The San Francisco call., 1909-05-13
INDEPENDENTS BOOK
1.-THE BLUE MOUSE"
Play Condemned and Praised in
East Will Be First Offering
of the Shuberts
Countess Rossi, Who Escaped
From Asylum for Insane, to
Sing at 0rpheum

The shuberts are coming TO town
sooner than was expected. The inva-
sion viii open June ls. and The Blue
Mouse" viii be the first Offering of
the trust busters. The American the
atsr is the place.
When J. Shubert arranged with Man
ager Abe : Cohn OF the American
theater for that house TO be the home
of the Shubert shows it was under
stood that September 1 would be the
date Of the opening. Cohn was plan
ming TO nj in the time with such at
fractions as he could get IN this con-
nection the minstrel show was booked.
II failed TO make the hit that its merits
deserved and was withdrawn after
much shaking OF fists by those con-
cerned in the performance. conn
merely booked the attraction. and so,
Of course. was not concerned in the
internecine wars which have been
waged TO the create advantage OF
those who write theatrical stories ana
TO the great disadvantage OF the pro-
moters OF the enterprise which Cohn' s
thester housed.
ANYWAY. the minstrel show was can
celed. and Cohn says he viii make no
effort to open his house before the ar
rival Of the Shubert forces in June,
unless he is able to present first class
attraction. which just now seems un-
likely. Possibly Dockstader's minstrels
NAV be secured for week in the
interim, but this is by no means certain.
The Blue Mouse" which will be
the opening bill direct from the Shu-
bert play factory, is the comedy which
has aroused so much discussion in the
east 1t has been damned, condemned.
suppressed and praised. 1t has been
the fruitful theme or many discussions.
and ii has been called immoral and
moral. Clyde Fitch adapted it from
the German.
Though il is not yet certain that
The Blue Mouse" will be followed
Immediately by other Shubert shows.
II is probable that il will. and an effort
is being made by the eastern inde-
pendents TO keep the American theater
filled with their productions from june
Is indefinitely. The fact that the San
Francisco opening of the fight is pro-
jected several months-it having been
originally planned not to open the
campaign until next September-nay
preclude the possibility of entirely fill
ing in the intervening months from
June 10 September with attractions.
However. Mary Mannering is an
nounced 10 follow The Blue Mouse, -
and Dewolf Hopper in Pied Piper"
will probably come next.
The forthcoming appearance of the
Countess Rossi at the Orpheum will
recall the sensational incident Of a
few years ago, which. as the publicity
man has it. nearly caused an inter
national complication" The countess
was a singer in St Petersburg, where
she met a nobleman to whom she was
later welded. Then, say the papers,
he behaved brutally toward her and,
the story goes. so wore on her nerves
that he got her confined in q private
asylum for the insane. She gained
her freedom through the connivance
OF a servant and escaped to Paris.
where she regained the custody of her
child. In the French capital she met
NJ. Paulo. who engaged her for an
American tour. She says that she is
still being harassed by her former
husband and that she will never be
able to return to her native land while
he lives. She refuses TO give up the
care OF the child.
The play, The Genius" which Nat
Goodwin will appear in next week,
was the medium which led to the mar
riage of the comedian and Edna Good
rich. She owned the piece, having
bought it three seasons ago through
the DeMilles. Goodwin read the manu-
script and took il away from her, so
TO say. He wanted it. Good plays are
scarce. you know. Meantime, and
moreover, he wanted Edna more than
he wanted the manuscript OF The Ge-
MUS" So he got both. Let US hope
that The Genius" is funnier than The
fastener"
Grace Travers of the Valencia thea
ter says that the funniest thing she
ever heard was a conversation between
2 garage proprietor and his helper at
San Mateo last Friday. Il would have
bought that machine" said the boss.
pointing 10 a rapidly disappearing mo-
tor car flying up the road in q cloud
OF dust. but for one reason.
What was that?" asked the man of
All work. looking up from his place on
the ground underneath a crippled car.
1T killed a man the other day"
"Aw, that didn't kill no man. Tt
killed a woman. and though the ton
neau was smashed to HI, the engine
wasn't hurt a bit"
Miss Travers has for affidavit experts
in this story Stage Director Platt, Lii
lian Andrews and Herman Heller. all
Of whom. il may be, were coached by
Press Agent Hastings of the Valencia
Arthur Cunningham will appear at
the Valencia theater the night OF May
81 He will be seen in an Irish melo-
drama, possibly Colleen Bawn." W. T.
sheehan. formerly Joseph Murphy's
stage director. will return with the
popular barytone.
John Nelson Trump of the editorial
department of the New York Dramatic
Mirror is in San Francisco looking the
theatrical situation over and gathering
material to carry back to the big town.
Walter Hon Seely. manager of the
Valencia theater, went TO Coronado yes
terday for a short vacation. Before
returning he will attend the ceremonial
session of the Mystic Shriners in Los
Angeles Saturday night and will be at
his desk at the Valencia Monday night.