The San Francisco call., 1907-01-22
BY James Crawford

/
Four really good principals, about a
score of young and pretty girls. catchy
music. ludicrous comedy and kaleido-
scopic stage pictures are the main fea-
lures of The Strollers," the musical
piece with which the new American The
ater was formally opened last evening
by the San Francisco Opera Company,
largely made up of former Tivoli favor
ties. And the big audience was mostly
composed of folk who were numbered
among the Tivolis clientele.
1t was an auspicious "send-off" for
the solid and handsome playhouse,
which is just capacious enough to ac
commodate remunerative attendance
and just small enough to be classified
as "bijou." Indeed if it had been
planned with the exclusive view to
presenting such entertainment as The
Strollers' it could hardly come closer
to filing the requirements, both on
and off the stage The rear row of
seats is near enough to the footlights
to enable its occupants to see and hear
the actors without strain of eyes or
ears, and people in the balcony front
are almost within reaching distance Of
the orchestra Do you remember our
own cozy little Bush street Theater, or
the Weber and Fields Music Hall in
New York; The American is remindful
of both of them in many details. The
dominant color scheme is warm dark
red, with the boxes and proscenium
arch in white and gold, and the illumi
nation is brilliant and the chairs
are comfortably commodious- While
seated in the American you feel that
you are in a theater-a feeling Whlch
is not without novelty.
OF the people in the cast OF THE
Strollers" there is none more use
full or in greater prominence than
Teddy Webb who for several years
was premier fun-maker at the Tivoli.
He has a role that provides opportuni-
ty for full ventilation of the comedy
qualities that made him such a favor
lite In the old days. His first appear
ance last night was the signal for an
applausive outburst, great in volume
and long-lasting, and he had to say ne
was glad to be home again ere ne
was permitted to say anything else.
Then throughout three acts he kept
the house in a roar while he had the
stage-and he had it a great deal OF
the time.
Aida Hemmi. handsome woman pos
sessed of a magnetic personality and
soprano well suited to light opera,
won the primal vocal honors and g
big share of the rewards earned by
comedy, for she proved ability to act
as well as to sing. All her numbers
were well received, a dainty coon"
lullaby In the second act receiving
double encore.
Aimee Leicester. buxom and good
looking as ever, sang her music with
pleasing effect and acted acceptably.
Joseph W. Smith aired one of the best
tenor voices, both in it's evenness of
quality and width of range, that has
ever been heard here outside of grand
opera. The barytone, Francis Carrier,
did not have enough to do to justify
an opinion as to his worth. Little
Frieda Wisher is as chic as ever, but
has considerable to learn in the art
OF acting.
In the chorus were about score OF
girls, actually young. pretty and able
to both sing and dance, and half
dozen good male voices. All the choral
numbers were excellently executed, and
won more recalls than musical comedy
choruses usually win. The staging was
both elaborate and appropriate.
In fact there was nothing in the per-
formance to warrant prediction of any
thing else than successful season for
the San Francisco Opera Company.