The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-04-25

If her amateur theatrical club
os is every good American
- town. and with just as little
..,so +, must also be understood
Iva, the Thespians was very much the
,ovn's most exclusive social club. and
,so, the role of the leading woman
nas bestowed. according to ancient
,.odl,ion not SO much for superior
,,ric accomplishment as 1t was as a
,.,,z. IN the most beautiful and popular
girl in town
,s New orleans crowns her queen
-, tho carnival. so Lockport placed
,tis hlstrionic laurel wreath on the
,rnw NJ hep fairest daughter. Not to
va in even the chorus of the Thes-
ri,rs annual performance was not to
be in Lockport society.
ON ,hls particular occasion the
,,oice II the leading woman had been
.,,st difficult and In fact came well
"'g, disrupting the entire organiza-
,lon Miss Blanche Yardley could sing
hotter than most amateurs, and at the
annual entertainment for the Home
,,r the Blind she had performed a
spanish dance which. so gossip said'
h,d made even the slghtless inmates
hush with confusion.
n, the other hand. the grandfather
NJ Miss Evelyn Bend had been one or
Ioekport's pioneer settlers, her father
u,s now president of the towns first
national bank. and IL ever a girl had
cnioyed the privileges of wealth and
onit,ire II certainly was Evelyn Bend.
,dded to all this. there was the un-
accountable breaking OF her engage
mont TO Philip Gardner, one Of Lock-
nort's most popular, best looking and
noorest young men. 1t Is therefore
ma, difficult to understand that as this
unfortunate rupture occurred shortly
before the choosing Of the cast for the
Thcspians' annual play the sympathy
NJ the committee. although dnspoken'
rad no doubt much to - in reaching
Tho decision to award the principal
role 10 this very attractive young
woman If only as balm for her
wounded feelings.
The rehearsals. once under way.
dragged along in a most uneven. not
10 say hating. manner. For the per-
formance Of the previous year the
from Chicago to direct the rehearsals.
bu, he had turned out to be a very
rude. although apparently we'll mean
ing. young man. who insisted on con-
stantly addressing the young men as
Beau or Bud and the daughters of
some Of Lockport's oldest families as
Kidd and even Meh Babe.
Under the existing demoralized con-
dtions. however. the committee was
not sure that even the obnoxious
presence of the tough young man
from Chicago would not have been
preferable to the present state of COM
plete chaos. Every member OF the
committee had taken charge of the
rehearsals and resigned at least half
dozen times. and the composer had
more than once picked up his score
from the music rack and in complete
disgust stalked out of the theatre.
The author of the book claimed that
Miss Bend was altogether too anemic
both as to voice and manner for the
heroine OF his brain child. and whether
IL was on account of her recently
broken engagement or for some other
cause there could be no doubt about
I, that her performance was sadly
lacking in the proper spirit of warmth
and color. 1t was, indeed. most dis
courag!ng, but the heaviest blow was
yet q fall. The actual performance
was but a scant ten days away. when
the manager of the opera house in
formed TIE Thespians that he had
rented the theatre for the following
week t. the JarbOw Comic Opera Com
pany and hereafter while the anna
,eurs might use the stage during the
tsy. Il would. Of course. be closed to
them az night.
In the vernacular of the theatrical
world the Jarbow Comic Opera Com
pany was known as a turkey troupe:
that Is, Il flew in no particular direc-
ton as far as it could and then rested
until once more ready to continue
It's uncertain flight. II included in its
ranks five principals and ten chorus
girls and the repertoire consisted OF
those well known classics of comic
opera "O.ivette" and The Mascot"
Not from any standpoint could 1t be
sad to be a very high class or sue
cesstul organization. salaries were ex-
tremely low indeed. often in arrears.
and to dodge the town sheriff was for
the entire troupe a most frequent &C.
currence.
Tn. company arrived at noon on the
day previous 10 their first perform
ance. and with perhaps one exception
the members were wholly unaware or
the fact that il was Palm Sunday. and
al skats -. t..r - fe a
tll # they would have understood the
significance of the day or cared
enough - inquire why the people
they saw returning from church
should Dee carrying the long green
leaves n their hands. The one excep-
ton was probably the most insignia
cant member # the company, known
10 her home folks as Maggie but to
TIE theatrcgoing public as Inez Mac
lavish.
For reasons Of economy Miss Mac
lavish had refused to take the troll
e| car az he station with the other
members + the company and, carry
'hs her heavy suit case, was YEARLY
Wudging along Lockport's most fash
lohah.e ,uYrOughfare to a boarding
house which had been recommended
a. cheap and respectable. The crowds
not only gr atty impeded her prog
res. but her worn and i'll fitting
co'A"s were certainly most uncom-
monty conspicuous cOntrasted with the
gay p4mrg" Of the female division or
L"'hp RS best society. AS a matter
VI Tact the route was no more to the
"N'Ns II lncz than It was to the proud