The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1907-01-14
Little Sally Cohen
Plays Inebriate
and Makes Hit
BY James Crawford

When an actress can realistically
simulate intoxication without convey
ing offense to ordinary fastidiousness
she may be pronounced an artist. and
little Sally Cohen fairly proved title
to that appelIation by her work yester-
day on the Orpheum stage
Even make believe drunkenness by a
woman is rarely refreshing spectacle,
but it is doubtful if a single witness Of
Miss Cohen's performance-and there
were more than 5000 of them-found
fault with it on the ground that it
transgressed refinement. Yet it was no
finely polished 'jag" that she initiated.
Her picture hat was askew. she stag
gered, hiccoughed, shouted 'sWhoop- ee"
without any apparent provocation to do
so. and did other equally silly things
that won approval from folk who would
turn shudderingly away from a female
actually in the condition she portrayed.
1t was a sketch with John c. Rice
that the small woman made the big hit.
That the sketch was not enjoined by
the Chorus Ladies' Purity League be-
fore 1t left New York is one of the
mysteries, for IL is a severe arraign-
ment Of the morals OF merry-merryism
wine in bachelor apartments. Mr. Rice,
as a gay dog. was supposed TO be on
the eve Of marriage to a rich woman
whom he had never seen, and when she
failed to arrive as per appointment he
telephoned to one of his chorus girl
acquaintance to join him and aid in
making his twenty-four hours respite
a festive occasion. She was unable to
comply, but considerably promised to
mr. oh or,,,, Id n
''peacherino." While he was awaiting
the substitute his betrothed entered and
he mistook her for the chorus girl, an
error which she did not remove until
she had inconsistently disguised him
by her assumed inebriety and tender
loin manners and charmed him by her
natural self Usual happy ending.
Another newcomer who unqualifiedly
made good" was VILLA Holt Wakefield
drawing room entertainer. She sat
at a piano, a la Augusta Close, and
sang songs with sense in them, and
her personality was more magnetic and
her method of expression more winning
than any of her preceding ''pianologists."
She is the first woman in her line of
endeavor TO capture plaudits from all
parts of the big Chutes theater.
The Searle and Violet Allen Company
presented a crazy farce entitled THE
things that could hardly happen aboard
any railway passenger coach in these
United States. Its quick action and
general absurdity, however obtained
for IL hilarious seeing and hearing.
Black and Jones (colored) danced
ridiculously and sang ditto and were
noisily rewarded from the upper tier.
Among the followers were Jimmie Luz
cas-. dialectician; Wynne Winslow, So
prano; Howard and Howard, comedians;
and the Vassar girls.
7GORTON'S MINSTRELs
Gorton's minstrels-thirty, count 'em,
thirty-came in from the one-night
stands to spend an afternoon and even
ing at the Novelty Theater, and two
capacity audiences testified to the
wisdom OF the invasion.
The show consisted of the time
honored first part and olio. There were
no famous names in either division of
the programme, but some OF the sing
ing and dancing and sketches were
good enough to be presented by Prim-
rose OF a Dockstader.
Mcintyre and Heath. in The Ham
Tree" will take possession of the Nov
city stage this evening and hold IL all