Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-21
THE CAST

Sampson ,.............Le .LeGai Robinson
Peter .................., Earl a. snider
An Anothecary ......... Frank Darch
page 10 Paris. is.......,.P Percival Seymour
Lady Montague ...... .Adeiaiae n"yn?on vIu;'',,
Juliet OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. Hloieb VIVIAN 'ia,
Lady Capulet ......... Grace Haisey MINIS
Nurse to Juliet. .........'::' ruth VIVIAN Wan
Citizens of Verona, knsfolk OF both
houses, maskers, guards, watchmen ana at
tendants, musicians, etc.
BY FLORENCE BOsARD LAWRENCE
Tschaikowsky's fantasia overture
made a fitting Introduction last night
to the beautiful tragic tale of the love
of Romeo and Juliet. The music, With
it's warning themes. its passionate mel
odies and stirring climaxes, well fore
tells the stiry of the play, wherein an
cient houses are at odds, lovers WOO
and wed, and the bonds of conSanSuiil-
ity are rent with bloodshed ana Vlo-
lence. =,
The beautiful andante cantablle, py
the same composer, followed, ana pc
tokened the peace and calm of the lie
beyond. where the fevers and trials
of earth are unknown.
In this musical Introduction 10 lne
play Modesto Altschuler and his play
ers found opportunity for the display
of wonderful orchestration, as well as
dramatic possibilities hitherto unreal
lied and unrequired in the more sehCl-
mental music of Mendelssohn.
The work. of this orchestra bids falr
to he quite the most important feature
of the week, and musicians must ma
pleasure in listening to the artlstlc
and expressive reading of the classics
which the organization is giving.
There will be more question regard
ing the dramatic status of the Greet
players. Limitations were obvious iast
night. either as in actors who falled
to bring out the best of the character
ization. or in the stage Management
which failed to cast the players ac-
cording to their temperamental pos
sibilities.
Ruth Vivian effected marvellous
transition in character from the fairy
queen. Titania, of Monday evening to
the nurses part twenty-four hours
after, but she accomplished the change
creditably in all respects. The youth
and vibrance of her voice was 100
and yibrance of her voice were too
throaty huskiness of age, however,
but her makeup and Interpretation of
the role was excellent.
The Juliet of Violet Vivian was an
unstudied and artless conception, with
perhaps too much monotony of voice.
She made a lovely picture and in the
balcony scene was so alluring vision
that her love-sick Romeo might have
shown more fire in his pleading
It appears, however, that the role of
Romeo is a hard one to realize. Ger
tainly the impersonation offered by
Milton Rosmer last night was far from
the burning, signing swain imagination
knows the young Montague to have
been.
Most of the members of the cast
have excellent voices, and the distinct
enunciation of the lines is one of the
best features of the general work.
Scenically the unusual method
adopted by Mr.. Greet of using one
conventional scene for all the acts
continues to make a strong appeal.
The play is thus presented in un=
broken periods and the mental picture
is undisturbed. The setting used for
Romeo and Juliet is similar to that
used in Elizabethan productions and
too much cannot be said in praise of
the, originality and artistry of this
background, as well as for the cos
tuning and arrangement of the scenes.
A special matinee will be given today
at the Auditorium, commencing
promptly at o'clock, and patrons are
requested to be in their seats at this
hour in order that the doors may be
kept closed throughout the overture.
The evening performance tonight will
be the only presentation of "The Tenn
pest'' to be given during the week. The
music for 1t was written by Sir Arthur
Sullivan There will be interpretations
by the Russian composer, Tschaikow-
sky.
The sale of seats for the Goodwin
Goodrich engagement begins tomorrow
morning at 8 o'clock at the Mason, and
frequent inquiries as to the repertoire
for the week indicate that this will be
one of the most eventful engagements
Mr.. Goodwin has ever played in Los
Angeles.
Tonight will be Tourist Automobile
night at the Majestic theater Officials
of the Auto-Vehicle company have
bought a large block of seats for to-
nights performance and it is said that
fully 500 drivers of Tourist cars will
be on hand to see Dick Ferris, Flor
ence Stone and their supporting cast
in the lively automobile comedy, Inc me
Lightning Conductor" Two Tourist
cars are used in the production. The
first an old style model, the second
new 1909 car, down to date in every
particular and with all the improved
features that have made the Los An
geles built Tourists popular.
Max Din of Kolb and Dill who open
at the Majestic theater next Sunday
night in "The Politicians" is lying
awake nights planning how to get
even with one Nat Magner, business
manager of the Kolb and Dill COM
pany. Dill wanted to make the trip
between San Francisco and Los An
geles by automobile. Magner said nay
Dill retorted that Magner could go
chase himself, the invitations being
couched in the lowest Dutch permis-
sble on the stage. Magne released,
but early next morning he sent
chauffeur for Dill's new car and had
it safely loaded upon boat bound for
San Pedro before the rotund comedian
had finished with his matinal soft
boiled eggs and toast. Then he noti-
fed his principal over the phone and
hung up the receiver to dodge come
back.
Dill won that automobile in news
paper voting contest. Since then he
has been twice fined for violating the
speed ordinance and he has spent sew
eral hundreds of dollars in repair bills.
Magner declined to take chance on
a San Francisco-Los Angeles run. He
wanted to make sure his stars would
be here on time, next Sunday evening,
for their opening in "The Politicians"
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