Phidelah Rice

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PHIDELAH RICE
REDPATH



Phidelah Rice — Monactor
WHEREVER in our country the art of Monacting is known and appreciated, the mere announcement of the appearance of Mr. Phidelah Rice is sufficient to evoke great expectations and enthusiasm among lyceum patrons and lovers of good literature.  The fame of Mr. Rice as a Reader of Plays is so firmly established that the Bureau shares with its patrons the honor bestowed by the addition of his name to our exclusive list of reliable attractions.  The Manager is particularly happy in the thought that the relations now established are merely a renewal of former associations which were mutually pleasant and agreeable.


Repertoire
Peaceful Valley, by Edward E. Kidder.  A rural comedy made famous by Sol Smith Russell.  This is the play through which, more than any other, Mr. Rice's reputation was made.

David Garrick, by T. W. Robertson.  A comedy of English life which, by reason of the variety of odd characters introduced, the merry laughter seasoning it, the strong note of serious purpose pervading it, is admirably adapted to the impersonator's art.

The Man of the Hour, by George Broadhurst.  A drama of modern life and modern politics; full of comedy, unique characters and strong situations.

The Taming of the Shrew, by Shakespeare.  A play full of vital action and sparkling fun—a modern comedy, for all it was written so long ago.

The Servant in the House, by Charles Rann Kennedy.  A powerful allegory, rich in satire and unexcelled in compelling dramatic appeal.

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.  This play is Mr. Rice's own dramatization from the novel.  It is representative of his art at its full maturity and, as a critic has said, is a contribution of distinction to the entertainment of mankind.

The Great Adventure, by Arnold Bennett.  A clever play of fancy and satire in which a deceased valet is mistaken for a great artist and is buried with due pomp and ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

The Younger Generation, by Stanley Houghton.  The play is rich in entertaining character portrayal and bright repartee—a modern comedy in the best sense of that term.  It is sincere without being serious, simple and real without being commonplace, satirical with no trace of bitterness.

Bernard Shaw. A Lecture, including illustrative readings from some of the author's best known plays.

Mr. Rice is principal of the Phidelah Rice Summer School, and is a member of the faculty of the Leland Powers School.



An Appreciation by Leland Powers
I am an enthusiastic admirer of the impersonation work of Mr. Phidelah Rice.  It has the characteristic of masterliness.  It is spontaneous and virile and full of splendid human nature and truth.  At the same time Mr. Rice is no haphazard performer; he knows the technique of his profession and the purpose and message of his play are brought out with the most careful judgment as to artistic values.  Knowing the man as I do, with his cultivated mind, his clean heart, clear head, and winning personality, I do not wonder at his astonishing success.  His Great Expectations is an artistic masterpiece.



A Notable Ovation
Few men on the American platform have been accorded a more notable ovation than was Mr. Rice at the New York Chautauqua.  He read Peaceful Valley to a large evening audience.  Following the rendition, which occupied an hour and a half, he was called back twice by the applause.  Two nights later he gave David Garrick and at the close the Chautauqua Salute was started in the audience and widely taken up—a most unusual ovation, as Bishop Vincent usually starts this salute from the platform and it is given but a few times in an entire season.





Appreciations
William Bradford Turner, Boston, Mass.: Mr. Rice's clean cut delineation of character, his swift and easy transition from type to type, together with his ability to portray emotion, border on genius.  Mr. Rice has force and fire, ever evident through repose.  In addition he possesses that spiritual estimate of the human which invests his work with a rare quality of sympathy.  His presentations quicken and enthrall the heart that listens.


Grand Junction, Col., Sentinel:
Phidelah Rice is the most dominant figure in the world of readers.


Jackson, Mich., Citizen-Press:
The achievement of Mrs. Fiske who silenced the critics of the world with her stage interpretation of Becky Sharp, has been matched by Phidelah Rice of Boston in his dramatic reading of Great Expectations. Mr. Rice gives an inflection, accentuation or feature change which makes his manner and intonation irresistible.  He is delightful.  A reader of real genius, he brings to his efforts the mental color-tones of the polished scholar, the able thinker.

Charles Horswell, Ph.D. D.D., Chicago, Ill.: Mr. Rice's mastery of expression gives him rank with Booth and Irving.


Oswego, N. Y., Press:
In spite of advance agents and laudatory circulars no one anticipated such an artistic performance as charmed last night's audience when Phidelah Rice read The Great Adventure. Whether the character was the officious doctor, the unctuous curate, the hard-hearted cousin or the whimsical hero, the delineation was clean-cut, life-like and effective.  The charm of Mr. Rice's work lies in his simplicity of manner, the subordination of self to his work.


Richmond, Ind., Morning News:
His unaffected and direct manner of presentation is an individual art.

Mr. Charles F. Horner (Manager of the Redpath-Horner Chautauquas): I consider Mr. Rice an artist of the very highest type.  He ranks above all others in his line because there is a finesse in his work and an elevating atmosphere about his whole program that transcend that of any of his contemporaries on the platform.


Chautauqua, N. Y., Chautauquan:
Mr. Phidelah Rice scored another triumph with his dramatic interpretation of The Man of the Hour. He held his audience to a man and when he had finished was given an ovation.


Boston, Mass., Monitor:
The audience that greeted Phidelah Rice in his dramatic reading of Great Expectations accorded him an attention that was at once critical and inspiring.  After a clever setting of the stage for the first scene between shivering Pip and the fearful man, Mr. Rice succeeded in bringing these two characters very vividly before his audience.  Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer, who announces Pip's great expectations, was something of a triumph, coming on as he does when the stage is already crowded, according to the Dicken's wont.


Erie, Pa., Times:
Mr. Rice displayed rare power in entering into the spirit of each one of the characters and in giving clear expression to their peculiarities.

William S. Taft, Superintendent of Schools, Rochester, Pa.: During the last fifteen years I have heard at Chautauqua, N. Y., in summer, and on lyceum courses in winter, the representative readers of the United States.  In my judgment Mr. Phidelah Rice leads them all.  No other reader has been so richly endowed by nature in voice, in literary appreciation and interpretation; no one else balances his work so carefully or presents it with such artistic finish.