The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-08-24
GREAT NIGHT FOR
ALCAzAR THFATFR
Notable Production of "The
Lion and the Mouse" by
Gifted Company

If the Alcazar theater. old or new,
ever had a greater night than last
night il has escaped the memory of the
most confirmed pIaygoer. There were
events and excitements in such rapid
succession that the house lost the count
OF them and became positively hysterical
at times. Evelyn Vaughn returned from
the east, Will waIing was snatched
from his farm and Grace Travers made
her first appearance as a member OF
the Alcazar family.
There were flowers enough on the
stage at the end of the third act for the
commencement exercises of a young Ia
dies seminary, and there We're speeches
from the .favorites. Will Walling was
the first to respond to the insistent de-
mands of the audience, who made him
acknowledge his joy at being back be-
fore he could say one of his lines.
He said he had intended to stay on
the farm for long time, but he had
been urged to appear for two weeks,
and he had decided to let the house into
the secret that he intended to stay now
long as they would let him. Il love
my farm, but oh, you Alcazar," was
his final word.
in the Evelyn Vaughn emerged from
her thicket OF blossoms and told them
how glad she was to be back and she
wept a little and finally turned her
back to weep a little more and half the
women in the house shed the sympa-
thetic tear. Grace Travers had to
speak too. as did Augustus Phillips.
and then there was more applause and
even a few faint braves. "The Lion
and the Mouse" was the play and it
was decidedly one of the biggest and
ever done 1t was an ambitious pro-
duction and made good in every re-
spect- VIII Walling and Evelyn Vaughn
as the lion and the mouse, respectively
shared the honors of the evening and
both were so good that they surprised
even the most ardent admirers of these
clever players.
The Lion and the Mouse" is a de-
lightful play of course. full of clever
lines and these We're made the most of
in practically every instance VIII
Walling as Ryder, "the richest man in
the world, did great bit of work and
it is difficult to imagine a better char
acterization of the millionaire absorbed
nj amassing more millions to the ex-
clusion of most of the kindlefr things
Of life. His awakening in the last act
to a realization of his faults was art
istically done. with none of the abrupt
ness which might have married the
scene.
Evelyn Vaughn is best described
after all by the hackneyed term con
vincing." and was a delight to the au-
dience every minute she was on the
stage. Her opportunity came at the
close of the third ace in her denuncia-
ton OF the elder Ryder, and she gave a
few moments of real thrills" by the
strength of her acting
Grace Travers brought the same in
fictitious buoyancy into her characterf-
zation of Kate Roberts. the senator's
clipping daughter, that she has charmed
her audience with since the first OF her
stage career, and her reception showed
how marked was her success Angus
tus Phillips made the most of the
rather caddish part of the son Of the
Lion.
To tell of the others who were i'm
portant factors in making the play a
success would be simply an enumera-
tion Of the old Alcazar favorites, Burt.
Wesner, Howard Hickman, George
Baldwin. Bessie Barriscale, Adele Bel
garde, and so on, with the addition OF a
few names, notably William Garwood
and Helen Marlborough.