The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-24
Theatrical and Coney Island Attractions

BY FRANKLIN FYLEs.

and its rise disclosed Sophie. Amelia
and Olga hand in hand. like sisters
loving as well as lovely, and the rest
of the company on view. too. The ap-
plause held out strongly. with no need
OF ushers and other rOOters helping the
zeal approval of the shows first half.
Now ii didn't seem possible that Ed
wards could have reached the stage
from the orchestra Probably the
course had been cleared, and he had
trained for the sprint. Anyway,
there he stood. smiling as toOthfully as
the painted dolls Of actresses, and
bowling as amiably as the daubed pup
pets of actors. In his citation he hadn't
waited TO hear a call of his name. He
knew that his music had dominated
the triumph, and forgot that anyone
else had done anything. But he be-
thought him of his helpers at the third
lift Of the curtain, and brought OUT
three men, but their identity, and the
nature of their individual collaboration
was left to conjecture. They may
have been the backing angel, he
adaptive translator and the subser-
Went rhymster. The FOUNDERS ridi-
culed Edwards cheek, yet admired his
aptness in making a rhythmic lot OF
tunes fOR a comic opera, not musical
farce.
The play went on with Sophie
Brandt as a moneyed prima donna
whom the gay musician" makes love
to. so that she will produce an opera
of his. Amelia Stone is his wife, who
reluctantly permits him to figure as a
bachelor while she serves the scheme
as a hOusemaid, and Olga Won Harz-
field is a soubrette who edges into the
row that inevitably ensues; for, Of
course, the husbands love of the
prima donna becomes considerably
genuine. the wife raises the jealous
devil, there is a divorce and a re-
matching. before a return to peace and
prosperity. The all-knowing first
nighters. or the all-guessins, peeked
between the mimic antagonists, and
peered beyond them. 10 discern signs
Of real hatred in the personal rivalry.
Nothing of the kind was visible. The
three actresses, while pretending to
fight like tabbies over a tOmcat on 4
fence, pretended also TO be personally
as playful as kittens over a ball in
basket. The upshot is that The Gay
Musician" is welcome variant from
the output of shows that are tender
tenderloin in sensuality. but tough
with the tenderloin flavor that is rank
TO some folks.
In a week or a fortnight my space
will be crowded by big summer pro-
auctions; so now is the time to men
tion inconsequential little curiosties
A ring on a girls toe is one of them.
The actress is in Clyde Fitch's comedy
of Girls" in which he illustrates his
subiect-that is to say. his subjects
by having three of them change their
day gowns TO nightgoWns and go to
bed The youngest. very cute an cum
nin', thrusts her bare foot from IN
der the bedclOthes towards the au-
dience and calls on one of her room
mates to tuck 'em in. I told you that
in an account OF the first permorm-
ance. Every earnest endeaVOr in dTa-
matte art strives ever TO progress for
ward and upward. When this actress
puts forth her toOtsies something glis-
tens on one of them. Eager eyes To-
cate it on her right big toe. Really
the toe isn't big, but it is her biggest.
A ring is on ii, and diamond shines
where a corn might be.
1t is a year and more since I wrote
a word about the "burlesque" compa-
MES, formerly called female min
strels. that entertain in 300 American
theatres, fourteen of which are here
in New York, not counting the sum-
mer's score at Coney Island. have sat
out four OF their shows within fort
night TO see if in 1908 they are any
better or worse than in 1907 They have
neither risen nor fallen. The worst OF
the tOur was shaped up in the usual
form of two plays with some vaude-
Vile between; but I had hoped for one
Of the pieces, as il bore a baseball title
promising a travesty of Casey at the
Bat" the rhymed account of the
mighty Casey" who, at the crucial
point in a game, lost it for the local
club by striking OUT" De Wolf Hop
per saw the verses in a newspapers and
recited them between acts for years
before finding out its author; and has
kept on using them without paying
one dollar of the thousands il has
earned. reckoning it's royalty value by
the time IL has filed and the laughter
il has caused. However. the New
England lawyer who wrote IL, after
having scanned the copyright law in
vain for ground on which TO base a de-
man1 for money, took all the satisfac-
ton that Hopper's eloquent recital
yielded, and accepted sumptuous
supper with laudatory speeches.
The author of Casey at the Bat"
should keep away from the touring
burlesquers who are misusing his
rhymes. Let him not go. as I did. with
the expectation OF seeing his baseball
humor exploited on the stage. He and