Herbert A. Sprague: the well-known impersonator

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HERBERT A. SPRAGUE
The Well-known Impersonator
MR. SPRAGVE is the happy possessor of a versatile talent, finely modulated voice, and a remarkably good presence.

As a Character Impersonator he has no superior, and may be trusted to please the most critical.


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Rip Van Winkle

The Rivals

David Copperfield

Merchant of Venice



MR. HERBERT A. SPRAGUE

Personal Letters from Prominent People
Milwaukee, Wis.

Our people were highly pleased with your entertainment.

REV. G. H. TREVER.

Bay View Chautauqua, Mich.

He was invited to return, and will be welcomed back again.

H. H. HITCHCOCK, Superintendent.

Lake City, Fla.

I was interested and entertained from the first to last.

O. CLUTE, M. S., LL. D. Pres. Florida Agricultural College.

Sunbury, Pa.

Mr. Herbert Sprague has mastered the right principles as an impersonator, and is indeed an artist.  He has been most highly praised by people of our city.

I. CLINTON.

Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa.

The students were delighted, and the interest of the audience increased to the end of the last act.

WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, President.

Lansing, Mich.

The audience is made to feel that they are listening to half a dozen people instead of one.

CYRUS G. LUCE, Ex-Governor Michigan.

Rochester, Minn.

Mr. Sprague, as an impersonator, is truly an artist, and he delighted and entertained the audience for over an hour.

L. S. OVERHOLT, Principal High School.

Stigler, Indian Territory

The citizens of the town and the pupils of our school most thoroughly enjoyed the Herbert Sprague entertainment.  It was indeed a rare treat.  Our people are asking for him again.

J. T. HOLLY, Principal of Schools.

Canton, Ohio

Mr. Herbert Sprague gave an impersonation of Rip Van Winkle before the Stark County Teachers' Institute, and everybody was thoroughly delighted with the performance.  It was one of the very best things that we have had in recent years.

C. A. ARMSTRONG, Pres. Stark County Teachers' Inst.




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THE presentation of plays by a single actor has taken high rank among the forms of dramatic art.  The successful artist in this line must be something more than a polished reader or clever imitator; he must have proven himself capable of an original conception and adequate representation of a great variety of characters.  In presenting his four varied and successful plays, Mr. Sprague enjoys the reputation of creating an entirely new cast of characters with each play.  Thousands of people who have heard all the impersonators and readers of any prominence are convinced that Mr. Herbert A. Sprague is without a superior.  The ability to represent in turn a half dozen or more characters in a play or story, in one evening, without the benefit of stage accessories or change of costume, to impersonate the grave and the gay, the dignified and the flippant, the learned and the simple, the morbid and the humorous, the manly and the effeminate, and to make each character stand out as though represented by a distinct individual, born and trained with the characteristics presented, requires talent of a very high order.  All this Herbert Sprague has done before hundreds of audiences, to the delight of all who have heard him.  The instinctive and involuntary expression of one who hears him for the first time is: Here is an artist. Mr. Sprague's conception of the meaning intended to be conveyed by an author's every sentence is almost unerring; his manly character and artistic temperament are a perfect safeguard against his descent to the province of the buffoon, while his mobile face and graceful form are brought to bear to express all phases of thought, emotion and fun, before even a word is uttered.  With this rare combination of faculties, it is almost unnecessary to state that Mr. Sprague's aim is an ideal one.



New York City

A most delightful entertainer.

H. R. PALMER.

Omaha, Neb.

I was both highly entertained and much instructed.

CHAS. E. WILLIAMSON, Secretary Y. M. C. A.

Chicago, Ill.

I can not speak too highly of the pleasure which your entertainment afforded us.

A. H. STANDISH.

Tom's River, N. J.

The unanimous verdict of the large audience is that Herbert Sprague is a master.

CHARLES B. KELLEY.

Naugatuck, Conn.

I have heard nothing but words of approval and commendation from those who heard him.

J. A. MORSE.

Northampton, Mass.

Mr. Sprague's Rip Van Winkle is a creation of his own, and is one of the very good things upon the platform.

W. H. DAVIDSON.

Baltimore, Md.

Every assurance given us as to Herbert Sprague's ability to give us an entertainment of special excellence was more than fulfilled.

JOHN G. DRAKELEY.

Fayetteville, Ark.

Mr. Herbert Sprague's interpretation and rendition of Rip Van Winkle is a work of art.  The entire presentation, especially of the character, Rip, is made so realistic that the audience is continually moved from laughter to pathos.

A. H. PURDUE, Prof. of Geology, University of Ark.

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville never furnished a more appreciative audience than that which listened to Mr. Sprague.  The entire audience was in rapt attention throughout the play, and universal satisfaction was clearly in evidence.

Mr. Sprague is truly an artistic impersonator.  The versatility and adaptability of his characterizations was remarkable.

B. A. SPADLIN, Chairman of Committee.






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PROGRAMS

Rip Van Winkle

ACT. I.{a.  The Village of Falling Water., b. Plot of Derrick Von Beekman.
ACT II.{a.  Rip's Kitchen among the Catskills., b. Why.  Gretchen, are you going to drive me away?
ACT III.{a.  A Wooded Slope of the Catskills., b. Rip's Encounter with the Dwarfs.
ACT IV.{a.  After Twenty Years., b.  Return of Rip and Hendrich Vedder.

Mr. Sprague's Rip Van Winkle is a creation of his own, and has proved universally popular.  He has given more than five hundred presentations of this play.



The Rivals

ACT I.{a.  Sir Anthony proposes on the part of his son and, b.  Astonishes the young man.
ACT. II.{a.  Captain Absolute recants in behalf of Ensign Beverly, and, b.  Visits Miss Languish in that character.
ACT II.{a.  Bob challenges Ensign Beverly and, b.  Wishes he hadn't.
ACT IV.{a.  Captain Absolute versus Ensign Beverly., b.  The duel.  He who fights and runs away, etc.

Mr. Sprague's rendering of Sheridan's brilliant comedy never fails to please the most critical.



David Copperfield

ACT I.{a.  Yarmouth—The Old Ark on the Sand., b.  Home of Mr. and Mrs. Micawber.
ACT II.{a.  Office of Wickfield & Heep., b.  Flight of Little Emily.
ACT III.{a.  A Winter's Night in Canterbury., b.  Mr. Micawber Aroused—The Wanderer.
ACT IV.{a.  Mr. Micawber assists at an Explosion., b.  The Return of Little Emity—The Shipwreck.

A dramatization of Dickens' Masterpiece—strong both in humor and sentiment.



Merchant of Venice

ACT I.{a.  A Street in Venice., b.  Bassanio Attempts the Loan.
ACT II.{a.  Portia's House at the Belmont., b. My Bond to the Jew is Forfeit.
ACT III.{a.  A Court in Venice., b. I'll have my Bond.
ACT IV.{a.  Portia's Garden at Night., b. My Ships are Safely come to Road.

A condensation of Shakespeare's comedy.  A favorite upon the platform.




PRESS NOTICES

Waterbury (Conn.) Evening Democrat
Herbert Sprague delighted his audience.


Beatrice (Neb.) Daily Express
Mr. Sprague is worthy of every good and flattering thing that has been said of him.


Sunbury (Pa.) Evening Item
As a delineator of many different characters in a play, Mr. Sprague has no equal.


London (Ont.) News
So delighted was the audience that Mr. Sprague had to respond to a double recall.


Kansas City (Mo.) World
The audience that listened to the impersonation of Herbert A. Sprague gave one verdict—that it was one of the best entertainments furnished by this year's program.—Fairmount Chautauqua.


Springfield (Mass.) Republican
One thousand people spent one of the most pleasant evenings of the Assembly with Herbert A. Sprague in his play of Rip Van Winkle.—Laurel Park Chautauqua.


Lexington (Ky.) Herald
Rip was called back as often as he would come, and might have taken the applause which testified to his excellence for the thunder-clap in his familiar Catskills.


Springfield (Ohio) Republic-Times
The impersonation by Herbert Sprague was one of the most successful numbers of the Y. M. C. A. Star Course.  The house was packed, and the big audience gave close attention to the speaker throughout.


Grand Rapids (Mich.) Herald
Herbert Sprague captured the audience with his inimitable impersonations.


Detroit Free Press
Herbert A. Sprague presented Rip Van Winkle in monologue, the famous character which Washington Irving gave to literature and which Mr. Joseph Jefferson has immortalized on the stage.  Mr. Sprague's Rip is a creation of his own, and was a faithful representation of the notorious tippler.  He was equally faithful in other characters, and the audience accorded him a generous greeting.


Washburn Reporter, Topeka, Kans.
Herbert A. Sprague impersonated the well-known character of Rip Van Winkle, together with the characters of the minor personages which appear in company with that famous hero of Washington Irving's literary masterpiece No character in fiction is perhaps more familiar to the average student of literature than that of Rip Van Winkle, and yet under the fine delineation of Mr. Sprague he seemed almost a new character, and the audience obtained an insight into his innermost nature which no reading could give.  Here, then, is seen the province and mission of the impersonator—to unfold the secret and hidden purposes, to mirror forth the ulterior motives and bring in sharp relief and contrast the various and conflicting traits and tendencies of characters radically unlike in nature and in life.  To do this, and do it well, is evidence of the highest histrionic ability; for the impersonator has a more difficult task than the actor.  The actor simply sets forth one single character, but the impersonator must set forth several, shifting from one to another with the greatest freedom and rapidity.  Did Mr. Sprague do this?  Most assuredly.  Now we see the garrulous whimsicalness of age; now the playful innocence of youth; now the stammering turpitude of the toper; anon woman's anguish and beauty's smile.  We shall always be delighted to hear him.



Rip Van Winkle—Act IV


BROWN & WHITAKER


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