Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1920-06-25
Packed House Greets Play
ers at Lyceum Hall
Last Night
PLAY AGAIN TONIGHT
Three Hours Of Solid Fun-Frctty
Stage observation-disclosures by C..
w. HGrgan.

A crowded house. continuous. r2ars
| Of laughter. and a triumphant sue
cess crowned the efforts of the first
! knights Of Columbus Ministries AZ the
Lyceum las. night. For over three
hours the X. of c. Mirstrels held the
attention of the large audience, and
when the affair terminated past the
eleventh hour, the opinion was unan-
inrous in tIas the m.nstrels had full
/ filled every expectation ard mad IN
doub:eily achieved the honor Of be-
ing the "greatest laugh producer ever
staged in Alexandria"
The reign of humor' began when
| Ray Helmuth and Joe Ross began az
end men to engage in their farcca!
conduct. Both sang. and then the next
| thing we know was that Tom Priest.
another end man, came dropping
down frcm "Heben" as a l:t;le black
angel. Thcmas played his part III
| traditional form, and continued to
amuse the assemblage until BIZ Ro-
land arrived also from 'Hehen.' US
ing. however. a different angle of en-
try in the matter of making his ap-
pearance IN our midst. Between vel
lcys of jokes and an atmosphere OF
humor and comedy, solos were render
ed by the following: U.s. NJ. Con.on.
Eddie Dawney, Miss u. NuGent. MIS-.
Ruby Davis, Martin Greene, Miss \.
Baggs:t G.. Jaeger, Miss Z. Nugent.
+! The young ladies quartette was c2m-
/ posed Of Misses NJ. Hel!muth. Il.
Nugent. r. Davis and Eleanor Nugent.
Miss Frances Conley a noted beauty
of Pittsburgh took the part CT the
Goddess cf Liberty.
Yet. with all that had transpired to
this point. something mere was to
come. Madame Pechusa had yet TO
make her appearance. Gowred in the
gorgeous costume of her native !and
cf Cairo Egypt Madame Pechusa. to
the strains Of Oriental Music. grace
fully gl;ded onto the stage and thrill
ed tie audience with marvellous de
morztrators of her terpsichorean
art. Madame Pechusa was received
with wonderful applause. and tn"
greeting given her filled her heart
with JOY. and. as she explained later.
gave her more. genuine satisfaction
than she enjoyed when appearing in
pre-war days before His HighneSS.
the King of Bohemia. Madame Pee
husa did not seem TO be bit fatigued
after her long voyage. covering sew
eral weeks. and her mother. who ac-
companicd her. told the reporter that
in no time during her dancing career
had she appeared 10 be more full of
vigor. Madame Pechusa will appear
again tonight, after which size con-
templates spending Scme time at Mt.
Ida Virginia. recuperatine. after
which she Will return to her native
lard
After the minstrels. the great case
Of Smith versus Smythe" was to take
place. While the stage changes were
being made. Eddie Downey and Nor
ris Roland successfully entertained
the audience with. some exceptionally
gccd, and original. skits. George
Jaeger rendered a violin solo.
Assembling also in the cast were
Thos. Mcfarland. Frank Downham,
Frank Fanncn. Robert Whitest2ne,
Richard l.. Carne Joseph Lash. and
William Faulkner. ii the ladies chorus
were the Misses NJ. Whitestonc, R.
German. D. Knight, K. Hoy. Miss
Moore. Fl. Nugent, Mary Con!on and
4. Graumarn. The stage setting as
designed by Messrs. Horgan and
Munch proved beautiful novelty and
certainly fitted IN splendidly with the
entire affair, great credit is due Mr..
| Munich for the artistic arrangement
Of the Lyceum.
The second part OF the show was
participated in by the following: VIM.
Devaughn. ~ J. Mcfarland, Martin
Greene. George Jaeger Miss Mary
| Conlon. Tcm Priest, Francis Down
ham. Ray He!lmuth. Miss NJ. White
stone. Francis Fannon Eddie Dcwn,y
Edward Murch. Rcbt. Whitestone,
Anthony Conlon. Miss Dorothy Knight
lie. N. Horgan. Joseph Ross, Norris
Roland, Miss Eleanor Nugent, Miss K.