Life — October 25, 1894 — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

corey \ SS TWO IMPORTATIONS. NATURALLY one would suppose that these poor United States had had enough Columbus art, Colum- bus literature and Columbus drama, during the past three or four years. Mr. Rice supposes otherwise. At all events, he has im- ported for use in this country an English extravaganza which has Columbus and the World's Fair as the suggestive motive. It can be truthfully said though, that neither Columbus nor the Fair enter so deeply into the construction of the piece as to be cither a detriment or a benefit. “Little Christopher Columbus " is to some extent marred by that good, soggy humor, which is so dear to the heart of the Briton, but makes the = American suffer. We fancy from the appearance of the remains, that Mr. Rice must have amputated a good deal of this, but there is still ample opportunity for him to use his scalp- ing knife. In taking off the British excrescences though, he has left a good many bare spots which sadly need a transplanting of American fun, We understand that it is Mr. Rice's custom to build up his successes from unpromising beginnings, but we doubt that there is enough of “ Little Chris- topher" to form even a decent foun- dation. The first act is so heavy that it would sink a ship, and only the specialties introduced in the second save that from being over-weight. ‘on in the Cairo street of the Midway, is the best. Asarule the songs and music are not interesting. There are a few numbers, however, which are very ‘The third act, where the action goes == Tue Bey or Baratanta (Mr. CLARKE), anp Litter Curistorner, pretty, notably the “ Lazily, drowsily,” of the first act, and the solo of Little Christopher in the last act, with the chorus in the wings. Miss Helen Bertram, as Létéle Christopher, is attractive both as boy and girl, and has a sweet contralto voice, which is fully up—or down— to the requirements of the part. The other ladies of the cast have little to do but sing in chorus, wear handsome costumes, and be as pretty as nature and cosmetics can make them, in all of which they succeed admirably. The glowing success of the production 4s Mr. George Walton, who was rudely plucked from the modest - obscurity of “the principal London and Australian theatres," as the pro- gramme kindly informs us. LIFE does not see why New York should rob London and Australia of such comedians as Mr. Walton, The Rialto is crowded with actors who can inject as little fun into a funny part as Mr. Walton can, and who would doubtless be boresome for less money. The other men in the cast have also very weird notions of what fun is. If you go to “ Little Christopher Columbus " to laugh, you will be dis- appointed. If you goto havea sort of optical jag you will be pleased, for there is an abundance of feminine loveliness, garbed and not too much garbed, a wealth of brilliant color, and plenty of marching, counter-marching, dancing, turning and whirling, all under bright lights. Besides Mr. Rice, Mes: George R. Sims, Cecil Raleigh, Ivan Caryll and Gustave Kerker had a hand at the book and music of the piece. We wonder what -——~ sort of a broth it would have been if there had been a few more cooks. Tue Sxconp Mrs, Tanqueray Brock (Mx, Macvonovcn.) . * . ORRECT _ pronuncia- tion is—or was—con- sidered to be an essential to good acting. In this primary comicbooks.com