The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-09-30

| COMPANY T. the only one either 10 tins country or
nesecy rc'rssenns such comedies as The Rivals
| London Assurance or She Stoops 10 Conquer
dou't ,L'nx INA. either Q. ner. plays could Se ads
therefore, ny own comedy now IN hand should 10 any
respect iail il mus, necessarily be my own isuI"
PUBLIC cAPkicE
s,But has not the caprice OF tue pubic something to
| do with the success Of every plsyf'
mo- not with its success but with us popularity,
which Is avery reteut Thing. Many plays succeed,
ail draw money; that 49, they Ian 10 BIZ contn-
pri, frequently exhibited In the appreciation
! OF The actors than oil the plays As iustrAson,
the London pubic, during the last fifteen or twenty
years nave exercised his caprice cruelty. Seven
years ago they took up Mr. Fechter and Tor
while made hm an doi tnen droi ped him. They TOOK
W Miss Batemap and dropp,d her. They took W. Mrs
Rousby and dropped her. Finally they have taken up
Sir Irving and, probably n year or iwo they WIN
popularity according 10 their respective merits, but they
iavors tina were bestowed al moment
Withdrawn tue next by reason OF the mere capri
couspess audiences. Again, there IL certain
ignorance the par. OF ine public which ought no. 70
be overlooked. Actors like Mr. sothern Mr.. joe
JEFF rson have played IN New York Tor years Que
represented Lord Dundreary and the other Rip Van
winke. BY the New YORK puoiic tueir performances
| were regarded as nothing extraordinary, YET they
went TO Europe and were ana stars
| Of great merit Marx tue contrast When they re-
turned 10 this city suddenly discovered by the
and the pubnc that that which was invisible
during their hong period OF trial was deserving OF ar
tistc prominence. Don't you see that there Is some
thing wrong and that savors OF popular Ignorance
this? Either these actors were not entitled to tho
New York play were singuariy bind to excel
ience thai com handed public appreciation elsew
Are they many other cases losing just such OPP
carries AND THEIR lDlosYxcRAsIss
"You have limited that modern journalists arc
not capable OF larry estimating ,he va'ae OF an actor
or Ia y.sro, to .sv ,oa, believe II true and though
1 expect much nnoynnct by reason OF Tho assertion,
rcsrate that ignorance on the part OF the crlics Is
proven by the lac. that they nave no standard OF
critic m whereby to measure any KIND Of artistic cx
ccllence. actor who Praised In paper VIII
abused IN another The readers OF the Journals and
ing that the critics cannot agree among themselves
as good The bad naturally throw The opin-
ions oil tue press one side, aud ,hus tue press
loses its prestige In short. there is lack
Of coherencs IN ineir Judgment aud Inc pubic lose
faith them II u severe article appears IN any
of Inc pap rs UNION work or performance the &C, or
or author IS invariably asked by'hls friends, w hat
have you 70 tue critcY II, ON the contrary,
exceedingly favorable article appears. II is nme
dlaely accredited some favorable influence exerled
upon the opinions OF The writer. In the
pubic large dream mat these opinions are measured
by critical STANDARD ot the work oil the actors
referred 10. BY these means the press has lost
power over the public II an audience theatre
ueghtea with the performance they cannot DO subse
quently persuaded by the finest criticism that they
have not been pleased. On Tho other hand, If
au., can ndncs the rasasr W am.un'
paper the following morning 10 believe that he has
been gratiied, when ue very well knows that hc has
been bored. The influence OF the press theatrical
matters. therefore, Is manly exerted upon and sup
ported BY actors, actresses ana managers who vanly
beicve mat an articie may dv them an injury or
service 1t Is ali wrong"
"But is this peculiar to America? Are We all in
| divcuaily BAD Do We stand aone?"
"sy no means. i am speaking in general terms OF
| America England ana France. ana suggesting u
thought which think will bear examination in the
| three countries. b"
The STAGE TnR ACTORS
'You have stated many reasons Tor the decline OF
the drama, but you do not let us know In what par
| ticuar It has declined. Where is the falling OF Sn
'ln tho OF acting chiefly, the Of stage
management In comedy We have lost The true VEN,
actors no longer STUDY Character but strive 10 Guido
ouch other in caricatnre. All the popular parts that
stand out during the last thirty years are carcatdres
taste Tor these extravagances thai comedians who
prefer the study Of nature are Obliged to enter the
contest by adopting what We call 'eccentric' parts
such IS Rip Van Wrinkle, which without his Goruan
accent ana Ounders ofianguage would fail to captvae
| Such also Conn In the ShaugGraun.' The
popular elements in those TWO do not lie IN
the true character OF each, but In the eccentrci-
| ties with which the characters clothed
| The actors are, therefore, STRIVING excel
each other in extravaganza They study the outside
instead Of the inside. the ladies think OF how they
| shalt dross how they will look not how tue parts
tnev sustain should he played The journalists also
encourage this shallow system by critcsng the color
certain scene, such details were worthy oil
attention. l have Mr. MacreAdy play Joseph
Surface modern irock coat ana gray trousers 10
Mr.. Furren, who appeared Sir Peter Ieaze IN u cut
velvet suit Of the last century. But the per.
a"ced by snakespoSrs into II nietJ the spiendor Of
the work overwhelmed the offence Of the anachron-
| ism.'
'.You mean that our comedians burcsQue nc.
J0rsY" 8H
| ..Many OF them are variety minstrels without
the burnt cork. They initiate the gays absurdi-
ties Of those negro clowns, as have seen ladies' IN
Europe initiate the carriage and manners OF the DENT
monde Thus the true craft OF acting almost ooso-
iete. when direct tho rehearsas OF a play mud
many performers who are ignorant OF the nrst prn-
ciples The elements OF The art For acting art,
and there is tight and wrong way OF using gesture
aud notion There Is u grammar 0i action known TO
artists and certain movements are, as IL were, bad
grammar, and certain gestures are bad spelling To
overlook such aud applaud these offences
too common IN journalists, who should know better.
these articles are printed. But they allow perform
apces 10 go before the public with similar errors
| pfonineut"
'sAre there any theatres in England France where
| such errors are correcied?" EEK -
THE SUPERIORITY AMERICAN ACTORS.
.srhe American actors are lnneasurably superior to
! tho London performers, where the art has chcd
bottom; nothing eau go much lower than what wit
nosssd ana nad to contend with in London. There
49, however, only one theatre where the art Is per.
iectly understood ana correctly observedhat Is the
| fhealre Ffancais, In Paris" .l
Are the actors mere aware that they losing their
technical proiiclencyp'
| ..When they are shown where they arc wrong they
perceive II; but iaucy they consider any alteration
Of their action rather as an Improvement what was
good than correction OF an error in art''
''Is there always reason tor what you call right
ana wrong in art?"
Yes; artistic reasons. For example. a gesture in
tended to Illustrate the speakers meaning should
always preccde the words II accompanies Thus, when
| an appeal rs mado to Heaven, the arms should DC
raised before tho words are uttered The reason is
that the OF the spectator Is quicker OF appreheu-
Tho the gesture of raising tbs arms
prepares the NINA for the expression OF The thought
which follows that II you attempt TO reverse thus
and utter the appeal hrst crying, Tor example
'By Hcaven and then raise the arms, The effect rs
somew lat ridiculous rms rule Is one of the s,mpest
The many that govern acting and oratory, yet so 1t
tic 1t known that we have frequently check star
actors Tor often ng against It.
MORE ABOUT THE PRESS.
S'pce you are brave enough to utter your opinions
concerning the rress ana they are not particularly
plmcutary, view Of The fact that you are lkcy
the tho CRITICS within the hours
would nike to hear san iurther IRON you the
Ject."
'lbsn let me he frank again and say that the press
has spoled ACTORS ana managers by giving them
siucratOu aud notice lar uevond what they are
titled To- "A manager watches with jealous eye every
word that is printed concern rival tueatrc. MIR.
y. measures The NUMBER o lines gwen Mr. O. anu
rlics The journalist soundly II he hnds himself iiuc
shore. He sends down to tue newspaper notices and
pulls these to be priutcd tho editorial
columns free OF charge. surely Messrs a. I. stewart
or illiany have an equal right TO have tner soods
commended Again, the managers a.d actor, have
become sensitive they cannot tolerate the slightest
ccnsure. This Is wrons You cahnOt coax u
IN a w @ To IN M hoaf