, 1879-08-10
THE STAGE.
THE DRAMA.

THE DRAMA. a..
PATRONAGE IN CHICAGO.
A question Is suggested by the business Of the
past week in OUT theatres, the answer to which
is not little flattering to our local pride That
question IS, How comes it that in midsummer so
large and so distinguished an audience should
continuously be seen in the auditorium OF Hay
erly's Theatre, where the company from Union
Square are now plaring2 The same question
might have been asked last winter iu a different
form. Il might then have been asked, How
comes it that Chicago which has so often turned
the cold shoulder upon passab'e opez2tic per-
formances, filled this same theatre on the Gers
Ter nights during the Mapleson season2 The
answcr to the one is also the answer
to the other. The people of Chicago,
formed, as they are, OF b pushing and enter
prising, reading. rafting portion Of the United
States, know good thing when they see it, for
many Of our playgoers hare Travelled every
where end scep everything. The consequence
IS, that they hare come to exact in operatic aud
in dramatic art the best thai those arts can now
afford, aud, Il managers do not give that best,
people are too blase to go to the theatre at all;
kot, II they do get it, they viii go to the opera
to see Gerster or genuine dramatic company
In spite OF wind and weather.
Now, in both Of these successes there Is a
lesson for our local managers, and that lesson
IS one Of the plainest. It is a lesson
rhich HE TRIBUNE in its criticisms
aas continuously endeayored to hold up
,efore their eyes. Give us good thing and We
9ill give you good audiences give us mediocrity
aud we will give you mediocre audiences. But
The lcs<5n has also another application. Some
wo CT three Sundays ago we gave circulation to
/ rumor that the Union Sguare Theatre Com
canJ might probably be duplicated In Chicago
1t one Of our thea tres. We arc now free to say
that tie theatre in contemplation was HooleY's,
md We have it from those nearest to Mr.. Palmer
.hat nothing keeps him from consummating
this design but fear that the outlay would
not be met by the patronage. Mr. Palmer must
. be gifted with much less managerial acumen Il
he cannot draw conclusion from the most eyi-
dent premises.
His company came here for the first time IN
the middle Of summer. They rau one play six
weeks to larger receipts than tiat same play
was able to bring him within the limited wallis
Of tho Union Square Theatre. He sent his
company to us second time, aud the second
time the same triumph was repeated, aud The
tame solid profit accrued. He sent It to Us
this season,-one oi the WarmesI in Year5,-And
resident manager has sufficient confidence in
.hc taste OF Chicago to Day him an enormous
certainty for so doing, aud tho wisdom OF t1nt
manager is yindicated By full auditoriums nearly
sverr night OF the engagement surely, II tue
.ame, or company Of equal strength, we're
offered to us in the regular and fashionable
riuter season, 1t could bot fail to attract as
much as it has done in the most untayorabfe
oortiou OF the year.
But there is another and most pleasing result
Of the present theatrical season. It is that it
places beyund peradrenturc the faur that peo-
ole are as ready and as quick to recognize that
which is worthy Of their patronage as are the
New Workers, md, without wishing to Dry into
managerial secrets We will venture TO assert
that, great as was tie success OF Lille BaukeT's
Dauahter'' IN New York, the average receipts
1ur;ng its first Two weeks OF production there
s.d not equal the receipts in Chicago during the
wo weeks which closed with last eyening'A per-
ornance- It is the easiest thing in the-Uorlo
or the Metropolitan city TO sueer st its pro-
1incial sisters, but it is not always easy for the
= Metropolis to justify its sneers br the mex
)raDle logic OF figures.
1t Is useless to say that efforts simflart to those
II DAILY in MS best days, OR OF Palmer now, or OF
lester Nallack, have been made By Chicago
managers. That efforts In this direction have
2eeu put forth is uuden!able but it is also as un
aeniable that those efforts aid no. reach that
completeness in detail, that fullness in ensemble,
7ii,ch modern criticism, whether it come from
:he press Or from the educated portion Of m
audience, has learned to require. We believe
that Chicago will be satisfied with nothing that
sill not satisfy New York, and we believe that
Kheu it gets that which should satisfy the
highest TASTE CUR civilization has bred IN mat
ters theatrical It will be found quite as liberal
IL its patronage as the Metropolis itself, f,-in-
deed, more liberal. And the reasoe for this is
very simple. There are fewer rivals here to
oppose the theatre, taking into consideration
Population, than ia either New York, Paris, or
London. --..
During the season Of 1Ss3-'79 some OF the
ablest and most popular OF the accepted stars
OF the dramatic profession failed to largely
draw, and there we're not wanting New York
critics and home GROWERS to say that Chicago
vas becoming d bad theatrical town. Now, the
reason Tor the failures Was just the reverse. It
vas Que to the fart that Chicago was beroming
too good theatrical to~ q, too flue in its taste
to accept part for q whole, too exact ia its
knowledge not to see distorted performance
when presented, and that it could no more
actor rs m artistic representation than
1t would accept . onelegged horse as
perfect anImal. worthy OF the same confidence
aud admration that would be accorded 3 four t
footed one. Indeed, the fact that Chica- |
20 refuses any loaSer to patronize stars support
ed by scratch companies is The best evidence |
~ the world that it is ready to support COIN
plete companv. for not until mar recognizes |
that which is bad does be begin longing for that
Which is'hetter.
THEATRICAL HONOR
To those old playgoers who are SO tied to
their preiudices that they can see no merit in
the stage OF the present, and are continually |
2rating Of :. the palmy days OF the drama,:' it
may occasion some surprise to be told that the |
standard OF theatrical honor and good |
faith was never 30 high as it is now |
The good tie-wig managers in the time of |
Mitchell and Simpson, and later in the days Of |
Laura keene and Burtor, thought nothing Of |
>nh orp