New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-16

rate visits for scenery and text is too much like the
taiors CLOTH which required two pairs Of trousers
TO show tho pattern. The bit;erest censor couit
hardly say more worse than docs this genial
aud accomplished critic in replying to the
general complaint" and demand for COM
preston and more action that faction Is
impossible IS the play has been written, and c m
preston would be fatal to its many beauiiey ;
which IS very like saying it is not play at all He
and the writer in The Standard praise Mr.. lrviDgs
acting highly. Mr.. Moy Thomas, on the other hand
considers thai Mr.. Irving is not we'll suited with the
thanklcss part of Syporir which seems to require
gayer and freor manner than he presents
With the encomiums bestowed on his stage man
agement, however Mr. Irving may well be content
His best friends, or of them. begin to think
they would be content if Mr.. Irving relied a little
less on attractions of that sort and more on himself
and his own genius. The manager is
possibly in danger of encroaching ON the
actor. In The Corsican Brothers," which has
passed its Doth night, ii is certainly not Mr. lrv
ngs art in holding up the mirror to nature that has
thronged his house and filed his treasury. The
piece is contemplate from dramatic point of view
and the two characters which Mr. Irving depicts af-
ford hardly any scope for his best powers As an
example of what can be done in the purely mschan-
Ctl DIdICucS VI ~ 10 "iiO VI 'A'
markable and splendid on record; rs elaborate
as the last pantomime at Covent Gar
den, and almost as gorgeously dressed
ms the last balletat the Alhambra
But is this what we are TO look to Mr. Irving for
in the future NJ Tennysons piece does not super
sede "The COrsican Brothers" TO which, oil the con-
trarv it serves as lrCr de dedu. We shall be hear
ing next of transformation scene as one Of tho
inducements to the public to flock to this quOndam
home of the revived classic drama. | find another
most udciOus critic, after beStowng que praise on
Mr.. Irving and Miss Ellen Terry, freeing
his inner mind with the remark that it
is as spectacle that The Cup d"
is, on the whole, most remarkable. If tho piece
were intrinsicay worthy of its magnificent setting
one would have nothing but praise for Mr. lryings
intelligent liberality in mounting it, Not so when
an acute and experienced manager overloads weak
piece with ornamentation in order to retrieve Its
weaknesssand attract the public by the combined
glitter of great name and lavish display oil dra-
matte millinery. Mr. Blanchard has for thirty years
been tho librettist of the Drury Lane Christmas
shows. Surely Mr. Tennyson cannot desire at this
late day to set mp as Mr.. Blanchard's rival
With reference to recent accouutin The Ner- York
Herald of designs for the scenery to Mr.. Longfel-
lows "Masque of Pandora" have this note from
Mr.. Alma-Tadema:
Ineed hardly say that should feel cratifed by
assisting in the success Of play by Mr. Longfelow,
but when newspaper allows itself, without any
ground whatever. to make use Of my name in order
that work done by another man should be more
acceptable to the pubhc, / must protest, and l
shonld be much obliged If The TRIBUNE would find
place for my protest
How Mr.. Alma Tademas name came to be used
thus fundamentally have No idea, but his contra
dlction deserves the widest publicity. An obscure
artist might allow such mistake TO pass. An artist
of Mr.. Tadema's rank and reputation. which are
more than European. is bound to acquan the public
with the truth. q. W. 5.