The San Francisco call., 1909-02-18
K|RMESS, IN A
BURSTOF GLORY.
wins FAVOR
In Presence of SOciety's Smart
est, Many Brilliant Fea=
lures Are Presented
Beauty, CVIOrs and Music Har-
mOniOusIy Blend in De-
IightfuE Settings
By Walter Anthony

klrmeSs Is a burst Of color crowd
OF pretty girls. dancing dream, a
fare Of light. It is a conservation of
the energy of a rainbow and the beauty
OF youth and life 1t is mirror of
sllurement. think that about covers
. what a lirmess is. though the definition
:. is vague and somewhat of a laggard
behind the facts
BY which you will judge that the
. llirmess was celebrated last night at
the Central theater.
went to criticise. Imagine it. The
J.: kirmess is beyond the heavy touch of
dramatic criticism. It is q thing apart,
and like a poets fantasy dehes de-
F. .scription. 1t just is, and nothing could
be prettier.
The curtain rose slowly on a grand
tableau and procession. led by Edward
NJ Greenway- The great stage at the
Central was filled with society maids
and young matrons in fancy dress
There We're Irish colleens and Scotch
lassies; French maids in demure black
and fine aprons; Fluffy Ruffles girlies
and Indian maids in wonderful leather
toys. senoritas from the shadows Of
the Pyrenees. Marsovian misses and
beautiful Italian peasants.
LEADS TRAIN OF BEAUTY
Dressed gayIy in suit the like ot
which / have never seen, Greenway.
led his stately way with his train of
beauty swinging beWilderingly behind
him.
They marched by twos and threes,
they went through intricate manuvers
like a wem trained ballet, and they
riot Of color. There were no missteps
nor awkward lapses. Miss Lila Ag-
new Stewart whose genius for drilling
IS an established fact, made no mis-
takes. and how she managed in so
brief a time to bring such perfection
and grace into the intricate march
must remain with me, at least a
mystery.
From the moment that the last of
the gay dancers stepped into the wings
at the conclusion Of the grand march
until the curtain closed on the first
night Of the kirmess there were no
unIucky accidents and no weak places.
Only one thing, il seems to me. could
have been improved upon, and that was
the lighting. Perhaps it was the wish
of the pretty girls to escape too much
of the glare OF stage lights, but a
flood Of Illumination from the flies and
performance nightly. The point, I
insist, is well taken. for when. [ ask
you. viii we get another chance to see
at one time so much of beauty to-
gether on one stage2 Not soon. I'm
sure. So more light, please. Seeing
that / was sent 10 criticise, I must do
1t. YOU know. But that's all I could
md 10 complain about.
FOR WORTHY CAUSES
The benefciaries of the kirmess will
be. says the program, the San Fran
cisco maternity hospital. the hospital
for children and the training school
for nurses. Fine, worthy causes are
these, but do not take any JUNCTION to
your soul when you buy a ticket TO
see the lxirmess- and think you're do
ing something fine and charitable.
You'll be doing yourself a kindness
and you'll more than get your moneys
worth The kirmess makes charity
self Indulgence. Besides the ladies in
charge of the kirmess tell me that re-
o0rts 10 the effect that there are no
more good seats left for the rest Of
the merry season are unfounded and
Incorrect There are plenty Of good
seats and each program VIII contain
something new and different, so IL you
want 10 be charitable and enjoy your
self at the same time you may on the
occasions of tonight, tomorrow night
and Saturday afternoon and night
The music is worthy Of special men
tiou. The orchestra, with a good body
NJ brass tone. and with Paul Steindorn
at the directors stand, acquitted it
self splendidly. The selections We're
picked with a discriminating taste that
made the instrumental part Of the pro-
gram worthy Of its terpsicboreean asso-
riation. For instance, the music to the
Indian war dance was real Indian. The
enisode was dramatic and the wigwam
dance by Mrs. Lathrop Ellinwood and
HilIyer Deuprey was really thrilling
number Mrs. Ellinwood's costume
Of white with leather strands for lacery
and white leggins was most effective
contrast against the brown of the
tribes costumes. Percy Hannigan sang
The Sunrise CalP' in good voice. The
: song is based on Indian motives and
Is a fine bit Of realism with its tom tom
beating and weird rhythms.
MEN IN @sWING" NUMBER
= But the number which got the house
sn6 called for so much applause that
Miss Stewart had to step from the
wings to acknowledge her share of the
shouting was the swing number,
p-berefn the znen-did I tell you there
dressed in natty buzzar uniforms and
he girls were in pink After a pretty
lance to the song "As We Swing, Sweet
seart." six swings were lowered from
fhe flies The ropes kere Towering
strings and glowed with a hundred diff
'erent colored lights. Seated in the
.wings the pink gowned girls were
,Uirnc above the heads Of the audience
while the spotlight man turned his
shaft Of light into q prism Of color
.,Ifch dashed on the pretty picture.
rfen came Mrs. Fred w. Kimble's
Glow Worm" song, which she did with
,ull and tree tones and with the poise
n ? professional singer Meantime
rom ont OF the darkness cleaned the
febtg OF the glow worms hung on in
risible threads above the scene. In this
,,nober. too. the barn dance was grace
',,llv done by the Misses Keeney and
Enls and Willard Barton and Due Val
Moore.
..0h the lips Of my Pepita
They are sweefer than the wine.
I,ut they never can be mine"
"a sanz the score of Spanish senor-
i+se and troubadors in the Portola
ss,oe which was one Of the best NUM-
se~s Of the program. To the sad and
,lsintive melody of the folk song they
sarced q slow measure at first The
Tod n 1,r