forms into frogs; and they are en-
titled THE Firecrackers' because,
finally they so into big crackers, which
explode them into star-spangled hu-
man fiaglets for a pa triotic climax.
The drop in August theatrical intel
lectuality is from heads well down to-
wards heels. THE Spectral Sprites"
are further proof of that. The stage is
blackened, and the first we see of them
is their lower halves, but a glance
convinces that those mOieties are fem
mime and not altogether because they
are shaped that way. but also because
they dance femininely. A grewsome
aspect is given by skeletons that dance
with the girls. There is no use deny
ing it-girls are born graceful and
boys awkward; and there is yet to be
produced an actor able to fool us to
believe he is of the sex that he isn't.
The female impersOnators" are apt
to bring on nausea-the cleverer they
are the more neusea; and even the bal
undertake to practice the witcheries of
the dancing which they teach. Mar
tyne, man, introduces a dance with
mirrors, lights and other devices excel
ling those used by LOie Fuller; and he
doesn't affect the mannerisms of the
other sex; yet he is dressed for a girl,
and if you ask me, l would rather he
gave place to a genuine girl, and him
self worked with the men who operate
the spectacle.
Still another achievement of the silly
but slightly stage season is THE Gel
sha's Dream" which employs no more
than four visible persons, surely fem
mime and perhaps japanese, and good
ness knows how many invisible ope-
Tators for the scenic investure in
wolves great lengths of panorama, nu-
merous phOto-motion pictures, and al
together has about as much of Jap
dope-I mean atmosphere as THE
Darling of the Gods" 1t isn't so much
what the geisha dreams-I can't recol-
lect anything about her vision. but
do recall that, standing behind a trans
lucent curtain, in the manner of the
familiar shadow pantomime, she gives
an exhibition in silhouette of a
japanese girl undressing, from the first
loosening of a kimonO to the last drop
off of a scarf, leaving her statuesque
for an instant before the light goes out.
x x
Don't blame me if August at its out
set provides nothing in dramatic dig
nifty to write about Serious plays of
a logical grade are being held back un-
til the calendars shall tell us that sum-
mer is gone and autumn is come. The
best l can do now is to pick out the
prettiest showing of girls in all the
summer extravaganZas. To my mind
it is made in 1.-THE Follies of 1907, 3"
when q bevy of bathers are displayed
in a scarf The waves that roll in to-
ward the audience are but canvas, with
stage hands underneath to agitate it,
and the bathers sit fiat on the floor
with their heads, shoulders and arms
thrust through holes in the cloth; but
a photo projectory apparatus turns
the painted ocean into a close resem-
blance to foamy breakers, the bathers
seem to be tossed about, they emit lit
tie feminine screams of scared delight,
and the whole moving picture is alto
gether lovely.
Less decorous is the pantomime
plight of single bathing girl in an en-
suing scene. She seems to have been
flung on the beach by a big wave,
which has broken something in her
gear, and she won't arise from the
sand. but lies there on her frontage.
kicking up signals of distress. A man
offers to help her to her feet. but she