Life, 1887-10-20 · page 11 of 16
Life — October 20, 1887 — page 11: what you’re looking at
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# Life Magazine Page 221: Theater Reviews and Comic Sketches This page from *Life* magazine contains theatrical criticism and comic vignettes typical of the publication's satirical style. **Theater Reviews:** The page discusses performances at Daly's Theater, including "Dandy Dick" and "La Belle Russe." The critic praises the acting company's ability to enliven weak material, though notes "Dandy Dick" contains no interesting characters—the entertainment derives purely from skilled performances. **Comic Sketches:** 1. **"A Truly Dreadful Fate"**: An anarchist laments that when revolutionaries seize palaces, he'll still be left poor and unwashed by rain—mocking both revolutionary rhetoric and class anxiety. 2. **"Astonishing Burglary"**: A tired gentleman (Vanderpuyster) expresses bewilderment that thieves could enter through a keyhole, using phonetically-rendered working-class dialect for comedic effect. The page exemplifies *Life*'s mix of cultural criticism and class-based humor typical of the Gilded Age period.
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* LIFE - 221 AT DALY’S. personally, are interesting, and the dialogue is bright and a wg » fee never drags. “ ANDY DICK" is a play whose object is the inspira The dean, his sportive sister, the old servant and the eon: of mirth, and that-object is brilliantly achieved: jealous constable are all amusing, and serve their purpose For this some credit is due the author of the piece, but most admirably in hastening the movement of the play. The plot of it belongs to Mr. Daly's company. | It is a poor play that j, ingenious and full of surprises, and the merriment of the this company cannot make entertaining, and as “Dandy audience is a constant tribute to the actors’ skill. Dick" is by no means devoid of merit the result is not a . —_—_—_—_—_ surprise. One salient feature of the comedy is that there is] N Browning’s“ Parleyings with Certain People,” the ancient not an interesting character in it. The actors themselves, Scriptural prophecy is fulfilled. The last is Fust. DRAMATIC NOTE. HE Yonkers Gazette has the following: “In ‘La Belle Russe’ Miss Coghlan portrays to the life a beautiful Russian, and in it she has an oppor- tunity to display, as she has never yet done on the Yonkers boards, her tragic powers, and also to wear modern society dresses.”” It is to be hoped that the Yonkers boards will be equal to the fearful strain imposed upon them by these modern society dresses. We shall look for the Gazelfe'’s an- nouncement of Edwin ‘ \ Booth's Hamlet before es NUNS ‘ = wie _ the Yonkers audience, aN ; ‘ ‘ ; ‘ TTT when, we have no doubt, Nii AME the great actor will dis- * 7; \ mig play his old-time fire and new black overalls. T is not surprising that there should be con- siderable mal de mare on board ocean steamships considering the enormous horse-power that is re- quired to drive a vessel across the Atlantic. A TRULY DREADFUL FATE. ihe Aree. Ah, - when yonder proud palaces are ours, I'll not ASTONISHING BURGLARY. be left in the streets to Vander puyster (slightly weary): Weit 1 p'cLare. WONNER WHERE POLISHE COULD ER BEEN. be washed by the rain. THteves GONE SHTOLE KEY-HOLE.