The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 20, 1904, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL MARCH 20, 1904. ng else, with its brows and interrupted oval. good American glance she “My mother Cleopatra. glitter temptation scem New York because We had both looked seeing the first night so disappointed. You | irse, but my mother i | my work—moth- —I knew—*“that it ugh half the fun had gone ngs when she is not here.” i you're spoiled.” Miss Block's eyes “Mother is re- Block laughed. Her : d lips show very pret- | e ¥ the way fuch worse. r wanted to make me into a | ix years I d at the Conservatory, and I can’t When you don't want to know how much you it. And how I hated nt to d iano-punching must that the maid ore me. “And you mean | v five rehe T 74 shev re !9red all of “The Terrible,” and the rise to power a lines in the first of Boris Godunoff. - kes the part more " Rosglir speare the remarkable ¢ it must be rem yhood he wa ated and | Shuiskis, who | to comprehend acter favorite part is even to whom Ivan showed attach- d or put to d and he lived, as it were, alone in the palace, neglected and harassed. The plan was stunt his intellectual to growth to such a degree that he would be incapable of rule. anwhi the boy, that were acc History,"” “Russian and “The History of tk Roman Empire, Eastern and Western. Ivan was self-educated. The Shuiskis, who hesitated at noth- ing in seizing power and holding it, began by poisoning Ivan's mot X Having gained possession of the boy, had the h harmonie Anton Hecki with whom M ATTRACTIVE BILLS AT LOCAL THEATERS FOR COMING Little Master Forman, whose sir We may not be New York, but with g in “Pa Alcaz ee openings of the kind that we ars they did everything to.deform him e adm v to have this week—Mrs. Fiske morally. Ivan himself has left a vivid rieks could b eyes—frankly times, but it is y are Egyptian long, perhaps more French than g s of Magdala” at the Grand Op- picture of what he endured in child- era-house, Mary Mannering in “Har- | hood. riet's Ho CRRT gy T AT | The evil spirit of the Shuiskis aroused and “Mr. Pickwick” at the Tivoli, not i terrible hatred in Ivan, and he later attracted to speak of the Alcazar's “Parsifal”— paid his enemies in kind and with over- Wallace we may be pardoned temporary flowing measure. Ivan, who had sought vanity. It is better to be vain a little | everywhere in books for reasoms to than be humble s’'much. strengthen his position, resolved with ¢ “ Most notable will be the Fiske en- all the vividness of his boyish enthu- Forman kne < ppers after the .. .ment at the Grand that will last | siasm to become in Moscow what David he is now z s and keep well. DI3 I ¢4 2oy weeks. During the time Mrs: and Solomon had been in Jerusalem, difficult ‘ Fiske will present a number of new | what Augustus had been in Rome and rhyth ik it 1 should 5 the first the famous “Mary of | the first Christian Emperor in Con- with a fine high C ss Block thought aagga)a » With Mrs. Fiske comes an stantinople. In the choir Ms ’ anoe. But I rea excellent company, intluding Max Fig- He finally revolted and destroyed the useful person. 5 - Bhe was mymph Hobart Bosworth, Frank Gill | pewer of the Glinskis and the Sh sight ok at whether & more, W. B. Mack, Sydney Smith and founded the Oprichniks, a body o Sy, C. Wilbur. Henry Haskins, Emily ok ik QEESRTeng; IV, 106 Miw e e Mary Maddern, Belle Bohn | special Hereafter Ivan ruled - e B others of less note. T | with an iron hand. Ivan died in 155 distressed at the suggestion. * ns will be like the original Concerning the events dealt w blon 4 K Joiute; Thatint MMaiv or 1. or e wT T g T “* the tragedy of Ivan’s death and the 2 pov el gl g being one of the most. MISS ADELE BLOCK AS KUNDRY IN “PARSIFAL.” pearance of Ivan at that time the fol- I perbly handsome and historicaily cor- 4 lowing may be of T - and that had time character with any like to have don told me the character site .of three women—I who. And I can't ta really rather afraid 1gs look so different in gs—can’t say of nd there and mime wonderful, Magdalen and a er's will. everything beautifully 't they? Miss Block in- And r?” I asked her mention of ’ the actress sup- I 1 for the stage in Ne there, too.” h Mr. Sothern?” 2 n ‘The King's Mus- keteer'— nice Mrs. Sothern is!" she brol “not a whit different now she A star than before her star days. The with M re both charming. I was Crosman—do you know ?— for two years.” . t must have been int > I say, and I ask, “in what?” As You Like It,’ s Block sup- plied; “I was Celia. “Oh, you know, I am taller than Miss Crosman and we had to change the lines, ‘the taller of the two’ to ‘the darker of the two.’ Editing Shakespeare!”, You played Celia ith dark hair?” “And Miss Crosman with blonde,” the actress nodded. “Really, I ex- pected to play Olivia to her Viola. Wanted to. to pla years, But it fell out that I had Celia. I-played it for two She—Miss Crosman—is charm- seen on the stage. is the author of the in which Mrs. Fiske and her T their first appearanc and William Winter, the translator of the German transla dramatist’s noble work. on is said to be a re- notable for distinguished anguage and close sympa- with the original. It is in blank Dramatically the play see have a profound impression. His rather than the Bible has been to tory the fountain from which its materials are drawn, though most of the charac- ters and much of the incident are bib- lical. In its effect the play has been re- markably compelling upon all manner of criti The istry and laymen alike have combined to praise, the pro- fessional critic succumbed to its spir- itual spell. The theme, of course, is the conversion of Mary Magdalen. In the play Judas is her lover, and in th> original it is suggested that jealousy of the Christ's power over her rather than avarice tempts Judas to betray his Master. Mr. Winter eliminates this suggestion, however. The first act finds Mary in her palace in Jerusalem, sur- rounded by her lovers and all the splendors of her shame. It closes with her hearing, strangely moved, of the coming of Christ to Jerusalem. In act 2 she is found in the house of Flavius, a young Roman noble and her would-be lover, who entertains her with magnificent spectacles of dancing woemen, and so on. The end finds her in the garden of Flavius, trying to get a glimpse of the Savior, who is pass- ing, and finally in the hands of the mob who would stone her. Act 3 takes place in the marketplace of Jerusalem, where Judas betrays his Master. The fourth act finds Mary a convert, tempt- ed by Flavius to give herself to him, the price to be the release of the Christ. She denies him, and the play closes with the suicide of Judas and the story of the crucifixion. Throughout the moving presence of Christ is realized, the whole a serious, dignified and in- tensely dramatic story. $h e @ Pretty Mary Mannering comes to the Columbia this season with a comedy that, from Leo Ditrichstein's name at the foot of it and Thomas A. Wise's in the cast, promises to be “low.” Miss Mannering’s comedy Is called “Har- riet’'s Honeymoon,” and she will have in her support besides Mr. Wise that very clever actor, Arthur Byron, and several other well known people. IR With “Mr. Pickwick’s” appearance at the Tivoll a new soprano, Dora de Filippe, will make her debut as the fair Arabella. Nothing could be better than Webb's appointment as Mr. Pick- wick or Ferris Hartman's as Sam Well- er; and Mrs. Bardell, Winkle, the fat boy Tony, and all the beloved rest will make their appearance, The libretto is by Charles Klein, the music by Man- uel Klein, the lyrics by Grant Stewart, and the whole thing is said to be a merry and persuasive affair. It is the opera’s first presentation in the West. £ L . The California will have, opening to- night, the favorite Swedish actor, Ben Hendricks, in a new play entitled “King Eric of Sweden.” A P The Alcazar's production of “Parsi- fal” is arousing widespread attention from the charm and dramatic grip of its story, the beauty of its setting and the deep religious interest involved. It is a remarkable enterprise for the Al- cazar, and admiration for the effort and the result are heard on all hands. Sincerity and reverence characterize the whole performance and the play is worth any half dozen Lenten ser- mons. .« ¢ “The Rounders” is still cessfully at Fischer's. & ae e Theodore Kremer, the king of melo- dramg, will have “The King of De- tectives” at the Central this week. Miss Edna Ellsmere, a San Francisco girl who' has been otherwheres for ex- perience and appreciation, will make her debut appearance in the drama. - s ' The Orpheum’'s head-liner this week is Rosario Guerrero, the famous Span- ish dancer and pantomimist, who has been an idol of Paris for five years or so. She appears in a sketch called “The Rosge and the Dagger,” and will be as- gisted by Philippe Dufaure. $ e 0 The very funny automaton, Gillo’s Artesto, that draws portraits at request of famous people and of people in the audience, will be at the Chutes this week. going suc- NI MANSFIELD'S NEW PLAY MEETS WITH BRILLIANT SUCCESS “Ivan the Terrible,” a tragedy in five acts by Count Alexis Tolstoy, was produced by Richard Mansfield this month at the New Amsterdam Theater, New York, with brilliant success. As the play will be given by Mr. Mans- field on his forthcoming visit here, its story, as told in brief by the actor himself, will be interesting: The tragedy of “Ivan the Terrible,” the first of a trilogy written about 1865 by Count Alexis Tolstoy, deals with the death of Ivin Vassilyevich, surnamed “Ivan, in gloomy despair, summoned a council, declared that he wished to enter a monastery, and ordered them to proceed to the choice of another Tzar. Yielding, however, to the re- peated prayers of the Boyars, he con- sented to remain upon the thro “Losing his possession: > after an- other, threatened on every side by ene- mies, Ivan was cruel stricken; his tortured feelings were reflected in his manner and in his exte He had become careless in dress, his lofty stat- ure was bent, his eyes had grown dim, his lower jaw dropped as in advanced age and only in the presence of others did he constrain himself, stand proudl erect-and look with suspicion on th around him te find if any man noted the decline of his spirits. In those mo- ments he was still more terrible than in thesdays of his grande Never be- fore had Moscow been under such pres- sure of despondency and fear.” The historian states elsewhere that “Ivan’s face had grown greatly old, the furrows had sunk deeper. on his head there remained but little hair, his beard had fallen out altogether.” The statues and pictures of Ivan, de- picting him at his death héur with a beard and long hair, are therefore in- correct. Boris Fyodorvich (Godunoff) at this period had risen with rapidity. He was the brother-in-law of the Tzare- vitch, whom his sister Irina had mar- ried. It is recounted that Ivan, wishing to show how near Godunoff and his davghter-in-law were to his heart raised three fingers, and counting them with the other hand, said: “This is Fyodor (his son), this is Irina, this is Boris, and as it would be equally pain- ful to my hand whichever of three fingers were cut off, so would it be grievous to my heart to lose any one of these beloved.” Godunoff is described as “modest, in their recommend this ge stained g sury Monday ev lock N. H. Allen, an American organist and composer. . . . ture recitals to R The Wagner le given at Lyric Hall by Mrs Brown are set— Tuesday next “The Ri the Thursday “Tristan and Isolde,” Frid evening “Die Meiste singer,” and on Saturday afternoon, ap- propriately to the period, “Parsifal.” Mrs. Brown is said to have consid- erable charm and scope as a lecturer and in her illustrations an able pianism. + g of musical every ome, temperate s bearing grave and dix He was, however, utterly false rupulous and overwhelmingly am- bitious.” The Tzarevitch Fy: this time had been married tw but he was a weakling, and more like a woman than a m cxpression was puerile. In stature h to cordial , or Fe was small; his tion feeble; face pale. He smiled continually. a locked timid and frightened. Ivan re- marked of him: “Fyodor should have been born a sacristan, not & Tsare- vitch.