Evening star., 1937-08-01
Bv John Claeen Proctor.
MATEUR theatricals, to thos,

6D JOHn LI0SelE IfOCIOf.
A MATEUR theatricals, to those
~ who are accustomed to seeing
~ good show, as usual thing
"A do not have much OF an ap-
peal But to those who took part in
them In years gone by and who are
with us today the memory of those
events is a gloriously fond one, and
even though some OF those taking
part may have later adopted the
stage as a profession, and perhaps
become great actors or stars, yet the
recollectlons of their earliest ex-
perlence as novices are the things
they love most to talk about
Indeed. they love to recall the time
when father and mother and the
other members Of the family and
their friends and acouaintances all
bought tickets and sat in the front
row at the town hall to see a per-
formance that was punk or Just down.
right rotten, but not so to them, to
whom it was like Barnum's menag-
erle-the greatest show on earth
In the last half century and more
all the big cities have had their
amateur theatrical clubs and socie-
ties, and Washington, always known
for its liberal support of worthwhile
entertainment, including. of course,
the dramatic art, has kept abreast of
the times and helped with its purse
to sustain the young people in pur-
suing the bent of their talents.
Though at times We may have spent
our money for seeing poor show,
yet upon many occasions the per-
formance was really OF superior
character, and We felt fully repaid
for our outlay and time.
{ COMPARATIVELY few people save
their programs, and thus the
names Of many Of the early plays
and the amateur actors who took part
in them are not known and if re-
corded anywhere would be difficult
to find. However, sometimes We do
accidentally run across information
of this kind when We least expect it.
as did the writer recently when he
called on Taylor Grimes at his Brook
land home and was shown an old
program of the Indian comic opera,
"Si-Lootah," the libretto by Mr..
Grimes and the music by r. c.
Garland.
This opera was put on at Albaugh's
Grand Opera House on the after
noon Of Thursday, December s, 1894,
and is especially interesting because
of the many Washingtonians who
took part and whose names will be
readily recognized. R. c. Garland,
who wrote the music for the opera
and who is said to have been
good musician, was the son of Angus
tus H. Garland. an Arkansas man
who served as Attorney General in
the administration Of President
Grover Cleveland AS is usually the
case, after quitting the public service
both father and son remained here
and engaged in the practice Of law,
and the son quite likely gave up the
writing of operas.
IN TALKING over this opera Mr..
Grimes. in the atmosphere Of his
beautiful garden. said that it drew a
good house and was a box Office sue
cess to such an extent that each of
the principals received the magnif1-
cent sum of $50 However. though
the audience may have been we'll
pleased and happy, yet the dramatic
critics did not go into ecstasies over
the show. as the following vrite-up
of the opera will indicate, and gen.
orally the press seemed unanimous.
Says one critic:
Sl-Lootah, an original American
Indian opera by Rufus c. Garland
and Taylor Grimes. was given at Al
baugh's Opera House yesterday aft
ernoon before a good audience by
company of Washington amateurs.
Much had been expected of the per-
formance, but truth compels the
statement that it did not come up to
the excellent reports of progress at
rehearsals and the prophecies of per-
haps oVerenthuSiastic friends. There
were several mishapS which combined
to this end, the principal one being
the illness of Theodore Friebus, jr.,