Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-03

mime is Miss Holmes weak point. 1t
is native In an actress, or she never
acquires 1t. Sincerity and natural
charm Miss Holmes has in rare abund-
ance, but this one lack in her ar
tistic arsenal was apparent last night.
Mr.. Hartford acted with spirit, but
failed sufficiently to differentiate the
old warriors weakness in his first
speeches from his later sudden access
of vigor at meeting his old friend and
later antagonist A word of praise is
due Mr.. Giblyn's spy. Facially he was
almost perfect, and his acting was eX-
cellent throughout. Miss Harrington
was genuinely comical as colored
nanny, even when she slipped out or
character, as she did at times, in quit
ting the negro dialect for simpler
speech. Mr.. Vivian, Miss Lewis, Miss
Noyes and Master Clancy did notable
work in characterization, and Charles
Ruggles had one capital chance for
good work, which he improved.
The support generally was good, and
the staging and scenic investiture
superb. There were many slips and
blunders in lines, but much, must be
forgiven to cast which has been
worked to death for nearly twenty
four consecutive hours before a
premiere. Mr.. Hartford, however,
should correct his pronunciation of
'inhospitable" The accent is on the
second syllable, not the third.
"The Warrens of Virginia" should
prove interesting and fairly success
full as a one weeks production. Attel
that it should be replaced by one OF
several strong and virile dramas which
the Belasco management has been
promising Us this long time, but which
as yet we have enjoyed only in
prospect
A bill of considerable diversity
opened yesterday afternoon at the
Orpheum, of which the best acts are
those of Londe and Tilly, European
pantomimlc gymnasts, and Timber
Laddie Cliff, the latter a Welcome hold
over. One of the three Sisters Ath-
letas was suffering from bronchitis,
which delayed their appearance one
day. In their place everybody did
lust a little bit more than his usual
stunt. and James Thornton filled the
remainder of the unoccupied time with
his musical monologue, beginning with
a long and cleverly indigestible song,
following this with his deftly inter
twined gags (two of which, by the
way, stretch decidedly the pale of
decency), and concluding with his new
song (written here between acts, just
as nonchalantly as you or I would
smoke a pipe), entitled Live in My
Heart and Pay No Rent"
George Hillman and four equally
good comedians in the guise of school
boys, symmetrically matched by an
equal number of pretty girls, play hob
with discipline in their musical comedi-
eta, Fun in a School Room" There
is an Indian interlude in which teacher
and pupils don blankets and turn the
school room into an absurd combina-
ton of wigwam and warpath. One of
their songs, 81 Won't Play With You
No More" is too palpable a revision
of at Don't Want to Play In Your
Yard" to pose as novelty.
Londe and Till do several moder-
ately surprising acts, and then the
former very deliberately climbs up and
out a ladder placed obliquely atop a
brass standard, sustaining himself by
his own power of equipoise in a way
that is both novel and thrilling. The
act is brief, but one of the best for
eign importations seen here Of late.
Laddie Cliff adds to last weeks act
some new monologue and a kilt dance,
and sustains his impression already
made as youngster of much mimetic
promise.
One of the four CoIleens was missing
yesterday afternoon, and the three
others showed that they missed her
by a mixup at the start of Come
Back to Erin" Later the trio sang
well, although the glaring scarlet
makeup of the soloist who MARBLES
"Will You Love Me All the Time?'
makes one dubious about returning an
affirmative answer.
The Eight Madcaps appear in pret-
tier costumes than last week, and
dance longer and with more variety,
Ollie Young and his three brothers roll
hoops and play diabolo, and Ollie still
makes his little speech in that shy
young voice that few, can hear.
Among the new acts is a compound
of black face comedy, and vulgar eff
frontery by Armstrong and Clark, en-
titled Grinding a Partner" which in
its attempt to make traVesty of what
most decent men and women hold
sacred is very far below the generally
high standard set by the Orpheum cir
cult 1t may seem humorous to a
certain order of mind to invite happy
husbands and wives to publicly an
rounce the fact as a butt for stage
ridicule, but to most people it will
appeal as not only insulting, but as
a cheap and tawdry form of attract
ing undeserved notice to very ordi-
nary act. If the Orpheum surgical
outfit is in good repair, here is a case
which calls for immediate amputation.
The OrpheuIn announces a promising
bill for next week, headed by Miss
Helena Frederick in "The Patriot" q
one-act tragic opera from the able
pens of Stanislaus STANCE and Julian
Edwards and based upon an incident
in American revolutionary history,