davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21


WI our papers this morning.
- March 81, I6S5.-That is a date
fESS4XI which takes us back 224 years,
49, 1t was an important date in the
history Of music. for on tina date was
born Johann Sebastian Bach,
The name of Bach takes one back To
the foundation of our present system of
music. There were no less than twenty
four musical Bachs, all of the same family,
ranging from 1881 until 1916. Johann Sc
bastian Bach is, of course, the most Illus
trlous by far. Schumann said Of him that
music owed him almost as great a debt
as a religion owes to its founder.
The constellation Bach rose in Hans
Bach about 1861. blazed forth in it's fullest
splsndor and radiance In Johann Sebastian
d6S5-175QD, and set in Wilhelm Bach Q756-
1916. This covered a period of 2S5 years,
rather a remarkable instance CT hereditary
talent.
And, again, a strange fact comes to ones
mind that Bach and Handel were born
within a month of each other in the same
year. Handel was bern on February %
and Bach on March p.
.
A hint of the possibility Of economy is
displayed in the fact that when Bach was
already famed as an organist his yearly
salary was about $4.75 a month! Some
thing like $57 per year! For this ne played
the organ three tines a week, gave singing
lessons to a small choir. saved money
TO go on a trip and assisted a needy
relative!
At the age of 10, after the death of his
parents. Bach went to live with his brother
Johann Christonh, and developed so won
deTfully that Johann Christoph did not
find himself entirely free from a feeling
Of what might be termed m i-jealousy,
This brother, II is said, withheld from
Bach a fine MSS, volume of organ compo-
sdticns which the latter was very anxious
to study. But the budding genius was not
to be thwarted and he managed TO squeeze
the volume through the lattice door OF
the cupboard in which 1t was kept, and Sc
cretIy copied the work by moonlight, TAX
ing six months to do it.
Hard fate-the elder brother discovered
IL and took IL away
II was in l73 thai Bach became cantor
at the Thomas-schule in Leipzig. and or
ganist and director OF the music in the
two principal churches. He retained his
Leipzig position until the end of his life,
ana there he wrote his great Passion
Music. his cantatas, and the celebrated
B-minor Mass. which at this very day IA
the great test Of the sreat choral societies
Towards the close OF his life Bach became
entirely blind. md he died on July 18th,
I760. through a tit Of apoplexy.
Bach was married twice. Through his
nTst marriage he had seSea ehildren
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21
Musical Notes.

II is very gratifying to know tina an
other vested choir has been added to those
already In the city. The choir of the First
congregational church, under the direction
OF Mr., Fred q. Ellis, appeared in their
vestments last Sunday for the first time
The CONGREGATION was very greatly pleased
with the change.
A very interesting concert was given
Thursday evening by the choir OF the Pearl
Memorial church, under the direction of
Mr.. Clifford I. Daniels. Those assisting
were Misses Julia Nagl, ollie Burnett, Essie
Aarons, Helen Grow; Mrs. T. {. Hinkle,
Mr.. y ]. Maven, Mr., II. E. Wallace and
Mr.. E. +. Williams,
Mr.. Martin Bush will give an organ re-
cital at the First congregational church
this afternoon At 4;3O. Instead Of ct A:OO,
as formerly announced. MIR. Bush viii play
Guilmant's Fifth Sonata; "Bibllaeh
Lieder," by Dvorak; "Angelique d Flat, -
by Lemare; Spring Song" by Hoiino;
Rive ~Angeique," by Kubenstein, and
"Pomp and Circumstance March," by Sir
Edward Elgard. Mr.. Fred q. Ellis will
sing Gould We not Watch3" by Neidlineer.
and "A Ballad OF Trees and The Master
by Chadwick
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

Ten hpHNenlOuHntAh uuIlHA ANN
nwS- week. even though offered two
2A1IHM Of the best things that have APP
8u&B peared at the Boyd theater this
season. II is some occasion for wonder
that neither Max Figman nor Flor
ence Roberts can obtain a hearing
here. for they are both clever
actors; yes, even more than clever,
they are u~ncommoniy good actors, one a
comedian, the other serious, and each
standing in the very front rank among
Americans. Those who did see them, and
among the few were persons of ripe judy
ment and discriminating taste, say the
plays and the players were excellent. Yet
Mr.. Figman and Miss Roberts each feels
discouraged at the Indifference of the
local public. This is inexplicable; it can
not be tat Omaha folks do not care for
what Is good at the theater, for In the
case Of other actors the patronage has been
large. 1t must, therefore, be ascrihed 20
ignorance, n this latter hypothesis Is not
ut ali creditable TO the reviewers of the
local press, who have united In a chorus OF
praise of the performances. Not only this
but during all the seasons these stars have
been coming to Omaha the newspapers have
been telling the people Of their ability and
OF the excellence of their companies, and
without avail. All OF which moves to the
inquiry, whats the use?" The man who
can guess what the public wants soon &C
cumulates q fortune.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

German composer made known his
Dream music. 1t has become familiar to
audiences the world over by frequent per-
formanoes in concert rooms; its freshness
and charm are perennial. In connection
with the presentation of the Shakespearian
fantasy, several compositions by Mendels-
sohn in addition to the strictly Dream"
music will be interpolated, and by just so
much will add to the enjoyment of the
production. The numbers will include the
famous overture. the brilliant Scherzo. the
march and the song of the fairies. the in
termezzo, the locturne, the wedding march,
the spring song and the finale with its
chorus of fairies. Such passages In the
play as "Ye Spotted snakes and Through
This House will be given by the full
chorus.
Miss Grace Kahler. a talented soprano,
will be the s%oloist, and there is also a
ballet Of young girls and children from
the Dorothy DIX Home for the children
actors in Boston. The production of the
play is thoroughly Ben Greetfan; deco
rative drapery is used, as a background for
the action, and there is no shifting of
scenes, no curtain divisions of the move
ment, to interfere with enjoyment of the
progressive action. The whole is as UNI
broken as a true dream of the night.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is to
be given with the Incidental music by
Gounod and Ts~chaikowsky.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21
LATE GOSSIP FROM sTAGELAND
What layer and Play Writers OF
Note are Doing.

Bert Baker of the Princess company was
a member Of a western troupe under the
management of an impresario who fire.
quently found Il necessary to discontinue
the payment of salaries temporarily, One
night q committee of players headed by
Baker waited on the manager and delivered
an ultimatum: No salaries; no show. THE
ghost will walk the first thing in the morn
ing. was the answer that prevented a re-
volt. Baker and the committee sat up ali
night watching a light In the managers
room. At 4 a. m. they met him walking out
of the hotel with the company's money In
catch a train. I'VE thought the ghost
might be restless and up betimes,' said
Baker to the fleeing one, $50 we decided 10
walk with aim 10 keep him company" The
manager eapitulated, paid the salaries, and
Baker took his place the rest Of the season.
Burns Mantle, ramat editor OF the
GhtaaGa Tribune has hAan annotated Sun.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

day editor. w. l.. Hubbard will temporarily
combine the departments Of music and
drama.
Paul Hervieu. the French dramatist, has
entered suit against the J. s. Oglivie Pub
fishing company for publishing a book en-
titled. The Labyrinth, or n Case OF d.
NOrCe,' by George Morehead, which, the
title page claims, Is "a dramatic story based
on the great play Of the same name Her
vieu Is tho author OF the play, known In
the original French as Ia Dedale," which
Olga NethersOle produced in this country
several years ago. The French euthor
claims that his copyright protests the use
the American publishers plea is that no has
not complied with the law. II is a question
OF technicality, and, on the surface, IL would
seem that the moral right belongs TO Her
vieu.
Say, wilton sau a fellow Lamb TO
Lackaye, do you wear that monocle TO
annoy me?' MOT especially" replied Will
ton. II find that IL angers everybody
Yesterday we played Frankfort, Ind,
writes the manager of The Lion and tne
Mouse II was on the front door taking
tickets and a fellow presented himself Tor
free admission with nothing to show cause
except his statement that he was the bell
man. l asked him where the bellman came
In. Well said he, next door TO this opera
house We have a tower with a large bell,
and at 8 o'clock l ring the ourtew. II 1
get in the show free I am going to give the
in free l ring 1t like - for fifteen min
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

Midsummer night, June "a, 1929. In con-
nection with the latter event a most In
teresting episode showing one side of Men
delssohn's genius has been related. In
returning from the concert in a hackney
coach, the score of the overture was left
in the coach by Mr.. Atwood, occasional
conductor of the Philharmonic society and
was irrecoverably lost. When Mendelssohn
heard of the loss, he said, Never mind,
l will make another" He did so, and
when compared with the orchestral parts,
it was found to be exactly the same as
the original.
The Midsummer Nights Dream music
apart from the overture consists Of the
following twelve numbers: %. Scherzo.
%. Fairy March. 80. You Spotted
Snakes for two sopranos and chorus.
D. Melodrama. 90. C).
Melodrama. %. Notturno. (S). Andante.
(). Wedding March. QO). Allegro Com
modo. QD. B~ergomask Dance. Q2).
Finale. This music will be heard or Fri
day night and on Saturday afternoon,
when the Ben Greet players present Mid
summer Nights Dream and in order that
the audience may be able to receive the
full beauty and benefit of the overture,
Mr.. Monaghan, n of the Boyd
theater has issued instructions 10 his
ushers that positively no one win be al
lowed to go to a seat during the number.
Mr.. Monaghan is taking pains TO announce
the request that the audience viii co.
operate with him and will he early in
order to avoid having to stand while the
overture is being played. In this place il
is not necessary to request silence during
this wonderful fairy music, but 1t is to be
fervently hoped that a spirit Of silence may
prevail.
-
In the evening Saturday the players
will present Romeo and Juliet" with in
cidental music by Gounod and Tschaikow-
sky. THOMAS ]. KELLY.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

THE Thief" Charles Frohman's produc-
ton of Henri Bernstein's great play, comes
to the Boyd March Is. %, 20, 81 and April
!. First produced at the Renaissance
theater in Paris, THE Thief had not been
on the boards two months before transla-
tions were being made OF It for the Eng
lish, American, German, Russian. Spanish
and Swedish stages, and this summer 1t
was produced in Australia. In all these
lands it has since had a prosperous career
which is still only in its infancy. For the
performance of The Thief in this city
Charles Frohman has selected the follow
ing finely balanced cast: Charles Dalton,
Edward r. Mawson. Margaret Wycherly,
Leonard Ide, Arthur Lawrence and Mrs.
Hillary Bell
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

Grigaletti's Aerial Ballet will come to the
Orpheum for the week commencing with a
matinee today, The act was imported by
Klaw and Erlanger for their pantomine
uch as Beauty and The Beast and
Mother Goose" Julie Herne, the tai
ented daughter of the late James A. Herne,
will appear in a little piece Of her own
entitled "A Mountain Cinderella" Billy
Van, the well known minstrel ran, Will
offer various parodies and comic songs, all
of which are reported to be full of rich
humor. Dancing Of the American school
with numerous steps of their own invention
will be the offering of the Novelty Dane
ing four. Peter Donald and Meta Carson
will bring the wit Of the canny Scot. The
sketch they present is called ALEX
McLean's Dream Donald is a genuine
Scotch comedian and Miss Carson, a
bonnie lassie' said to possess considerable
skill as a dancer. Weary Wiggles, the
Dandy Dude Tramp" is the way Borani
and Nevaro announce their act, which
consists of novelty acrobatic work mingled
with comedy. Fonda, Dell and Fonda pre-
sent an act in which Miss Mabelle Fonda,
THE Peerless Queen of Clubs" Is featured
II consists OF club twirling of the most
dexterous sort and for good measure the
Misses Fonda introduce some spirited
dancing.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21
COMING TO OMAHA THEATERs
what the Press Agents Promise for
the Weeks Attractions.

what the Press Agents Promise for
the Weeks Attractions.
The coming of The Lion and the Mouse"
to the Boyd tonight means more than a
mere announcement of an attraction to fill
an engagement. The cast, almost as a unit,
may be said TO have created THE Lion and
the Mouse after Charles Klein, it's author,
had sketched the characters and con-
structed the cycle Cthe play in which they
were to move.
Here is a list Of the folk that enjoyed
the long metropolitan run and who are still
happy in their respective parts: Frazier
Coulter, Ella Craven, Charles Sturgis, Eliz-
abeth De Witt, Dora Allen, Margaret
Shayne, e. A. Eberle, Walter Allen, James
Mcdonald, Martin Sabine. Marion Pollock.
Johnson, Grace .Thorne and Beatrice
Craven. Oliver Doud Byron, Malcolm
Duncan and Miss Edith Barker are the
only ones of the company not of the orig
inal fold. AS for charming Edith Barker.
what need she more to recommend her
than her signal achievement right here in
Omaha as leading lady with Francis Will
son in Cousin Billy" and also with the
late Richard Mansfield. Mr.. Malcolm DUN
can, the third of the new members of the
original cast, also enjoys the distinction
of having served as principal juvenile for
Manifold.
80
Friday evening ana Saturday afternoon,
March 26 and q, Ben Greet Players, with
the Russian Symphony orchestra, will pre-
cent with Mendelssohn music "A Midsum-
mer Nights Dream at the Boyd theater.
Zen Greet, who will appear as Bottom,
will manage the players, and the great
orchestra will be conducted by Modist Alt
schulev. There will be seventy-five people
In the production. The vision of falryland,
love and mirth incorporated by Shakes
peare's genius in "a Midsummer Nights
Dream" inspired the gifted Mendelssohn to
compose music so melodious and SO in
harmony with the romantic, poetic and
fancifully humorous contents of the play
that when it is heard IN connection with
the latter, it seems to be on integral part
of the master dramatist's work. Since the
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

. -
What has brought about the changer A
variety Of circumstance.
One Is that the big vaudeville managers
have put so much money into the game,
they have hired such expensive performers
and made such heavy productions that peo-
Pile ara no longer content with the cheap
vaudeville that used to satisfy them. This
has worked & hardship on the little man
ayers of vaudeville who used to put on a
modestly entertaining show for rs cents
Or so.
Peopls have been spoiled. They get so
much for half a dollar at the houses run
by the bigger managers that they won't
put up with anything less elaborate in the
form OF vaudeville even for half the money.
Driven to the wall In this fashion. the
smaller managers had to do something with
their houses or go out OF the entertainment
business. In their extremity they took up
the moving picture machine, dropped the
price OF admission to 8 cents or 10 cents at
the outside, and iot their houses were
crowded seven days In the week. twelve
months In the year.
Following this development the managers
OF even some OF the big vaudeville houses
began to sit up and take notice. A good
many of them figured out that while the
receipts from cheap moving picture audi
ences were vastly smaller than from reg
ular vaudeville audiences at 50 and rs cents
apiece. yet the producing expenses OF the
picture show were so much less tina for
vaudeville on its present elaborate basis
that the margin of profit at the end of the
week not %infreduently made the picture bus
mess much the better proposition.
From that time on came occasional
announcements that such Anud such q
theater previously devoted to vaudeville
would be devoted to moving picturas in
future. One of the most surprising an
nouncements OF this character came only
last week when IL was made known that
Keith q Proctor's One hundred and Tween
ty-fifth street theater. long devoted to the
exhibition Of the most expensive vaude-
willie acts before the public and second In
Importance only to the big downtown
vaudeville house In New York, would &C
out OF the vaudeville business and take VI
the motion pictures,
But vaudeville on q large scale Is by nc
means down and out. and there Is no pros.
pect thar II ever will be. There will al.
ways be a good many persons who like reaI
vaudeville Il are willing 70 pay for a
Another class OF entertainment long popu.
lar with the people who are now making
moving pictures so profitable has, on IN,
contrary, suffered a blow that bids fair L
be mortal.
This form of entertainment is the eheaI
melodrama, the old time Bowery thriller
So badly have the melodramas suffered
from the moving picture craze that at the
present time where there used TO be many
downtown theaters devoted to the Blaney
- -
Of thing theEs - only a % which the,
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

utes. and II generally breaks up the show
for n while 1 made inquiry from the local
manager and he assured me It was a fact.
I passed the fellow In"
Henry E. Dixey, starring In MARY James
Pa" is writing his memoirs. Bearing In
mind Mr.. Dixey's experience Of forty-one
years on the stage and the fact that he has
played a greater diversity OF parts than
any living American actor, the volume
should prove 'of extraordinary interest
The New York Telegraph offers this as a
"Parentage Note:' In a typewritten story.
entitled THE Real Ethel barrymore Issued
by Charles Frohman's press department.
there appears the statements: Ethel Barry
more is the mother of surprises
1t IL reported that Henry w. Savidge has
engaged Mrs. Campbell for the title role
OF his production in English. OF La
Femme, =" the Bison play which is meeting
with such pronounced SUCCESS in Paris. II
is a play of stormy emotional powers. La
Femme IL the name of the woman VINO
is an unknown person. She has been LED
away from her husband and in later years
IN defended before the bar or justice on
the charge of murder by her own son; Ihe
two are unknown to each other. This is
the great scene in the play. Berlin has
also recently fallen a victim to the spell OF
! this drama, even though the critics pro-
| nounce 1t one of patent theatricalism.
Hilda spong, in a new play. "A Man
and His Mate impersonates n temale
doctor who falls in love with a horse
| thief.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21
CRAZE FOR MOVING PICTURES
All the Country Hit by the Boxed Up
Drama.

All the Country Hit by the Boxed Up
Drama.
NEW YORK, March 20.-If you happen
10 come loafing down a broad. quiet street
in the outskirts OF Mprristown, N. j., or
Garden City, L. L., or some other not too
exciting village not far from the gay
Rtalto of Moo Yawk," and see a group OF
men, women and perhaps children, with
a dog or two just for luck, performing
antics that would create a riot in any
metropolitan community, do not hastily
leap to the conclusion hat the inmates or
q ~neighboring asylum for the insane nave
risen against their keepers as one man
and made their individual and collective
escapes. The chances are that the per-
sons doing queer things are merely en-
plopes of some concern that manufactures
moving pictures and that If you visit one
of the biograph theaters within the next
few weeks you will see their wild antics
reproduced upon the white screen that
blocks the stage opening where vaudeville
used to be performed.
And II you chance to stand on a railroad
station platform waiting for a train and
cast your eyes upon a box perhaps three
or four feet square addressed to the man
ager Of some thester in Meridian, Miss, or
Leadville, Colo, do not gaze upon 1t con-
teptuously. For all YOU know Mike Donlin
and Mabel Hite or Harry Lauder or Vesta
Victoria may be packed up inside that box,
presently to delight the simple inhabitants
of Leadville or Meridian with their anus
ing doings upon the moving picture screen.
.
The moving picture wave that has with
in the hast two or three years hit the
United States is one of the most wide
spread developments in the history OF
amusements that this country has to show,
A Now York man was coming down town
on the rear platform of a broadway trolley
car pnN evening, recently. Al Fourteenth
street the car made its usual stop before
rounding what used to be known in the
cable car days as Dead Man Curve
Crowds were pushing their way into en-
frances on Fourteenth street on either side
of Broadway.
They're all goin' In t see the movin
pitchers remarked the conductor, whC
was one of the few human beings employed
in New York by the street railway com
panies.
Funny thing. too" he went on. at ain
so long ago but what / can remember 4
without any trouble that folks used t.
grab for their hats when they turned OF
the movin' pitchers at the end of the show.
The conductor was right. Amy patron o
vaudeville recalls the fact that not NOR,
than three years ago the moving pictur,
exhibitions occupied the last place on tn
bills of all vaudeville theaters and wer
humorously but truthfully known a
RhAgnF0-
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

The offering at the Boyd for April 2 and
3 is Viola Allen in The White Sister, a
big, broad, healthy play of intense interest
and powerful grip, by f. Marion Crawford
and Walter Hackett. Messrs, Liebler &
Co., the producers of THE White Sister"
have acquired an enviable reputation for
wonderful scenic mounting, but their in
vestiture of Miss Aliens play is a revela-
ton in the art of picture building on the
stage. The four acts are laid in Italy and
the various representations of Italian
scenes are admirable bits of faithful scenic
reproduction. Miss Allen is assisted by
William Farnum and the supporting COM
pany contains, among others, Mlnna Gale,
Charles A. Stevenson. Fanny Addison Pitt,
Richie Ling and Alfred Fisher.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

For the week starting this afternoon, the
Burwood theater will offer "Mizpah, or the
Story of Esther" The play is by Ella
combe Searelle. The first performance of
this play was given at the Majestic theater,
San Francisco, on January 8, 1905. It's sue
cess from the very opening was such as
had never been scored before in the theat-
rical annals of San Francisco. For the
Burwood production the scenic representa-
lions will be exact reproductions of the
elaborate mounting given this remarkable
play in San Francisco, photographs of the
original having been procured for refer
ence. "Mizpah' is written in blank verse,
and those who know the fervidness of the
poetess, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, can imagine
the dramatic intensity of the speeches given
to the characters of the play. Miss Leone
will be seen as the good Esther, beloved
of the Jewish race and worshiped by the
Persian king, Ahasuerus, The cast neces-
sary for the intelligent Interpretation of the
play is an unusually large one and to-
gether with the auxiliary forces, the pro-
duction will be in appearance of a gorgeous
spectacle. There will be matinees today,
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
e\Burwood management has arranged
for the production of Because She Loved
Him So" The honors in the play will be
about equally divided between Miss Leone
and Mr.. Bacon. The play has not been
seen in Omaha since in September, 1905.
1t is to be staged the week following
"Mizpah."
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21
About Music, Musicians and Musical Events

ARCH u, 19O9.-That is the date
which we find at the head of
our papers this morning,
March 81, l6S5.-That is a date
which takes us back 224 years,
It vas an important date in the
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

At the Krug theater for three nights
and Saturday matinee starting next Thurs
day night, Shadows of a Great City" will
again be seen.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

folks refused 70 be
tempted away from their Ler-
ten abstemiousness during the
week, even though offered two
Of the best things that have APP
peared at the Boyd theater this