New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-10-14
THE DRAMA AND MUSIC.
c,,p1Fs coGHLAN IN "MoNEY."

han
World is always on its guard against satirist and
MI FrsI is not only satrist but an intellectual
- whom poverty and painful experience have
made gloomy, scornful and bitter-and, Therefore,
almost misanthrope. The more thoroughly Wen
beis played accordingly, the less fascinating wiz
he appear to the eyes of the average observer DoV
aired EUeyR is a character which requires loI iy'
suitable impersonatlOn passionate nature prOu'
ferv mind originality. and ample resources ol
dramatic art; and this being the case 1t IS easy 70
understand both Mr. Coghlans choice OF the patV
ond his great success In it, Furthermore II was III
alfred Eyelyn that he made his first appearance III
This country and the ASSOCIATION Is prooaVlJ "sIoe-
able to his mind.
Iftbs mart had been made for him, 1t could not
have fitted him more exactly thaa IL ooes' uHueI
his skilful meditation Of 1t; and MS recent per
forrnance ia one of the most brilliant examples OF
stare iIlusion that have been set before TINS
nubIic 'An oddity like myself" is the phrase
bicb Describes Erelga in MorddWRfS eccentric will,
ord a. q man of "mOOds" he is recognized in ST
.Jobu GcseyS household, This element of snguIartY
= made by Mr.. Coghlan the central attribute OF
fine mana man unlike other people; scholar
cvnc: proud silent reserved, caustc, and prone to
sneerrather than to smile. MAcready, the original
IregR thought the part TO be ineffective and In
feror"-probably because he was too great for It,
and. in practical use, found it too weak to endure
ample emotion. He would naturally, have lib
Grated in it the soul of WerRc-whch
SOM too large for this body. He himself recognized
that his acting of it was heavy and untrue Mr
Coghlan every way man of lighter callbre than
Nacready carries the part without the slightest
show of any such embarrassment; and IN his hands,
60 far from being ineffective and INFERIOR IL De-
comes both impressive and brilliant lie is vitality
in earnest; he speaks those slender sarcasms oil
,r;NI olc o111ta avip nd
and he surcharGes the singularity OF the character
with a winning personal charm.
As played by Mr.. Coghan, Hired Erelyn is roman
tic and passionate no less than intellectual HIS
fire, indeed is not the fire of Romeo. You cannot
have that in thoughtful, self-contained almost
morbid personality, especially framed as at
once the product and the rebuke OF an aTtlh-
cal, heaTtless society. The actor does not
let himself loose as an animal and indulge in that
easy stimulation of sensual fervor which little peo-
pie commonly mi stake for great acting. His aTdor
burns within devotion, and 1t IS transmitted
through the heart and mind of a gentleman. and
not through the senses of beast. These play
Voers who think there can be no passion without
fireworks are not likely to appreciate Mr.. Cogh-
lan's present performance. All the same it remains
noble and splendid achievement. There are
moments of it when the art of the actor Is too nat
ura to create the effect of nature-whenhc becomes
moment of it lat the speech about the standard
of money ", when the enthusiasm is too
much curbed. But as a whole, the idcG-
tty is clearly understood, STRONGLY grasped, con-
sistently sustained, embodied in a figure Of manly
beauty and movements of exquisite grace, and
pressed with fluent ease Of sweet and various
elocution that has seldom been equaed. such
performance is unfortunate of course, in being CIR
cumscTibed within comedy that depicts class
tao1c g lurngn
nature that is distorted, conventional and frvo-
lous in its satire of selfshness; and that builds
both the complication and the catastrophe Of its
somewhat dull lOye-story upon decidedly lmproba~
BILE incidents Love is blind" butnot so blind that
an explanation between Alfed EUeyn and Clara
Douglas would not occur at very early stage OF
this drama Yet. even thus surrounded, this EN-
bodIment Is-to an intellectual taste-en'ltely
brilliant.
The revival of Money" at the Fifth
Avenue Theatre has been further sgualiz2d
by the advent here of a actress, Miss Florence
Gerard who is said to be au American, but who
comes to us from England, AMI who has appeared
as Clara D0uqlas In personal attributes and III
Temperament this actress is more than commonly
impressive and charming. Her figure IS slender and
elegant; her head and cOuntenance are dehcately
expressive of intellectual character and polished
bigh-bred social cultivation. She speaks with beau
tiful precision and purity and her action in Clara
Douglqs, was marked by fine intelligence at every
point by a repOSe which was not languDr but the
absence Of effort, and by sweet and gentle gravity
Df sentiment which almost amounted t. tenderness
The part of Clara Dougios-which was written for
Helen FAUCETS typical Of the woman in whom the
mind controls the heart There should be GER
tam severity in It's texture and this Miss
Florence Gerard most successfully expressed, in
the naughty composure Of her manners and the
fine precision of her speech Miss Gerard is not
probably an actress of much physical force her
SYays seem those of extreme delicacy ana grace;
but she eyinced controlling will, intelligence ana
that quiet power which, without turbulence or ex-
cess susains performance to its close; while her
artistic execution was the easy, finished, adequate
mechanism of actress trained in the best school
of experience As Clara Douglas her dressing her
demeanor her sustaInment of the feeling mot
HyithstaudIng the long nterudes during which
that character IS absent from the sccnc her fine
mentality and her simple fcrvOr at the last were
admirable Indeed, the work was 50 well done that
its worthis quite likely to be felt IN the Observers
heminisccnce more than IN his immediate cOntem-
platoon of it.
careful and rich setting has been given to the
comedy of Money! at the Fifth Avenue Theatre
and the cast of it's characters already printed Ia
this place is proved to be- IN general judcious and
effective. Mr.. Wheateigh gives quaint and
mellow performance of GrareS NJ. john Jack per
Fonates with unctuous humor and formidable force,
that dreadful old comic impOstor Sir John Desf&
Mr. Walden Ramsay presents a good study OF SIR
Eederick BlOunt Mr. Kelley, from Wallacks Thea
tire. is a suitably cool and elegant representative OF
smooth An elaborate set has been made for the
Club scene and in this Mr.. Coghlau's fine acting OF
hysterical levity and passionate recklessness hall
assumed and gradually becoming real was an
unreasonable touch OF dramatic genius.
THE DRAMATIC WEEK.
Miss Charlotte Thompson has ended her en-
.llrdg rec Thnnlr Nj