The Detroit times., 1912-04-02
THE STAGE


/|I|0 and Josephine Conan, returned
. the Detroit opera house for a
&1..1 .nkagement, Monday evening,
.11 received hearty welcome. The
||In1 Hunter" is a good comedy. II
"A f6or0uRhiy funny without being
.rrIrnI. and there are touches OF seri-
1um<1s that balance and set on the
I.mor and make Il real story.
Ered Niblo has a good deal to do
vim making THE Fortune Hunter
&uferfainine. too. Nathaniel Duncan,
young man who has failed In all his
1I(1mDts 10 earn money and starts out
Is ret Il BY capturing an heiress un'
mr. a set OF rules made up by his sue
rossf,ll friend, Henry Kellogg, he
u4kcs the most OF the clever situa'
Ions By a natural little turn, grim
ice OF gesture that makes the audi
1uce roar.
0f course he does not follow the
rules 10 the end. He finds poor drug
1|1f who Is a failure. too, and makes
1uccess out OF him at the same time
failing In love with the druggist
daughter Ia spite OF the persistent
suit or the heiress.
Jo8eph Cohan, who has graduated
Into serious work. tawes the part OF
BETTY Graham. the daughter of the
dreamy druggist, who loses all his
trade and money tinkering on inyen-
Lions that do not bring him anything
until the last act. She does II IN nm
shed style. both as the drudge and as
me finished product OF the boarding
A lovazle character is Sam Graham,
he Inventor. who does not know how
|0 make money. and Frank Bacon
Irings out all his pleasant character
trha rest OF the cast create the at
m0sphere of a town considerably on
fIIc line or progress I'm q convincing
manner. Lento Fllwell. as Josie
LOCKWOOD the heiress, whose heart
Duncan captures so completely that
she throws herself into his arms, plays
type OF girl OF the small town with
little exaggeration. Roland Barnett.
4 The bank clerk, by Avon Breyer, and
Phil Bishop, as Tracey Tanner, the
Iirefyman's sons, are good types OF the
small-town young men, while Frank
Buoman and Walter ePterson give a
faithful Characterization of the village
type OF old man.
The finale, with the thunder showed
10 which Betty and Duncan are utter
III oblivious. in each others arms after
Josie has Indignantly broken on her
enkagement, and Kellogg has released
his friend from the rules he imposed,
Is clever bit Of staging.
~The Fortune Hunter" Is pleasant
~ clever play. 1t will be In the De-
froif all week with the usual matinees.
cARRicK.
There was an atmosphere of uni
xersal satisfaction and enjoyment in
the Garrick theater, Monday evening,
(. Is the result OF the very excellent
( OPERA fare offered by the Layolle
French Grand Opera company, OF
NJ Orleans, on it's first visit to De-
Puccinis ia Boheme," serving
u the initial introduction.
Although the company came to this
city preceded by glowing press
notices. opera lovers aid music low
crs. as well as regular theatergoers,
X{ndfll OF other highly decorated
ooeratic balloons which have blown
into town and promptly collapsed
with the fhinness of their own bonn
hast. were. inclined to be skeptical
An opera company which claimed TO
be a|ble to give the lyric masterpieces
s az the French and Italian school as
<cll as the Metropolitan company OF
New York, at less than half the price
81 4 ticket, seemed too good a story
10 be true. II was something of
shock. therefore, to the large and
fashionable audience. Monday eve
ming. TO find that the assertion was
ncfually borne out In fact. There Is
mo- question but that Monsieur Jules
IayolIe's New Orleans company is a
much better singing aggregation than
the metropolitan company which came
10 Detroit two years ago, with the
single exception in the latter COM
. Danv OF Geraldine Farrar, the one big
star, from the famous New York home
81 grand opera TO be sent TO this city
Tor the brief engagement.
The men and women singing La
Boheme," Monday evening, were real
orfisfs. This favorite opera, with its
lovely score, it's pathetic, simple, and
very human story and picture or the
IRRESPONSIBLE gay but generous-heart-
cd inhabitants Of the Latin quarter,
VAS given in a manner to challenge
comparison with the best. The opera
vas carefully staged in the period OF
1fr locale. the scenic setting was eer-
rect and adequate, the fieeting appear
1ncess OF the ensemble suggested the
nreeence OF fresh. young voices, and
chorus mastr who knows his bnsi
ness. and the whole performance was
EVEN with nicely OF detail and fine
Al orchestra OF 40 musicians--the
cclnpany's own--under the direction
81 NJ. paul Kochs. played better than
thew 1oked. NJ. Kochs, an impassiye
f Iookine man with pointed blonde
beard and a remarkably graceful ief'
hand. secured results from his mus
CLANS and the singers which gave
| [onsfantly Increasing pleasure ant
@1{ i6facffon. A better orchestra mas
r1< been heard I'm the Garrick.
The principal singers were reyela
/11n. and the performance would have
-o worth while IL 1t had offered
<|hine beside the baritone, Montana
.+o sang Marcel. M. Montana has
..r> III the most beautiful voices the
|oc>I public has ever heard, and, also
~ (. AZ admirable actor. and appar
o<1- thoroughly equipped ana earn
artist The audience could no
u cnourh Of his fine voice. The lat
- half OF acts two and three had 9
81 <~Dcafcd before the applause sub
<& The score at these points
a - A.. ~. - "a