Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-07
1.-THE GElSHA" IS
WELL PRESENTED
NEW SOPRANO AND TENOR
MAKE THEIR BOWS
"THE RED MILL" ONCE MORE
HERE TO PLEASE
"sweet Kitty BeIIairs" opens for Sec
ond Weeks Run at the Burbank
Theater-Theatrica
News
BY SHIRLEY OLYMPUS

comedy sensation of two continents
some years ago when it was originally
produced in London. Ferris Hartman
and his company will make it the SEN
sation of Los Angeles because of the
presentation he gave it yesterday at
the Grand opera house. The lifting
melodies, the pretty girls and the cos
tunes of Hartman's production are
equal to anything ever before at
tempted. "The Geisha" is far and
away the most pretentious offering OF
the Hartman company so far. Al
though some of the members of the
company yesterday we're rather shaky
in their lines, this will be remedied
with another performance, so the Of
ferjng will be one of the prettiest things
done on a Los Angeles stage. To say
the least it is rather daring of Hart
man to attempt 1.-THE Geisha." Its
peculiar charm is in the stimulation
of Japanese mannerisms. And those
are not easy to master.
"The Geisha" is a musical comedy
with a story perfectly worked out. In
many respects it is much the same as
1.-THE Japanese Nightingale" which,
by the way, is not an opera. The ar
gument of 1.-THE Geisha" is something
like this:
o Mimosa San. chief Geisha Of the
Tea House of Ten Thousand joys, is
loved by Lieutenant Fairfax of II. M.
S. The Turtle, who has determined TO
marry her. In this project he is op-
posed by the Marquis Imari. the chief
of police and governor of the province,
who desires to wed her himself. Wun
Hi. the Chinese proprietor of the tea
house, is opposed to Imaris design and
does all he can TO assist Fairfax in
winning his bride. Imari causes the
tea house and its chattels to he sold
at auction hoping that he can thus
purchase q Mimosa San. A French
girl. Juiette. who desires to marry
Tmari. also aids Fairfax Lady Con-
stance Wynne. an Englishwoman
travelling around the world i'm her
yacht. accompanied by several Of her
friends, arrives with Mollie Seamore.
who is the sweetheart of Lieutenant
Fairfax. She takes a hand and the
complications are numerous. Finally
everything is Strengthened out and
Fairfax wins the hand nf the Geisha
Edith Mason as o Mimosa San and
Thomas II. Persse as Lieut.. Fairfax
made their bow for the 'steenth time
10 a Los Angeles audience. Miss Ma
son has a charming voice. a pleasing
personality and will add strength to
the Hartman forces by her associa-
ton Mr.. Persse. who has an excellent
tenor, seems hardly dashing enough for
a young lover and a naval officer
Ferris Hartman as Wun Hi did his
usual stunt by making everybody
laugh every time he appeared on the
stage. Joseph Fogarty as the Marquis
lmari, proved himself a capable come
dian. Myrtle Dingwall as a French
girl temporarily engaged I'm a tea
house gave an excellent character rep
resentation. In face. figure and car
riage she was typical OF her assumed
race. 'Muggins' Davies did a pretty
bit, somewhat more acrobatic than
the lines call for. She has a happy
faculty of making things merry all the
time. With her our Toys" "The
Monkey on the Stick" and "Chon
kina" numbers she danced excelIently.
MISS Mason's best vocal numbers We're
"A Geisha's Life" and Jewel of Asia"
Ferris Hartman was a big hit IN "Chin.
chm. Chinaman," a song known to
millions.
The name of Victor Herbert has been
associated with so many successful
musical comedies within recent wears
mat American audiences have come 10
regard the Herbert imprint as a guar
antee of worth. of a score which is at
once musicianly and meIodious. What
is more. Mr.. Herbert seldom disap-
points them. Certainly he has not done
so in 1.-THE Red Mill" which opened a
weeks engagement at the Majestic
theater last night to one of the largest
Sunday night houses of the season.
The audience was enthusiastic, too,
and so liberal with its encores that the
performance was considerably longer
than usual, though it went throughout
with commendable dash and celebrity.
clamored increasingly for more.
In The Red Mill' Mr. Herbert has
collaborated with Henry NJ Blossom.
Mr. Blossom being the author of the
book. The creator of the ever
youthful Checkers" Mr.. Blossom has
here given us another proof of his in
genuity in character drawing and in
the contrivance of humorous dialogue
and situations His lyrics, too, possess
a fine comic quality all their own and,
fortunately, the company which this
season is engaged in Interpreting them
sings the lines so that the librettist's
points get over" Many a good lyric
has been done to death by slovenly |
phrasing, mores the pity. Last night !
there was none of this and the audi |
ence was properly grateful.
In Its fourth season, The Red Mill"
returns to us as delightful an Offering
in every way as it was in it's first year. |
The original high standard has been
maintained. Bert .. SWor and Franker !
Woods are worthy successors to the |
foolery Of Montgomery and Stone, |
worthy in that they have retained the |
best of their predecessors work While |
adding to it more than a little of their
own. They can sing better than most
comedians and, unlike the young !
woman of whom you have heard, they
are funniest when they sing. Also |
they can dance. Genee wouldn't un- |
derstand their particular brand Of |
terpsichorean nonsense but the audi |
ence does and likes it.
There is small reason at this tine to |
comment upon the Herbert Blossom |
work. 1t is a rafting good musical |
constructed along cOnserVa- |
tive lines; builded with the idea that a |
whole lot of things in life are funnier |
than a slap stick or a seltzer bottle, |
if you only know how to get the fun out |
of them. Thus, THE Red Mill" has a |
little plot, presented without |
and always without vul- |
garity. 1t is funny because it's main |
idea is funny. and because it's various
characters have been well drawn and |
are skillfully realized by the interpret |
ing cast.
The company which Messrs. Emery |
and Martin have sent US is a good one, |
Inc scenery is effective and picturesque |
and the costumes are clean and beCOm- |
ne to their wearers. There are some |
pretty girls and some more girls, but |
praise be, there are no homely girls
likewise. there are the Dutch kiddies
rhe kiddies are worth call all by |
They are cutter than a !