MUSICAL FARCE AT KEITH'S

The headline act at Keith's this week is a musical skit entitled "The Thirteen Sirens". It belongs to the kind of entertainment which is continually becoming more and more elaborate, and which occupies in musical comedy circles a position analogous to that of the one-act play in ordinary drama. In this example, the "Thirteen Sirens" are the chorus in a musical farce, replete with clever lines which are done full justice in the acting of the leading comedian--Frank Dobson. The setting was elaborate and well lighted, and one or two of the songs, though badly executed, would pass as "hits" if sung in a regular musical play.

Another good act, which received rather less applause than it merited, was that of the juggler, Jack Hanley, who two months ago was amusing such patrons of the "Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic" as were in a condition to appreciate him. His work with top-hat and "funny sticks" was as entertaining as it was original. Marshal Montgomery, the ventriloquist, also received not a little well-deserved approbation despite the fact that the first part of his sketch was inaudible.

Jack Donahue, the feather-footed dancer from the "Follies", exhibited his limberness to an enthusiastic audience, nor was his patter the least amusing part of his act. His unexpected appearance during the slack wire exhibition of the Levolos added a needed touch of humor to an otherwise ordinary performance. J. Rosamond Johnson and his five negro kings of syncopation strummed their banjos and pounded the keys in the noisiest and most approved style, to the satisfaction of their good-natured listeners. The other skits and song-and-dance acts, however, were hardly up to the usual Keith level.

We learn with regret that the company which two weeks ago made its apparently successful debut at the Copley with "Ruddigore" has come to a sudden end. The illness of one of the leading performers and a dwindling patronage are the rumored cause of this untimely debacle. By one of those freaks of luck so common in the theatrical game, a company, blessed with no little talent and a house of proper size for the audiences which its work should attract, has nevertheless been unable to keep its head above water. It is a curious thing that Boston is not only incapable of supporting regular grand opera, but has witnessed the gradual disintegration of the Jewett Repertory Company without emotion, and now quietly lets what is undoubtedly the best light opera company we have had for some years go to pieces--chiefly from lack of interest on the part of the public. The goose that lays the golden egg can be killed by indifference as well as by greed.