Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-11-06
ixEENE.
Opening -T Grand Engagement " 'he
opera House Tonight

op,ping 81 n Grand Engagement NJ Tue
Opers House Tonight.
Tonight Mt the opera house Thomas
w. Keene, the popular tragedian. VIII
omen an engagement with Richard T.
Though only four years star upon inc
stage. Mr.. keene has forced himself
nm Nv the exercise of an indomitaDle
viii and an overshadowlng talent TO
phenomenal position. The strides OF
his penius have been such that the
dramatic world has looked on in won
der and admiration. or his late APP
pearance in Chicago, the Herald mas
the following notice:
AT Haverly's theatersl last night, be.
fore an audience that literally crowded
the immense galleries Of that house
and nearly filled the lower part, Mr..
Thomas w. Keene, the tragedian, be-
gan his fourth season rs star. Mr.
Keene. four years ago, ut the Grand
opera house in this city, made his de-
but as a legitimate star rs Richard III,
Our readers are familiar with the en-
thusinsn which he aroused by his
first Interpretation Of Shakesperean
character and how that enthusiasm
was stimulated by Els
Hamlet, Macbeth, RiclIelieu, Bertuc-
clio in Tom Taylor's Fools Re.
venge. Shylock and other well
known characters. We need not,
therefore, 20 into the detail OF his his
tory since his debut, but Will merely
say that the promise of greater things
which the critics have found in ms
work have been realized. HIS Rich-
ard at that time was wonderfully
| strong impersonation of the libel upon
/ the person and character OF the Duke
of Glostcr, painted 10y Shakespeare To
suit the Elizabethan court. But
while the vigor, the sympathy, ana
| hustle with which the character
was portrayed pleased the masses,
| the critics found in 1t that rough
ness, lack of color and incomplete
| ness of detail which must be expected
of man who undertakes such II char-
meter for the first time. Mr.. heene
since theu has studied the character
more thoroughly; has learned TO
| handle his resources with more skill,
! has learned the value of reIose, and
thus we have now IL Richard not,
indeed, entirely faultless, but which
comes nearer the Shakespearean ideal
than the Interpretation 10y any of his
rivals. AS we have frequently
pointed out, Mr.. Keene possesses aface
equalod by few men upon the Amer
lean stage in its adaptability TO the de-
lineation of the emotions. lie has a
magnificent eye; he has a voice OF
| wonderful compass and heXibility,
resonant and sympathetic, and the
cnunciation of his intelligently read
lines il clear and distinct. These
physical attributes staRd him in nd
mirable stead, while delineating this
character that is "born to bite and
snarl and play the dug.n And no
where, perhaps, in the play are they
| better revealed than in the woOing
scene with Lady Anne or in that
with the citizens, where he hesitate
ingly accepts the prolered crown.
There WAS one part in Inst nights
pcrlormance-th early portion of the
fourth act-where we think Mr..
| kcene would create even greater eff
feet than he did had he played with
more rnpidity. Toward the end OF
| tEis act, however, and until the com
bat scene, he threw an animation and
n fire into his movements and speeches
that awoke the liveliest enthusiasm
almond the audience. Alto
gether, the performance has i'm,
| proved in the matter of detail and del
Icacy in the earlier scenes, and at the
same time he has lost none of the en-
ergy and spirit that has made his
work SO acceptable in the past,
So fnr rs the actors surrounding Mr.
| Keene are concerned, he has never
been supported by such competent