Life — October 20, 1898 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

a Hats. OW look at the wonderful things called hats, With feathers of tishes, of birds and of bate ; Delirium trimmings of ribbons and lace Z, high-kicking, running a race. Oh! what a wild wilderness over a face 80 fair and so fragile; "twere easy to say An angel from Skyville was coming our way. W. J, Lampton, What Goeth On at Present. NOISY claque made it impossible to tell whether the first audience to witness *‘ The Christian” in New York really liked the piece or not. As the theatre emptied, the spectators had something of the same worn, drawn look to be seen on the face of a man who has been talked to death, which may be taken as ut least a partial endorsement of the opinion previously expressed in these columns, that ‘* The Christian” contains a large amount of conversation for a given amount of play, and that the conversation is not of a very enlivening kind. New York is now quite a wide-open town, and is devoting more of its time to booming Theodore than to religion; so perhaps it is a good thing to have some large chunks of that latter rare commodity hurled at it from the stage. To be sure, the religion of ‘‘ The Christian” is of a ruther inferior grade, judging by its effect on its professors; but it might be better for New Yors to have some religion, even of the Hall Caine kind, than none at all, The first-night audi- ence was clearly puzzled by the play. It found it hard work to tell what it was all about, and was not greatly enlightened when the final curtain left John and Glory standing with clasped hands and not a wedding cer- tificate in sight. New York prefers to have its plays end with the characters definitely married, divorced, or dead, The claque had evidently been duly informed that Mr. Caine was part of the show, and at the right moment called for bim with a promptncss and unanimity which must have warmed the cockles of his Manx heart. He responded with a very pretty aud carefully prepared little impromptu speech, * * * HE reckless neglect of the fire ordinances at Weber and Fields’s Music Hall is little short of criminal, and should be made the subject of in- placed in the aisles, and the narrow passage back of the seats is so crowded nightly that ingress and egress are almost impossible. The exits are not plainly marked, us the law reauires, and the diagrams on the programmes are so badly printed that it is impossible to vestigation by the Fire Commissioners. Chairs are © —— FE* jJearn anything from them. Toa less extent, the same is true of some other New York theatres. performances at these houses may be interesting, but not much pleasure in witnessing them when one’s mind is occupied by the fear that one may be grilled alive before the end of the evening. * . ry ERSONS fond of boisterous fun will find their fill of it in “Hotel Topsy Turvy.” at the Herald Square Theatre. The story is based on the farcical difficulties of a circus troupe that tries to keep hotel, The ensuing com- plications and what happens to the guests can be better imagined than described, but they are faithfully and strenuously depicted by a company which does its work fairly well, but might be improved. The bulk of the exertion falls to Miss Marie Dressler and Mr. Edwin Foy. Their abilities in the line of able-bodied comedy are well known, and they fully sustain their reputations as fun-makers, Miss Dressler has the uncommon gift of personal magnetism to a high degree, and it would be interesting to see it turned in the direction of more refined work than that in which she is usually engaged. Being produced with the assistance of Mr, Edouard Evan- geline Rice, the acting parts are well backgrounded by shapely damsels in costumes more gorgeous than copious. OW dared Mr. Gisiko, as Count Zar- Souli in * Hotel Topsy Turvy,” make himself up to resemble so closely the able and honest critic of the morning Sun? Hasall reverence for the good, the beautiful, and the true, deserted the American stage? Metcalfe. Sere se wm on WILKINS (about to discharge the cook): 1M MIGHTY GLAD . SAVED THESE FOOTBALL THINGS OP Tom's.