The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-08

which commands immediate attention.
The Drama, Legitimate and Illesitimafe-rhe
Prospects Of the New York stage
II is q little singular that while the world
progresses, and art and science make rapid
onward strides, the stage, whose province II ID
ITO hold the mirror up to nature" should
steadily decline, until the degeneration of the
drama has become a subject Of common re-
mark. This falling Off is not in the higher
walks of the profession alone. 1t is not that
the theatrical armament is at present destitute
of any particular star whose brilliancy at
tracts the attention and excites the admiration
of the world. We cannot expect that every
age will yield us John Kemble Siddons, q
Kean, or Booth. But the degeneration Of
the present day extends through every degree
of the profession, from the highest to the
lowest; so that if we occasionally meet with
an actor whose genius rises superior to all the
obstacles with which it has to contend, we are
certain to find judgment and taste outraged
by the wretched manner in which all the
characters are personated.
Various reasons are assigned for the decline
of the stage, according to the standpoint from
which the subject is viewed. The complaint
Of the managers is that the people Of the
present day will not properly support the
legitimate drama. The people attribute the
to the managers, and charge
that avarice, jealousy and ignorance have
combined to bring the theatres to their present
condition. The profession shrug their shout
ders, and declare that the fame of ambition
must pale before the blue fire Of the property
man, and that it is useless for an actor to
strive to excel nowadays in anything but roar.
ing melodramatic rant and fustian. 1t is pro-
bable that each class has more or less Of
truth to back up its position. Yet tho
pretence that the American public will
not patronize good performance Of
the legitimate drama is disproved by the
experience Of those artistes who have realized
fortunes by their visits to our shores-such as
Rachel, Dawson, Ristori, and we hope to be
able to add Janauschek, although bad manage
ment has done its utmost to deprive the latter
Of the golden reward to which her genius enti-
ties her. We rather incline to the opinion that
the managers themselves are mostly to blame.
They put the legitimate drama upon the stage
In most Legitimate manner, and while their
wretched stocks are acting to empty benches,
stand in the fats and rail Indignantly at the
Indifference Of the unsppreciative people.
Finding their treasury empty, they substitute
some spectacle In which legs take the place Of
brains, and pyrotechnics poetry, and attract
audiences whose money Is worth a. much to
them as that Of the most intelligent citizens in
the community. The character Of the drama
falls lower and lower as the petticoats Of the
danseuse and fgurante rise higher and higher !;
yet who shall say that Shakespeare and the
higher dramatists, with genius, talent and
sense to embody their creations, would not
prove as remunerative to managers as all the
Black Crooks and DEVILS Auctions that ever
held their undress revels on the stagef
Years ago, in the palmy days Of the old
Park theatre, when the elder Kcan and
Cooper and Fanny Kembls and Wsllack and
their compeers were insthe full bloom Of their
and when Forrest was reader
Of Shakespeare, instead of q melodramatic
butcher, there was no complaint Of . lack Of
patronage Of the legitimate drama. Tragedy
and comedy walked hand in hand upon the
stage, and were sufhcient to attract appreci-
alive audiences, while the managers and the
people were in accord. For the past twenty
years the scale of the profession has been
going down lower and lower. and theatre
after theatre has passed out OF existence and
been forgotten, despite mutual protection as
Of managers and all other efforts
that could be made to save them, except the
one simple remedyvof good performances. or
late years the phosphorus, bine light, bare
legged drama has come into. vogue, and its
ephemeral success has driven nearly every
other style Of amusement Off the stage. At
present there arc but two or three theatres at
which an intelloetual rather than an animal
can be enjoyed. Wallack's holds
its fashionable supporters together, and gives
them in return for THAR patronage agood stock
company and some 6ne REVEALS Of old plays.
But its novelties hare been mainly trash, and
the last Of them, "Maud's PERIL" does not re-
deem their character. Improbable and absurd
in its plot, withous any merit in its language,
it belongs to- tho lowest order Of sensational
plays, and Ia altogether unworthy Of the fine
company by whom 1t is performed. At WAL
lacks, whers.we find almost the last remnant OF
the old school acting, the reputation ofshe house
should be sustained by new pieces Of neal merit,
and every point ought to be made good. The
Academy Of Music, on6 Of the finest theatres in
the world, lies crushed under the heavy burden
Of meddlesome stockholders and incompetent
managers, and the widest efforts Of the oyster
house Bohemians cannot raise u 70 its feet
In every department II shows evidences Of
decay. Other theatres Of the city drag tAeil
weary way, all under the cload OF miserable
compAaies, stupid pieces and poor audiences
II is.true thai some ray OF light promises I,
break through the darkness of the thcatrica