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THI COUMKR.
THE 1 ANSIStfO lUBAfHi
Oiae week commencing Ao:ncla;y9 iVprtl
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Six nights ard Saturday matinee of solid comedy interspersed with the latest singing and dancing 'specialties
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Something to make at peace with mankind
Something to amuse
Something to please
Something to drive your care away
Something to make you hppy but
NOTHING TO OFFEND THE MOST FASTIDIOUS
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ADMISSION 1 0 CENTS TO ALL PARTS OF THEHOUSE
Watch out for the novel band parade Monday at noon. Two concerts daily 11:30 a. m. 7:15 p. m.
I
THE STAGE ' 2
Often a theatrical attraction is
measured by the emotions it induces.
"A Parisian Romance" is a morbid, dis
agreeable play, and the effect on the
audience is anything but pleasing.
Hence many of the persons who appear
ed in their good clothes and beamed
benignantly at the Funke Saturday
night, have declared with evident sin
cerity tb'at they did not like Mansfield
as "Baron Chevrial."
"A Parisian Romance" has none of
the odor of sweet lavender. It
breathes not the incense of
purity. The play is built on
approved French lines, and it glides
smoothly along in Parisian slime. Par
taking sotrewnat of the elements intro
duced to us by Dumas and Oscar
Wilde, it presents a gaudy, glittering
gauze that but faintly covers a wide
expanse of tilth. The creatures that
move in it are brilliant blossoms, frail
and frivolous.
But discussions of morals are decid
edly malapropos in this age when mixed
audiences bestow clamorous approval on
prurient plays, with a free and easy
method of handling delicate subjects,
and an apparaling of feminity that is
at once frank and confiding, if nothing
more. So, as the man said when he
chopped off the head of Mary, Queen
of Scots, we will "let it go at that."
The character of the Baron Chevrial is
strongly drawn. It i& not less strong
than the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde, and it may be said to be in some
respects, a greater creation than Beau
Brummell. Indeed there is a similarity
between the beau and the last, miser
able days of the decrepit old roue, the
baron. Mr. Mansfield k under
obligations to the baron for a large
measure of the fame which has come to
him in the last ten years His "Chev
rial," as much any other character
ization has won for him distinction as
the foremost American actor, a dis
tinction achieved in spite of many un
favorable circumstances. Mr. Mans
field's great cess is real power. It is not
a popularity seduced from sentimental
audiences.
The banquet scene is one of the most
complete ana effective bits of theatrical
presentation on the contemporary stage.
Realism is carried to the point of reality.
The fact that some ill-conditioned per
sons in theaudiencetittered and snicker
ed as the baron gave the famous toast
to material things, holding aloft the
shaking glass, waB no reflection on the
art of the actor. It may have been an
indication of stupidity on the part of
the auditors.
Mr. Mansfield's support was extraor
dinary, This actor is one of the few
stars who does not surround himself
with straw dummies and stalking
horses. When the baron disappeared
from view the audience still retained
its interest in the play. Mr. Mansfield
did not appear in the last act, and yet
interest was sustained.
In the last act "Marcelle," the poor
outcast, poverty stricken wife, makes
her appearance in a long drab cloak
and hood. Probably no poor female
castaway on the stage ever ventured
to stray so far from precedent as to
aspear without the long cloak. Gener
ally she seeks the middle of the stage
and gets under the falling snow while
the orchestra plays slow music One
would imagine that the first thing a
woman does upon being turned out of
doors or rendered penniless is to pur
chase a nice new long cloak and hood.
Only nobody ever saw one of these
cloaks anywhere accept on th stage.
Irreverent persons in the audience
Saturday night were amused at the
sound of Marcelle'a breaking heart
She was hidden from view. There waa
a sound as of a sixteen story building
toppling over. "Henry" and his
mother and the doctor investigate and
they find that "Marcelle" had sudden
ly broken her heart.
Stewart Allen, Sol Smith Russell's
stage manager, has written some lines
on Mr. Russet's performance of "Mr.
Valentine's Christmas" as follows:
The old man sat by the bright log
fire,
Dreaming a long dead past.
The sparks flew merrily higher and
higher
As he dreamed of his first lore, and
last.
His faithful old servitor, bo.ved down
with age.
Stood by his old fashioned chair.
As be turns o'er the leaves of his life
page by page
To the wondering menial there.
Chloe and Francis. Inez and Joan,
Dead loves to his memory dear.
But Agnes, the dearest, stood out there
alone,
Like a star in the firmament clear!
Far away though she was on this Christ
mas eve,
He feels the sweet touch of her hand.
Each heartstring of memory attuned to
receive,
Like the tone of a melody grand!
The sudden heart failure, the faltering
voicp.
The knowledge of sins all forgiven.
The Christmas chimes ring, the angels
rejoice
O'er the bachelor's Christmas in
Heaven!
The Marie Tavari Grand Opera com
pany will play at the Funke next Thurs
day night. It is only by a lucky chance
that so large a company, seventy-five
people, stop in Lincoln at this time. It
is the only company in the country that
plays English grand opera. It is un
necessary to state what splendid voices
thev have because the people have heard
them before.
The Congregational church announces
a concert of little people dressed in the
style of their great, great ancestors on
Friday night.
"The Strange Adventures of Miss
Brown" as given by Eddie Foy and com
pany, failed to meet the expectations
of those who are familiar with the rec
ord of this farce abroad and in this
country. Fe-nale impersonation is very
much overdone. "Charley's Aunt" and
"1492" and a dozen other more or less
recent productions have exhausted the
possibilities of this role. Eddie Foy has
nothing new to present. He has all the
coarseness and vulgarity of most of the
actors who impersonate women, and he
lacks the wit of some of them. There
is no attempt to make "Miss Brown''
look or act like a woman, and the farce
is bo broad that there is no humor in it.
Whatever may be Foy b forte it is cer
tainly not a character like that of "Miss
Brown." Miss Lark, who was"Euphe
mia Schwartz," was one of a very few
members of the company who demon
strated any real capacity. Harry Brown
as the Major helped to push the farce
along.
The very best of everything in the
drug, stationery and notion line, lowes
prices, at Roy's.
DR. F. D. SHERWIN.
DENTIST.
Porcelain Fillings, Crown and Bridge
Work a Specialty.
ROOMS 17. 18, 19, BURR BLOCK.
SECOXD FLOOR.
Lincoln ------ - Nebraska.
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