The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1908-09-03
OPENING OF
The SEASON
a KNIGHT FOR A DAY Is THE AT
TRACTION FOR THE OPENING
or THE THEATRICAL SEASON
IN THE FARGO THEATRE
SHOW Al SUCCESS.

The Winnipeg Free Press under date
or Sept has the following to say of
Knight for a Day, which appears at
the Fargo operahouse Saturday even
ing:
Little wonder that A Knight for a
Day had record runs, or almost such
both in New York and Chicago. 1t has
every qualification to win such a de-
sirable consummation. The music is
tuneful and catchy the book is funny,
and stage managing and the drilling
Of the chorus leaves nothing to be de-
sired, while the costumes and mount
ing are handsome and lavish in the ex-
trame. All this might be true and yet
the opera be a failure So much de-
pends on the people engaged. THE
plays the thing" has been said, but
this is little the case in comic opera.
the actors are the thing and 1t is
not giving too enthusiastic praise to
say that those taking part in A Knight
for a Day, are, generally speaking
quite equal to the occasion.
While there is plenty of bright and
breezy music to tickle and please
the ear it is essentially a comedians
play. Except during the singing of one
or two sentimental songs, the laughter
Is continuous, At one moment the
audience SINNERS with amusement;
then 1t gurgles with JOY; again it
shakes with half suppressed merri-
ment, followed by whole hearted
unashamed uproarious laughter;
but always laughter, laughter.
And what a lot of good it does, to
let ourselves go occasionally to laugh
with all our hearts to have to wipe
from our eyes the tears of merriment;
not the society simper or the meretric-
ious snigger, but real, loud, hearty vul-
gar laughter. That's how you laugh
at A Knight for a Day and you have
to, you can't help it. Anyone who
can listen to and watch Bobby Barry,
Elsie Herbert and Eugene Monlan for
a couple of hours Or so and not come
away feeling the happier and jollier
1t to be pitied and should take some
thing for it. Barry resembles drop
of escaped quicksilver; he is all over
the place, here, there and every
where, and what comical little chap
he is! He just bubbles over with hu-
NOR. In his duet with Tillie, What
Fools We Mortals Be, and with Muir
lei, The Little Girl in Blue as well as
in the well known song Whistle When
You Walk Out he showed US
glimpses of real comedy, not Knockout,
boisterous burlesque, but the real gen :,
uine article. And what an excellent
foil is Elsie Herbert as Tillie, the
slow spoken, unexcitable servant ladg.
Miss Herbert is a true artist and
doesn't mind making up ugly" and
verify she has her reward, for the
aforesaid make up is enough to make
a cat laugh, especially when she wears
the deadly apron and cap, though
very much in miniature. Her best
bit of acting-and 1t is done without
the slightest bit of A'offense-is where,
having drank from a well, down which
a dozen bottles of champagne have
been smashed, she becomes slightly
inebriated. She was excrueiatingly
funny. She has two songs. I'd Like
Another Situation Just I.ikt That and
patter song in the second act. They
could scarcely have been better rem
dered Another hit she made and
shared with Mr.. Barry was slxit on
we'll known waltz. Nothing fun.
nier has been seen here fer many
long day than the scene Of the elope-
ment down a ladder OF Title and
Jonathan Joy, which, blythe bye, is
the name of the character played by
Barry. One simply becomes exhaust
ed from laughter.
The third in this trio of comedians,