The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 22, 1904, Page 19

&+ THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY. 22, 1904. T % PLANIRY —2e.m <y PLINCHL. “PARTINGION — Mn w fiv lines, “But, madame,” I exclaimed. It was in the tin-lined dressing-room of the “greatest English prima donna,” e. Slapoffski, at the Orpheum. The cred door had opened to me and 1 as n the threshold. A little figure of feet two, built on the slightest draped in a straight, scant, pink Japanese kimona, was holding out a small hand to me. And this is Mme. Slapoffski?” upon’ 1 did not say the name any range before me—though from the glamour de Thi t wa th was a shock t ered in a s ed e You rnor ible an 1 had to. madame was. Slapoffski,” the little is Mm ed, ormal volume in you sit eyes.” with But she was an sort of surprise 1 had fitted, even with the lady no evidence her gentle at close of the footlights—that voice ex- dinary, that human syren, with an ope sufficiently capacious to hold I was wondering wildly where the of voice. down? I'm just doing glad to sit down. doctrine that satio in; n must have one's le, exiguous instant be Brought up all flesh is voice, made th shat- But in- in an and I began to make some. are here and st 1 Daughter ich-1 h ork ¢ an v » in from of t he Curtis. he e ther thin 1’'d be bought I begs slim they Australia, an, taking he 3 pre girlish alert fig- ved cozi f an e choo done well, and and a eye turned my way. tter have anyth Her tone it edged cer- * and ed good 't ming her a is very fascinatin, yudevil le—this vari this | is it vou in it ustralia,” 'We did it in Meibourne is in ydney v for an- other ten, then returned to sing it for ar th th ca ¥e rother “You tric If they're = them ther T h al eople twelve n gr eat n Australi s in Melk any good thing . T understand? sourne. good it is of no use very critical, Slapofski put it. , but also ry generous in their support of good And if they like you, my! they ngs wi enot flo th ers. r yo Th u! Here ey deluge madame’s " gaze flew over to a stately bouquet of re Jor ta We Jut you're very stingy with them bie, with paint, pots, cans and tubes of complex- jon scattered about. have flowers here,” expecting the usual compliment to our floral riches. its red and white, that graced the powder, grease I began, madame retorted. Add to the brown shining hair, clean, eager chin -that 1 have so far given her, a firm, rather thin-lipped mouth. “You have s0 many, the shops and gardens are full of them, yet I have had hardly any sent to me since I came.” is just “That it, madame,” I de- fended, “We—we have so many. We don’t think of it.” But I improvised immediately the plan of a First Aid to the Flowerless Stranger. “And they do think of it in Aus- tralia?” Madame said “rather we had thought of it. “Have you done much in comic opera besides ‘The Fortune Teller'?” 1 re- verted, tactfully, I felt. “No, in fact, that was my only essay in that direction,” the singer returned. “I sang in grand opera all the time I w in Australia excepting then—oh, ves, and excepting also a few concerts with the Sydney Philharmoine Or- chestra.” n what roles chiefly?” Clsa, Marguerite, in Mignon—I think I did something perhaps un- precedented as Elsa,” she exclaimed. Then, turning her eyes on Mrs. Curtis, she asked, “My eyes are all right? You are a perfect dear! Would you rather hold my grease-paint or act Camille?” Mrs. Curtis laughingly decided that she would prefer to change her .Camille costume six times in one evening to holding a grease-paint cauldron over a candle for fifteen minutes, even for Madame Slapoffski. “But Elsa, Madame?” I reminded the little lady, as with a sigh she decided that her eves were sufficiently deco- rated. Oh, ves! Can you imagine,” she ask- ed me then, “being asked to take the T of Elsa at half-past one of the day on which you first sung it? I did that. Mr. Musgrove's prima donna fell ill, d he requested me to take her place. I knew the part except the last act, but T had to learn that, to sing with a tenor I did not know, and without any earsal, and the performance went t a hitch. No one sang Elsa af- that but me.” * and I wished remarkable “And Marguerite > of your favor I ed the singer’s llent Song” of the week, and her al- I heartily must have st painful self-denial in the way of t the part as she sang. it,” she told me. “I lowe all I'm only fully alive when Marguerite is ts—oh, I must she then took from her , finger length. to the famous “A woman who guerite and liked it went h sent this to me. Wasn't she the little relic and saw, pin- scr ed on the back, es , Pales- tine, 1840.” g s my talisman,” the singer said “1t “I never sing without it.” urned then by way of “Lohen- #/in Australia. The that they had stood for ances of “Lohengrin” in in Melbourne, and that prefer “Lohengrin” to L ' She added, “If we did I ngrin’ six times in a season of ks in England we thought traordinary—which shows how far of England Australia is in appreciation.” haven't done anything yet in « production, creative art, have they?” I inquired. The Aus- alian silence in the art world has ften puzzled me. : Madame could think of artist—whose name she could ember. “But they are excep- reciative.” - u have no reason to complain of American appreciation so far—" Indeed no,” the singer agreed. “If they are good to me everywhere else as here, I shall be more than think of staying?"” some time, yes, and—" the 3 andered in tell-tale fash- 1 photograph almost at her n the table, clean-shaven, good- red, a man—of course. “Monsieur Slapoffski?” She nodded. *“It's the first time we been arate We don’t like coming as soon as he has contracts there—"" is?7"— have se: it. He is fulfilled his et “‘A musical director,” madame smiled; “I think the greatest the world!” “Of course,” I mpathized. “But are you going to get him over Won't he have to be smuggled? name! The Jabanese warships rolling the Pacific— lame Slapoffski laughed, and told that her other half was a good Englishman, of Russian descent, and very proud—as she was—of their unique patronymic. Another photograph stood near Mr. Slapoffski's, a face familiar, though un- familiarly posed. Suddenly, however, I recognized Melba, and saw the legend how here Tt “To Mme. Slapoffski, from hers sincere- lie Melba.” “You know her?” I asked, unneces- sari; “Very well,” the other prima donna repl “I like her. They're very proud of her down there—tear the roof off for her. So they should.” “I have heard other word as to her popularity in her native land,” I ven- tured, “how is that? *Oh, a lot of people don’t Jike her be- cause she is abrupt,” Slapoffski ex- plained. he says right out what she means. Perhaps it is because I do, too, that I like her so much. But they ail admire her singing. How could they help “How could they?” I echoed. “With whom did you study, madame?” I asked determined then to get at the growers of that great voice planted in the ethe- real little figure that was now slipping into a pale blue silken “‘confection” be- fore me. “With Madame Haigh-Dyer for five years, with Manuel Garcia for two,” she replied. “Oh!” 1 said, satisfied. “With Pat- ti's teacher for two years, eh? But still T cannot understand where it all comes from.” “Here,” madame laughed, pointing at her full upper chest. “You never get much voice ‘without the ‘pigeon chest.’” A full development below may disguise the fact that you are pigeon chested, but it is always there. A ‘ N good big mouth is a good thing, too. How’s this?” She opened her own widely. “And here, too, is a storage machine,” and she touched the well- developed muscles at her waist. 1 nodded, then asked: *“Was Garcia fond of talking about Patti?” “Just occasionally. He was very proud of her,” Slapoffski testified. “Just thirk of the dear old man, 100 ears old the other day—Malibran his sister, Patti his pupil, Marchesi his pu- pil. Such a history.” As she spoke, the singer gravely slipped the cross of Ves- tris into her decolletage. We came back to San Francisco then, as she said that she had been talking more than she should for the good of her so that were to follow. To remedy this, with her mouth shut the singer began humming sol- beggl, the various trimmings of the “Jewell Song,” and other mollifying exercises, and then the gun sounded— the gun of the turn before—and Slap- oftski had to go. Out in front I heard her, and with mine own eyes saw her grow a cubit in stature as she trump- eted forth those big, splendid, satisfy- ing, full notes of hers! FEAST OF TRIUMPHS ARRANGED FOR THE NEW WEEK The week, with Richard Mansfield in repertoire at the Columbia Theater, has been an epoch in local dramatic annals. Four plays, the tragedy of Count Alexis Tolstoi, new here—"Ivan the Terrible”; the charmiag romance, “0Old Heidelberg,” also new locally;“A Parisian Romance,” in which Mr. Mansfield made his first mark on the dramatic world, and “Beau Brummel,” the ever delightful, have been given. The programme is an astonishing one. This week's is as varied, with yet an- other play, another historic success of the actor’s, in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” to be put on for the only time next Friday evening. The rest of the week is programmed as follows: “Old Heidelberg' on Monday and Thursday evenings and at the Saturday matinee; “Ivan the Terrible” on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, and “Beau Brum- mel” on Wednesday evening. It were difficult to say in which phase the actor is found most inspiring and most profoundly sugges- tive. As a single portrait, looking out from a shado background, dark, splendid, vague as that from which some, of the Rembrandt figures start forth, the actor’s Ivan the Terrible dominates the view. M enga endearing agai is his Prince K in )ld Heidelberg,” an ap eosis of fragrant youth. Mr. Mansfield seems to have kicked the centuries av-ay, washed himself of ex- perience, arunken of the fountain of youth for this characterization. It is instinct with romance, poetry, delicate pathos. The story is only that of a poor little princelet, brought up by hand in all the stifling ceremonial of a small German court and flung for four months into the free, fighting, singing, bubbling student life of “Old Heide ber; He lea: what it is to be a man, not a royal machine. He learns the fun of work, of love, of play. And he has to leave them. That is all, but most nating in its prese Mr. Mansfield. “Old Heidelb: also other noteworthy opportunitie Miss Conquest as the maid of the inn, Katie, wholesome, joyous. womanly, kind—yet not too kind—the sister and pet of all the students that frequent the house, the humble sweetheart of the Prince, is a figure of most engag- ing charm. She stands worthily be- side Mr. Mansfield. Mr. A. G. Andrews as the Prince's tutor is , thost gratefully in the picture, and the valet of Mr. Kenyon. Students and courtiers fill up the can- 1s and with their be-plastered faces, songs, uniforms, gayety, ceremon contribute to an illusion without flaw. Then followed the Baron Chevrial— infinite, indeed, is the Mansfield va- riety. It is an historic leer. And “Beau Brummel,” perfect in pathos, attic in comedy, the sublimation of the fop, wherein shall one find the Mans- field gallery lacking? One remembers only afterward that there is a mechan- ism of the art, remembers only after- ward that one n hear every word that is said; that the splendid voice runs cunningly the whole gamut of expressive tone; that the makeup is the work of a Velasquez of the ar that the gesture is eternally fit; t the facial language is invariably the illumined index of the thought, so per- the artist covers his technical And this sur sing artistry is felt to the last-detail of he produc- tions, lavish, correct, moving as on wheels, Their season is an experience not to be forgotten. . . . This evening at the California be- kins the usual summer season of the Neill-Morosco stock company, with “When We Were Twenty-one” as the bill. The new company, that, how- ever, includes many of the older mem- bers, is said.to be unusually strong this season. It has won much favorable commendation since its inception. = . The Alcazar keeps well abreast of its reputation for enterprise. They produce another new farce there this week by Sydney Rosenfeld, “A Possi- ble Case.” It will be done for the first time here. . - The MacDowell season of Sardou plays at the Grand Opera-house will continue this week with the presenta- tion of “Fedora,” in which as Lofis Spanoff Mr. MacDowell finds one of his most congenial opportunities. The following week the actor will produce a new romantic drama, “A Captain of Navarre.” Afterward comes Mrs. Leslie Carter in “Du Bar- ry,” in which the actress repeated her triumph in “Zaza.” = . . There are signs of reawakening at Fischer's new theater that will now be completed shortly. There will be a great gain in convenience, safety and beauty in the new theater that will also have two hundred new seats. The company, /with the exception of Ben Dillon and Roy Alton, will be entirely new and will include Yorke and Adams, the well-Known and popular Hebrew and German comedians; Al Fields, one of the “greatest” of Ger- man comedians; Edwin Clark, for sev- eral years the principal comedian with the “Chinese Honeymoon” company; Miss Caroline Hull, said to be one of the best “all-round” burlesque ac- tresses in the country; Edna Aug, a soubrette too well known to require comment, and the Garrity sisters, The new burlesque is by Judson Brusie and is said to be even funnier than was “Fiddle-Dee-Dee.” It called "“U. S.” The music has been written by both Lee Johnson and Will Carleton and is all original. . . . Central will have “A Great with which to tempt its patrons this week. Julia Blanc, the well-known character actress, will make her first appearance on the Cen- tral boards in the play. . . The Temptation” - The Tivoli continues its pretty pro- duction of “A Runaway Girl.” . . . Charles H. Burke, Grace La Rue and their “Inky Boys” in a sketch en- titled the “Silver Moon,” would prob- ably headline the Orpheum’s bill this week If Marcel's Living Art Studies were not there. The bill promises varied excellence.g . Seeker, Wilkes and company add to the joys of the Chutes »this week. They are capable coons. RSB T SRR FOUR GREAT WRITERS WHOSE PRODUCTIONS ARE DRAMATIC GEMS Of living playwrights Henrik Ibsen is the greatest, for he founded the modern realistic drama and revolu- tionized the drama of every nation. Time was when his greatness was recognized by few, and it was the fashion to ridicule him. To-day, when his seventy-sixth birthday has passed, his plays are in the repertory of every theater of prominence in continental Europe, and the public of England and America has awakened to a recog- nition of his worth. d Ibsen was born at Skein, Norway, March 20, 1828, the son of a rich mer- chant, whose subsequent failure de- stroyed young Ibsen’s hopes of a uni- r. Instead of becoming had been his wish, he position clerk in a drug as a store, and while there educated him- 1f. fir; When about 21 he published his 1 book, which was a complete fail- ure. Politics interesting him, he became an ardent radical and wrote poems of a revolutionary nature. In later vears Ibsen changed his politics, and k long been a conservative. His first play, he Warrior's Barrow,” was produced in Christiania in 1850. Soon after this he was made stage manager of the Bergen Theater, and there developed his genius ffor stage technique. All this time ne had been writing historical dramas, poems and novels in profusicn. His works were then of the romantic type, and it was not until, on a poet's pension, he traveled extensively through Europe, that he turned his attention to the modern realistic dramas on which his fame rests His travels showed him the narrow- n and conventionalism of Norway and the evils that must result from it, and he has since devoted his pitiless pen to picturing and satirizing social conditions in his own country. His dramas were a revelation. Truth and realism their keynote, they are mar- velous in stagecraft, tremendous in power and absolutely devoid of theat- rical artifice. Paul Heyse, author of “Mary of Magdala,” has been as prolific as Ibsen in his output of dramas, poetry and fiction. He has written about fifty plays, many of which are acted fre- quently at the German theaters, and is well if not better known as a novel- chiefly from the popularity of his story, “The Children of the World.” Heyse was born in Berlin, March 15, 1830. His father was a professor at the University of Berlin, and there and at the University of Bonn, Paul Heyse received his education. His plays have been, as a rule, of the ro- mantic type, and he is not a follower of the modern school. 4 “Mary of Magdala,” which Heyse intended shouid be the crowning work of his career, is the only one of his plays that has been acted in English. Heyse has derived a large income from his works. He spends much of his time in Italy, where he has a handsome villa. He has also a resi- dence in Berlin and a country home in Germany. Heyse has been called essentially a modern pessimist. A Jew by birth, he is an intellectual follower of Strauss in religion and of Schopen- hauer in philosophy. But he has striven to find a faith for himself in the service of beauty, and has not hesitated to show his scorn of con- ventional beliefs. / . In Hartford, Michigan, a quaint lit- tle tow:( surrounded on all sides by multitudes of flowering fruit trees, a company of young people, some of whom are descendants of the Potta- watomie Indians, are rehearsing a drama called “The Queen of the Wood: This play, which is a rep- resentation of the beautiful and pa- thetic love story of Chief Simon Poka- gon, ond ot the most noted Indians of all time, tells the story of the love- making and the tragic incidents of the famous old chief, who now lies buried in the Indian cemetery, near the little Catholic church at Rush Lake. The piece itself is not a triumph of dramatic art. It is more like one of the early attempts at plays and has a certain crude dignity that puts it alongside the rude but effective repre- sentations of the passion play at Oberammergau. In the stately Algon- quin tongue, the play is called “0-Gi-Maw-Mit-I-Gwa-Ki,” which be- ing translated into English means “The Queen of the Woods.” The play abounds in Indian lore, and is based on fact. Before Simon Pokagon died he wrote a book which he called “The Queén of the Woods.” This book has been praised in many quarters because of its beautiful and stately Engl 1. In this story the old is. eSS 7wy SSSSNNNN . 272722\ NS SSOSSS S50 Z A, .S (J AL 7 AANSS\ SN LT A P SS % = NSSANANE X <% L7, Y N SLAPOFFKI J7LAA A /. "o 7/l LS s AS& i RESSA TR SEESS €L A S S 5 U e 7 ST QN LN 2 22T NSNS 24 S5 72, N SN N\ Y X S N P00 s Py 7 12y 222 WA o SN NN ke S DIV L P 7% et S— NS 24 , <4 S 2 CELEBRATED SIA\'(-;liR>'['AH.1\'S OF AMERICA L chief told of the exile of the Potta- watomies from Northern Indiana, the happy home of the band, and inter- mingles with this tragic element a pure and sweet love story, the tale of his own courtship in the woods among the wild birds, the animals and the picturesque aborigines. It is a moving story and has been dramatized with some measure of suc- ss by C. H. Engle, a man who has been a true friend of the Pottawa- tomies for the past fifty years. . \ B Miss Fritzi Scheff sang under diffi culties at Kansas City in “Babette. She had a severe cold, but rather than disappoint her audience by not appearing she sang the titie role of “Babette,” omitting entirely some of the higher passages. As result she will retire from the company tempo- rarily, at least, and her part wil be sung by Miss Ida Hawley. Miss Scheff went to St. Louis to consult a throat specialist. ® Victorien Sardfu, the most noted of living French playwrights, is now nearly 73 years old, having been born s . September 7, 1831. He began his career as a student of medicine, but soon gave this up for literature. His first efforts were very unsuccessful, and it was not until after his marriage to a young actress who had influence with the famous Mme. de Jazet that the tide turned in his favor. From the production of his first play in 1854 until the present time Sardou has seen about 100 of his works staged. Of these the most familiar to Amer- ican theater-goers are “Diplomacy, ‘“La Tosca,” “Fedora,” ‘‘Theodora, “Gismonda,” “Mme. Sans Gene,” “Robespierre,” “Dante” and “Divor- cons.” His plays are powerful, but often incline to the melodramatic and lack the note of realism. “Divorcons,” one of his fe® comedies, shows Sardou in his happiest vein. . e Alexandre Dumas the younger was in a way, to France what Ibsen is to Norway. His plays exposed social conditions and are merciless in their truth. Dumas showed French society its immorality and depravity, and he made no effort to gloss over the wick- edness of French civilization. He, too, was a master of techni~ie and an apostle of realism. B “amille,” with wh lish mind, his name is show the real Duma. h, in the Eng- ociated, does One of his it is surpassed by his later plays, notably “Denise,” “Mon- ieur Alphonse,” “Le Demimonde” and “La Femme de Claude™ (“Cesarine” The work of the younger Dumas is in striking contrast with that of his father, whose historical novels clast Dumas fils was born July 1824, and died November z7, 18 . B Jdseph M. Weber will not confine his efforts to the management of the musie hall at Twenty-ninth street and Broadway in New York after the sev- erance of his business relations with Lew Fields. Weber’s first independent venture will be the management of Lillian Russell in th® John Kendrick Bangs and A. Baldwin Sloane musical piece, “Lady Teazle,” which is to be seen at the Knickerbocker Theater next season, following immediately the run of the Rogers Brothers ‘at that house. This will be the first of Weber's independent ventures, but from all ac- coungg it will not be the last by any mean: The play referred to is a musical comedy version of Sheridan’s “School for Scandal,” and was at first intended for the use of Mabelle Gil- man. are e Oscar Hammerstein has developed into_a real composer of music He has signed a contract with CHarles K. Harris, the music publisher, by which the latter takes over all musical com- positions of Hammerstein pertaining to the Victoria roof productions dur- ing the coming season. These will be controlled by Harris, and Hammer- stein receives a sum in cash for each piece of music so turned over. Ham- merstein says: “It is purely a business arrange- ment, and deals alone with anything I may write for the roof productions. Mr. Harris has the first of the series now, and has already sent me his first check.” . X . » . Mary Mannering and her company have arrived at New York from the . . West. Miss Mannering’'s season in “Harriet's Honeymoon” has been a very successful one in the West. In New York the piece did not meet with ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA. i - il much favor, but out West the verdict was reversed. Miss Mannering will continue to the same vehicle the early part of xt season, under the management of Frank McKee, and she will then appear in the new play by Justin Huntley MeCarthy which is being written for her. jhe will prob- ably appear at the ¢ ick Theater in the new play in November. McKee is expected t 1 from England by the end of this month. N . Charles Strine, manager of the Tiv- oli, has been in N York securing musical ttract for his house. Strine saw “Piff, Paff Pouf” at the Casino three or four times, and be- came so convinced that the piece would prove 1s successful in San Francisco as it has been ew York, localisms and all, that he made F. C. Whitney an offer for the right te pro- duce the piece here during next July and August, with an option on further time. It is quite likely that the deal will be consummated. . . Viola Allen and her management have decided upon their new produc- tion for next season. So great has been Miss Allen ccess the past forty wepks with “Twelfth Night,” that she has decided that Shakespeare is the thing, probably not in New York, but all over the land where the Stars and Stripes fly, so her next pro- ducticn will be Shakespeare's “A Win- ter's Tale.” The production will be on an elaborate scale. She engaged Boyd Putnam as her leading man. . Edna Phillips, leading woman of the Donnelly Stock Company at the Mur- ray Hill Theater, has closed her sea- son. She will go to her summer home near Philadelphia for a rest. Next season she is to head her own com- pany, and will be seen at a Broadway playhouse in a new play now being written for her. . . - Frederick Warde and Katherine Kidder will be co-stars in the same company, under the management of Wagenhals & Kemper. . . . Kate Claxton. on account of the death of her son, has announced her retirement from the stage. .