The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-15
SMITHS.

stage production. will be seen this ev- ening and tomorrow afternoon and ev- ening, in a dramatization of Bertha M. Clay's superb novel, 'Thorns and Orange Blossoms, The book has been ] widely read, and the play is familiar 1 by reason of previous presentations. It is reasonable to expect that large audiences will patronize this attrac- 1 tion, which tells an interesting heart l story in @ most entertaining manner. The performance of the Mendelssohn score to the "Midsummer Night s ! Drearn,'' which the famous Russian l Symphony Orchestra does here with 1 the Ben Greet Players Monday even l ing next, requires master hama. Ihe performance Is operatic in extent, but
 while the conductor of opera dictates | the tempo and the exits and entrances are made to musical signals, in this performance the conductor must follow the words of the play which are some times spoken and sometimes sung. Five great orchestral numbers are al- 1 lotted, however to the orchestra and 1 in these the actors follow the score. While both the play and the music 1 were written many years ago. it IS an | interesting fact that the modern opera l is moving rapidly to what is prac- l tically the spoken word, or declaration, l based upon a great orchestral score 1 which follows the situations in the play. Thus in DeBussy's "Pelleas and 1 Melisande'' the words are in reality ] not sunk but declamed or chanted and often spoken just as the fairy speech es in the Dream are sung or inroned. 1 The same is true of Richard Strauss. as "Salome'' The passing of the older Italian opera form for the modern dec 1 laratory or spoken word, the orchestra l maintaining the music intent, is one l oR ;rk musical transitions of the times. That Mendelssohn l should have nearly one hundred years l ago been inspired to write such a score, inspired as he must have been l by Shakespeare's wonderful fairy play, I a score that for pure beauty and charm l has never been excelled, is, in the light
 of modern tendencies of striking inter l est The Ben Greet Players have
 always been noted for the beauty with ! which they speak, and this orchestral
 accompaniment only heightens the 1 charm of their speaking, and brings
 pointedly to light the fact that the | human speaking voice can be as beau | tifui as music. that it can be invested 1 with all the variety of tone and color which we are apt to think belongs alone to the singer. This is particu- l larly true to the people cast for the ] fairy parts to which there is in most cases an orchestral accompaniment.
  Mendelssohn music-drama. takes lit ] tie over two hours and half to per form, and there are no interruptions from the beginning of the overture. It moves with splendid tempo and considering that the numbers for the orchestra alone are program it is re-
 markable how easily the audience is held.
 Miss Clara Turner comes here Tues day for all the rest of the week, play ing daily matinee and evening perfor- ] mances. Last season, notwithstand- ing the discouraging business depres- sion, she played to big audiences. In many instances the familiar old sign Standing Room Only" had to be put
 on duty. Miss Turner is a capable versatile and earnest actress. Miss
 Turner will present Sardou's great
 work. formerly played by Grace George
 "Divorcons"; "A Girls Best Friend" 8
 new romantic play by Lillian Morti-
 mer: "A Modern Lady Godiva," and
 the prime old favorite, Why Men
 Tempt Women" For the Saturday
 matinee, "Jane and Her Teddy Bears"
 will be seen.
 That great cyclonic musical success,
 "The Time, the Place and the Girl"
 with Arthur Dunn and a splendid cast
 in support, will be seen next Monday
 evening.