"Topsy and Eva" is a riot of success.

  The play written by Catherine Chisholm Cushing, the music and lyrics by the Duncan sisters, an almost faultless production under the direction of Oscar Eagle, with Harry James directing the music, and on the stage a big company headed by the Duncan girls and including the Metropolitan Opera singer, Basil Ruysdael, other imported players and much of our best western talent—no wonder the premiere, the first performance on any stage, attracted Frank Keenan from Los Angeles, brought Carl Heilig, the theatrical manager, down from Portland, filled the house with the smartest playgoers of San Francisco, including all the theater operators, and kept New York magnates telegraphing all the evening for information about the performance and its prospects.

  I never saw more enthusiasm on the stage and in the auditorium at the same time than that which seemed to electrify everybody in the Alcazar last night. The spirit of the Duncan Sisters seemed contagious. And it's a mighty pleasant thing to catch in the theater.

MANY TRIBUTES.

  George H. Davis, who managed the Alcazar for years and is now a picture producer, returned from New York a few days ago. At the end of the superb first act he said: "I don't know that I have ever enjoyed anything more."

  "It's a splendid production," declared Frank Keenan. "And the music by the Duncan girls is wonderful."

  When the first curtain went up, with the house filled and the standing-room occupied by scores of people, the Dickson Morgan setting of Uncle Tom's cabin and the Shelby plantation in Kentucky won the first applause. And from that time on, right through the three acts, the audience kept applauding.

  Uncle Tom, in the person of Ruysdael, came on, and the story that has been a stage classic for seventy years was begun in what is probably the first version ever staged as a musical play.

COMEDY BEGINS.

  In the offstage auction, old Tom was sold down the river. Then Topsy was offered. Fifty dollars? Twenty-five? Five? A dime? A cent? At last she went to Little Eva for nothing. Only angelic Little Eva would take her. Little Eva came on the stage, followed by Topsy, and the comedy part of the play was begun.

  Seldom is such a tumult of applause heard in any theater as that with which the two girls were greeted. And the applause was deserved.

  Vivian is an interesting Little Eva, but not the conventional one of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel. No sickly, saintly, going-right-to-heaven sort of Little Eva, such as were not infrequently known in New England long ago, before the nature of tuberculosis came to be understood; instead a healthy, happy, romping, somewhat mischievous girl, not trying to "save" Topsy, but to become like her.

  As Topsy, Rosetta shows much acting ability. Her makeup has been judiciously thought out. She makes the most of every bit of opportunity, with comedy work that always seems spontaneous and to which there is no letup while she is on the stage.

GIRLS ARTFUL.

  The two girls together are always a stageful. They never need anybody's help in keeping their audience merry. Here, surrounded by a large company, they fit easily and naturally into any scene, never asserting their own importance (which is a rare virtue among stage stars in position to dominate), and especially delighting in the episodes that are theirs alone.

  As to the comedy in the play, it must be said that this falls almost entirely to Topsy and Eva. Mrs. Cushing has adhered to the original thought as nearly as could be consistent in an adaptation that brings the play close to the musical comedy class; and she has wisely refrained from interjecting humorous lines. It is the dramatic quality of this story that holds the vitality.

  Ruysdael's singing and acting are alike alluring. It is a joy to hear his glorious voice in the good old melodies of the South.

  Another prominent Easterner in the cast is Carl Gantvoort, who plays the George Shelby part.

  Out of our own Western talent several of the roles have been filled; and so acceptable are these interpreters that Thomas Wilkes, who is producing this play under arrangement with Sam H. Harris for its Broadway run, intends to take the company to New York with only two or three changes. The girls, as fine a chorus as San Francisco has ever applauded, are included in the Broadway plan.

MUSICAL GENIUS.

  Nana Bryant, the gifted leading woman of the regular Alcazar company, has a beautiful singing voice and she portrays the Northern girl exquisitely. She is heard in several songs that show the Duncan sisters to possess as true genius in musical composition as in stage comedy. "Rememberin'" is as haunting and appealing a song as has been written in America during recent years. It has none of the jazzy cheapness that most of our contemporary song writers display. During the first act this is introduced as a trio by Miss Bryant, Mr. Gantvoort and Anne O'Neal, and it recurs in later parts of the play. Miss Bryant and the girls sing another beautiful song, "The Land of Long Ago," at the second act opening.

  Among the other songs in which the noteworthy vocalists are heard may be mentioned "Just in Love With You," "Moon Am Shinin'," "In the Autumn," "Sighin'," and "We'll Dance Through Life Together," with several Topsy and Eva numbers.

  Netta Sunderland acts the Yankee old maid, Ophelia, with a prim severity that would delight the soul of Harriet Beecher Stowe herself. I doubt that anybody else could play the role so near to the original New England conception. The type has probably vanished from the earth, but just such Ophelias there used to be, and from boyhood days I can recall a few of them.

  Wielding the whip of the slave-driver, Tom Chatterton can stay in the production for Broadway, if he chooses. And looking along the list I can write only in praise of Callen Tjader as Gee Gee, Fontella La Pierre as Eliza (who crosses the ice in a well-devised and artistic river scene), and R. Burnet Pell as Lawyer Marks. The various minor characters are well-filled, too, and to Oscar Eagle must be given the credit of fine discrimination in choosing players as well as of great ability in training and directing.

  We should feel particularly proud of our San Francisco chorus.

  Harriet Hoctor's dancing is an especially alluring specialty feature of the production. Miss Hoctor, a very youthful dancer, has been touring the Orpheum Circuit. When she appeared here a few weeks ago the Duncan Sisters saw her and used their influence to have her contract set aside so that she could accept this engagement with them.

  A marring note last night was the singing of "Annie Laurie" and "Ben Bolt" by two children. These are out of place in the Uncle Tom story. The producers are aware of this, and Miss Cushing states that negro melodies will be substituted.

  In relation to the music it may be noted that some of the "oldtime" compositions, including "Dixie," are of later date than 1852, when "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was first published. They are "of the period," however.

  The settings for the play are highly artistic, and the costumes, all of local production, are such as were worn in the Old South and very pleasing to look at.

  "Topsy and Eva" will require some cutting and other changes, but it is a production New York will like.