The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 13, 1904, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL. SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 1904. 19 PR 5 3 FIET TR e T i B l . ' = —— 2 »;‘v‘;v A T 1 d Bauer and the in- on: “I must tell you what Alan Dale | o ; o) ‘u ven; this week the 5aid about me, when I first started oft. | e s : e 3 l’ 3’ y £ Collins—it's a I was at Hurtig & Seamon’s. It was ) ‘ 5 % ¥ Aem m not stretch sure a pretty bad bill. There was | ] : P uer to Col- —— and —— before me; she was a —— : 4 clever little girl, but he can't drive ‘ was not their period truc Well, Dale went right ‘ Three guesses at the Bauer request @ even planetary througn and roasted till he came to oo s e b ) e two ;v-:c'lther me. Then he said ‘Collins' act was pone arity of differ- funr and black and blue in Beethov g ked by a perfection That w. all. Ha ha! TR Tstboren, ty, a polar disagreeme a e. It lies in their do things. with the con- Half art folk little 'S Sam no more Kknows Bauer could ig- am of his power g is pure instinct st subtiy conscicus. i vy re, a as re most profoun: ks with his h his Comus m is thinki s. They i there by with uth, as aloud are both different auer ck fou rgaret A from the sword ndsome uniform suspected hispered, “just about giving 0 some I forgot led chin e reap- g! He later—but gibly han you gs by telling have come out . at he company ve how mervous ght,” he added. “I've o come to San Francisco twenty vyears. And of d to do well.” the Daly company here ormed, “with John S You know him?” med with him a long time back,” I we was in the days E th were two collars among t w Collins layghed. six of us in one suite of s and the first one up was the st dressed!” drmand t night, don’t know— ext. Yes, mem,” Collins that's a funny thing, too. that you were Mr, Co! e here from London when I was ee months old. I've been back ce with the ‘Casino Girl’ though d bbed up on the accent. I we e Lederer—and that's a fun- nE. 199 He wanted a knock- out comedian. 1 was one. He t to pay any price. I wasn't took me. And at the end he presented me with a on the stage, said I was working comedian before Funny thing, to0o.” line slapped his knees and ngenuously. He has a pair tive as any I have d. They're brown, look at you with itical gaze of a dog. wonderful wide mouth un- black hair over. The Collins feature. the prevailing not even the before of in make-ups -decked and bestriped uld have taken an even the thing than his interviewer to acrobat in the short, v gentleman fronting me. discreetly wondering since just how much of s not black and blue. with Mr. Lederer. one work harder n't it hurt?” Bless your in- ured me. ““Those em. And I don't is I could!"—there here. "Of course in with a fall only Is for it. But night. I'll tell % though—and it's funny, hurt myself falling for a no! pride butt bad s You haven’t the same spirit You see, you can't make benches laugh. Then you fall half way and hurt urself. “You must have been practicing a long time?” I s respectfully. ‘A few,” Collins owned. His mouth widened a foot or two as he went sn't black and blue.” ve been in vaudeville most- Sure. But I've done everything; I've done a Dutchman, a Hebrew, Irish, dago. Then I was with the k Crook’ a Greppo for eight and w Y\)rk and of I asked solemnly, “any Shakespearean aspirations?” Me!” Col: shrieked, and I feared for his ears as his mouth d gorgeou He got up then, on he: d said: “My dear, tten me! No, I have never of doing Shakespeare; I don't ould. I don’t know whether t or not"—it was as much to as to me that he addressed ulation. *'Still, one must be e to do what I do? do a pretty good and a dago, too. I loes one thing, an- Schr ps is his, beer I love Shakespeare. I in Jnf in— vot iss?" s Dream in - love with a lit I can aracter One Y know. Collins!"—came through the but won't you come on?” invited, jamming on his n the stage. d to his scene with vatched the little rvesting his laughs. d to pdt on the professor’s baying: “They don’t liven up ene, know. But now re they laughed hey did last night hat one? Just Installatic Brine says. allation.” Oh tall, thin w him well." It's little , you know."” o gag. I believe you,” Collins id then, with those child- asking approval: “It's e new gs strike me locally. ht, you'd notice I said 2 railroad’ for a bad one. In New we say the B. and O. It lost me a laugh, and every laugh is little going to try the to-night.” ke a piecg of gold to me. I'm Union Pacific on 'em That lost him another, Then from under the corsair mw ache he had donned came the eager inquir ow, sure, you can 1 How did that joke go about the ‘Japs doing a Russian business?" " I'm afraid I said “bully!” It was the one bright spot to me. What do you think?” the comedian again: “I got so excited at Salt City that I said ‘the Russians doing a Jappish business!” Of the people didn't know what I ing about. But the company en’t heard the last of it yet.” the authors mind your gag- course may,” he said. “Some The stage managers do, too, s. What do you think? We e manager—"" eally,” T irreverently inter- rupted, for there’ “The Silver Slipy absence of that functionary. ‘Oh, we have a new one now,” Col- line remarked. Then, pulling the ends of his mustache wrathfully, he went on: “The other fellow objected to the gags. And what do you think he di He wrote ‘stick to the libretto’ on my mirror, with grease-paint — my own grease-paint. He hadn’t nerve enough to come and tell me. And I ask you where i the libretto? Fancy a score without a single song for the chief comedian! ‘Never had to work’ is mine, and Mr. Brine fixed up the music and dance to it. Libretto!” “Sam Bernard had the part before good deal about that suggests the Mister Collins—" “Oh, just tell me how you say ‘Mar- tell,” T tried "em with ‘Hennessey three star,’ last night and it didn’t go.” The artist supplied the missing pro- nunciation and the comedian disap- peared. But ‘Martell, three star,’ went as flatly as Hennessy. Our morals will scon be beyond suspicion. ‘We watched then the lightning archi- tecture of the stage, the bullding of the second act, while the comedian made his change. He answered me afterward about Bernard as though we had never been interrupted. “Yes, Bernard came before me. He" great. It's a personality you know. But I get as many laughs”—the busi- ness-like statement got another. “I was a little afraid of the part, “you know. I knew I couldn’t do it a bit like Bernard and I told Mr. Fisher that he'd have to let me have my own way. They did and I made good. But I was let out, business secrets why, after five 1 went to take Frank Moulan's then with Savage.” “Moulan had slipped his contract. I remember—" “Yes, and then the courts decided that Moulan could act only for Savage. Moulan had taken Dan McAvoy’s place. Meantime—a funny thing, too, they had tried four or five other people in my part without success. Then Mr. Fisher phoned to Mr. Savage. Savage had to use Moulan, you see—that he could use a man—that was me—that Savage had on his hands and to let me go. S0 we all went back to base again. How did you like the monk last night? I done it long before Eddie Girard done it!” “Did you do a monk, Mr. Collins? I missed it, then, for I went just after the champagne dance.” He looked at me curiously, I thougl:t, then said: “But that was before—" “] came in a moment or two late—" He looked pained thea and said: “This was at the beginning of the sec- ond act—’ ** ‘Monk, speculated. got—it was great.” Mr. Collins’ ‘Monk,’ Girard,” I hastily “Oh, yes, of course, I for- ‘monk."” — I need not inform you, less stupid than 1, is the four-handed kind. ““And were you really the originator? But, Mr. Collins, the best ‘monk’ 1 ever saw was a woman's—Elfie Fay” I'm sure I don't know, only was not by way of Darwin, how we got to the comedian's nily history here. He told me that his father had intgnded him for a rabbi, A double somersault under the rabbi's reverend nose changed his plans. The rabbi recommended the stage, and the Collins papa consented. There is also a brother in the busine the short end of the Collins and Hart team. Then the come- dian casually mentioned that they were not the only celebrities in the family, Samuel Gompers, the labor union head, being his cousin. “Sam’s a great fellow, you know,” his cousin said. “You know, he didn’t get as much school education as I did. But he'd get a book when we were playing, and you couldn’t get it off him. We're pretty good friends, you know—the two Sams. I'm kinder proud of him, and that it he’s proud of me. He's the eldest son, and so am I, too, and whenever he's in the town where I am he comes right away tc the theater to see me. No, I don’t know anything about his work. Anybody that knows we're cousins asks me about that. But I don't know any more about unionism than that match box,” and the comedian pointed gayly to the sacrilegious matches that stood where Harned pearls and Held dia- monds were wont to shine. “Mister Collins!” Then I had a little heart-to-heart talk with Donald Brine, that more than ever convinced me that he was growing as young as Lilllan Russel decided me that he w: told me a good story of his e: days, when playing with Powers, of going to the theater and hanging up his one uniform and mus- tache in the star’'s dressing-room. Pow- ers’ subsequent remarks were not the point, but the dainty little inferno the company succeeded in creating for the aspiring actor for the succeeding season. “And that's funny, added, as he returned. PR SRR rlier salad George H. too,” Mr. Colling VARIETY AND QUALITY IN THE ATTRACTIONS AT LOCAL THEATERS I believe that San Francisco is to have the first of the numerous “Parsi- fals” that have impended since Herr Conried’s successful defiance of Bay- reuth. This is not certain, as there are already two or three at production point and several on the way. The most important undoubtedly is the Savage edition, that will of course have the full musical score. The Alcaear is, however, first in the field, with a dramatic version by Fitz- gerald Murphy, to be given to-morrow evening for the first time. 1 know yet nothing of the production but this fact, that J. C. Willlamson, the Aus- tralian Frohman, has purchased the Australian rights of the Alcazar edi- tion. Again, the production is on a scale that will be historical in Alcazar annals. Everything possible has been done by the management to ensure the play's success. The orchestra has been doubled, a choir engaged, a well- known boy soprano annexed, and cos- tumes on a really splendid scale have been obtained. Manuel Klein's musical adaptation will be used. ° The Alcazar cast of the drama is as follows: Mr. Durkin as Parsifal, Miss Block as Kundry, Klingson the Magi- clan by Mr. Hilllard, Amfortes by Luke Conners, Gurnemauz by Mr. Osborne, and Titurel by Mr. Maher. The drama will be staged with unusual elaborate- ness and richness, and the orchestra has been considerably enlarged for the occasion. W Laisitg amuel Collins, the champagne dance and “The Silver Slipper” will continue to amuse at the Columbia this week. . * . The Tivoll's Strauss revival, “The Gypsy Baron,” is proving most at- tractive to the large audiences. » D . “The Rounders,” first effort of the No, ne Beethoven. Right, here, ata, or—? Schumann, obviously? the “Carnaval.” And Chopin, surely? the B minor sonata. Bach will also be very interestingly represented by the recently discov- ered Toceata in D minor, Gluck by the Air de Ballet according to Saint- Saens, and Wagner by the “Walkuren- ritt,” done into pianese by Harold Bauer himself. It's a good programme, but I think would have been bettered by the sub- stitution of a Beethoven sonata for the one by Chopin. Nobly broad as Bauer’'s sympathies are, the pianist is + [ [ Inevitably, SAMUEL COLLINS, THE COMEDIAN, TELLS OF FUN! TROUBLES. NY MEN’S A 8 < new Fischer regime, seems to have caught on at the cozy little theater. . . » Daniel Sully at the California will change his bill to-night to “The Old Mill Stream,” in which he achieved success last season. . * . The Central Theater will fittingly honor St. Patrick’s Day this week with a stirring production of “Shamus O'Brien,” that will doubtless attract more than the usual large crowds. . . . Emmett Corrigan, who made a very pleasing impression in the legitimate in this city some time ago, will be chief star of the Orpheum's bill this week in a sketch entitled ‘“Jockey Jones,” in which he has very success- fully appeared in the East. . . * Deonzo and Schenk, who jump bar- rels, are head-liners at the Chutes this week. £t e AN MANY RARE TREA ARE IN STORE FOR THE LOVERS OF MUSIC Let it not be forgotten that this af-, ternoon the third of the novelty con- certs at Lyric Hall will be given. For the forgetful it is reminded that the hour is 3 o'clock. The chief nov- elty of the programme will be the quartet for piano and strings by Rich- ard Strauss, in which as usual Mrs. Oscar Mansfeldt will assist the Kopta people. It is the first time the work has been given here and there is much curiosity among chamber music lovers to hear it. Interesting also will be the Dvorak American String Quartet, introduced here by Mr. Minetti, but since not played. The lighter quartet numbers include an Adagio by Rubinstein and a Bazzini Gavotte. Mr. Kovta will be the soloist of the afternoon and will play the “Perpetuo Mobile,” by Ries— Mr, Kopta's playing of this flendish concoction is famous!—and a Romanze by Svendsen. The programme does not give the name of the violinist's ac- complice, but I will wager a sixpence that he or she slips a stitch or two in the Ries! Even Koclan's Siamese accompanist balked here. ot e . April will bring a rare treat for us in the three Schumann-Heink recitals, to be given under the direction of that purveyor of good things, Will Green- baum. Mme. Schumann-Heink is un- questionably the foremost contraito known to local ken and a singer of rarest attainments. She is said to be even more pleasurable to hear on the concert platform than on the operatic stage—like her incomparable sister, Sembrich, of whom one hears thére is a possibility of her coming here next season. 1905 will see Schumann-Heink on the .comic opera stage, the second of the Metropolitan singers to desert 14 A .etc., grand for comic opera. But there is little likelihood of the contralto being heard in any capacity here for some years apart from the recitals of next month, and no one interested in super- latively good singing should miss her. YR i Next ‘week Mrs. Raymond Brown (Gertrude Foster), well known in the East as a lecturer and pianist, will give a series of four “talks” on the music dramas of Richard Wagner, with illustrations at the piano from the original scores, at Lyric Hall. Mrs. Brown has been successful as a concert pianist, both in this country and in Europe, but for the last few years has devoted her time to the mu- sical lecture field, appearing before the leading colleges, conservatories, clubs, with such subjects as the “So- “The Symphony” and This season Mrs. Brown is devoting herself entirely to the ‘Wagner music dramas, and her sub- jects in this city will be as follows: Tuesday evening, March 22, “The Ring of the Niebelungen”; Thursday eve ing, March 24, “Tristan and Isolde Friday evening, March 25, “Die Meis- tersinger, and Saturday matinee “Parsifal.” nata Form,” similar topics. Mrs. Fiske's engagement at the Grand Opera-house, which has been awaited as one of the most important events of the dramatic season, will begin on Monday of next week, when San Francisco will see for the first time Paul Heyse's powerful “biblical drama, “Mary of Magdala.” This re- markable play is probably the most widely discussed and highly praised of recent stage offerings, and is said to have won for Mrs. Fiske the greatest triumph of her brilliant career. Last season Mrs. Fiske presented “Mary of Magdala” for twelve weeks at her New York theater, the Manhattan, and this season it had a supplementary engagement there. It has been pre- sented with equal success in Boston, Chicago and in all the principal cities of the East. The English adaptation is the work of Willlam Winter, the dis- tinguished critic and essayist, and is of the high literary quality to be ex- pected from so eminent a man of let- ters. The dramatic opportunities af- forded bv the story of the Magdalen's regeneration under the influence of Christianity have been fully realized, yet there is nothing in the play to give offense to persons of any creed—indeed, leaders of religious thought, irrespec- tive of denomination, have highly in- dorsed the Heyse drama. As a pict- ure of the life of Jerusalem in the days of Pilate the play is also note- worthy, and this effect is furthered by the elaborate staging. The immense stage facilities of the Grand Opera- house will permit of the presentation of “Mary of Magdala” upon a spec- tacular scale. In some of the scenes over one hundred people appear, and the handling of these crowds is an admirable illustration of Mrs. Fiske's talents as a stage director. The role of the Magdalen gives Mrs. Fiske a character different from any in which she has been seen here, yet as with her other portrayals, she endows the part with deep introspective study and in- tense dramatic force. The part is ex- tremely diffcult in requiring a com- plete emotional transition, that Mrs. Fiske accomplishes with rare art. The supporting company, as usual with Mrs, Fiske, is an admirable ofe and was rehearsed under the star’'s per- sonal direction. Seats for the first week will be on sale at the box office to-morrow, Monday, morning. J. C. Williamson, the theatrical mag- nate of Australia, before sailing for home last week, purchased from Fred- eric Belasco the sole Australian rights to Fitzgerald Murphy's dramatization of Wagner’'s music play, “Parsifal,” to be presented at the Alcazar March 14. Mr. Willlamson attended an orches- tral rehearsal at the Alcazar of the Wagner music as condensed and ar- ranged by Manuel Klein of the New, York Lyceum. He expressed himself as much impréssed by the orchestra- tion, as well as the acting possibilities of the legends of the Holy Grail. Mr. Willamson will produce ‘‘Parsi- fal” at Her Majesty’s Theater, Mel- bourne; Her Majesty's, Sydney, and in the long chain of other colonial houses which are under his control. Willlam- son is one of the most astute and suc- cessful of managers. He is taking home with him the cream of London, Paris and New York successes, and his acceptance of “Parsifal” may be re- garded as a gratifying indorsement of Mr. Belasco's judgment in selecting the ‘Wagnerian work for dramatic repre- sentation. o) W One of the tasks set for himself by Kirke La Shelle, manager of half a dozen successful companies, is to drop in on one of them about once a week, or oftener, and note how the perform- ance is given. He never tells any one when he will be there. He iIs not always in the lower part of the house/either. For instance, a few nights ago he was discovered in the gallery of the Man- hattan, looking at “The Virginian.” To the ordinary auditor, the performance seemed a model of smoothness and artistic perfection. But hardly had an officious usher passed the word around that “‘the chief” was in the house before Mr. La Shelle was on the stage, direct- ing that a rehearsal should be held the next morning, at which half a dozen points which he had jotted down on a leaf of a notebook were to be gone over until slight imperfections he had de- tected were eliminated. It is this con- stant vigilance which keeps all Mr. La Shelle’s presentations up to the mark, no matter how long they may run. PR ¢ “A Girl From Dixie,” which scored a pronounced success during its New York engagement, is to be presented in this city at an early date. This latest musical comedy by Harry B. Smith, the author of “Robin Hood,” “The Fortune Teller” and other musical productions, is said to be one of the best of (he Smith efforts. A R Anna Held and her superb production of “Mam’selle Napoleon'~ has started for the West and will be the Easter att on at the Columbia Theater, where she played a record-breaking business last vear. e yet peculiarly susceptible to the Bee- thoven gospel. It is with him here as with. De Pachmann and Chopin, a twin faith. These see the world mu- sical with a single Had Bauer’s been the creative genius he would have written in the Beethoven idiom, wherefore speaking the master's tongue authoritatively it were wiser for us so to listen to him. His Schumann is almost equally persua- siv I find less of the essential Chopin in his interpretations of the Polish master, though this is, per- haps, hypercriticism. Neither in Chopin's splendid moods—as in the big A flat Polonaise—does it apply. But when Chopin is most Chopin, as when he is heaping shadowy pearls, moonlit orchids, upon the sad and pas- sionate bosom of some lovely melody, his secret is not whally Mr. Bauer’s. Neither when laughs, a delicately cynical, polished laughter, does Mr. Bauer laugh with him. The emotional pitch is a little different and accentu- ated by the marvelous rapport be- tween the pianist and the other two composers. . I never hope to hear better Beetho- ven than Mr. Bauer's. There may be, but I've never heard it, and cannot conceive of it. His readings have the eye so stamp of absolute understanding, a complete intellectual and emotional sympathy. It is characteristic of a Bauer auditor to forget the Bauer technique. There were never fingers that less obscured the player's soul and brain than Mr. Bauer's. It is a techmnique that has become automatic, a technique that has never been an end, but always a means. Mechanically it is distin- guished as before noted by a pecu- Harly beautiful cantilena, in which the planist's deft pedaling plays a large part. Mr. Bauer's staccato is also of the juicy sort and his tome in the heaviest passages without a hint of the hammer. As to mere speed, he can do anything, and he thunders like Thor, of whispers like Frela with equal beauty. AN through it is eminently evident that Bauer has listened to every note he ever made. There has been no dull iteration of passages with- cut thought, the pitfall of pianists. Primarily he has thought of the tgne, the phrase, and the rest has taken care of itself. And you will hear a Schu- mann extraordinary in the “Carnaval,” as presaged by the “Kreisleriana” of last week. It is dramatic, romantic, kindly, madly, grotesquely humorous, as the mood goes, entirely sufficient, in short. The Bach should also be a Bach de luxe from last Saturday's little pre- lude and fugue. The concert, to suit the little musical folk and others, has been set for 2:30 o'clock at Lyric Hall and with some seats as low as 50 cents—an absolute bargain counter. Then there is Tuesday night's con- cert, with another fine programme, in- cluding Bach's Itallan Concerto, Schu- mann's Fantasie in C, two Chopin etudes and the G minor Ballade. the Brahms G minor rhapsody, an Alkan etude and the Rondo Capriecioso. The prices for this concert are alse pop- i