,i
ir
THE COURIER
.-
AT THE THEATRES.
It has been a rather dull week, the University of Michigan glee
and banjo club and Effie Ellsler at the Lansing, and the Spooners
at the Funke, making up the sum of the week's attractions. The
season is practically over. Both houses hare some scattering attrac
tions left, but they will come few and far between.
The Spooners opened their week at the Funke Monday night to
an audience that overflowed the seating capacity of the house.
They have given entertainments nightly since, and tonight they
will close their engagement with one of their favorite comedies.
There will also be a matinee this afternoon when "Little Lord
Fauntleroy" will be presented. The Spooners have played in
Lincoln so often and are so generally known that a criticism of
them is trite, and besides one does not feel like criticising on organi
zation that plays for "10, 20 and 30." All through the west these
people have a clientele peculiarly their own, and in this city, as
elsewhere, the audience that attends their performances is invari
ably pleased. This week a good many people have gone two or
three times. The Spooners are entirely frank and honest. They
do not claim merit that they do not possess. They know their field
and their limitations and make no attempt to get over the bars.Tb.ey
lay no traps to ensnare a dollar audience into witnessing a thirty
cent play. Their honesty disarms criticism. If harrowing villainy
and broad comedy and tear-starting pathos as rendered by the
Spooners gives pleasure to John who occupies a Beat in the parquet
near the stage, or to William and Mary in the more fashionable
dress circle, or to Tom and Joe and Bill in the gallery, what occasion
is there to point out weaknesses for the benefit of other people who
don't go to the "show?" If paroxysms of delight follow Miss Cecil
Spooner's appearance in her dance specialty, far be it from the cold
critic to critisise that which, manifestly, gives so much (genuine
pleasure to those who pay money to attend the preformance. It is n
fact that the Spooner's give a better performance than any popular
price company that comes to Lincoln. They strive earnestly and
faithfully, and they are soliily established in their special field.
Ponibly it was because they were approaching the end of their
tour, or perhaps it was something else. At any rate'the concert
given by the young men of the University of Michigan glee and
banjo clubs at the Lansing theatre Tuesday evening was something
of a disappointment. It was not as good as the entertainment
gfrva by the Princton glee club earlier in the season, and it was
infrtior to the Ann Arbor boys' concert of a year or so ago. The
bey,.both in their performances on the stage and in their meander-
iaga in the auditorium, gave the impression that they felt they were
out on a Icrk. When not on the stage they were very much is
evidence in the audience, and a number of the young men appeared
to be on very good terms with several of our most charming young
women. The patronesses occupied seats together in the first row of
the dress circle. There were Mrs. J. H. Can field, Mrs. C. H.
Morrill, Mrs. L. C Richards, Mrs. P. V. M. Raymond, Mrs. D. A.
Campbell, Mrs. R. H. Oakley, Mrs. H. H. Wilson, Mrs. C. H. Gere,
Mrs. J. A. Buckstaff, Mrs. F. M. Hall, Mrs. S. H. Burnham, Mrs.
JokB 6. Wright. The audience was small but enthusiastic Carl
MaMtffwo to a decidedly clover dialect comedian,Bang several songs
that were well received. Mr. Thompson who also sang solos is a
better actor than singer; the glees were of the usual stamp. The
finale was an effective song, to a familiar and inspiring air, begin
ning
Ann Arbor, 'tis of the we sing.
From thee our choicest blessings Bpring.
The banjo club composed largely of freshmen, showed evidence
of careful training; the instrumental music was received just as
cordially as the singing.
Miss Ellsler who is a favorite in some cities, is regarded with
coldness in Lincoln. Her appearance at either of the local theatres
always brings a frost. At the Lansing Wednesday evening, when
she presented "Doris," she had her usual luck; but Miss Ellsler is
not easily discouraged. She says she will keep on coming to Lin
coln and will yet make our people get down at her feet. May she
live long enough to achieve her object! "Doris,' which has been seen
here before, is not without merit. But it makes the men and
women who portray it appear ridiculous by compelling them to
exagerate. It has some effective scenes; but they are mainly pur
loined from other plays. It is constructed on conventional lines,
and recalls the old time drama that uted to flourish before the
melodrama, with its increased excitement, crowded it out. There
is the customary poison and pistols and daggers and anonymous
letters. There is the same young girl who is cruelly wronged, the
same blear eyed villain and the same manly protector, that we have
been seeing for lo! these many years. And there is the same tremu
lous slow music in the pathetic scenes. Mr. Drouet might rewrite
"Doris,' leaving out some of the commonplace, and make a fairly
strong play out of it. Miss Ellsler, as Doris, lacks some of the
bouyancy of youth, but she is graceful, and in the third act she
does some wry clever acting. Mr. Drouet, the author, is a bit more
reserved than most of the other performers. His Kenneth
Ashleigh is well done. Frank Weston is a capable actor, and were
it not for the fact that he is at times forced to overdo his part his
Brian O'Neil would be a strong characterization. Such scenes as
that in which Mr. Beetle, Mr. Chamberlin, at the head of a committee
of parishioners demanding an explanation from Boris, burlesques a
role that ought to be serious, detract much from the play.
Frank Daniels, when in the enjoyment of the hey-day of "Little
Puck's" popularity a few yeirsago wrote an article for The Cockier
on the tendency of the 6tage. He maintained that farce comedy
was then at its height, that it would soon begin to decline, that in
four or five years it would be relegated to its proper place in the
rear. That Mr. Daniels believed what he said to be true may be
inferred by.his.'thioingover of farce comedy for light opera, and
he appears to have been quito as successful, by the way, in Williard
Spenser's "Princess Bonnie", as in the Anstey farce. The Lincoln
thoutres have given the public a fairly representative list of attrac
tions during the season now drawing to a close, and a review from
the local post of observation would seem to indicate that Frank
Daninls' premises were not badly taken. Farce comedy is not
entirely out of vogue, but it has visibly subsided. It is no longer
tho dominant element in theatrical production. "Natural Gas' has
ceased to flow, and the skit with which Donnelly & Girrard have
attempted to renew their former success is, comparatively speaking,
a failure. "Little Puck" has been permanently withdrawn. Hoyt
is still writing plays, but beginning with "The Midnight Bell" there
hits been a noticeable diminution of tho. noisy or farcical ele
ment. "A Texas Steer' contains little of tho rattlety-bang of "A
Tin Soldier" aud "A BraBs Monkey," and "A Temperance Town"
and "Tho Mi5k White Flag" partake largely of dramatic form. The
farces that faaverU-5Kcnl in the last year or two have, in many
instances, depended largely on vaudeville features. The latest form
of farce comedy is not at all like the farce comedies of Hoyt's earlier
days. It is the old time variety show rejuvenated.
Since Mr. Daniels wrote the tendency of the stage has veered from
a direct course toward tho farce, and latterly has tacked in differ
ent directions. At times the sporting comedy has threatened to
overwhelm us, and the fling and jingle of vaudeville have been
abroad in the land. There has also been a considerable leaning toward
melodrama. Very recently, in New York, the stage has manifested
an alarmingly general tendency to the risque, and living pictures
and nudity have been profitable while the legitimate has been
temporately obscured. This latest bent in theatricals was discussed
at some length by William H. Crane the other day.
"There never was a time when immorality was flaunted in so ,
glaring a manner from the stage; never was a time when vice waB
made to appear so attractive," says Mr. Crane. "Plays have been
presented that dealt with the social evil in a most barefaced and
open manner. Persons were shown who had no more regard for the
seventh commandment than they had for some unknown quantity,
and children have sat in orchestra seats and listened to things that
have almost staggered their elders. What is worse, it is reasonable
to suppose that the children dwelt on these very things and allowed
them to take root in their young minds. At one time last season
in not less than six theatres, all of them in Broadway, plays were
being presented that had dissolute, immoral characters. The unfortu
nate thing about it is that vice in almost any form is attractive. There
is no getting away from this. I don't doubt that if the announce-