The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-22
Playhouse Gossip

Thirty-two pounds of rice is quite quantity-b oiled, 1t would be more | than arN Chnaman could dispose of
 at a sitting even though he were of sedentary disposition and remained | long time at table. But it does not
 seem so much to the Excuse Me" com
 pany which will come to the Jefferson this season to present Rupert Highes episodical farce, because the members of the company are not obliged to eat
 it. they throw it. The scenes of TEX
 cuse Me- are laid on board a trans
 continental trail en route from Chicago
 to San Francisco and as the train is | about to leave it's passengers are fn- | creased by inclusion of young man | and young woman whom the others be- | lieve to be a bridal couple. Anticipat- | ing their company the passengers have prepared cordial reception for them and as the train leaves the station the bewildered youth and maiden are as- saulted with showers of rice and an old I shoe or two The amount of rice used | each time is made known by the re- quisitions of the property man who in-
 sists that it takes that amount to carry 1 off the incident of the welcome as | graphically as the stage managers re- | luire.
 l Thomas Jefefrson's great, great. l great grandfather. Thomas Jefferson, | the first, was a man of extraordinary
 mimic ability. Living in provincial English town, he possessed such nat l uraI powers of personification that when he went up 10 London and stop | ped at a well known inn his arrival 1 was always hailed with delight and his
 visit was always one long hilarity. On one of these occasions when roars of laughter were greeting his sallies. l Garrick, with some friends, was sup ping in an upper room. The actor s curiosity was aroused by the merri-
 ment below. and he sent for the land lord and inquired the occasion of it.. The landlord told him something about Jefferson, whereupon the great factor invited the unknown MT Jefferson to join him, and from that moment for five generations the Jeffersons have | been prominent in the drama tic world, until today Jefferson the Fifth stands
 before the theatrical world in the per son of Thomas Jefferson.
 | There was play which centered a bout the character of Rip Van Wrinkle, which had interested a number of ac- tors, including Joseph Jefferson. the third and his stepson, Charles Burke in which they met with but moderate success Joseph the fourth. father of the present Thomas Jefferson, who, after having played the old version himself for some years, thought he saw great possibilities In the part ana IL was upon his suggestion that Dion
 Boucicault wrote new version which Joseph Jefferson produced at the Adel-
 phi theatre. London, in September, 1865.
 The play instantly captivated the Eng
 fish public. 1t was seen in all parts or
 the United States being played by Jo-
 saph Jefefrson and for the past tan
 years by Thomas Jefferson, his son.
 The strong evidence of approval which
 greeted his work through the country
 established the fact that Thomas would
 still be an actor of renown even if his
 name was not Jefferson.
 The Emperor of Germany is said to
 have visited the theatre where "'rhe Girl
 ir the Taxi under the name of Like
 Father, Like Son." was playing when
 the piece was produced in Berlin last
 season. Anthony Mars, the author. is