The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-06-11
CROWDED HOUSES
 SEE POLL PLAYERS
THE FORTUNE HUNTER" WITH COMPANY, SCORES SUCCESS.
Wilson Melrose in John Barrymore's Part and Miss Blanche Hall
 Make Personal Hits.

| That clever comedy "The Fortune
 Hunter is being presented by the
 Poli Players this week and Judging by the cordial greeting it received at
 matinee and evening performances
 yesterday, the play will prove the
 most successful of the local stock
 season. Last nights performance
 was frequently punctuated with laugh ter and applause. The production is
 put on in excellent style and the
 players are well fitted for their vari- | ous parts.
 The plot of "The Fortune Gun
 Hunter has been related so many
 times that it must be familiar to ev> vertised about the country when John
 Barrymore and Mary Ryan played l the leading parts.
 Wilson Melrose, the popular lead
 ing man, played the part of Nathaniel Duncan, Duncan made famous by John Barrymore. MT. Melrose brought all the dash and buoyancy of youth 1 into play and the result was whirl- i wind success. As the young man who | had been failure at earning his 1iv- | marry an heiress in small town, Mir.
 Melrose was excellent. He was giv-
 en an ovation at the close of the 1 third act.
 Mss Blanche Hall, the favorite lead
 ing lady. had one of her best roles of was the shabby daughter of the poor inventor. She made the audience feel the injustice of her lot subjected. as | she was, to the sneers of the other ! two girls who had finer clothes and more amusements than Betty. In the
 scene where she bitterly arraigned her l father for his failure to provide money
 to support his family. Miss Hall was | superb.
 That we'll liked actor, Tom Moore. 1 created lots of merriment az Roland ] Barnette, the village Beau Brummel. He donned some awe inspiring clothes
 and played the jealous swain to per lection.
 It might be mentioned that four
 members Of the original New York
 company are seen this week. Dean Raymond as George Burnham. the in. ventor, was hit. and Ed Morrissey
 as Watty did we'll. Charles Fisher. | another member of the original com. 1 Lockwood, the village banker. When 1 he winked at the clerk as he called ] for soda in the drug store scene, the I audience howled in glee: Fred Gibbs | as MT. Sperry, travelling salesman,
 is another of the original troupe. One of the artistic treats of the performance is contributed by c. Will | son Hummel He plays Sam Graham. | the kindly old drug store proprietor. | who pays SO much attention to his inventions that he allows his business to go to ruin. MT. Hummel depicts ! in sympathetic manner the old man ! who cannot make money but who can and does win the friendship of Nat l Duncan.
 James Devine was given . big re- ception as Pete Willing, the town I constable. He presented very real l istic picture of an intoxicated man in | the third act.
 Miss Martha Hurd, who is local girl carried off a share of the femf-
 nine honors as Angle, one of the sim pering village bellies. Miss Hurd is | making rapid strides in the profession. | Miss Genevieve Cliffe played Jos- l ephine Lockwood the heiress who l threw herself at the head of Nat Dun- can. She did fine work. Clarence Chase was good as Tracy Tanner. The adequate scenic equipment adds l greatly to the success of the piece: | The drug store scene is a very good l imitation of the real thing. In fact
 the whole play is so we'll staged that 1 crowded houses will undoubtedly be l the rule throughout the week.