Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-10
MERRY JINGLES IN
RED MILL AT MASON
SHOW Is LIVELY AND CAST is
GOOD
Wills and McNeiIl Prove Good Substi=
tutes for Montgomery and Stone in
Eccentric Comedy Skits-Good
Musical Numbers
BY LEMuEL PARTON

COIOfS cledf AROUND LIle pan. Inc mason
opera house was crowded last night at
the second performance of this merry
and mundane near-Dutch musical
comedy, the funny business of Walter
S. Wills and Neil MCNEIL proving the
one best bet of the season in this line.
The show is we'll staged and the cos
tunes for the most part are good, which
the exception of that of one sartorial
anachronism labeled Van Damn, in "a
serge suit, hussar boots, a Boy Blue
collar and Byronic necktie.
The musical score, by Victor Herbert,
is fully up to the standard of that YER
Satile composer, and the book and
lyrics are considerably above the ave-
rage output of the nonsense mills which
have been grinding so busily during the
last few years.
Wills and McNeill are offered as sub
StituteS for Montgomery and Stone, who
are with the No. 1 company. While
the impression had been current that
the two latter comedians would be with
the company, the two who take their
place are abundantly satisfying in
DOUBLE -jointedness and general fun
making proclivities. The Sherlock
Holmes business and the "In Old New
York song, eliminating in the boxing
match probably are their best skits.
Wills, the lean one, who wears the
smile of a deceased dog fish, was chosen
especially as the substitute for Stone,
and probably is about as near perfect
imitation of his distinguished model as
could be found on the American stage.
The talent of the company is by no
means confined to these two. Milton
Dawson, as Wilhelm the innkeeper, ap-
pears in an unusually good comedy
makeup and does a good piece of ee-
centric character acting. Maurice
LaVigne puts an artistic finish on his
governor Of iceland and makes a de-
cided hit in his song, EVERY day is
Ladies' Day with Me- Anna McNabb,
as Tina, Wilhelm's daughter, a SOU
brette part, is delightful in several
singing and dancing skits. w. H.
Brown, the borgomaster, finds his Op-
portunity in the "You Never Can Tell
About a Woman song and makes the
most of it. Other parts well taken are
Joshua Pennfeather, by Carl Kahn, the
Countess Ce Ia Terre, by Edmace de
Dreaux, Gretchen, by Marguerite Fry,
and Franz, the sheriff, by Fred W.
Huntly.
Ferris Hartman's initial move in the
matter of Strengthening his organiza-
tion at the Grand opera house is rep
resented in the engagement of Miss
Christine Nielsen, who has just termi-
mated an extended engagement with
the Princess theater company, in San
Francisco. Miss Nielsen is a, California
singer who has won most of her tri-
umphS in the east, where she was a
conspicuous member Of the Shubert
forces. She is said to be a beautiful
young woman with a soprano of more
than ordinary worth. Miss Nielsen will
arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow morn
ing on the Owl. Immediately upon her
arrival she will start rehearSing for
next weeks Grand opera house pro-
duction, ''The Ameer," in which she
has previously appeared with Mr..
Hartman during his engagement at
The Princess theater.
The matinee at the Grand yesterday
attracted a crowded house and the box
office takings were the largest of any
Tuesday matinee during the Hartman
engagement. The feminine portion of
the gathering was particularly pleased
with Grisella Kingslands sprightly
portrayal of the role of Julie Bon Bon
and Miss Muggins Davies singing in
the Sister Mary James Top Note song
the song that brought not a little
fame to Josephine Hall when she first
sung it with Louis Mann and Clara
Lipmann in the original Herald Square
production of 1.-THE Girl from Paris"
DdlI1uS lWO lOlSy ShCNCl4CSy I4lO VI
pheum presents a creditable bill for
the week. "Suppressing the Press" in
which Mr.. and Mrs. Gene Hughes ap-
pear, is decidedly a ounce. The piece
| is Wearisome in it's unceaSing clack and
uproar and is about as subtle in it's ex-
position as the climax Of a Celtic pic
mic. Practically the same may be said
of the ''Wiggins Farm piece, by the
Chadwick trio.
The Three Yoscarys, who offer the
other new number, give very inter-
esting and exciting line of comedy
acrobatic stunts, in an act which would
not be discredited in the road show.
The Rooney sisters vary their dancing
sketch by some attractive new hops
and new dialogue, and the Salvaggis
appear in very dazzling new gowns.
incidentally the Salvaggis are vastly
superior in their dancing to the average
vaudeville performers. 1t is character
! istic of the French dancers that they
are artistically better than Americans
and this is especially noticeable with
| the SalvaggiS.
The glory Of Wilfred Clarke in his
venerable sketch, What will Happen
| Next?" remains undimmed, and De
Biere is as elusively ilusionary and as
mystifyingly mystic as ever. Some of
| his tricks, notably the ones with the
! trap door accessories, are a bit frayed
around the edges, but the egg busi-
ness is all to the good. Is the egg in
the sack? Yes, little boy, the egg is
in the sack. And then again it isn't
Just where the egg goes none but De
! Biere may say. Possibly there is a
place where good eggs go.
| There is a suggestion to be made
which might help Fred Warren, who
appears with Gus HILBERT in the
pianist and dancer sketch His piano
! has the string halt in every other key,
and if he could play something which
would land on the keys which are not
crippled it would help a great deal.
little Red Riding Hood with sew
eral new features, still holds favor al
the Auditorium. This piece has proved
especially attractive to matinee audi
ences and shows the wisdom of the
Auditorium management in offering
pantomime shows.
The current bill at the Los Angeles
theater is the best that popular vaude-
vile house has offered this season. II
was presented for the first time yes
! terday afternoon, the performers hav-
! ing been delayed twenty-four hours by
a washout, near Bakersfield, where
they were tied up on the same train
that brought the Orpheum contingent
south
The feature act of the program is
| provided by Mile. Summerville and her
dancing horse, Columbus. which was
exhibited for a. full year at the New
York Hippodrome. The horse marches
two-steps, cakewall1s and performs
other dance steps in exact time with
| the music Of the orchestra.
Dolp5 and Susie Levine offer an
/ amusing Ono-9Ct comedy