The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-09-08
BY JULIA CHANDLER MANI

The Columbia Theater was filling will
devotees of the stock company yester
day afternoon to witness their final mat
inee when / slipped behind the screer
in the lobby, which shuts the stage en-
trance from public view. to say per
sonal farewell to Miss Frances Nelson
and learn what l might of her plans fol
the winter season.
'Rumor has brought it to me that yeI
have big things up your sleeve. that you
are going TO New York to accept the
most important engagement of your
life" l told her by way of greeting. eX-
pecting to have the report affirmed with
enthusiasm. but it was in pitifully
choky little voice that Miss Nelson ad'
mitted that the rumor is true.
I'm so glad" I told her.
Glad she exclaimed. "WhY it is like
leaving home with no idea as to when
will be back. Tomorrow l shall be
among strangers. and no matter where
/ play this winter it will not be Wash
ington. l have never been so Contcnted
in all of my professional life as here at
the Columbia Theater-Ccntented with
plays; contented with my audiences and
my management. 1t has been such a
happy, happy, summer. and to think that
II is all over. she ended reGretfully,
which turned my own thoughts back over
the season of the Columbia Stock Com
pany which. since its opening perform
ance of The Rose of the Rancho the
week OF March IS, has given to the Wash
ington theatergoing public twenty-five
dramatic offerings which entirely justify
MessrS Metzerott and Berger in their as
sertion that the season has been the
most successful known to them in the
stock history of the Columbia Theater.
and they measure success not alone by
the scale Of dollars and cents, but by the
reception which has been accorded the
players throughout the season by patrons
of the theater. as well as by the char
acter of plays which they have been able
10 present.
Credit to Management.
1t is to the credit of the management
that not one theme which carries with It
either mental or moral miasma has been
selected for the purpose of exploiting the
gifts Of the players who have made the
Columbia Stock Company one Of the
most popular and highly respected or
CARNATIONS of its kind in America.
In talking of the PLAYS Of the summer
Miss Nelson gave unstintcd praise to
their character and the opportunities they
have offered her. and when asked to tell
me which roles she has most enjoyed il
was with difficulty that she selected tn"
three which had seemed to her her best
work.
After some consideration the final de-
CiSion was The Dawn of a Tomorrow.
Green Stockings" and The Sign Of the
Cross all three Of which mad" trenen-
dous appeal to patrons of the Columbia
Thearer this summer ct.
Sitting the matter down to the most
sympathetic portrayal which Miss Neil
son has given this summer opinions might
differ. hut | am sure that her conception
of Glad in THE Dawn of a To-mor-
row would lead were the vot" taken.
for she gave wonderfully true and
sympathetic Interpretation Of the part,
as she did also in the roles of Margaret
Neville in "Hearts"ase.' and Joy Shell
don in Her Great Match.
Miss Nelson has done serious work this
summer ard deserves the demonstration
81 appreciation which she has shared with