Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24
-HE Columbia Players seem to De
entitled to the honors OF the
mast week for more reasons
u than one.


begins to suggest the thought that some
80 &c Kicking somebody's houn' aroun'
Nontgornery and Stone are among 'ile
MOS, entertaining players that come 10
Washington. The fault does not seem 10
bo i'm their delinquency in any respect
unless perhaps, it is in their failure 10
oct something new. IT may be the 1ault
lies with the playwrights. who do not
> .osr, IN he working overtime on Original
matter in these days of sociological prop
lens.
lew Dockstader's Great Minstrels. all
cans and mark the great, seemed 10 oe
endowed with three very prominent lea
tures- this trip-audacity, Nell OBrlen'
the greatest of them all and deservedIv
ca and unusually high prices for a very
mediocre entertainment. Lew Dockstader,
the veteran minstrel, himself did his best
work in his poster, and the effort seemed
to have exhausted him for the stage per-
forrnance He gave out very touchlng
interview on simple ballads but his sing
ers failed to bring the ballads and those
they did bring were indifferently sung
The remainder of the entertainment, like
Bill Jones. who helped Jim Green VINO
did nothing. was doubtless helping the
ballads along.
..Tbe Rose of the Rancho was
splendid production. and the manner OF
it's presentation alike creditable to the
PLAYERS and to the management. 1t was
staged with a beauty and effectiveness
that might have passed for a regular
road production designed to feature
star. The new columbia Players as
far as might be determined by their
limited opportunities in the first pro-
duction. seem to give assurance that 1t
is not the policy of Messrs. Metzerott and
Berger to take any backward steps IN
the handling of their now widely known
stock organization. Old faces give way
to new ones each year, and the old faces
are doubtless missed and probably
mourned by many of the loyal summer
patrons of the Columbia But in little
while according to the experience or
the past, the new faces win their friend
ly following and things seem to go on
Just the same-sometimes better.
An eleventh hour attraction. the Chi
cago Opera Company, has added admirers
in new city, the capital of the nation,
notwithstanding the discouraging incident
of Yesterday afternoon which found it
snort a prlInd GONNA OnueT al Gil
stances Miss Alice Eversman deserves
much credit for her Aida served upon
ten minutes notice. Both productions
presented by the company were not only
massive, but magnificently mounted, and
the merits of the chorus were such that
to particularize might suggest the sus-
picion of exaggeration.
ANNA HELD'S CAREER-Anna Held
was not born with a silver spoon i'm her
mouth ION the contrary" says her
press agent, her mischievous and unbe-
having eyes first opened in a very plain
home in Paris, in 1873 1t was a home
that never dreamed of the luxuries that
have surrounded the little actress in re-
cent years.
"Anna's mother was Pole" he says
and her father a poor French glove
manufacturer. Anna was the youngest
and only survivor of seven children.
When she was but nine years old her
father failed in the glove business He
then opened a small restaurant, and
failed in that also. Before Anna was ten
years Old she had to go to work to earn
her own living and assist her PARENTS.
AT first she cleaned and curled feathers
after school hours. afterward she secured
a position in a factory. which she soon
gave up for the work of making fur caps
While in the fur cap factory she first
attracted attention by singing songs she
mad heard In the street. Her father died
IN a hospital, and her mother having
relatives in England, went to London
yainly in search of them. She and Anna
lived in a small room in oxford street
next to the Princess Theater 1t was n
this theater Miss Held obtained her first
chorus position.
Her mother died shortly after taking
her TO London, and at the age OF twelve
Anna was left alone in the world But she
went with the company 10 Holland, where
she attracted attention singing songs she
mad bought on the streets. For two
months she sang chansonettes in Amster-
Gam she continued her success in The
Hague and other German cities and at
the age of sixteen returned to Paris the
home of her humble birth
in Parls she was given some promi-
heht singing parts. In the meantime she
stunned and often visited the hospitals to
View horrors, il being her ambition to
rival Bernhard After her Paris engage
ment She returned 10 London and an
peared at the Palace Music Hall where
she was persuaded 10 try a song in Eng
Hsh- Her first attempt was Won't You
come and Play Wiz Me?" Florenz Zieg-
ieid yr-. heard her sing this song and in
1dced her TO come 10 America Mr. Zies-
ieid aiterward married her
NAFCR RAJ BEACTY-Some one has
sad; There is nothing so hard to live
mp To as the reputation OF being a
Beauty II sounds like a woman hence
II Is likely true At any rate Catherine
Calvert, who plays the leading role in
Paul Armstrong; new play. A Romance
of the Underworld has had the reputa-
uon OF being beauty thrust upon her.
And since the beauty reputation was I'M
sought and came from an expert il seems
likely to remain
Charles II. Davis. now retired but for
twenty years one of the leading photog-
raphers of 9TH avenue, New York wrote
upon a photograph of Miss CaIvert's ::
This Is the most beautiful picture / have
ever taken.
Blondes may not agree with his opin-
ion as Miss Calvert is a brunette but
strange to relate the one person who OBJ
1ects most strenuoUsly TO the beauty YER
dict Is Miss Calvert herself. She reluct-
stntIy admits she may be pretty but
wants that overlooked. She wants to be
known as a great actress-not beauty
The fact that she is twenty may explain
this desire.
Slight, perfectly propOrtioned, alert and
with wonderful charm, her schooling al
ways in Mr. Armstrong; plays il is de-
clared, has been toward perfect natural
ness Acting" in the sense that the
auditor is conscious OF the acting Mr.