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bijou theatre— the specu-'
da-tors.
The average American is credited with
being too much. a man oi business to have
any time for anything else. -The average
American joke accordingly is of so obvious
a character that no time is wasted in see
ing it. The Speculators, the new musical
burlesque presented, by : the American
company at the Bijou Theatre on Saturday
evening, is composed of .American jokes,
with a little rag time thrown in. The audi
ence crowded the theatre, and, as it saw
every joke and laughed very boisterously
at each, the production may be said to
have been really; very, successful. The
' 1 11 (
management mentioned on the programme
that it did not apologise for the absence
of plot. There was, it explained, a thin
story on which to thread a list of comicali
ties. 'The first scene is the office of Will
Cheatam, a Wall-street broker, whose
funds are low, but whose mental resources
are illimitaule. Nobody but the guileless
-Dennis Blossom and Mike Bloom, two
would-be speculators, would enter into
partnership with liim; but they arc quito
ready to be taken in, and are taken in ac
cordingly. As a result the office presently
resembles a whirlpool. The scrip for 10,000
shares in the Venus Oil Well Company
lias gone astray. It lias passed from tho
desk to the floor, and from the floor to tho
pocket of Ivoffoif, a Russian Nihilist, who
likes the envelope because it is of a vivid
red. As tlie shares have become wortn
500,000 dob, the departure of Koffoit
for the delectable resort Carmel by the
fcica draws the rest of tlie company
thither in tlie second act. But at the be
ginning of the second act the thread of tho
plot is practically spun out. Mr. Bert la
Blanc", as Dennis Blossom, and Mr. Frank
Yack, as "Mike Bloom, who have 6aid and
done many amusing tilings in the first act,
make up for the failure of the-thrcad by a
series or lively and pleasant adventures, m
which a water nymph,! a well, a diving suit
and an alligator figure prominently. Miss
Gertrude St. Clair, as Cassia Roland, a.
"Californian song bird," acts brightly and
sings sweetly, if not altogether appro
priately, of Her Australian Rose; Jims
Teddy Martin, as Leona Long, wears the
guise and demeanor of a Quaker, and
sings a pretty trifle of a song, A umplo
Quaker Slaiden; Miss Quecnie Herman,
appears as Belinda, a stenographer; and
Jliss Eugene la Blane as Jimmy, the office
hoy, lias a couple of songs to sing of Ame
rican pattern and smartness. Mr. Carlton
Chase is the gay Wall-street broker,
Chen tam; Mr. Dave Nowlin A. Long
Reach, guardian of Leona; and Mr. Harry
Burgess cuts a weird figure as Kolioll, and
heads, ifehorus of Anarchists that Js ®WS?
ter and sulphurous. The training of tne
chorus has been careful;, the staging is not;
over-elaborate but pleasing; and tho pro
duction possesses a certain claim to smart
ness.
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