Scan 12
Musical Courier 1895-07-17: Vol 31 Iss 802, 1895
117 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 13. See the scan on archive.org.
1BOSTON, Mass., July 14, 1885.
3SUMMER operetta is apt to be the most violent and distressing form of summer complaint.
5* * *
7And yet managers sulk if fault is found by newspaper men with the substance of the operetta or the lack of substance. They say: "Here we are trying to furnish light and popular amusement in summer, and you judge our show as severely as though it were produced in the winter season. Can't you understand that 'the Wild East show' is a summer operetta?"
9Why is that which would be bad in winter, spring or fall good in July and August? Why should the reviewer in summer be expected to provide himself with eyes, ears and mind peculiarly appropriate to that season?
11* * *
13These thoughts were suggested by contemplation of Kismet, a comic operetta, produced for the first time on any stage at the Tremont Theatre, Tuesday evening, the 9th, by the Harry Askin Company.
15In treating of this remarkable work, I am at a loss whether to indulge myself in the old school form of criticism, as represented by Mr. Joseph Bennett and the late J. S. Dwight. or to side with the moderns, as Mr. Runciman and the Pall Mall Gazette man. Would you like to hear the story, to learn about the characters in conventional phrases and set sentences? Or would you prefer a purple impression?
17Let us begin at least in a conventional manner.
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21Mr. Selli Simonson was the conductor. The cast was as follows:
23Kismet, the Sultan of Turkey…………………….Lizzie Macnichol
24Chinchilla, the Grand Vizier……………………..Harry Davenport
25Dan De Lyon, an Irish Free Lance………………Aubrey Boucicault
26Ovah, the Moor………………………………….William Schuster
27Sum, Dey of Algiers……………………………..E. S. Wentworth
28The Muezim (the Crier of Prayers)………………William Schuster
29So-Jah, the Aga of the Janizaries………………..Helen Welch
30Absinthea, the Sultan's Favorite Wife…………..Jeanette St. Henry
31Ramadamus, the Sultan's Mother…………………Helen Reimer
32Haideez, the Sultan's Sister……………………..R. F. Carroll
34* * *
36The librettist of Kismet is Mr. Richard F. Carroll, who won instantaneous fame with the assumption of a comic part in Rob Roy. Even in Boston, cool critical Boston, his name and feet struck the sky when he took his nightly exercise at the Castle Square. Some of the more emotional brethren of the press regarded him as a comedian of unique gifts. One wrote that Mr. Carroll in his wildest gaiety "always knew when to stop." (I may here add that this moment of cessation was synchronous with the final fall of the curtain). It is my impression that another compared him seriously with Coquelin.
38Far be it from me to question Mr. Carroll's power as a comedian. Power is the one fitting word. He is a violent jester of nimble acrobatism. His command of slang entitles him to the respectful consideration of Messrs. Farmer and Henley, whose slang dictionary has only reached to the letter I. They should engage Mr. Carroll as American co-worker. He should be the court of last resort in a disputed case. Nor is the mobility of his face to be despised. His resources are apparently inexhaustible, and his good nature is such that he is willing to hold the stage for hours at a time, while the action rests—the action of the piece, I mean.
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42But Mr. Carroll was not content with plaudits so easily won. The laurels of Harry B. Smith would not let Carroll sleep.
44The program of Kismet printed this note, headed: "To disarm suspicion:" "The librettist has been made to realize, after writing this opera, that the wisest man in the world—one Solomon—was right when he said 'there is nothing new under the sun.' Originally, the author intended to write some of his own thoughts; but after listening to the criticisms (?) of disinterested friends (!) he learned that he had only thought thoughts that someone had thoughtlessly thought before. He acknowledges his indebtedness to everybody in general and the late Dion Boucicault in particular." The punctuation marks in parentheses are in the original.
46This apologia suae vitae reads as though it were an extract from the libretto.
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50Kismet, the Sultan, is a girl disguised as a man, and Absinthea, the favorite wife (there are 800 wives or more), mourns with a blush that he has never loved her.
52Haideez, the Sultan sister, is a young man disguised as a girl.
54Neither of the two ever had any suspicion of the genuine sex. And yet each is of marriageable age; and yet the woman glows when men are near her, and the man delights in kissing the girls.
56Some foolish rule of descent was the cause of this androgynal mess, and the mystery is explained hysterically early in the operetta by Ramadamus.
58The hand of the he-sister is sought in marriage by Morocco and Algiers. Enter Dan de Lyon, an Irishman, with his sword drawn. The she-Sultan fancies him—tell me, my heart, can this be love?—and retains him in service, wishing him as the husband of her he-sister, yet feeling strange sensations when he is near.
60Then there is a Grand Vizier, deaf, stupid, a kicking block to the court, a very Pantaloon.
62Then there is the Crier of Prayers, who sings, with the help of a friendly chorus, a prayer that seems to have been written especially for the occasion by Meyerbeer.
64Then there is an Aga of the Janizaries, who is, of course, a shapely girl in tights.
66Then there are soprano voiced attendants in charge of the Harem—delicate euphemism. There are also odalisques, wives, concubines, soldiers and retainers.
68And this is about the whole of the plot. It is true that sex is finally properly labelled and ticketed. The sultan marries Dan, who has already married the sultan's he-sister by proxy; and the he-sister, after he shaves in the sight of the people, marries Absinthea, or if he does not, he should. Somebody kicks the Grand Vizier for the 999th time just before the end of the piece.
70By the way, there is a dance in the second act—there are only two acts, but they are corkers—a girl dances, and she bears a close resemblance to any old daguerreotype of the late Edgar Allan Poe. She dances with the stiffness of his humor, as disclosed fully in the fourth volume of his new edition. She wears a proud and melancholy face, as though she had been obliged to listen to all that had gone before, and would fain explain in a dignified manner to the audience that circumstances over which she had no control bound her to the loathed stage.
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74Mr. Carroll has told this simple story in an artless manner. Whenever the question of disguised sex arises, he is as frank as a Hotentot; it is as though he wrote his libretto in a state of nudity. The piece is free from suggestion; for Mr. Carroll blarts out all that he has to say. The most unmistakably indecent line was received with frenetic enthusiasm, and one perspiring gentleman with a 20 inch collar was heard to remark: "That's the stuff!" But let me do Mr. Carroll justice; he is not often indecent. Let me say that he is not always discreet in his treatment of a ticklish subject.
76The chief fault with the libretto is that it is hopelessly, inconceivably, incredibly dull. Mr. Harry Smith in his most deplorable moments is a composite Meilhac and Halévy in comparison.
78And the jests—oh, the jests! Puns that would frighten even Mr. Nathan Haskell Dole. Repartee that might have occurred to T. S. Arthur or the late E. P. Roe as he pondered his strawberry patch. Humor that would appeal irresistibly to Mr. Bok.
80When the mentality of Mr. Carroll is aware there is pleasing pantomimic hide-and-go-seek for ten minutes. Or somebody kicks the Grand Vizier.
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84To this wearisome and wretchedly constructed libretto Mr. G. A. Kerker wrote music. There are reminiscences; you will hear the voices of Mascagni, Cellier and others; but the bulk of the music is eminently Kerkerian in melody, rhythm and instrumentation. And he is so fond of one tune that he keeps dagging you with it. With such a libretto it is surprising that Mr. Kerker could find any tune or have the heart to build up an ensemble.
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88Mr. Carroll, after the manner of Shakespeare and Molière, played in his own piece. Perhaps he said to himself, "If they don't like the operetta, they will be charmed by the comedian; and when they see the comedian, they may forget that he wrote the piece." Alas, there was throughout the evening a reminder of dual existence. And yet some found him excruciatingly funny, and laughed in great guffaws, whenever he fell down, or knocked someone down, or twisted his face, or punned, or slanged.
90His own libretto confined him to hard labor.
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94Why dilate on the company? Miss Macnichol was conscientious and pleasing. Mr. Boucicault added to the terror of his physical prowess by occasionally bursting into song. Mr. Schuster was well made up and sang with some effect.
96Mr. Davenport's finesse was like unto the delivery of a ton of coal. I am indebted for this comparison to a fat, elderly gentleman, who sat hard by, and breathed uneasily through the performance.
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100There are women that may be described as edible. I think I once applied this adjective in THE MUSICAL COURIER to Emma Juch. Lillian Russell also suggests the pleasures of knife and fork. And this high tribute I pay gladly to Miss Jeanette St. Henry.
102Not that I am sarcophagous in practice. Roots, vegetables and malt fluids are dearer to me than meat. And yet there is something not unpleasant in the thought of discriminating cannibalism.
104There is, it is true, a prejudice against eating men, women and children; but cannibalism was a step or necessary condition by which civilized society rose to its present advanced state. This is the theory advanced by Captain Richard Burton in his Highlands of Brazil. "Without cannibalism," says the great anthropologist, "how could the Zealander have preserved his fine physical development? Certainly not by eating his bat and his rat."
106This is a new country in spite of the mighty strides toward culture; and cannibalism, like polygamy, in such a country is not to be lightly pooh-poohed.
108Miss St. Henry is so appetizing to the eyes; she suggests a savory steak, not necessarily a sirloin or tenderloin, but any steak cut at random would convulse such an epicure as Thomas Walker with delight.
110Heaven forbid that I should do the fair woman an injury! According to travelers the Abyssinians sliced a steak off an animal as it was grazing, and the wondering animal suffered no serious harm.
112To the stouter "queens of operetta" such critical tribute and enjoyment might be an agreeable substitute for banting.
114And then the critics would be brought directly in touch with the singers!
116Now if Miss St. Henry shudders at the knowledge that she has inspired cannibalistic thought she must diet and
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