The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 13, 1904, Page 23

VDAY, » WITI THIE. PLAYERS AND THE.MUSIC FOLK: T BY BLANCIF (T EETPARTINGTON irs. Theodore Roberts should know e ways that Mr. Theodore Roberts ctor in his leisure time and an when he is at work. This is only thing Mrs. Roberts told Mr. Roberts. I went to see the other night behind the e und the dr 1g-room ©of Robertses, the tremendous six r a half of the actor, the feet someth of Mrs. erts, for Mr. end owns much t me that “inter- found that she could th The one bie s of the Page age gave t Hackler £ and said, after greet- ie for Roose- than I at the jointure somewhat disturbed he laughed: “This Bryan's—they say Do you see e ew ike. b 1 1 think Mr. Bryan ke an actor and you don't.” rts certainly looks some After his great height e former of which has arance in the “legit- mediately notes eyes, clear as a as to color, some- sometimes again in- n gaze. He has bridged hawk- and the long chin id a head that takes to measure,” as the r to me as he put the stage—and you evidence of f genius. nptive erts that told m had taken, as mic back me ge. St Captain Roberts, San Mr. Roberts in- e genius. The ng water fror pere’s creative fac- earlier that Roberts charmingly began, for s in inventive every ca- cases, chiffoni right of you, shelves to ng in the car- oh! the shavings the noise! I often the neighbors think Roberts was working ould be smashed over £ head by Legree and that smells and wou water. He made one all sight. 5t & mpound of tar and shellac and shivers into fragments just ke real glass. But the smell and the smoke we had! And then Mr. Roberts thinks nothing in the heat of invention f taking—as he did—an old silver tea- he to pour out the tar!” 4 sympathy and asked for m bead bags now,” Mrs. Roberts ly added, “and you would won- rk he puts into the study is & marvelous worker, in the pursuit of his the fad is on—and he al- ways goes through with them. And I bave never once heard him regret either time, money or labor spent on them. Once”—she laughed—"he was working on a2 way to catch crabs. He did not know enough to dye the nets and course they rotted in a few weeks. But he mended and netted them all over again—a herculean task. I couldn’t do that. Oh, he is really In- teresting, even if you were.not married to him.” 1 was quite sure he was, I sald. ou never know,” she resumed comfortably, and one feit a large possi- bility of patience difficult of surprise, “Just where he will break out next. Besides the bead bags he is working on a patent for killing flies now—"" “Make it fleas,” I said, “and his for- tune is made But Mr. Roberts is so rabidly loyal that he ouldn’t kill even a flea that Californian,” his wife laughed. s engagement is a great pleasure vou know. He thinks of it as as a boy who is going to ak a piece for his mother. Mrs. toberts is out in fromt to-night and it prettiest picture to see them gether. S weighs ninety pounds and stands about 5 feet.” How Mr. Roberts giided the kitchen rocker, was planning to clear the New York streets of snow by heating them, how Mrs. Roberts had disccvered him as a comedian, how she had prevented him from playing Romeo and Pygmali- on—for which the American stage should be grateful—and so on, busily occupied the time until the actor re- turned. Mre. Roberts was just saying: “He never could play lovers. With an attempt at archness I asked: was “What! never? Mr. Roberts came into this with: never could ‘play’ lovers,” with a ten- der glance wifeward Then Joh.. began to speak for him- self. It was in old Maguire's day at the California that the actor made his debut. In shrewd and humorous fash- ion he described him, the manager who had no officE™but the sidewalk in front of the theater. “1 went to him the day after I made my debut,” recounted the actor, his eyes glinting merrily, “fully expecting that Tom would give me the lead the following week. But all he said, and 1 shall never forget it—remember, I was very thin then—was this: ‘Can’t you keep your heels in and not stand like a pair of ccmpasses?' ™ Regretfully he tcld me then that his height had prevented his appearance in the “legitimate” drama, but of how it had been useful in his eight years’ en- gagement with Fanny Davenport. Femininely Mrs. Roberts elucidated that “Miss Davenport was a wise as well as large woman, who knew that large men made her look more girlish by contrast.” Keffron in “Cleopatra,” the Indian in “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” and his part in “Arizona,” in which Mr. Rob- erts made such a hit In London, were instanced as among his favorite roles; end of his part in “The County Chair- man,” after acknowledging that he liked it greatly, the actor said it was one of the very few roles in which he appeared without much make up—"got a cold, In fact, from taking it off. George Ade of course came up after that, and interesting in the extreme was Mr. Roberts’ little sketch of the dramatist, gentle, retiring, kindness it- self, and much liked among men. His dislike of the theatrical the actor phrased thus: “Ade has a fit at any thing like theatricalism. He was con- tinually down on overemphasis—no dotting the ‘I’ of a joke. And Mr. Sav- age is wholly with him. Savage says: “We're banking on Ade’s humor, and if the audience can’t get it without your fiinging it at them they must go with- out it. You just play the author and never mind advertising the actor.’ And that's what we are trying to do. Then again, as you were kind enough tc say this morning—(and I want to say that San Francisco—and I'm proud of it, I know they know a good thing when they see it—is the only v where there has been not the slightest adverse criticism)—our com- pany is not a ‘No. 2’ company. I don’t th:nk there is $250 a week difference in the salary list between ours and the original company. Also, in some in- stances I think the company playing here is even better than the one at Wallack' “The little milliner and the drum- mer,” I surmised hastily, and he nodded. “I am desolee to have for- INDIVIDUALITY THE NDIVIDUALITY is the key- To be is note of California art. sure, the reason therefor not far to seek, uo]aflnn forc- ing to the fore the story the would tell—and behold spon- and individuality in the tell- That is the note that the art of FEurope are harkening » and that they proclaim—and not morous whispers—to mean an in- new spirit into the world's art. Then a health to our . artists—many of whom felt 1 the throb of their art g before they knew a note of tech- nique! And therein lay the virginity efforts, with sky and sea and e upland the vestal handmaidens. coincident with the European of the new note in art e on the ocean’s edge come and croakings and hissings among the high priests in the lo- al temple of art strangely out of tune with the divine apprenticeship each artist seeks to serve. In short and, the parlance of the West, the ocker” is not unknown e'en in the elysian worid of idealism, where the gross, the sordid and the jealous— hideous word, green and slimy—are thought to hold no place. But alack! and alas! Leaping upward now and then, like a tongue of flame from Pe- lee, comes a blast from the nether na- ture of an artist to scorch the name and effort of a fellow worker. And with shame be it said! enters recognition raspings from For it is to such' men and women—those of God’s children who see and hear and feel—that the world should look for the highest idealism in living. But the fact remains that ghere are in San Francisco men who tarnish their own good names by scoffing and unworth- ily criticizing the honest and earnest efforts of men and women who have not yet caught the world’s eye, but who are fast “arriving” despite the heavy handicap of the scorn of their fellows. As to honest and kindly and liberal criticism that is another story. For that, any true seeker for the higher development is amply grateful when given in the spirit of helpfulness. Hon- est criticism is the pruning knife of all human endeavor, but in the hands of an unskillful or a designing manip- ulator the most promising offshoots and buds are ofttimes lopped off. In my little studio chats I am not a little amused at the “art of appropria- tion” indulged in—apparently without consciqusness—hy some of our very best brush-poets. Says one, “There, see that fellow over there—he’s copying my oaks, my deep somber lights and my sunsets. Now, what do you think of a fellow who will do that?"—just as if God, the Good Glver, had issued to him a patent on the oaks and somber lights and sunsets. Or you will hear “that fellow over there is doing moon- lights. Now, moonlights belong to Pet- ers.” Ah! such an absurdity! To such a poet-painter as Charles Rollo Peters, I doubt not that such a limitation would gotten to mention them. I think your Miss Williams is a wonder.” I mentioned Ibsen then, as I re- membered that Mr. Roberts had ap- peared in the only American produc- tion of "“Rosmersholm,” produced last spring. Mr. Roberts jabbed down the property cigar he was lighting, and Mrs. Roberts gent interpolated that her husband was “anti-any cult, in fact, naturally forninst.” Mr. Roberts then objected to the Ibsen fashion of mauking *his char- acters pick their teeth with sequoias and cry thunderstorms.” Nor did he think the plays were essentially dra- matic, the lines of thought being too simple and obvious. He instanced “The Joy of Living” as an ideally dra- matic play, three or four crossing threads of thought continually in play. “In Ibsen,’ he said, “one person thinks and the other sits and sees him think. He chews the thing on one side, then turns it over and chews the other, then back again and over again—why, they cculd do all that backing and filling ir one act easy! Mrs. Roberts flung in the apologetic suggestion that perhaps the Ibsen reading they were going in for next summer might change his mind. He didn’t think it would. “We are supposed to Kendalize the profession in America,” Mrs. Roberts enlarged. “We always travel together, and I always read to him while he is CHAIRMAN." - Fa B THEODORE ROBERTS, APPEAR- ING AT THE COLUMBIA IN “THE 'COUNTY P making up, but I have rather lost my voice lately—" Mildly Mr. Roberts quizzed her then, “I haven't + as I came away with, missed it, dear. ANOTHER CLYDE FITCH COMEDY TO BE SEE AT ALCAZAR THEATER “The County Chairman” at the Co- lumbja has made one of the hits of the season. It is a play that every one will like, full of peonle one likes and meets every day. The audiences are large, and nightly increasing. P The Alcazar will have a revival of much interest this week in the best of the Clyde Fitch comedies, “The Climbers.” This will be the first time that the comedy has been given by a stock company. o e “The Fatal Wedding,” probably the -+ best known of all recent melodramas, will be staged at the Grand Opera- house this afternoon. P Farce will reign at the California this week, “The Friend of the Family,” for which a good cast is promised. IR “The Messenger Boy” enters upon its third week at the Tivcli to-morrow evening. aieie e The Central ill have the stirring war drama “Winchester” this week. &8 T W will be the Majestic “Hearts Aflame” bill this we Adele Block, last sea- son with the Alcazar, returns to San Francisco as leading woman in the play. Howard Gould and J. H. Gil- mour both appear in the cast. . s e Mr. and Mrs. Mark Murphy, favorites with the Croheum contingent of some few years ago, will reappear on O'Far- rell street this afternoon, with a sketch entitled “Why Doogan Swore Off.” Kelly continues. s s The Petching Brothers in their charming ‘“Musical Flower Garden” sketch, will hold the Chutes audience this week. SR continues bill. Fischer's the vaudeville family KEYNOTLE appear pretty and impossible. Peters has perfected moonlight, the sil- very wrap of earth, but moonlight is not of Peters’ making—nor does he think so, nor does any painter worthy of his art. He has reduced it to can- vas s0 you may bathe in it, dream in it—even grow foolish in it, so true is the mystic spell. But any other son of man with like cleverness is at liberty to do the same—but he hasn't, as yet. Nevertheless the moonlight, the oaks, the sunsets, the glistening sand dunes, the flowers that grow—all these, and everything that is—are for those who see them. His ability to portray them on canvas is the only distinction that any artist may honestly claim. Then the devil bear away the “knock- ers”"—those within the land of Bohemia —'tis no place for them. A e e Yesterday afternoon Maynard Dixon and Xavier Martinez—a mighty inter- esting pair of chaps—held a reception at their studio, 728 Montgomery street. Of distinct personalities; these two art- Ists present distinct types of work— one complementary to the other—and both are types worth knowing, the men and their work. Dixon’s “Prayer” is as holy a thing as an old mission. A solitary figure standing against a limitless expanse of sky, with a limitless waste of desert stretching far to the east and west, with hands outstretched to the Great Spirit for succor in a supreme moment, it is an epic. And in technique—but why revert to mechanisms, when the thing done is the thing sought for? OF CALIFORNIZY ART -=BY LAURA BRIDE POWERS Martinez has many fascinating studies, done while with Gerome, the great Parisian, but the truth to tell, methinks his own work, done with a loose lease, s his finest endeavor—and since Martinez himself thinks so, there's no quarrel due. Another reception is planned for next Saturday, by the way—when football is not in the air—and as large a stream of visjtors is looked for as called yes- terday. There's good tea at the Dix- on-Martinez atelier, by the way! R The women artists are busy as bees— notably Mrs. Ada Romer Shawhan, who, in her eyrie at Market and Sixth streets, is doing many things worth while. Here “Mimi,” sat for by Linda Montanari during the first production of La Boheme in this city, is one of the cleverest things done by Mrs. Shaw- han and one of the most fascinating portraits now on exhibition in the city. Poor Mimi is seen in the painting as entering her lover's studio, beauti- ful e’en though the icy touch of death had marked her for his own. o e Throughout the week Miss Maren Froelich has been holding “open house’ at her studio, 609 Sacramento street. with a most excellent brew of tea on tap—and such a charming array of summer sketches as to whisk one away to the shimmering sands of Car- mel-by-the-S8ea or northward to the primeval forests, where the sun sinks red between the giant branches. Among the most fascinating of her pictures is the “Dunes of Carmel-by- the Sea,” a white stretch of sand, pure ‘and white as a woman's breast, swell- ing gently and falling again in the soft symbolism of the wind's caresses. Blossoms of pink and purple snuggle close to the white breast of nature, with the breath of the sea and sand rising as incense to the turquoise sky. Then there are ballet girls and chub- by Chinese children, and snatches of landscape that make up a charming collection. A busy mald has been this same Miss Froelich during the dreamy summer days. And what a fascinat- ing studio, with just the right sort of atmosphere for mental pictures! Miss Froelich will continue her exhibit through next week. At ek e In the same building—the Studio building—is Mrs. Sarah Bender de Wolf, who is doing excellent work in flowers and fruits. Mrs. de Wolf is busy now upon some luscious grapes, whose coloring and sheen are really exquisite. They're horribly tempting, these grapes—tantalizing, one might say. PO The Tilden statue that James D. Phelan presented to San Francisco, typical of the native son, is perhaps the best known bit of art work of the ‘West. Its leroic poise, beckoning as it does the great East to follow the sun's course toward the West, has made it symbolic of Western progress. It figured on the cover of Charles Sedg- wick Aiken’s book on San Frafi- cisco, 300,000 copies of which were given away at St. Louis. And thus is our art becoming an integral part of San Francisco, which is evoluing from its “‘chromo” state by the blessings of sky and sea and purple mountains. It is late to acknowledge the pleas- ure—the rare pleasure—that the last programme of the Twentieth Century Club gave me, but perhaps tardy grat- itude is better than none. The club some two weeks ago gave its first pro- gramme of the season, and it was of those peculiarly happy ones that just scem to harpen sometimes. They should happen frequently with the Twentieth Century Club. Not only does the club contain the executive ma- terial, but it offers that sensitive, sym- pathetically exacting ear to the artist that impels him—compels him—to his best effort. It is a truly delightful au- dience. You play to it as to yourself. Nay, more high heartedly. For in the light of a sympathy for which nothing is of too curious or intimate appeal the player finds new beauties in his best known and best loved works. For example. Not having heard Miss Caroline Little sing before for the Twentieth Century Club, I never heard her sing at all as she sang in the Beethoven liederkreis, “An die Ferne Celiebte.” In fact I did not know that she could sing that way. She brought an arch and joyous lightness to the “Fair Maytime,” a tenderness and sympathy to the “Take My Songs, of Love the Flower,” of which her work, as I had before known it, gave little evidence. THe cycle throughout was sung with an admirable simplicity and directness and with a variety of emotional shading that inhibited any hint of monotony—no small feat. The best thing of the afternoon, how- ever, was the baflad singing of Mrs. Richard Bayne, who gave the four Scotch songs of Beethoven, “The Love- ly Lass of Inverness,” “Bonnie Laddie. Highland Laddie,” “Oh, Thou Art the Lad of My Heart, Willie,” and “Faith- ful Johnnie.” Rare material this, and it was rarely interpreted. I believe Mrs. Bayne has a charming contralto voice, and T am sure it has been well trained; but so utterly beyond these things was the spirit that informed her singing that I hardiy know. Scotch it was, pre-eminently—as Scotch as the breath of heather across a moor. It was austerely tender as the Scotch skles and simple, strong, wholesome and melancholy gay as the people un- der them—the people around whom the songs are written. How well Mrs. Rayne sang that day as compared with herself I do not know, not having heard her before, but one could hard- 1y wish for better ballad singing. The the “Wohin” and “Ungeduld” of Schubert and the “Ich Liebs Dich” of Beethoven, one heard another singer of admirable taste and sympathy. Very Interesting again was the performance of the Corelli sonata in G minor (op. . played in gpirited and discreet fash- fon by Mrs. Gwynn and Mrs Hengstler. Its clever pianoforte score, constructed upon the original bass by Henry Holmes, was a feature of in- terest. Mrs. Alice Bacon Washington contributed a thoughtful and unaf- fected reading of the Bach prelude and fugue In C sharp minor and the Brahms intermezzo (op. 117) The Twentieth Century Club is quits evidently doing the work it set out to do, and doing it in thorough fash- fon. A Strauss afternoon and noon devoted to among the and the Kneisel quar one professional conc year. an after- ompositions are col L St Miss Mary Broeck Pasmore is to give a violin recital on Thu next at Century Hall. A since thoughtful, as well as effect ed talent, 1s this young g recital will doubtless attract attention. The vio ed by Miss Lillian Spink (violin), Miss Dorothy Pasmore (‘cello), Charles Trowbridge (tenor), John Ray Lewis (viola), Miss Ada Clement (accom- panist), and H. B. Pasmore (accom- panist). Following is the Interesting programme: Nocturne, op. 2 (Chopin), Transcription of Sa and Sarabande from Sonata in D minor (Bach); recitative, “Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart,” aria, “Be- hold and See,” from the “Messiah™ (Handel); concerto in the form of a vocal scena (Spohr); songs from the “Dichterliebe” (Schumann); Hunga- rian dances, Nos. 2 and 3 (Brahms- Joachim); quartet, op. 18, No. 4 (Beet- hoven), ‘“Allegro ma non tanto,”™ Scherzo—"Andante, Scherzoso quasl Allegretto,” Menuetto—"Allegretto,” finale—""Allegro,” Miss Pasmore, Miss Spink, John Lewis and Miss Dorothy Pasmore. sate, Corrents & - ie A concert that is attracting atten- tion is that which will be given by Miss Laura Kinze von Kisielnicka at Steinway Hall on the evening of No- vember 22. Miss Kisielnicka, who comes from Dresden, is said te be pos- songs were given as written, with vio- sessed of a fine contralto voice and lin and ‘cello obligato, the assisting .excellent schooling and will be heard musicians being Miss Vassault, Mrs. on this side of the bay for the first Gwynn and Miss Fuhrer, who all time. The singer will be assisted by played well their parts. Miss Hulda Anderson, pianist, and In Mr. Alfred Coggswell, who sang Hother Wismer with his violin. — - ITEMS OF INTEREST mony, a beautiful, sentimental cere- ABOUT THE PLAYERS AND THEIR PLAYS Boston has stamped the Henry Sav- age production of “Parsifal” with\the seal of its most august approval. Praise is accorded to it on all hands, cast, in- terpretation and staging. The produc- tion is now trying its luck in New York, SN The first night performance of “Granny,” the Clyde Fitch comedy that was written for the farewell of Mrs. G. H. Gilbert, is described in this week's Dramatic Mirror as “a cere- mony, such as playgoers rarely enjoy." Three weeks the play is to run, and with it, as a star for the first time in her life, dear old Mrs. Gilbert takes her honorable leave of the stage she has served sd long. o L. Of much local interest is the produc- tion of “The Baroness Fiddlesticks,™ that will be made at the New York Ca- sino en Monday evening next. The opera is by Emile Bruguiere and George de Long, both well known locally. Mrs. Fiske will revive “Hedda Ga- bler” in New York this week. - I “MIMI,” AN ADMIRED STUDY, BY MRS. ADA ROMER SHAWHAN. l ——— —————