The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-02-01

Tho CITY HAmuaamnnfa.

eNery evening OF
has attracted crowde, bouses' ana II there Is no
falling Off In the attenosN Nce' IL 10 10 DC hOpeu
that the management will allo~ 70 Keep 'ne
stage for nuqber Of weeks to CON- anu poss,
pone the novelties that have been aup '"uoeu
until the public crave change. 1t would b,
pity to withdraw really fine play like this SO
long as tby public are willing TO witness 1t; and
as for Mrf Edmund Yateg comedy OF Tame Cats,
we can ~ Ford t. wait for It any length of time,
and not get tired of waiting be It ever so long
pOstponNd
The perfo n,ltnce of T,celfh Nioht has been
very much, imp proved since the first evening.
The actors Nopear to understand their parts
better than they did, and the play as now
represented Is. one that no lover OF the drama
should mlsJ seeinastar It is better than anything
In the line of ShakespeGran comedy that has
been given In this city for several years. The
only performances that can at all be compared
with it wer, ,hose of Much ado About Nothing,
season Jr two ago at the Chesnat, during Mr..
Jamcs =. Murdochs engagement. The play at
the Chestnut was not placed upon the stage,
/ ,wever, IN a style equal to that at the Arch,
and it was not as finished and artistic as a
whole.
Mr. Barton Hill plays the part of "Malvolior
seems to have better appreciation Of the char
acter, and he is entitled to praise for a very
Intelligent and careful piece OF acting. Mr..
Hill, however, IS not we'll fitted for the part,
and he can never hope to make the same repu-
tatioz in it that he would in some Others.
'Malvolio" is such peculiar creation that it is
no dtioredit to so excellent an actor as Mr.. Hill
tina. he does not exactly come up to the ideal.
Tha oct foil a1 ri iatl do nj
and the most versatile actors will hnd some
ch racters beyond their powers of expression.
less talented performer than Mr.. Hill might
hit the idiosyncracies of "Malvolio" exactly,
and yet not rise above mediocrity in other parts.
Mrs. Drew interprets the wonderful grace and
deli4hcy of "Viola'sn character with finer effect
than on Monday last, and Miss Price also has
made very marked advance in her rendering
of the plrt of "0livia." This is decidedly the
best Torrance this lady has yet given US.
MIR. MI ekay as "Sir Toby Belch," and Miss
Davenport ss MARIA" have improved greatly,
Mr.. Craig's "Sir Andrew Aguecheek" is not
only one of his most successful personations, but
1t is one of the best, il not the best acted char
acter in the play.
The playgoing public do not care to see
Shakespeare or the standard dramatists all the
time aud no theatre could sastain Itself without
producing entirely new pieces, even il they did
fall below the old-established favorites in merit.
There are number ofreally frst-class plays, h ow
ever, which are so seldom brought out that for
! the vast majority of persons they are as good as
entire novelties and one of these Is Toe tn
Night As You Like II is another, Winters
Tale Is another, Measure for Measure is
another, The Tanning of the Shrew Is
another; and a great number might be named
by other authors than Shakespeare. The Tanning
of the SIreao has not been played for a great
while. except i'll a mutilated form as two act
farce. as You Like It, with the excep-
. ton Of one or two performances by
. Mrs. Scott Siddons recently at the
Academy of Music, in which that lady car.
red of all the honors, has not been acted for a
still longer time than Ttcefh Might Winter's
Tale was brought out once last season at the
Walnut by Mr.. j. W. Walack, and it attracted
the only full house during his engagement;
and before that 1t had not been performed IN
this city for a number of years. Any OF these
plays, If placed upon the stage in frstrate style
and as well acted as ItoeJM Night, is would
prove as great attractions. People go to the
theatres TO be amused, and there is plenty o
laughter and good entertainment in The Tanning
of the ShreU, while Winter's Ioe il
one of the most interesting stories
that Shakespeare ever illustrated with
his genius. 1t ranges over the whole scale o
human sympsthies aud passions, from TRACE l.
10 broad farce; it is embelllshed with some o
the -rarest poetry that ever emanated from thu
brain of Shakespeare; aud as for scenic effect
the Boucicaults and DalSs of the day neve
imagined anything equal to the statue seem
with which the drama concludes. The character
of this piece would afford the members of tn
Arch Street company ample opportunities fo
the display of their talents and /. would be
rare qualification for those who admire dra
matte art to see it produced there with the sam
care as Is bestow we'd upon less worthy plays.
AT THR WALNUT the last performances c
Boucicaults drama of Afier Dark are al
nounced. 1t will be Withdrawn after the preseu
week, and on Monday evening next Mr.. and Mr.
Barney Williams will commence an engagement
and will appear in number OF their fsvoriI
Irish piecee.
Ar THE CHEsNUT Miss Susan Gallon wi
appear this evening in OEenbach's operetta
'66." The house has been cleaned and put
order for this reopening, aud 1t Is 10 be hope
that the appreciation of the public will folio
Miss Gallon to her new abode. The troupe hi
been increased by the engagement of M
James Dunn aud Mr.. James T. Ward, and Il
chorus aud orchestra will be larger than tb'
were at the Theatre Comique. The orchest
vii be lead by Mr.. W. G. Dietrich. "66' W
be performed tomorrow, Lischen and Britzch
on Wednese ay, and La So"ndn'6tpa on ThursdS
AT THE THEATRE CoMIQuB Mr.. j. Holm
Grover has been engaged for six nights D.