New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-06-26
THE GREAT FRENCH ACTRESS

UNITED STATES, POSSIBLY NEXT YEAR.
Iron THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT TRIBUNE
LONDON, June 14.-Since / have known any
thing of London can remember such excite
ment that which agtates society on the
subject of Mile. Sarah Bernbardt To say that she
has taken the town by storm Is nothing. 10 say
that people eager to see her act is still LEGS. lt
is not only the actress that people ravn2 about;
it is perhaps even more tho individual woman. the
extraordinary personality, so unlike anything
known to the Londouor in the whole range
of his experience, that curiosity, and
that has developed the usual languid interest
of well-bred Londoners INTO passionate admiration
of this creature The present state of feeling
may fairly be described as a social phenomenon.
Ii is not confined TO one class rank In life 1t
pervades many. and it takes hundred different
shapes, each more surprising than the other. You
meet il at every turn. If had no sympathy with
the general sentiment, should none the less feel
bound to devote some space to nm account OF IT, and
of its various manifestations. letter which pro-
fessed to deal with current topics in London and
omitted this. would be an absurdity. But | am
perfectly content to be ranked among this lady's
admirers, though hope have not lost the power
of distinguishing between respect for the genius of
the actress and the purely personal enthusiasm
for the woman.
To take the professional side first, which is also
the more practical, proof enough Of public eager
ness may be found in tho demand for places on
nights when Mile Bernhard is TO play. The official
price of stalls, you know. Is So. Last week the
agents were asking 80 per cent advance on this
price, already too high. This week If you apply at
Mtchells or Lacon's you required to pay $40 on
ordinary nights and S15 on Bernhardt nights. nor
can you even at that price buy a good seat except
as favor or by private help. True, Mile.
Bernhardt's appearances are less numerous
than those of any other single member of the
company. 1t was said long ago that she understood
to perfection the art of advertising. 1t may well
enough be that so clever judge of the public pulse
knows the extra value due to the rarity of her per-
formances. Still, great actress Is not to be COM
pared TO a quack medicine. The medicine will sell
if puffed because the crop of fools is always large.
But no amount OF pacarding putting will delude
cultivated audiences into constant attendance upon
stupid dramatic representations. A lady told me on
Wednesday that she had applied to tho theatrical
agent whose regular client she is and had been told
that no place of any kind could be had for any night
on which Bernhardt was to play, until the 9th of
july met another lady last night who bewailed
the misfortune which prevented her from using the
stalls she had for Bernhardt's next appearance, and
offered them to me, as great favor. for $15 apiece.
At the performance of Ph6dre last evening, the
number of people turned away from the doors was
so great that holders Of tickets bought Ia advance
had the utmost difficulty in getting into the house.
1t is not more than twice week that Mile. Bern
hardt plays at the Gaiety Theatre. Meantime she
Is to be SEEM by those who are lucky enough to be
asked at various private houses. Invitations to
these private performances are-I had almost
said shamelessly solicited. You know that the
customs of London society permit friend to
ask for an invitation to another friend. Cards for
great parties are freely handed about, and people
ambitious to get on In society have little scruple
I'm pressing their claims. 1t is bad custom, and
MILE Bernhardt must accept the responsibility OF
making it worse than ever. If you are suspected Of
knowing anybody who has secured this prodigy for
single night you are besieged with entreaties for
invitations and they the eager because the
number of spectators on such occasions is neces-
saTy limited. The newspapers have done their full
share in stimulating this appetite. As rule they
have appauded Mile. Bernhardt whether she acted
well or ill with this excuse, no doubt, that when
she is at her worst she is better than
any English actress at her best The degree OF in
telligence with which she is sometimes judged may
be guessed from the story-true not, can't say
that when Lord Dudley engaged her no absolutely
ordered 500 copies of the play to be printed for
his guests-not in French but In English. This as
tonishng experiment came to naught, indeed, for
Lord Dudley is ILL., and the performance had to DO
given up
Decorous, moreover, as tho London papers are
they have begun to favor the public with anecdotes
about Mlle Bernhardt which lie far beyond the
domain of her purely dramatic life OF scandal and
gossip such as you may hear in Paris, there is not
as yet much echo here in private But of stores
which relate to her manifold accomplishments
and aspirations beyond the stage, Jhero is no lack
Last years talk on the boulevards, stale as 1t u.s.
passes for fresh here, and is eagerly listened to-
Accounts of her wonderful home in the Avenue
Villiers; of her dressing-room at the Comedie
Franchise in Paris, and of her sadly inferior dress
ing-room at the Gaiety in London Of her studio ;
of her dog Of her paintings of her sculptures or
her eccentricities in many kinds of her domestic
relations and arran geuents all these abound and
some of them true. Her photographs have sup
planted all the photographs of all the reigning
beauties in all the shop windows of London, and a
stall for the disposal OF them may be found III the
vestibulo Of the theatre itself. Yen may buy Nile
Ber1harlt as Doha SOL as Marta he NeabOrg, as Mrs.
Clarksos as PhGle. or in any other of her charac-
ters You may buy her also IN the costume of private
life in the dress Of the period, or in the jacket and
trousers which she wears when modelling in her
studio. Tho house she occupies in London has been
indicated the carnage in which she drives TO the
theatre has been described the very color of the
horses which have the honor to carry her is given.
Nor is Nile. BeruhaTdt's company desired In pro-
fessional way only Ii is possible to meet this lady
M cxceeat houses where she does not give dra-
matte representations She was expected last
night at IA large and brilliant party given
by lady well known in London society. During
two hours the question everybody asked everybody
else was, els Bernhardt here y Have you seen
herw Are you she is comingT Mrs. -
told mo that she had been asked" said ono lady and
presently pile OF people trooped up to the hostess
and demanded point-blank 10 know whether the
IA ha Ruf