The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-01-25

| when all Europe shall be convulsed with
general war. This will. indeed, be turning Of
| the tables
| The War, the Opera and the The aires
! Generally.
| When the liberties Of Greece were being
6lched away. during the Macedonian and
Roman wars, the theatres and the public games
were always crowded. During the civil wars
OF Rome. which transformed that nation from
q republic to an empire the Colosseum was
continually thronged and the gladiatorid shows
had their thousands or admirers. In Paris,
when the guiIlotne was doing it's dreadful
work and the streets ran red with blood. the
people Cooked to the theatres and roared with
laughter at funny plays. So il has been in all
| ages Of the world. and 80 ii is 10 this. We are
| in the midst Of the most terrible and sanguinary
civil war that ever afflicted mankind. and yet
our places Of public amusement were never 80
crowded and our theatrical managers never
made such heaps Of money IS now.
We have no Italian Opera In New York at
present. Maretzek and his artists are delight.
ing tho noble Count Joannes aud the other
| aristocracy Of Boston, and Grau is lost some
where in the wilderness out West. But. instead
Of the Italian Opera, We have the German
Opera. at the Academy OF Music. This
did not pay very we'll at first but lately itjhas
felt the impetus OF the times aud now shases In
the general prosperity. The Tannhauser has
been produced with great eciat. Some people
consider il dull but that Is because they do
not understand iaasicai mathematics. Mr..
Wagner writes for the future. and the very
fact that we think his music dull is the best
proof that future generations will think 1t
exquisite Not many years ago Americans
voted all opera . bore and preferred the negro
minstrels. AS Mr.. William H. Fry's music is
also unacceptable to tho present public. We
| In about two hundred years from now Fry
| will be worshipped as a musical deity. We
| only hope that he will live that long and see
his own immortality. This theory must be
very comforting to Wagner and Fry and all
the other unappreciated authors, actors, ar
lists and composers Of the period, and there
fore we adopt it. Besides the German Opera
we have also had little attempt at English
Opera; but the company can find no place to
sing in, and have gone back to Brooklyn.
Somebody ought to build small opera house
for such enterprises. We have been applied to
several times on the subject; but we have
enough to do to build up the Opera, and other
people must build up the houses.
The theatres are overcrowded every night,
| without producing anything to deserve it. Mr..
Wallack presents theatrical sandwich Of
aJaIa tha IL
| is very pleasant place IN pleasant weather;
| but when it rains the water drops thro ugh the
ventilators like miniature cataract. In case
| OF fire, too, this theatre would not be very
comfortabe; for the manageme mt again in
| duges in the reprehensible practice Of block
| ing up the aisles with extra seats, and our
former remonstrance upon this nuisance only
resulted in temporary reform. Mammon is
| good servant, but a bad master. AT the Win
| ter Garden the Florences are still playing Tom
| Taylor's Ticket of Leave Man, and are
gradually converting the whole city by means
| OF this moral, theological and religious drama.
| We agree with District Attorney Hall, how
ever, that the play Is legitimate success, and
| If Manager Jackson never brought out any
thing worse he would soon be a benefactor of
humanity and q millionaire. Mrs. Wood, at
the Olympic, does the other side Of the the
atricals. The Florences make peoply cry, and
Mrs. Wood makes them laugh. Mr.. Frank
Drew assists her nightly, and cuts comic
capers nightly to the delight Of thousands.
| At Niblo's the Willamses are impersonating
| impossible Irishmen and women, in an impossi-
BILE Irish tragedy for the delectation Of the Irish
people. There are certain critics who object
| to these caricatures; but we do not. So long
as Irish ladies and gentlemen patronize and en-
dorse them they must be considered ell right
and satisfactory Besides, they draw money,
| and that, little charity, covers multitude OF
| sins.
The minor places OF amusement and the large
theatres on the east side OF town are, II posi-
BILE, more thronged than their rivals already
noticed. Both the New Bowery and the Old
Bowery have gone some distance into the me-
nagerie business, and exhibit trained dogs and
horses on the stage in appropriate melodramas
Again we display our good nature by not find
ing fault with this sort Of entertainment. The
people like IL and pay for IL; 80 let them have
| Il and welcome. Better performances will
come by and by, perhaps, when the masses are
better educated At the Menagcrie, on Broad
way, hundreds Of little folks assemble every
day to take practical lessons in natural history,
and tickle the monkeys. The Broadway
Circus Is as successful and remunerative
as the Aldermauic ring. The American
theatre, where q miscellaneous show Is
on exhibition at a cheap rate-ballets,
concerts and pantomimes all mixsd together
IL favorite resort Of lower tendon. The
regular negro Minstrel hslls are Of course oiled