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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1909)
v- T IS really ton had there aren't trior plays around like "Ragged Robin" and fewer like "Mr. Hamlet of Broad way. But then there a no use complain ing- about the set law of supply and demand as It eeems to exist today. Anyway It was a regrettable thing; that more people didn't see Chauncey Olcott In "Ragued Robin" and fewer "Bridie Foy In his llLiik't contraption. The first bratbed a wholesome spirit that must leave its subtle Influence everywhere as a medim for rood. Th second waa Just the antithesis of that so far aa Its influence was concerned. And Foy played to at least double Jhe business that Oloott did. for his produc tion wm elaborate and lavish even If It did border on the risque; and It didn't requlr? of people that thay should think. "Wherein, doubtless, lies the solution to tf e r!dJl. Those two were tie main events of the week- for - Portland theatergoer The new week will open today with two productions of which glowing assurance tr given by the press agents. At the Portland" -The Girl - From Alaska." a drama with frozen-torch settings mill be given its Initial presentation, with Mi Elizabeth Hale in the principal role. It Isn't offa Portland goto the opportunity cf seeing 3 production launched on Its care-er. and the novelty doubtless will be taken advantage of by those who do not prefer waiting for the established specie of show. .. A section of the frigid north will like wise be set In the Baker Tiwajer with R-x Bosch's gnat tory "The Spoilers." Assurance I given by tho? interested of an adequate presentation of the piece by capable player. - The vaudeville shop all have newblll on hand, orjung tomorrow, and with these side dishes Portland ' theatergoers ought to week. be abl to put in a pleasant r.II.I.IE Rl'RKE AT BIXGAI.OW Vctress Who Has Cliarni to Re Pern In "low Watflies" This Week. Few actreese have climbed the lad der of success so rapidly as has Miss Ittllle Burke, who will be seen In "Love Watches" at the Bungalow Theater the latter half of this week. Two years ago or a litlte more man mat now. 10 be exact very few people In America knew anything about Miss Burke. Theru had been rumors that a pretty littM American girl was making a hit In London, but that was all. Then Charles Frohman announced - that ne had engaged Miss Burke trr come back to her native land and he John Drew's leading woman In "My Wife." SI WE TJ ft: m v 1 K. at t " L? ! . if,- jjavSUMUBSBMBBI came and "My Wife' was produced at the Empire Theater In New York, and the next day all New orK was 11 Ing about her. Or. dear no. Don't Imagine from this that Miss Burke Is another Duse or a Bernhardt or anything of that sort. She Isn't.-. She is a clever actress, but she has something that lota of the cleverest actresses lack entirely charm. That wonderful, subtle something that comes out over the footlights and grips your heart strings and rpakes you wish It waa the fashion in America, as It is In China, to write plays that take a week o.r so to act. That i what In one short s.ason made Billie Burke one t.f the most fi opnlar' actresses on the Ameri can stage. And now Miss Burke comes asa star at the head of her nwn company, for Mr. Frohman advanced her to stel lar rank last Autumn. Her play, "Love Watches." is an adaptation by Miss Gladys Vnger of the work of two clever GO 4 ITT AlisMU 1 Stars. j- .X vr 1 French playwrights. Messieurs de Flers and de Caillavet. and naturally It gives Miss Burke much more opportunity to fascinate and charm her audience than she had In "My Wife." In this piece she plays the part of a little French girl, fresh from a convent, who falls In love with her cousin, proposes to him and marries him. Then, when ahe learns that he has been a flirta tious ydung rascal In his bachelor days, she grows frightfully JealouB and tries to do a little flirting on her own .ac count by way of revenge. ' How her at tempt falls is the point of the play, and It would be too bad to spoil your pleas ure b telling you about it beforehand. It Is enough to know that the attempt does fall and that the heroine and her husband fall more desperately in love with one another than they were be fore. And so. you see, it is one of the dramatic wonders of the day a -really clean and wholesome French play. , The supporting companyf an excel lent one.' Jncludoa Vernon' Steel. Errtast Law ford, Maude Odoll, Kate Me'elc, Muriel Ashwynne, Stanley Dark, Frank Andrew ahd Ernest Gossart. Miss BuYke will appear at the Bunga low on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and on Saturday afternoon. . NEW PLAY TO BE PRODUCED "Tlie Girl From Alaska' Open at the Portland Theater Tonight, v. The attraction at the Portland Thea ter for the entire week commencing to Pll::;aL'jI 1 ti ' rrfffc wmWi' r:;'.'f 3 sataaafw : E t i t.'H - 1 til LVf iife'Wi : VjHy?m --'i f 7. 1H 5. f r-3i f :,- " - night, will be Miss Elizabeth Hale In the stirring play of New York and Alas ka life. "The Girl From Alaska," Messrs. Itussell & Drew will present this virile play for the first time on any stage and when the curtain Is rung up this evening. Portland's name as a producing .city, will be established. The plot of the play is an Interesting one and differs wldAy from the ordi nary run of such, drama. Bill Martin, an artist of New. York, marries hi model and before she leaves him for the stage, brings him several children. But the call Ot .the footlights . Is too strong and she leaves children and home for a stage career. Her husband goes to Alaska, but the death of one of the children brings the' wife from Paris and Martin from the wilds of the North. The husband and wife, reunited, find many things have dTifted into their lives and reconciliation Is Impossible. ' There Is another fellow and another girl. The wife Is Insanely Jealous of her husband's "new model "Alaska Lou." while the husband Is fully as Jealous of his and hi wife's friend, Harry Phil lips. The strained condition of affair between everybody forms a powerful theme for a romance.. The coming of the girl from the far Northland to the whirl and gaiety of New York life and her transition from an almost Innocent child to a leader In the body of folk among whom she Is cast -Is another Interesting Incident In the play. Thlast act shows the true worth of a Teal woman's love and the downing or Influences which tend toward evil. The IS .A A- 7 4 o- -5 5 ,4 t.) I ' . - ' r play Is full of Intensely dramatic situa tions, and -tears and laughter, pathos and comedy are all happily woven, into what is a master play. Miss Hale as May Les ter, the wife of BUI Martin, has a splen did opportunity to show her splendid") emotional powers for which sho is so widely noted, and Miss' Helen Barham, as Lou. Is particularly delightful.. Other well-known players in the cast are H. G. Jonsdale, Verne Layton. William Thome. Nellie Jones. Mamie Haslam, Lee Morris, Granville Ooddard, Arthur Elton, Frank Clrfuson. Harry' Russell and a number or others of equal reputation. The play Is sumptuously mounted and the engagement will be a real treat tor local, play pa trons. - " ' " ' "THE SPOILERS" AT THE BAKER Five Xlghts and Two Matinees of lXex Beach Play, a carper of ten months in New Wltih York as a guarantee of Its entertain ing qualities, "The Spoilers," jme of the' most Intense, the most human and the most absorbing of drama put upon the stage In years, will be presented at the Baker Theater for five nights and two matinees, starting this afternoon. Rex Beach, who is Just now- the vogue among all American writers, has been made famous the world over by writ ing this most exciting of all his dramas, "The Spoilers." . - The play wa first produced In New York, where It created nothing short of 7 1, .; . ycjsv&r &os7 Titos' ssaj,jzef r : 1 1 : asensation; then it went to Chicago, where It had' another long, successful run. The euccess ot "The Spoilers" has not been due to, the exertions of any of our great actors; the world-wide In terest 'shown' in this play is due to the boldness of Its story and its fascinating characteristic, to people who live in the glorious West. Men like the play be cause It's real manly nd depict the unconquerable spirit of the typical American. Women lik-it because the principal feminine characters In the play show what the real American woman- can do when ,he is put to the test. The story is pimple enough. It is in tense", compelling in interest, wonder fully human. What Intensifies and in terests the play-goer Is the Ingenuity with whichvBeach has told it. Just when he Is thought to have reached his climax, he veers off and at tains still another climax, and another until his resourcefulness seems with out end. Two miners, .Roy GlRnster and Joe Daxton, who own the Midas, one of the richest mines In-Alaska, hook passage on board the steamer Santa Maria, bound for the' rich diggings. On board Roy Glenster,' the hero, meets Helen Chester, the niece of Judge Stllltnan. She has In her possession a letter of great importance from the " Eastern swindlers, who created one of Jhe most gigantic plots to , rob the miners of their hard-earned diggings ever In vented by"man. When Glenster arrives In Dawson he ' meet- McNamara, the arch-conspirator, who also Is Infatu atedx with -Helen. McNamara realizes that Glenter means to fight to a fin ish, and the famous dance-hall scene In the third act depicts one of the fierc est and most intensely Interesting bat tle ever fought on the English-speaking stage. This scene alone has made the production of "The Spoilers" fa mous. Every piece of bric-a-brac and furniture on the. atage is broken to pieces, and. McNamara is finally over come. The next act depicts the road house scene, where Helen has a fierce encounter with a lawyer,' Struv'e. who Is killed by "her brother: The last act depicts the Midas in midwinter, where Glenster retains, his,, rights, to the. mine and all ends well.,, ' The last act Is ' beautiful ' beyond words, showing a show scene Id a can yon in the Far North.- - ; The bargain matinee will be given Wednesday, and "The Spoilers," will close Thursday night. "AX tSK OCEXT SIXXER" TODAY Athon Stock Company Produces In- 1 . ' -tnse Play at the Lyric. Opening at the . Lyric . Theater at to day's matinee. . Lawrence, . Mnrston's greatest play, "An Innocent SinnrV," will he presented for approval by the popular Athon Stock Company. This play I one that caused a great sensa tion several years ago, being In vogue T1 " f JMJ4a1' S-;. , '. ' 1 s ma at the same time that "Trilby- wa In Its greatest era of prosperity. Both "An Innocent Sinner" and "Trilby" be ing laid along the same line, the es sential extract of th plot being hyp notic suggestion, this play was put to one side in order to allow Wilton Lack aye the choice of which pan he wished to play, Sveng-all or Dr. -Jacob. He chose the part of Svengali. The play deals with the Influence Dr. Jacob hs become possessed of over one Hlnda, a child of Tennessee. Having her under controrof hypnotic suggestion, he. force her to murder the brother of the man she, Ha engaged to marry and the plot ofthe play i formed upon thl point. Sensational climaxes and wholesome comedy pre vail throughout the entire play and An Innocent Sinner" will prove to be something entirely out of the or dinary, in plot and characterization. The last act, in which Ir. Jacob while paralyzed finally regains the use of his voice and frees Hinda from any complicity and then finally dies, Is one of the most Instensely dramatic scenes ever seen upon any stage. The Athon Stock Company is pe-, culiarly suited tqthe characters of tl play nd a performance of remarkable merit will be witnessed. The part of Dr. Jacob, the hypnotist, will be played by Sidney Payne and the part of Hinda, the girl, by Miss Priscilla Knowlea. Mr. Howard will be seem In Tom Bridges and the entire cast will be placed to -the best advantage by Di rector Bennett. Special scenery and Incidental music are being prepared for this play and as a whole it is promised by Mr. Athon that the per formance of ' An Innocent Sinner" will be as great a stock production as has even been witnessed In this city or anywhere else at popular prices. Seats were selling all last week for this play and it is advisable to all desiring to witness the production of "An Innocent Slnner"to get their seats early. in the-. week. ORPHEl'M OFFERS VARIED BILL Characters From Dickens to Be Por trayed by Finished Actors. The new bill opens for the week at the Orpheum tomorrow afternoon. Ed win Stevens and Tina Marshall are th headllners In an artistic and original offering styled -"An Evening With Dickens." Their act opens with a lit tle playlet in which the actors are Just themselves; then In succession are presented some of the best-known characters from the famous works of Dickens: such as Uriah Heep, with Miss Marshall as Agnes: Grandfather Small weed end Dick Swiviller. with Mis Marshall as the Marchioness; Fagan, BUI and Nancy Sykes, from "Oliver Twist." All are given with the most excellent characterization Imaginable. Mr. Stevens Vlll be remembered here for his splendid work In Savage's com.' pany of "The Devil," while older resi denters will recall him as the comedian in the Tlvoll Opera Company. The Delia ven Sextet, with Sidney C. Gibson, are presenting a charming lit-" tie operetta entitled "An Understudy." The plot deals with a theatrical organi zation which Is called for rehearsal and the star falling to attend. In the emergency Mr. Gibson, as the under study, volunteers his services and assumes the principal part Instead. It is pleasingly worked out and provides a vehicle for one of tne most effective -novelties seen for some time. The Carmen troupe will present a series of daring and difficult acrobatic wire numbers. These feats are all cleverly executed and show these won derful athletes'at their very best. A most extraordinary act is that of Howard's musical Shetland and com edy dogs. It Is a remaj-kahle exhibition of what patience and pains will accom plish In animal training. Beautiful Shetland ponies and a number of ter riers and other prize-winning dog comprise the act. The Ferrell Brothers present a cycling act that Is considerably out of the ordinary. They open their act with some very neat riding, then work Into some capital, briskly executed tricks, closing with some startling feats.- Milt Wood, styled "The Dancer With the Chair," does some remarkable dancing In a manner that recom mends it. Walter Lewis, assisted by Florenre Burmimore and M. H. Harriman. presents ah excellent comedy sketch called "A Baby Grand." Jf contains a lot of rare fun and wholesome humor; the dialogue ia bright and snappy, and the plot shows how youthful lovers outwit an -obstinate parent and in the end win his blessing by introducing "A Baby Grand." PAXTAGES OFFERS Rlf. BILL Mile. Florine and Her Trained Leopards Featafe'of Programme. For the top line attraction of the com ing week, Pantages will offer one of the most thrilling animal acts ever presented in vaudeville. This will be Mile. Klorlne and her troupe of six trained Persian leopards, the most dangerous beasts hu mans ever attempted "to come Into con tact with. Mile. Florine risks her lifrf on every entry Into the cage for the., giant cats are always In a state of rebeUion and on the slightest false move nn; the part of their trainer, they spring and their spr'hg means certain death... Mile. J. Florine has been wounded -timer ',-af tor time, but by miraculous -escape?, death has not touched her. In nl. the-largest concert halls, and Important, theaters of Europe, Great Britain and the East, Mile. Florine and her leopaids'have appeared as headliners, and the sensations they have created,: 'hBA-e? neor , Jrwen dupll-' Concluded, oa Pa