[
Hoyt's
](n00209)
[
"Trip to Chinatown"
](n00210) was presented last
night at the [Lansing](n00066) theatre. The house was crowded from orchestra to gallery,
and long before the curtain rose an air of general merriment stole over the
audience and every one began smiling at the mere anticipation of Hoyt.
It seems almost paradoxical to say that a play
can be successful, and very successful which has neither plot nor purpose nor
seriousness of any kind, and yet "A Trip to Chinatown" is certainly innocent of
any and all of these and is a great, a howling success. Of course the success
of the play is very largely due to the actors. It is a great thing to have
seen the original [
Madison Square company
](n00212), as those of us who saw it after having
seen a second rate company in the same play can testify.
[
Harry Conor
](n00213) as [
Welland Strong
](n00214) gets very near the
top notch of comedy. In his invalid state he was almost too much for us,
heaven help us if he were in sound health! Of course [
Miss Boyd
](n00215) as [
the Widow
](n00216)
was the great hit of the evening. As a rule fat women can't act, but the widow
is just fat enough, if she loses or gains an ounce it will ruin her artistic
reputation. She has the advantage of being exceedingly handsome, [fair, fat,
and — probably — forty](n00217), and then that smile and those irresistibly wicked eyes
of hers. She seems to enjoy herself immensely on the stage, flirting and all,
and naturally that adds to the enjoyment of the audience. The support was
good, the [
danseuse
](n00218) seemed to capture the masculine portion of the audience and
[
Harry Gilfoil's
](n00219) novel soda and shingle specialties were loudly applauded.
As to the play we have said almost everything
when we say that it was Hoyt's. No other man on earth would dare to write such
a play. It rests upon nothing but Mr. Hoyt's nerve and wit. It is one long
series of delightful nothings and for the time being we like it every whit as
well as if it were profound. No one cares a hang for dramatic art when he is
pleased. Mr. Hoyt didn't care for it, either, apparently. If he had he would
never have dared introduce a sort of musical interlude, forty minutes in
length, in the middle of the second act. The whole play depends on the
invalid's thermometer and the way the Widow winks her eye. Mr. Hoyt doesn't
even have any trip to Chinatown occur. He is always promising things that he
never does, and yet he promises so smoothly that we never mind at all that he
is fooling us all the time. One can't say anything hard of him, for he stifles
his critics with laughter and crushes their criticism with popular
eavor
favor
. We
all like Mr. Hoyt, because he dares to make dramas after his own heart and
after the unclassical tastes of his countrymen and
snap
snaps
his fingers in the
face of the high gods of art, because he is so complacent and nervy and
so thoroughly American.
"Monte Cristo."
[
James O'Neill
](n00158), who has played the part of
[
Edmond Dantes
](n00222) in [
"Monte Cristo"
](n00220) over three thousand times, has never missed a
performance. He will be seen at the Lansing theatre Thursday, January 25.
Corinne in
"Hendrick Hudson."
[
Willard Simms
](n00225), who plays [
Kill von Kull
](n00226), the
original real estate agent, in [
The Kimball Opera Bouffe company's
](n00227) gorgeous
burlesque [
"Hendrick Hudson,"
](n00224) makes his first appearance by being thrown bodily
from a second story window. This is supposed to occur at New Amsterdam—now New York—in 1609. Since that time many a real estate agent has had a hard, hard, tumble
because he failed to "get in on the ground floor." [
Corinne
](n00228) comes to the Lansing theatre Monday and Tuesday, January 22 and 23.
Corse Payton.
[
Corse Payton
](n00229) and his merry company commence a
week's engagement at [Funke's opera house](n00132) Monday, January 22, in the five-act
society comedy drama [
"The Parisian Princess,"
](n00230)
[
Miss Etta Reed
](n00231) appearing in the
title role, a part that enables her to display her ability as an actress,
containing as it does the different moods of woman's nature, including love,
devotion, hatred and revenge. Elegant stage settings and wardrobe are used in
the production and the prices are only 10, 20 and 30 cents. Ladies are
admitted free Monday night if accompanied by a paid 30 cent ticket purchased
before 7 p.m.