Arizona republican., 1910-02-23
= -l --7 I3 f,s Ia- The Last Appearance
 Of Sanford Dodge Co.
A BIG AUDIENCE SAW "THE MFR.
 CHANT OF VENICE
The Extended Engagement of Mir. Dodge and Company Here Has for Public and Company Alike.


 1 ford Dodge and company at the Nor
 mal auditorium Monday evening in | The Merchant of Venice" was q pleasing one to both the company | and the large audience. There is probably no auditorium or opera house in the territory better fitted for d play like The Merchant of | Venice" than the one at the Normal Mir. Dodge appreciated this at a glance on the occasion of his ad- dress to the students on the second day of his engagement here. He then
 expressed a strong desire to put on a play there and an arrangement was
 quickly agreed upon which made this
 possible. Though with only couple of days in which to advertise the
 event. the students of the school i entered upon the task of selling ] tickets with will. The conse- i quence was that when the curtain went up Monday evening there were something over 500 members com posing the audience. The lower floor
 was comfortably filled and the gal : lery was occupied by a few. It was not only large. but an appreciative audience. and so impressed with it's spirit of enthusiasm and apprecia- ! tiveness was Mr Dodge that just be- | fore the last act he stepped from his i character of "Shylock' long enough
 to express his sincere thanks for the ] splendid attendance and to assure i the audience that his stay in Tempe had been q pleasant one. He added , that he would not forget 1t in the i future and hoped to have the pleasure of playing here again during some other tour.
 Though the price of admission was
 made exceedingly low when the char acter of the performance was taken ! into consideration, the Normal cleared little over $50 by the transaction. I This money will be used in the fur I ther equipment of the auditorium stage equipment. Already a splendid : new woodland scene is being painted and the proceeds of Monday evenings i play will go a long way toward pay 1 ing for this, and thus further equip ping the large stage with attractive
 and suitable scenery
 | As to the play itself. there is much that might be said if space permitted Of the four plays that MT. Dodge has presented here. The Merchant of
 Venice" was probably the equal of any In some respects-it was supe-
 rior. It depended somewhat upon the ! likes and dislikes of the individual members of the audience Mir Dodge as "Shylock" was very good, but in | fc nnfr hnf in
 one or two of the other characters he took during his engagement. The
 play gave an opportunity for Louis 1 Lytton, as the merchant, "Antonio,i
 to appear to excellent advantage. Mir | Lytton, by the way, is not a stranger l to Tempe On the appearance of the
 Earl Burgess company here year or
 so ago. Mir. Lytton occupied a prom inent place in the cast. It was really | largely due to the recommendation he gave Tempe to Mir. Dodge that the i latter was induced to play here The
 success of the engagement here dem onstrated the correstness of MT. Lyt-
 tons presumption that Tempe would
 be a paying town for q good show.
 But to refer back again for a moment
 to the play: Geo. c. Somnes. who has occupied a prominent place in | the cast of all the Dodge attractions here the past week. was very accept able as ''BassaniO" Miss Adele Nick
 erson. the leading lady. as "Portia." played the part in an exceptionally
 creditable manner The other mem- bers of the cast were good and the play as a whole was decidedly &C., ceptable and pleasing one
 The extended engagement of MT Dodge and company in Tempe. made
 possible by a mix up of dates else where. has been q mutually pleasant
 and profitable one. both for the com pany and for the public. Mir. Dodge
 and 'the other individual members of
 the company have made many warm friends here and will always be well comed back again. For three nights
 this week the company appears n Mesa.
 For Sale-Cabbage plants. per 100
 30 cents; per thousand, g. J. F..