The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1908-09-24
A GREAT SHOW.

Audience Have a High Time
at the Opera House Tuesday
Evening.
The International Concert and
Vaudeville Co. held the boards
at the opera house Tuesday
evening and the audience held
Its sides. The audience was very
seldom, and that's a great pity,
for that show is unique.
It's a safe bet that there aren't
any more shows like it. But it
is your own fault if you missed
it and if the thought of missing
all that fun causes you to go
through with a bad quarter of
an hour it's no more than you
deserve for staying away. Yes,
the audience was seldom, but it
was an appreciative audience and
1t did not overlook any occasions
for laughter.
The programme was divided
into two parts, to wit, as follows,
namely: The first consisted of
music-piano, violin, cornet,
voice and the second part con-
sisted of anecdotes and Incl
dents, straightforward tricks and
a One-act musical comedy. The
first part was all right. Really.
The audience did not care par
ticularly for Mr.. Frederick La
Pierre's singing-it was some
what seldom, too, like the au-
dience but Count Fritz Chris
tiani by the way, his whole name
Wasinquotation marks on the pro-
gramme, but that was mistake,
you know; he was the only
original thing in the show
Count Fritz was all to the good.
He knows just what to do with a
violin and his playing was the
most enjoyable feature of the
show. And Col. James A. Joyce
he of the rotund form, large
mustache and small goatee-the
colonel was a joy. In spite of
his portly form and mildly fierce
look, he would blow you on his
little cOrnet as gently as any
sucking dove. The way he
would take the little high-low
trembly, rickety notes was a
caution; it was really a very
difficult thing to do and the
colonel did it well, and while the
colonel was putting those kinks
into the notes he was blowing
out of his cornet the audience
did not know exactly whether it
was its cue to laugh or not, so it
gave itself the benefit of the
doubt and laughed: for the au-
dience rightly opined that that
was what it was there for. The
overture, which wound up the
first part, was all right. 1t was
worth the price of admission, and
the rest was so much velvet.
When the curtain rose on the
second part the colonel-Colone
James A.-came out and said a
little piece several little pieces,
to be exact. This part of the
show was rather painful; the
audience hardly knew whether
to laugh or to weep, but il
finally decided that it was tt
laugh-in fact, the colonel as
good as said so. 1t looked like
if the audience did not laugh the
colonel would weep, which wouIC
have been more painful than the
colonel's anecdotes and Incl
dents labeled. When the
colonel gracefully retired grace
fully as an elephant Coun
Fritz came along and said HI
would proceed to do some sleight
of-hand tricks he had picked VI
in his travels in Europe and thi'
country. And he did 'em, too
he just went right ahead anC
puzzled and amazed and dumb
founded the audience until tn,
| audience didn't know wher
it was "at." No. He tool
the audience into his con
fdence on one trick-a tricl
with a string, in which said tricl
; he loops a string in a button-hol
of his coat, gets a man to hol'
. the other end, backs away
little, pulls part of the strin
slack through the loop, throw
q it over his head and, Prest
r change! pulls the string out 0
= the hole. Bet he got that trio
+ in Europe; and Mr.. Thoma
o Moore swears he got that trio
n in which he beat him (Ml
+ Moore) out of a ten-cent cigar
Mr.. Moore swears he got thu
= trick in Europe, too.
. The grand final stunt was tn
o one-act musical comedy, 9TH
a DEVILS Orchestra. That wei
n nigh beggars description. Mr.. Ere
= a Observation-Disclosures in a go
p geous kimona, looked like a shoe
n of wheat in an old field on a he
4 July day with a sunfower c
Il top-the wheat, not the day
~ and the colonel, asRobertO'Brya
~ looked like-looked like tt
+ colonel. Madame Lola airt
a around spell, touched the col
At mel for a few, showed her re
N stocking and swept off the stag
r. Not for long, though-but wal
NJ while she-he was out the colon
an said a piece that was not on Il
No list at all, and it was that p
~ thetic! And then the MADAM
ri came back transformed like Il