The San Francisco call., 1909-10-07
By WALTER ANTHONY

side OF the Princess last night might
have thought President Taft was
within" making a speech. when padded
Din as Mayor Dinglebender arose to
address ? Dream City" multitude on
The issues OF the day. or even KoIb. as
mournful and solemn as ever. tried 10
explain ? real estate proposition to his
partner in English murder There Is
nigh art in their low comedy. and its
entertaining quality does not dim. Kolb
has cut out many or his kicks to the
stomach. Dill suffers less physically
but there is none of the anguish gone
from KOlb's demeanor. nor any smiling
idiocy from DilTs face. In a second.
they are as they were before and they
do not Try anything on in the comedy
line that fails to ft
A soft southern breeze waited the
suggestion TO us that Dream City
: was not suitable 10 Kolb and DilIs pc
culiar order Of farcical fun: that they
had but one or two scenes together. and
thar their newest offering was. there
fore, not what the -Dutchmen" were
accustomed to offer. The audience last
night a. the Princess did not think so,
end neither did l.
MADE 1T a NEW COMEDY
Dream city" written for Lew Fields
after he and Weber had agreed to
travel different routes has been tam
pered with extensively. Now. you can
iamper With 4 musical comedy safely
lnere Is no danger of compromising
the plot. that's certain. and. like q
vaudeville act, it is built 10 amuse a
laugh is the answer to criticism Of its
lack Of unity" and a breezy ensemble
or a lively dance. or both. settles the
matter. So KOlb and Dill have dallfed
with the story and have enticed IL into
paths that are wide enough for two
Both have a chance. Weber and Fields
might have played IL in the present
version and have stirred up no jealousy
between them. Verify, in unity is the
strength Of the Kolb and Dill present
n1ents
Tou may have seen Dream City"
before, but you have never been to
this one. Even "Pousse Cafe" is bor-
rowed from for a touch Of music, and
there are interpolated songs. dances
dialogue and situations. flying ma
chine is introduced. for instance, with
pretty Olga Stech aboard singing
Take Me Up With You" and Kolbs
topical verses about Foolish Oues-
Jions" is another welcomed interval
with which the authors of the play had
nothing TO do.
DANCES WELL DRILLED
The chorus is pretty and the dances
well drilled. Miss Octavia Broskfe
stepped into the ranks after FIVE hours
Of preparation and sang the prima
donna role which had been vacated by
Maybelle Baker, who had suffered a
serious accident. Miss Broskie devel-
ops friends as her stay at the Princess
lengthens. She Is getting into the
stock atmosphere, and her voice
would be hard TO duplicate in musical
comedy. Adelaide Harlsnd as Amanda,
the help" is good in her broad com
edy. which she makes a trife too
broad at times. but she has the comedy
spirit. and that covers a multitude of
shortcomings. Harris MCGUIRE. as "the
relic" was a good character part; A. E
Duncan. otherwise Bud" was also ef-
fective and Carleton Chase, Sidney de
Gray. Percy Bronson and the other oc-
cupants OF smaller roles were effective.
The play is well put on: unusually well
put on, and it is funny.
silver Threads" written by Martin
Y. Merle for Jose, will not be pro-
duced IN the west, as was originally
planned. because the Shuberts. who
have taken the play. wired Fred But
Ter OF the Alcszar that Richard Jose
would make his debut in the piece in
some town near New York. It was in
Ten0eO At ITEl 70 Try Lne play out mere
in California. and Butler was to have
staged the comedy drama and gather
the company. but when Merle arrived
in New York a few days ago, and pre-
sented his script to the Shuberts they
decided TO take II in hand themselves
and not only produce the play, but
control il. Hence only one California
player will be placed in the piece, and
that viii be Hobart Kavanaugh, who
has been playing at the Alcazar thea
ter for some time.
For the first time in the history Of
the world prosperity has ruined enter
prise The Alcazar Messenger is dead
There will be no more issues for
warded from the Sutter street theater
OF the little paper which exploited the
players and the plays at Frederic Be
lasco's house. The reason is that there
were too many subscribers. The pa
per was circulated gratis, and the sub
scription list grew. II started with
about 100 names and when the paper
ceased publication week ago the list
OF eager readers had reached the total
OF 5000 names. It became too eXpen-
sive. and so the paper has been discon-
tinued. Hereafter, IL any of the many
patrons OF the Alacazar want to know
about the play or players therein pre-
sented. they will have TO subscribe
elsewhere. Prosperity killed the Mes
SenRer.
More than 30 names have been sub
mitted TO Belasco and Davis of the Al
cazsr for their favorable consideration
as successors TO Augustus Phillips as
leading man. but thus far no selection
has been made. II the right man is not
forthcoming soon Frederic says he viii
make flying trip TO New York TO Sc
cure 2 hero. Anyway" says he Il am
not alone IN my difficulty in securing a
leading man. Charles Frohman. few
weeks ago. said he had the same kind
Of trouble"
II has been more than two years
since Naleria Bergere has been seen in
this city She will return in a sketch
which the Orpheum will exhibit next
Sunday. The Sultsn's Fsvorite." II
was written by Edgar Allen Woolf. and