The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-08-26
T.yrsr OppDtng .AuSDtriCSlS


Through Vaccinations of the r1vs-
tic spirit, aided and ahetted by the
master hand Of Jake Wells. small
slice Of Broadway was transp'anted
TO the corner OF Ninth and Broad
streets last night. That little oasis
viii continue in the 81 me spot in
definitely The lehts. the music. the
swish Of the f1uff'es. and the fiir1sy
X-Rav skirts, with the pattermen,
the sweet-voiced girls, the pattern
gowns, the comic singers. the trained
dogs. musicians. and all that go to
make Broadway what II Is. will make
Ninth and BROAD streets the little
slice--and broadway will run along
just the same.
In other words the Lyric theater
opened last night. For two hours
and o half two thousand people. or
Whereabouts. applauded and laughed,
end al ten minutes TO eleven when the
doors were thrown open NJ the exists,
two thousand. or whereabouts. found
themselves amid the lights Of Broad
street and those of Ninth, and they
were all happy.
The opening of the Lyric is an
event In theatrical circles In Rich
mond The opening Of theaters here
has grown n commonplace affair, but
the opening of the Lyric proved the
! exception. The new theater IS the
| prettiest. and by far the largest in the
! city. Its acoustics and its comforts
surpass those OF any local place 81
| amusement.
| There was no Formally in the in
! Production to the public last night
! Manager Lyons, who represents Jake
Wetls in Richmond, was on hand to
see that the comforts and convenience
Of the patrons were properly handled.
| Jake Wells. himself. arose amid the
| flowers. lights. music and perfume
with his broad smile, and gave the
| glad hand Of fellowship to the gath
| cred multitude
| Like Work of Gcnii.
/ Like the work If a genii Of the
| Arabian Knights the Lyric stands on
the spot of one Of the old. and al
most ancient landmarks of the city,
and like the transformation from the
| pilgrim TO the prince. Jake Wells
stands where he once stood as the
/ humble host Of a small but noisy
! hotel
The patrons of the show on the
! opening night represented almost
every element. All classes were there
and all of them were there when
! the curtain went down en- the last
of the moving pictures, an ILLUSTRATION
of Bud Fisher creating JEFF and
| Mutt"
The theater is gem OF art. so far
as art can be applied to a mere
structure. The setting appealed to
| the taste while the music came from
real orchestra, something which
| Richmond can easily afford to main
| tain. The stage hands excelled~there
was not a hitch. and not a flaw that
could be seen from the front
| And above all, an innovation which
may be taken too kindly by Rich
mond theatergoers. there were -four
attractive young ladies handling the
coupons. Young ladies In white with
| red ssshes. which caught in the seats
/ sometimes, and which may give way
/ to something else, but which were
/ pleasing to tho eye. and which helped
Ilend tone IN the whole situation
! Jake Wells has opened several
theaters here. This was probably the
acme of his endeavors, and If the
! class Of shows as given last night and
which may be seen all week, Is con
| tinued, the seeker for rnusements
may be sure that he can at his pleas
ure revel among the hest the country
offers
| From the opening acc or Herbert's
| dogs, To the close by the Gasch Sisters
| twho do not look like sisters). there
was an ovation.
| Marie Fenton, beautiful woman
with a good voice, sang four catchy
songs: Willard S!mrns, assisted by
| Miss Marguerite Lucier. pulled off one
| Of the funniest sketches ever seen in
| Richm ond; Alexander and Scott, the
! Portsmouth boys, received warm
welcome. and responded in kind, Alex
ander proving himself a wonderfully
clever female impersonator; William
| A. Weston a. Company, introduced a
surprise, and incidehtafIy one OF the
most artistic musical acts ever seen
! or heard in Richmond, while J. Fran
I els nnnlay- -a--fats- YOUNG man With
wit oozing from every word and move
ment, assisted by dainty little crea-
/ ture, Corinne Sayles, probably took
| the house longer and in kinder vein
| than any Of the others, although there
Ia nothing that can be said against a
single act
h Academy's Merry Opening.