Blanche Bates first acted under Belasco’s management, December 25, 1899, at the Columbia Theatre, Washington, D. C., appearing as _Cora_, the principal person in Belasco’s “Naughty Anthony”: on January 8, 1900, she appeared in it at the Herald Square Theatre, New York. The title of that farce is not altogether felicitous, because possibly suggestive of impropriety, but there is nothing mischievous in the fabric itself. The piece is incorporative of one scene, varied and rewritten, from an unremembered farce of other days, and, with its freightage of old but always effective stage subterfuges and comic “business,” it reminded experienced observers of such plays, far and forgot now, as “Flies in the Web,” “My Neighbor’s Wife,” “Playing with Fire,” “To Oblige Benson,” etc. In it Belasco made use of one of the oldest theatrical expedients for creating comic confusion and mirthful effect,--the expedient of a mistaken identity. The chief male in it is _Anthony Depew_, a moral professor of the Chautauqua brotherhood, who becomes enamoured of a coquettish girl, in the hosiery business, and whose exploits in osculation lead him into a troublesome dilemma, from which he endeavors to escape by pretending to be somebody else. This kind of perplexity has been common on the stage since the distant days of “The Three Singles; or, Two and the Deuce.” Such themes do not require much comment. The chief fact to be recorded in this case is the uncommon felicity of the cast and the excellence of the stage direction. But such an actor as Frank Worthing (who was essentially a light comedian, and, as such, the most conspicuous local performer of the day, in his particular line) and such an actress as Miss Bates were practically wasted in so ephemeral a trifle. This was the cast in full: _Cowley_ Albert Bruning. _Adam Budd_ William J. LeMoyne. _Zachary Chillinton_ William Elton. _Jack Cheviot_ Charles Wyngate. _Mr. Heusted_ Claude Gillingwater. _Mr. Brigham_ E. P. Wilkes. _Miss Rinkett_ Fanny Young. _Cowley_ Albert Bruning. _Knox_ Samuel Edwards. _Ed_ Brandon Tynan. _Mrs. Zachary Chillingham_ Maud Harrison. _Rosy_ Mary Barker. _Winnie_ Olive Redpath. _Cora_ Blanche Bates.