The daily sentinel., 1909-06-09
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Rice's first public appearance III ms
home city for nearly two years. For
the evenings entertainment the
reader offered his audience COM
plete portrayal and speaking pro
lduction of the most powerful poll
tical drama of the decade. The Man
of the Hour" To give any play in
its entirety one man impersonating
all of the characters, is wonderful
undertaking and unless the reader
who undertakes it is possessed OF
marvellous ability it is easy TO realize
what a failure will be made and how
quickly an audience will grow weary
and disguised. Leland Powers. head
of the famous school of oratory, and
teacher of Phidelah Rice, was the
| first reader who ever attempted to
handle plays in this way and Phi
delah Rice, the pupil, has proven
| worthy equal of Leland Powers the
teacher. We have said that to at
tempt to give ANY play this way is
great undertaking but it is a still
greater undertaking to attempt TO
give a play with the wonderful story,
| the dramatic intensity, the stirring
| climaxes, the superb intermingling of
humor with the serious and tragic,
with the diversity of characters, that
stand out as features of The Man
of the Hour
Yet Phidelah Rice last night gave
each of the four acts of the great
play impersonated every one of the
characters, gave each distinct per-
sonality, depicted every one of the
scenes of the drama and in fact gave
most brilliant production of the
play with one man taking every part
and without the use of stage settings
or costumes. 1t was an enchanting
experience to sit and watch this mar
velous impersonator unfold a famous
production of the stage, changing
quickly from one character portrayal
to another and yet with such power
of distinction, expression and change
of voice as to make each character
stand out clearly and completely, in
fact so successfully that without any
deliberation each auditor could tell
which character was speaking no
matter how rapidly Mr.. Rice let the
conversation flow from one character
to another.
The writer heard Phidelah Rice
give The Man of the Hour" at a
private recital about a year ago.
Then he had given 1t but few times
yet it was superbly presented and we
hardly thought he could improve on
it but last night many pleasing
changes were noticed.
Last winter. by a cast composed
of most capable people, The Man of
the Hour" was presented at the Park
opera house. 1t was a superb pro-
duction. one of the theatrical feasts
of the season. We compared Mr..
Rice's private presentation of the
piece with the play that night and
the comparison was most favorable
- s.xl,t h. 1aItt
cations by that excellent company
of the characters of Horrigan. the
powerful political boss, Bennett. the
man of the hour. Wainwright, and
Gibbs. the financiers. Phalen, the
typical and keen witted Irish alder
man. Dallas, the heroine, Perry. her
jolly kid brother, and the several
other characters, seemed to live again
under Mr.. Rice's power of imperson-
alton. just as powerful as they had
lived on the Park theatre stage that
night last winter.
1t was an evenings entertainment
not soon to be forgotten. The big
audience cheered Mr. Rice time and
time again.
Phidelah Rice is all that is claimed
for him. w.
One of the merriest occasions of
the month promises to be the calico
ball to be given at Margery Hall on
the evening of June II by the Ladies
Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Firemen and Enginemen. The
ladies are preparing to entertain their
guests on that occasion in most de-
lightful manner.
The musical department of the Wo-
mans Club will give concert at the
Baptist church next Saturday even
ing at S:15. There will be cantata
and several solo selections both vocal
and instrumental. a large audience
is expected.
Last evening the knights of King
David held a most interesting ses-
sion. in the Presbyterian church lee
ture room. Nearly thirty boys were
present. Three candidates were in
itiated into the rank of page. At the
close of the meeting half an hour
was devoted to drill. The boys are
showing marked ability in the mill
tary branch as well as in the secret
initiatory work.
The Ladies' Aid society of st. Jo-
seph's church met yesterday in very