The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1909-10-11
LAND OF NOD AS
SEEN BY MEMPHIS

The Memphis Commercial Appeal
has the following to say of the Rork
production Of THE Land of Nod"
Few musical comedies have served
such an admirable mission in the
amusement world as The Land Of
Nod" which appeared once more at
the Lyceum theater last night. Il was
born in an atmosphere Of laughter, was
sent out into the world with the come
dy side foremost, and has left behind
lit an imperishable memory of smiles.
| It is a pleasure once more to commend
lit as one OF the best examples, Of a
wholesome, varied spicy, musical ere
alton before the public. It is well tol
express at the same time a regret that
SO few Of the predecessors are worthy
Of the. same praise which it has hon
estly earned. ~
Presented under the direction Of
Samuel Roark, it was last night stag
ed, costumed and more deliberately
chorused than ever before Sam
Roark is well known as one ;of the
men who respect the high standard
and in, view Of recent nightmare,
sameless but not forgotten, tbs a
pleasure &c add further congratulations
for the fne performance which was
given last night. 1t will be a long
time before such another front row
of beautiful girls will be seen in the
Lyceum. Characteristic and In keep
ing with his previous productions OF
the same extravaganza, Manager
Roark has sought the hooks and cor.
ners of the chorus girl market for the
bevy, and has found them. They are
good to look upon. They have that
satisfied appearance which awakens
an interest in breakfast food. They
look content and seem pleased that
they are where they are, and the aui
dience joined in the same feeling.
Their costumes are this season new
and unique. Here again the excellent
taste Of Sam Roark assests itself
There is tact in the color scheme,
there Is artistic judgment in the en-
semble, there is life in every move
ment of the chorus. and it bubbles and
I breathes with the harmony of the en-
tire production.
The company this season is the
best that has yet been introduced
in THE Land of Nod" the evident in
tention Of the management being to
leave lasting and longing taste in
the mouth Of the public In this day
Of flimsy farce and foolish affront to
good taste, the passing of so good
show as The Land Of Nod" must
be recognized with word of parting
regret. especially when an artistic eye
has contrived to make the parting
production more fetching than any pre-
vious presentation Of it. This is the
case at issue
Knox Wilson as the April Fool and
Neil Mcneil as the Welch Rarebit.
both scored big. as they always do,
and sustain the comedy in their us
ual effervescent way. Bessillee Mer-
rill, Memphis girl. BY the way, ap-
pears as the Jack Of Hearts. Getting
away from local relationship. she is
the best Jack OF Hearts the production
has ever carried. and this includes the
original Chicago production. She has
a faultless figure. voice that is both
brilliant and resourceful. and in ad-
dition to this has a personality that
covers a multitude OF sins in a show
Of this sort. Ann NcNabb is another
big hit this season. She will be re-
membered for her exceptionally clev-
er work in The Red Mill" and II
dramatic criticism was not so thor
oughly a matter Of personal opinion
she would be commended as one Of
the most attractive soubrettes in
musical comedy.
It was pleasure to notice Florence ]
sinnot again. Miss Sinnot was the
saving grave Of the Wells comedy
company. which was featured at the