Newspaper Page Text
32
AN OFF WEEK AT THE THEATER
“The Beauty Doctor” and a Colored Company in
“The Smart Set” the Only Attractions.
Tuesday. Matinee and Night—“ The
Smart Srt."
Wednesday Mghl—“The Beauty
Doctor.”
Charles Felton Pidgins has present
ed a most natural course of events
In his story of the sojourn of Quincy
Adams Sawyer among .Mason’s Corner
folks, with all of the characteristics
of the inhabitants of a New England
village delightfully portrayed. The
dramatization of such a popular story
as “Quincy Adams Sawyer” is sure
to be attended by successful results,
and presented by a competent com
pany yesterday won and merited much
favorable comment.
“Quincy Adams Sawyer” was never
intended for and never will be other
than a collection of events in the hum
drum life of a droning village, with
the interest largely centering in the
manner in which the characters are
portrayed. Mr. Pidgin's descriptions of
his characters in the book have been
excellently followed out in the dramat
ization.
Mr. James Thatcher as Quincy
Adams Sawyer had little demands
made on what artistic powers he
might possess as an actor, but in dia
logue and the portrayal of the char
acter he was pleasing.
Mr. Harry S. Robinson as Obadiah
Strout, the village singing master, was
one of the cleverest comedy character
izations seen in Savannah in many
days. Mr. Robinson lost no oppor
tunity in getting all there was in his
lines out to the best advantage. An
unusually large company, excellent
scenery and many fresh and diverting
scenes makes “Quincy Adams Sawyer”
a most delightful evening’s entertain
ment.
Manager Seeskind offers but two at
tractions to theater-goers this week.
“The Smart Set,” a colored aggregation
that contains a number of clever sing
ers, according to the press accounts,
will be seen Tuesday, matinee and
night. Wednesday night the much
talked of musical comedy, “The Beauty
Doctor," will be the attraction. This
production will be offered Savannahi
ans for the first time.
“The Smart Set.”
"Brilliant in color when viewed as a
spectacle, funny in its comedy and with
excellent musical features,” “The
Smart Set” will be seen on Tuesday,
matinee and night. The company num
bers fifty colored people, and the pro
duction this season is entirely new.
Among the stars may be mentioned S.
H. Dudley, John Bailey and Marion
Marion Short. Seats are now on sale.
The matinee prices are: Orchestra, 50
cents; balcony, reserved, 50 cents; gal
lery, 25 cents. At night: Orchestra,
75 and 50 cents; balcony, 75 cents; gal
lery, 50 cents. Entire balcony reserved
for colored people. The matinee will
begin at 3:30 o’clock; evening at 8:15.
“Tin* Reuuty Doctor.”
The young comedienne, Miss Henri
etta Lee, who plavs the title part in
“The Beauty Doctor,” which is to be
seen Wednesday night, is congratulat
ing herself in escaping the inevitable
beautiful, chic young widow parts she
has been playing for the last few sea
sons. While Miss Lee says the part of
the beauty specialist in “The Beauty
Doctor” has most of the characteristics
of the fortune-hunting Hoyt widows,
still she is not a "widow” on the pro
gramme and is correspondingly happy.
It seems a part of the managerial
idea when casting plays to preferably
employ actors and actresses who have
made reputations in certain lines of
character, and Miss Lee, who made her
original entree as a widow on the stage
in Hoyt’s “A Contented Woman,” as
the notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith, was sub
sequently engaged by Hoyt for all of
his plays in which a widow, scheming
and otherwise, appeared. After Mrs.
Ebbsmith she was engaged to play the
sporty and flirtatious Mrs. Guyer in “A
Trip to Chinatown,” then she became
the calculating and scheming relict of
Piggot Luce in “A Milk White Flag,”
following it with the less audacious,
but equally knowing Hattie, in "A
Stranger in New York.” Thus, willy
nilly, weeds and crepe have been Miss
Lee’s portion theatrically, although
there has been no sorrow In her out
side life, and now for the first time in
some seasons escaping the inevitable
widow. Miss Lee is making the most
of her opportunity by imparting a
sparkling breeziness to the part of
“The Beauty Doctor.”
Seats will be on sale to-morrow
morning at 9 o’clock. Orchestra, $1.50
2<-.nes at the Funeral of Mrs. Gilbert
- . ** , ■ p
Eighty years of work all done,
Cherry as when first begun.
The hearts of hundreds responded to
this characlerlzatlou of Mrs, George
Henry Gilbert pronounced by her pas
tor In the Bloomirigdaie Reformed
Church, New York city, at her funeral
service. Floor and galleries of the
church were crowded. The services
were unostentatious and tho tribute to
her was sincere.
It was as u woman, not as an act
ress. that the Rev. William D. Stinson
spoke of Mrs. Gilbert. "We give
thanks." he euld, “for the good cheer
and sunshine of this woman, who glor
ified her profession by her personality.
Ws are here to pay tribute to one who
was known throughout this broad land
as 111# sweetest and sainlllest woman
of fits modern stags. With sweet and
gracious deference aha always dlsaent
sd from all praise and congratulation.
I stand hers, as hsr pastor, to say
that bar ohlsf glory was not In hsr In-
Imitabis art, but In hsr faith In God,
th* lit his and tbs Ufa dlvlrta. I apeak
of bar to-day as a Ood-fsarlng Hlblr-
purs and truth-loving woman. Ths sanctify of hsr prlvsts Ilf* Is ths explanation of her lons beautiful and
■salal ear sat. wUiote Uts psopis will always vlsw with grateful re. otleetloiis* *’ u#,unrul •h*
( and $1; balcony, 75 and 50 cents; gal
lery, 25 cents.
“Weather Beaten Benson.**
Ezra Kendall has found a genuine
novelty in 'Weather Beaten Benson.”
This is the first play ever written on
the American stage to present the
rush of settlers in the opening up of
anew reservation for locations for
cities and homesteads. Nothing in
these days is so picturesque as this
madcap chase for fortune, and the
types to be seen in a rush are so strik
ing that great di'amatic situations and
irresistible comedy are possible.
“Weather Beaten Benson” is one of
the great successes of the present sea
son. Liebler & Cos. have arranged for
a brief tour of the leading cities and
Mr. Kendall will present "Weather
Bt'aten Benson” with ail the original
company and effects for a single per
formance in Savannah soon.
“A Girl From Diiie."
In Harry B. Smith's latest comedy,
“A Girl From Dixie,” with interpolated
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MISS HENRIETTA I.EE,
As Jtilia Do I, Creme In “The Beauty Doctor.”
musical numbers, each role Is forcibly
characterized by some Individuality
‘and originality of construction. There
is a village music teacher; an idle
matrimonially inclined baronet, dif
ferent from the type accepted as a
stage nobleman; a squire "of the Tama
rack Bar, legal, and otherwise,” and
a host of other refreshingly new types
drawn from the life of what South
erners really are, not the exaggerated
stage people created by librettists.
Creston Clarke Coming.
“Monsieur Beaucaire," which, mainly
due to the perfection of Richard Mans
field’s production, has proved as wide
ly popular as a stage entertainment as
did Booth Tarkington’s admirable
book, is marked among the more im
portant early local attractions and will
once more renew acquaintance with
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< 4HKI ING THE CASH F T WHOM THE Clll H< 11.
SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY. DECEMBER 11. 1904.
Creston Clarke, son of John Sleeper
Clarke, and nephew of Edwin Booth.
Mr. Clarke has a host of admirers here
who will gladly welcome him in a play
of such quality.
Vera Mtclielena I Young.
Vera Michelena, the 18-year-old
comedienne, last year the star of
“Princess Chic,” made such a hit in
the title role that Manager John P.
Slocum secured “The Jewel of Asia”
as a vehicle to exploit her in this sea
son. It is the work of Frederic Ran
ken and Ludwig Englander, who have
just finished new' operas for Lulu
Glaser, Fritz! Scheff, and DeWoif Hop
per. Miss Michelena is one of Man
ager Slocum’s discoveries. She is the
third prima donna whom he has taken
from the realm of the unknown and
put to the front, the first being Grace
Van Studdiford, now prima donna with
the “Red Feather.” Her first chance
in an important part was given her
by Manager Slocum when he was man
aging Jefferson De Angelis.
Marguerita Sylva is the second young
woman whom this manager promoted
from an obscure part in “The For
tune Teller” to the leading role in
“Princess Chic.” Now comes Vera
Michelena, the daughter of Fernando
Michelena, who was the Jean De
Reszke of opera in the South Ameri
can republic of Venezuela some years
ago. At an early age she was brought
to this country, first living in New
York and then being sent to San B*ran
elseo to receive her education at the
Sacred Heart convent in the Golden
Gate city. The prima donna whom
Mr. Slocum had for “Princess Chic”
last season was taken ill on her
Western tour and had to be sent home.
Mr. Slocum happened to be familiar
with the stories about Miss Michelena’s
| wonderful voice and beauty, although
j she was then only 17 years old, and
after seeing her and listening to her
singing he had no hesitancy about of
fering her the part of “Princess Chic.”
That his judgment was again right—
in this third instance of a similar char
acter—has been proven by the hit the
young California girl made in her part.
This season Miss Michelena takes a
step still higher up the operatic ladder
in singing the title role in “The Jewel
of Asia,” which is said to be a much
more pretentious undertaking than
“Princess Chic,” and infinitely better
adapted to her wonderful range of
voice. “The Jewel of Asia” will be
seen here shortly.
“The Office Boy.”
In these days when the very limit
of sartorial splendor seems to have
been reached in stage costuming it ap
pears to be a little “nervy” to claim
super-excellence for the dressing of a
play, but. If reports are to be believed
that have come from those who have
seen Frank Daniels’ comic opera, “The
Office Boy,” something extraordinarily
fetching and bewitching in the way of
stage garmentry will be displayed In
the wardrobe of the piece.
MADAM CALVE’S~ARTISTIC
TEMPERAMENT.
Why She Will Not Be Heard In New
York: This Year.
New York, Dec. 10.—The illness of
Mme. Calve, reported from Paris, Is
causing some anxiety among her New
York friends, who had hoped to hear
her sing in the Metropolitan this win
ter, but who will not be gratified.
According to the Judgment of many
she is not likely to be heard here in
some time, unless she modifies her
terms materially, and this probability
has been strengthened by the un
equivocal success of Olive Fremstad,
the Swedish-American prima donna,
in “Carmen,” a role in which Calve
excels, especially according to New
York's way of thinking.
To date, so far as reported, none
of Herr Conreid’s song birds this year
have made any of the little scenes that
Calve was always fond of figuring In,
and, of course, Herr Conreid is hoping
they won’t. Mme. Calve has one of
the most artistic “temperaments” on
record. Once whep Pol Plancon—good
old Pol, still singing in the Metropoli
tan—ventured to make a joke about a
lot of bouquets waiting in the wings
to be given to Calve, she walked out
of the house and wouldn’t return till
half the company, including Plancon,
ran after and implored her to do so.
Last April, at her farewell concert,
after singing one of her two numbers
on the programme, she had a tiff with
Herr Mottl and positively refused to
sing the second, alleging that she had
been seized suddenly by an attack of
hoarseness. Mottl himself, and near
ly everybody else supposed to have
any influence with the singer, went to
her dressing room and implored her to
appear, but all she would do was to
go to the footlights, empty handed,
and assure the audience that she had
neither score nor accompanist—and so
how could she sing? These are only
two of the many instances in her
American career that have helped to
make life a burden to the successive
chief musical purveyors in New York
during the last ten or eleven years.
In France she sings for about one
quarter the sum she demands for the
same work here. There, too, she is
satisfied with twelve appearances in
one engagement, while here she insists
on fifty. Her pay is so low there that
it barely pays for her customes, so
that she is bound ultimately to seek
further American engagements.
Herr Conried, however, doesn’t
think New York should pay for th
pleasure of Paris, and, should she en
gags with him, the terms of the en
gagement will have to accord with his
conditions, not her theories. When
M'adame Calve went abroad last
spring she took with her Miss Eva
Palmer, the daughter of the Late Cort
landt I‘aimer, who wishes to make a
success on the Parisian stage and to
whom Calve is personally a devoted
friend.
Calve's first visit to America was
made eleven years ago, in 1893. She
had already won great musical tri
umphs abrc'ad, but they had been
preceded by years of desperate strug
gles. She is a native of the south of
I ranee, near the Spanish border, and,
as part of her childhood was spent in
Spain, she has often been termed Span
ish Part of her girlhood was passed
in Paris, where she was employed in
a lingerie shop in the daytime, tak
ing her singing lessons In the even
ing.
She sang her first opera role in
Brussels when she was eighteen,
“B aust” being the opet'a chosen. Her
singing teacher was in despair when
she told him of the engagement, for
she had not even learned the part cf
“Marguerite,” which she was to as
sume. But he bravely set out to
teach it to her, and she learned It in a
fortnight.
That was years before she began to
get a small fortune for each engage
ment, and she has never been
paid moie than h'alf as much
as in America anywhere else.
Duane.
ILLINOIS TOWN HELD
WILTON LACKAYE DOWN.
No Out Was Permitted in “The Pit*’
nl Waukegan.
Wilton Lackaye and the hamlet of
Waukegan, 111., are on the outs. Not
that such a state of affairs would or
dinarily be of consequence, but In this
particular instance Waukegan has ad
ministered a stinging rebuke to the
actor, who is always willing to do bat
tle for what he considers his rights.
Never having noticed Waukegan on
the map, Mr. Lackaye did not take the
matter seriously when his manager
told him he was booked to play there.
Instead of arriving in Waukegan at
the usual time, he remained in Chi
cago until the hour when the curtain
should have gone up, and strolled leis
urely up the main street of the village
about 8 o’clock.
All of Waukegan’s leading citizens
had assembled at the theater to wit
ness “The Pit,” and half of them were
surrounding the box-office, demanding
the return of their money, when news
of Lacknye's arrive spread through
the crowd.
, James Wingfield, the manager of the
theater, and Mr. Lackaye were mean
while engaging in a bitter argument
in the star's dressing room over the use
and abuse of one-night stands. Wing
field Insisted that the performance be
given in Its entirety.
“If you think you can Ignore this
city with Impunity," declared the In
dignant Wingfield, “you are mistaken.
There must be no cuts In to-night's
performance. I saw “The Pit” In Chi
cago. and every time you make a cut
I'll cut your share of the receipts ten
dollars.” •
The performance was given In full,
the last act ending at exactly 1 o’clock
In the morning.
*‘l wouldn't have minded so much,”
comments Mr. Lackaye, "If I could go
back there some time and wreak an
awful revenge But the blamed town
is so small I probably won’t ever be
able to find It again."
AT OBERAMMERGAU IN 1905.
peasants Will Present “The School
of the I'ross’i Instead of Passion
Flay.
Munich, Doc. 10.—Tho Alpine peasants
of Obsrsmmsrgsu srs already prepar
ing for a great Indus of European
and American visitors nest summer.
After much anslous thought the com -
mltlee of the Passion Play has decided
(Continued on Opposite Page )
AMERICAN WOMEN
IN GRAND OPERA
MANY HAVE WON FAME
AS POPULAR ABROAD AS FOREIGN
SINGERS ARE IN THIS COUNTRY.
Some American Girl* Who Have
Won International Succe**—Neva
da Honored Her State W r ith Her
Name—A New Orleans Girl the
Greatest Carmen the Stage Has
Ever Known—Annie Louise Carey
a Down-East Girl—Emma Eanies
an American Born In China—Nor
dica Born in Maine.
Boston, Dec. 10.—Every year when
the opera season opens many stories
are told about the famous singers who
come to this country from abroad at
tremendous salaries, but scarcely a
word is said of the Americans among
them. This is, perhaps, because the
nationality of the Americans is fre
quently disguised under a nom de the
ater, as they have learned in Paris to
call their stage names.
There is also little said about those
other men and women, born and train
ed on this side of the water, who are
now singing in the famous companies
of Europe though many of them have
never appeared in their native land.
Yet, taken at its full length, the list
of successful and distinguished singers
in opera and concert who were born in
the United States and whose voices
were first “discovered" by American
teachers is as noteworthy as that of
any other country in the world.
I‘nlti, Famous of All.
Probably the most famous of all the
singers, certainly of those who are now
living, is Adelina Patti. Though a na
tive of Madrid, she spent her childhood
in New York and made her debut
there. Annie Louise Cary, who re
tired some years ago but was in her
time one of the great contraltos of
both America and Europe, was born
in the little town of Wayne in the Pine
Tree State.
A list of American girls whose na
tionality was almost forgotten during
their international successes, includes
the names of Emma Nevada, who was
a Miss Wixon till she became a noted
operatic star and adopted the name of
her native state; Minnie Hauck, a
New Orleans ’ girl who made her de
but in Vienna and in her day was the
best known Carmen on the operatic
stage, and Mme. Albani, a Canadian
by birth who spent her girlhood in
Albany, N. Y., where she became so
locally famous as a singer that a fund
MISS MOLLIE EGBERT,
Who I.ends “The Cnlture Drill” in
“The Bennty Doctor.”
Those who will see Miss Mollie Eg
bert In her athletic costume of red at
the head of the famous “club-swinging
girls,” in the production of “The Beau
ty Doctor,” Wednesday night, would
hardly imagine that little more than
a year ago she was the sober and se
date schoolma’am in a public school
of a Western city. She had under
her charge several hundred students
and her calisthenic drills were quite a
feature of the school exercises. She
was particularly adept at club swing
ing.
When she attended the convention of
the National Educational Association
in Boston in July of last year, she was
put upon the programme for an ex
hibition at one of the entertainments
given for the visiting teachers. Man
ager Wright, who was at that time in
Boston arranging for the production of
his play of “York State Folks,” and
also organizing his "The Beauty Doc
tor” Company, saw Miss Egbert in her
club-swinging exhibition, which she
gave attired in modest, but attractive
bloomer costume. In “The Beauty
Doctor,” the chief character, a beauty
specialist, in advertising her wares,
exhibits results of her physical culture
method in a club-swinging drill which
is a feature of the performance. Man
ager Wright waftted an expert to teach
his chorus and lead it in this number.
The matter was on his mind at the
National Educational Association en
tertainment which he attended, and
when he saw Miss Egbert's exhibition
he sought her out and made her an
offer at once.
The salary was so much more than
the young woman was earning In the
Western town that it tempted her. Be
sides she confessed to a fancy for a
stage career. She was an admirnb’e
dramatic render and g good singer,
qualities that made an effective com
bination with her good looks, and ath
letic adeptness. But when Mr. Wright
mentioned that she must do the drill
In tights she balked. That was % lit
tle too rmieh. It happened that Miss
Egbert was one of the large number
of teachers who underestimated the ex
pense of a trip to Boston from a great
distance, and the liberal salary Mr.
Wright offered her appealed strongly
to her, especially as “The Beauty Doc
tor” was, later In the season, to play
her native city; so prospects of salary
and railroad fares gone caused her to
seek out Mr. Wright's representative
and tell him she would accept the place
|n the "Beauty Doctor” production,
provided the costume could he toned
down a bit. Mr. Wright was commu
nicated with and a compromise effect
ed. and Mlae Egbert at the head of the
“club-ewinglng girls" In the “culture
drill.” proved to he one of the big
hits of the piece. In fact Mlee Egbert
became somewhat Infatuated with her
role and signed with Mr. Wright for
the ensuing mum.
was raised to complete her musical
education abroad and who took her
stage name from the city that had
played so prominent a part in her
career when she was still Marie
Louise Emma Cecile Lajeunesse. Each
of these had her first training here
and in this generation would probably
have received most, if not all, of her
musical education without crossing the
ocean.
Emma Earnrs American-Born In
China-
In the present generation of singers
there are equally notable examples.
Emma Eames is an American, though
she was born while her parents were in
Shanghai, China, where her father svas
a lawyer in the international court.
She learned to sing in Boston land her
first work was in the choir of the Uni
tarian Church in the suburb of New
ton. She, too, however, must go abroad
for the opportunity to enter grand
opera in which she made her debut in
Paris 1889. David Bispham, now yak
ing a concert tour of the country, is
generally thought of as an Englishman,
but he is a Philadelphian and his ca
reer has been largely American,
though his first appearance was in the
Covent Garden Opera, London, and he
has, for professional reasons, made
England his place of residence for
some years.
Boston may almost lay claim to Su
zanne Adams, for she was born in
Cambridge, near the Harvard yard, 31
years ago; Sibyl Sanderson was a San
Francisco girl; Winfred Goff, another
Covent Garden principal and one of the
leading basses in Colonel Savage’s com
pany that sings grand opera in Eng
lish, though he is best known abroad,
graduated from the New England Con
servatory of Music, as have so many
distinguished singers of the day.
Nordlca- American in Every Way.
Perhaps the best known and the
most popular of all the great sopranos
of the Metropolitan Opera Company—
one of those “foreign song birds,” who
flit back to Europe each year as soon
as the professional season closes on this
side of the Atlantic—is Lillian Nordi
ca, and Mme. Nordica is an American
if ever there was one. She was born in
Farmington, Maine, her parents of the
good American name of Norton. Not
only was her talent first discovered in
this country but the whole foundation
of her musical education was laid here.
It was by the advice of her teacher,
John O'Neill, who early saw the won
derful possibilities in his young pupil,
that after her graduation from the
New England Conservatory of Music
in 1876, she went from Boston to Milan
to perfect herself in the Italian style
that she might find the opportunity for
an engagement in grand opera that
was then to be sought only on the con
tinent. Very soon she had appeared at
Brescia, Italy, then in London, Paris,
St. Petersburg, and other European
capitals, and now she is probably the
best known Wagnerian singer In the
world, while her repertoire includes,
altogether, forty operas and all the
standard oratorios.
Other American Singers.
Mine. Homer, or as Americans still
prefer to call her, Mrs. Louise Homer,
long the contralto prima donna of John
Grau’s opera company in London and
one of the best known European vocal
ists—for she has been a prominent fig
ure in opera at Vichy and Brussels —
and now a principal in Herr Conreid’s
Metropolitan Opera House Company,
in New York, came originally from
Pennsylvania and got all her training
at the Conservatory of Music. Gerald
ine Farrar, who has never been heard
in this country but has been the sen
sation of two seasons in Berlin, and
promises to become one of the “stars
among stars.” is the daughter of the
Farrar who was once “crack” first
baseman of the Philadelphia league
nine, and was brought up in the town
of Melrose, not five miles from the
Massachusetts State House.
Tennessee has given the Italian stage
Miss Marguerite Norri—her plain Am
erican name is Freeling—though she
has never been heard by her fellow
countrymen since she left the Conser
vatory in Boston: and Ralph Osborne,
who went from the operatic school two
years ago, first to Palermo and then to
Madrid, is already one of the favorites
of Southern Europe, though he is yet
to have his American “premiere.”
Home Singers the Thing,
It is only within a few years that
the American vocalist felt It possible
to find a complete education in this
country or to appear in public under a
plain American name. It is safe to
say that to-day much more than ever
before American audiences are looking
to American singers for their concerts
and operatic performances. One result
has been the remarkable increase of
interest that has made possible suc
cessful enterprises in the field of light
musical opera, and of such important
WEDNESDAY NIGHT ONLY.
FRED E. WRIGHT’S
MARVELOUS MUSICAL MELANGE
. i THE ..
BEAUTY
DOCTOR.
50 Comedians, Singers, Dancers 50
HEADED BY
Chas. P. Morris and Henrietta Lee.
ORCHESTRA $1.50 AND SI.OO-BALCONY 75 AND 50-GALLERY 25.
SEATS TO-MORROW AT 9 A. M.
Tuesday, Dec. 20, The Comic Opera “Jewel of Asia.”
MATINEE TMCCn AV NIGHT
AT 3.30 IUEOUHT AT 8.15
The Big damn nuiiyn nrm 50
Musical l(It JIKI St People
Show. 50
c H DUDLEY JOHN BA,LEY and all the old
n. UUULIT, Marion smart. favorites.
The Hilarious Musical Comedy Company of all
Colored Entertainers so different from all the Rest.
More Hearty Laughs. More Original and Catchy Music.
More Up to Date Comedy. More Bewitching Pretty Girls.
THAN EVER SEEN WITH ANY COLORED SHOW BEFORE.
The Entire Balcony Reserved for Colored People.
Prices Matins# Orchestra SU, Balcony SO, Oallery 25c.
Night Orchestra 7S and SO, Balcony 7. Gallery 50c.
Heals oe asle now.
undertakings as the Anglicising of
Parsifal which are diverting the pub
lic taste from the opera bouffe and op
era comique that alone could expect
any considerable public support a few
years ago, comparatively speaking.
Music in the West.
In the West, particularly, there has
been anew interest in matters musical.
Mrs.' Genevieve Clark Wilson, a Chica
go girl, is a concert soprano of no less
ability than has made a continental
reputation of many another singer;
Gertrude Rennyson, whose wonderfully
high soprano voice has made her Mar
guerite a notable creation, came from
Norristown, Pennsylvania; Pauline
Woltmann, who was a concert contral
to of high attainments and later a Con
servatory teacher until she gave up
professional life when she went to Chi
cago to live after her marriage, was
born at Rock Island; Lucille Hill; Flor
ence Finlayson of the Bostonians;
Maud Reese-Davies, Sousa’s soloist,
and Anna Hickisch, sometime soprano
of the Alice Neilson Opera Company
all these were born somewhere in the
forty-five states or five territories, and
all of them studied in Boston.
Start in Church Choirs.
Not a few native singers have found
their first opportunities, as Emma
Eames did, in church choirs, which are
raising their standards higher and
hifeher, as may well be imagined in
the circumstances. Some women there
are, and among them some who might
win fame in dramatic singing, doubt
less, who prefer other sides of their
profession—Mrs. Grace Bonner Wil
liams, the concert and oratorio soloist,
and Alice Mabel Stannaway, for exam
ple, who are now teachers.
THE CORNELL GLEE
CLUB CONCERT JAN. 3
Will Be An Event of Interest to Sa
van naliia.n s.
One of the early 1905 musical events
for Savannah will be the Cornell Uni
versity Musical Club concert at the
theater, Jan. 3. The club numbers
sixty men, including the Banjo and
Mandolin Club members. It will start
on its winter holiday tour next week,
coming as far South as Savannah. The
club travels by special train. Its itin
erary is as follows: Monday, Dec. 26,
Waldorf-Astoria, New York city; Tues
day, Dec. 27, Philadelphia; Wednes
day, Dec. 28, Washington; Thursday,
Dec. 29, Richmond; Friday, Dec. 30,
Charlotte; Saturday, Dec. 31, Asheville;
Monday, Jan. 2, Augusta; Tuesday,
Jan. 3, Savannah; Wednesday, Jan. 4,
Charleston; Thursday, Jan. 5, Raleigh.
The members of the club are from all
but four states in the Union. In it
are some of the best athletes in the
university. Such men as Lies, Burns
and Schoelkopf of the football team;
Newman of the track team, who at
Philadelphia on Thanksgiving, estab
lished anew world’s amateur cross
country record for six miles over the
Travers Island course, and Kline of
the lacrosse team, recognized as one
of the cleverest lacrosse players in
America.
Places on the clubs are awarded on
the basis of competition and men are
not chosen as a matter of favor. The
competition begin as soon as the uni
versity term opens in the fall. At
that time all candidates for the Glee
Club from over 4,000 students, are
called upon to appear at the club
rooms prepared to sing a solo. It
usually takes four evenings to hear
the aspirants in their first bid for col
lege musical honors. From these 300
men, are chosen the ninety or one
hundred most likely ones, who are
worked upon by a professional in
structor for a couple of months, when
a second cut is made. During that
time, many of the men are working
with a New England Conservatory man
who comes for six weeks to engage in
private coaching. On the first of De
cember, the last cut is made when the
forty-five best men are picked. The
instrumental clubs adopt the same pro
cedure in choosing their men. and in
this way, the best musical talent is
secured.
College songs always have a pecu
liar charm, even to those who have
never experienced the Joys of student
life, while the heart of the “grad.”
himself is warmed by the melodies of
college airs, whether or not they be
those of his own alma mater. Not
only the college man, and the person
interested in college songs, but all
lovers of music will find something in
the varied programme that will appeal
to their taste, for the range of the
Cornell Club extends all the way from
“Faust” selections by the Mandolin
Club to the rollicking rag-time ditties
of the Glee Club.
The visit of the Cornell Club hers
(Continued on Opposite Page.)