New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-10-20
AmuseRCuts.

N,p,ois GARppy--Last evening Inc Lazy
-. 80. ,o-foru,sd at this thester for tho donh!e
Dur,o,e OF introducing Mrs Melhua Sehe",I ~ 3"
character Of greater scope than any she hau Ooi''
-I-aa -, tbs American stage and Of bringing ior'
xsa,d Nh W. Vheaiey IL part he has long
e. ssssy bere While possessing only the s"s".,' -
scst triyial value as literary work. i"o "',
Yvons" has nevertheless so many advantages ',
1,ou. construction and well contfned IhcueH' '""'
t,;,s even in the most ordinary representation 10
s~opro the nteres, of an audience IN so'''
IL the mos; uan,ar play Of modern tHeS-H-"p'
We would prefer to attribute sohs 10 'S o'"''"'i'
Soeenuity end not in any degree 70 tue '"'i" ''''
,nantsle. spd wre-drsvn pailtnoes OF ''' ule't'''
-rb. symn,lly which suITounds the heroine syringe
from the natural and simple ieeiine "heh she IL To-
ul-cd On exhibit and is 10y no means nuSmenV" " 'o
flown rhetoric with which she Expresses H. MIS-
ne4bu. Scielcr appeared last evening to appreciate
eli. and H. her personstcn Of Pauline aimed rather Al
a representation Of unaffected womanliness than st
eooutionary effects She sufficiently saccosNu! 70
warrant the congratulations OF heI friends IN me ten
der ant delicate passages of the fcuh and mn acis sue
sppesrea moro favoraby than in the more ;unu'ou'
earlier scenes Her foreign accent is still very a''eu
No toll toward its eradication soud he spared d! ''s
1ietbua Scbelor. She hardly expect to DC a. ps'
lively established IN public ESTIMATION as her aoilo'
would de-. re until her English uerance 10 Thoroughly
pure Al hc time there is 10 den' ing mat u"ae
the circumstances her English is cred'able compared
with that OF many actor md actress OF gooo metro
poltan repatc.
The cha5aC tc- Of Pauline notwithstanding the nton-
tlon Il claims is one Of subordinate importance Con
s'dering that size Is almost continually before the
audience and shares the business % nj the principal
scenes II IS curious TO ind how Little q tie Dialogue Is
,etusI,y he,s. The best language On "a theatrical
eeuse) i, rut into the mouth Of Claude sHd psunes
,-oninearo throughout is IL fact dependent upon lis
action The situations ofths play excepting in por-
tioa oftAc third act also his so ;ha' skui actnr
les roa7 little difficulty IL e'uicTinS nil Tho eoencsi
sntere.t in himself How far ~. Whestley succeeded
r. doing ,is, we shall briefly exam We believe We
make no mistake in saying that he invites criticism 10
fhis part Dim warnings and fore holdings Of liz Claude
have beer prevalent in theatrical circcs over snce his
first connection With Niblos Garden Divers anecdotes
laye been rie IS to its rrodgous success IL other
cities and the strange popular demonstrations 70 "hlSn
6, has given birth. Moreover since Mr.. Whealify :
rnme appears upon the play bills in letters 81 greater
magnitude than those conferred upon Mrs. Meihua
Scholer's 0ic usual method hy which a manager de
cares his estimate Of his own importance) it must be
presumed that he wishes 70 have his acting judged bS
al least ieh test that applied to lis STAR"
We do Tot doubt that many years ago. ~ the period
sf his esrv connection with the Park Theaior, Mr..
wheatlcy may have possessed decided personal adven-
Cages for dash;ng. brilliant young hero and soyor 81
Che style OF Cande Melnotfe. EYen eff the time when
THE Lady OF Lyons" written, in 1891 or lse he
must have retained many " the qualifications which he
IS said to have enjoyed n his youth The traces 81
then orc still disoernble but too family to counter act
~ -. a
vsnced years arc accustomed TO employ 10 hide times
changes. II il not easy to reconcile our ideas
@; the manly. vigorous and handsome Claude
Prince" Clsude-with dyes and wrinkles. and q sai,
Sac elasticity Of which is accomplished only with
An effort. There ere 10 be sure cases where great
Talent blinds Us the disparity hst~een real and an
assumed a.c but nothing short Of great talent do
o.. Nj Murdoch in his later engagements. lar
6rom physically realizing such parts Young Mrstc
yet the spirit Of his impersonation smos. ic!ed ~
snusion that paints and powders only partially conveyed
Frederic Iemaitre al this day plays Don Caesar dc
azan ard That In the capital OF dramatic art without
provoking ridoaie. although he must he past
Ar Whest,ev however Is noten actor Of lfcien vital
sy TO overcome similar disadvantage And hs were a.
lis style OF acting would destroy the value Of any such
cndeayor II Is the bad false last century dcca1aioTJ
ptyle which never had meaning and Which nova
DAYS when the stage is beginning to breathe some
whet OF free and genuine and natural atmosphere
rsesrs more meaningless than ever We suppose il il
Che style Of which We hear mach said IN connection
>Eith the fine Old days OF The Park, where Nr Wfest
tsy received hs theatrical education IN the early quarter
Of this century. Wsventure parenthetcnly appalling
a. the sacrileee may appear 70 question THO Wanted
pnperiorty o. those same fine old days az The Park
Very few persons nov alive cas speak from persona
49,. ssvnrr I'D
these ore mostly Of class who fond Of oyervauinl
Che past at the expense ~ She present In the.
p.rioal annals above al others is difficult
70 fairy estimate the value 81 by gone reru'n
sous Horace Walpole declares tia: GarricE wa
y very bsd actor and that al tide mandatory crit
rsns abou. hin were written by himself Lamb else
doubts toe asnes Of his fame but lie stands IN history
IA the foremost EnslishmaH il dramatic art We do
Not mean by this illustration 20 intimate that Mr..
-wbestey.s name is one sey even 10 become po-lAu-
ynousIy famous. bat only cite the 20 show how
opinions may conflict cvcn upon point 50 generally
considered settled the eminence ~ GaFrick. Oar
own suspicion is that the reputation Of the IAik Thea
Ger OF les ard thereahoui is extremely fictitious and
that II 1t conid hc suddcny restored N al ;s antique
xdentity Z; would be most cordially neglected hy the
public Of thc present generation Such gupees Ms we
occasionally get Of tie acting which wac then 20
veil receives indicate that it always either over.
1ntenss sud bombastic eoOrle-s and insipd that It's
e.Agedy casehardened by trad .ton end lie comedy
FompOnsly sentimental rJccrubly low. Only a
few representatives. Of that epoch remain upon the
etoge. NJ. Whenley is one ~ these and from the
feQueDcy With which bis name appears in tie old casts
he must have held good iank among the company.
TO guess what good RANK at the The Park worth,
ws have only TO glance at his parsonston Of Claude
elnotte inspired trained and nurtured in the school