New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-11
de WOLF HOPPER
AGAIN FLOURISHES
Day of Gilbert and Sulli-
van at the 4Sth Street
Theatre.
MR.. HOPPER'S GREAT
LORD CHANCELLOR
Large Audiences Manifest De-
light at Both Afternoon and
Evening Performances.

III. NJ. S. Pinafore; or. The Lass
Who Loved a Sailor" operetta by Sir
William Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sulli-
van. At the Forty-eishth Street The
atre.
Sir Joseph Porter .............. william Dln'orh
captain 'orcnrtn. ........... Georfe hhcFsrlan.
hslPh nctNfa' .''''''.''.. ..-. Afnur Aiafldss
Dlrk pc5ieye. ..........-... De Wolf Hopper
.o.erli.nc Alec Brady
Hebe Observation-Disclosures. Alice N i'omh
Was it Sir Joseph Porter or Sir
Josephus Daniels who trod the deck Of
II. NJ. s. Pinafore yesterday afternoon
and gave that most excellent advice to
all who would rise to be First Lord
Of the Admiralty or Secretary of the
Navy, stick to your desks and never
go to sea and you'll all be rulers of
the Queens navee"? II, after all, was
probably Sir Joseph who sang that.
Sir Josephus would surely have had
nothing to do with a queen he would
have substituted the peepul. But. be it
the queens or the poepul's. "Pinafore"
might have been written by an Amer
lean the day before yesterday for the
express purpose of telling President
Wilson what the country thinks of it's
first naval lord. Indeed. substitute a
hatred Of drumming for one of damn
ing and Sir Joseph vanishes and Sir
Josephus takes his place.
Did Mr.. Brady and Mr. Hopper
really enter into a conspiracy yester-
day at the Forty-eighth Street The
atre? And was not Mr.. Danforth's
makeup a part of that conspiracy ?
Perhaps he thought it would be libel
lous to resemble too closely the pres
ent chief of our navy, so he chose the
next nearest thing-h he looked like
William Jennings Bryan, whose hair
had whitened over his attempts 70
square his views OF peace with his
duty toward his country.
Be all this as il may. "Pinafore" was
given yesterday afternoon at the For
ty-eighth Street Theatre before a large
and delighted audience, and William
1 Danforth, despite l slight lack in
voice, made an altogether delightful
Sir Joseph Porter, while George Mac
farlane, engaged especially for this
one performance, sang his old part OF
Captain Corcoran with one Of the finest
voices now % be heard in operetta. A
fine voice. too, is that of Herbert
Waterous, whose Bill Bobstay was well
in the tradition of British seamen, and
Dc Wolf Hoppe" was, of course, IN MS
element as Dick Deadeye, part into
which he can put as muci of himself
as he wishes and yet violate none OF
the Gilbert and Sullivan spirit. Arthur
Aldridge was manly Ralph Rack
straw. and Miss Alice Brady charm
ing Josephine. though the part htted
her less perfectly than that Of Mabel
in "The Pirates"
"Pinafore" was followed by "Trial
=, jury" with the same cast as at the
previous performances, including Mr.
Homer as the Judge. Two operas oy
one composer might be thought ooy
some to constitute an ample days trio-
ute. but not so with Mr.. BRADY VINO
in the evening, produced "lolantne
for the first time this season with 'he
following cast:
II he F,, ., Wnintsrs,at Richard Temple
la7l Tolloler ,i,a, ,Sstcrci,.
Private Nillis. III, yyarI
The queen Of the Fairies, Marie H2Tsaini
Iolsnhe. ..............t'' IL, ucGcmh
celia. -. prcoks
LILA. ..........'''''''' N,uds Moriaunt
Fleta. ......,..''''''''''' Alice Brady
In its music and perhaps in its Ii.
bretto Iolanthe" is the most poetic OF
the Gilbert and Sullivan cycle, while
its satire is the most delicately distln-
guished. No one but a Brlton can DO
satiric Justice TO the British peeragee
and in dIolanthe" Gilbert accomplished
some Of his most exquisite writing TO
music as perfectly welded in spirit
and in texture as any work OF mozart
or of Wagner. And then the character
OF the Lord Chancellor true master
niece in the worlds gallery Of master
, satirists. n
In his depletion Of this figure De
Wolf Hopper has reached the acme OF
his accomplishment. In 1t he proves
himself not merely our first light opera
comedian, but something far finer an
artist of remarkable delicacy OF appre'
citation, great distinction OF manner
exquisite fneness Of delinealon. MS
Lord Chancellor is no burlesque, but
= character conceived and executed al
most in the grand manner. Extrava,,
CANT it of course is, preposterous ana
absurd. and yet none the less highly
bred and even intellectual. Perhaps
Mr.. Hopper himself will deny these as
sertions-but they are none the less
true. II only we had an American Gill
bert worthy Of our Hopper!
Richard Temple and Arthur Aldridge
were admirable as the two Earls, as
was Herbert Waterous as Private
Willis. while Miss Alice Brady was
winsome shepherdess. The Strephon OF
.Tohn Willard was entirely unworthy of
his associates.