New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-02-12
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.

THE CINCINNATI DRAMATIC FESTIVAL.
An official proclamation has appeared. II the
shane of an advertisement and a circular setting
forth various features of the projected Dramatic
Festival at Cincinnati together with the views and
Intentions of the Committee of Management. The
Festival is to be held in the great Music Rail-" 1t
will begin on Monday evening, April 80, and end
on Saturday evening, May 8. IT viii consist of
eight performances-six at night and two In the af-
terroon. The plays that have been selected for rep
resentat on at this festival. are Julius Caesar"
"RomeO and Juliet" Othelo," Hamlet" Much
Ado About Nothing" and The Hnnchback."
Among the players announced to appear are Mary
Anderson, Clara Morris, Mile. Rhea. James H. Mur-
doch, Lawrence Barrett John Mccullough, ana MI
N c. Good win. An auction sale OF reserved seats Is
to occur in Cincinnati on April 4.
The managers circular is quite remark
able-being as liberal with printers ink
as with sonorOus promise. Magnificent
scenery it exclaims. gorgeous costumes, and
whole armies of supernumerarles.' The latter Will.
of course be a priceless boon. Orchestra OF one
hundred musicians" cries the proclamaton-mean-
ing the band. 1.-THE stage will he sixteen feet
deeper and eight feet wider than ever seen at any
other festival in Cincinnati" AS this inf1ammatory
document proceeds ITS tone becomes quite hystercal
Each piece produced never seen in the
world before!" A grand revival of Shakespeare
most interesting plays!" One can almost hear, in
these sentences. the shres of tho enthusi-
astic agent and inspired bill-poster
Elsewhere he is calmsr and in deliberate and
even thoughtful strain forth the philOsephc
pect of the enterprise. The Cincinnati Dramatic Fes-
tival Association, 1t then appears determined TO
brtngtOgetherin congregation such number of Stars
In the best PLAYS of the greatest dramatsts, that
the existence of the beautiful might be discovered,
and that people of taste could no longer decry the
decay of art in midst" Nobody can deny that
this was noble determination, whatever he may
think of the language in which 1t recorded. Pre-
cisely how stars" could be brought together "
without being ain congregation" it may be difficult
to perceive; and it is mourniu to think that the
existence of the beautiful is still undiscovered in
Cincinnati,-eve though Mr.. Oscar Wilde has been
there. and has sprnkled the city with the sun
flowers of his eloquence. But there is comfort in
the thought that Cincinnati will very shortly he its
own Columbus. Miss Mary Anderson is to be a
conspicuous figure at the Festival. and If " the
existence of the beautiful" lie not detected then,
it Will be because Cincinnati has 10 eyes.
"That this will attain perfection" adds this eX-
traordin&ry herald. is not asserted y; and then
follows the emphatic. but mixed, avowal that the
Association will devote week to such of the
plays of the leading dramatists, mounted and cast
with that attention TO historical accuracy and de-
tail shall cause il to be justly considered revival
of the Art HisTiOnic" Where vert thou O Lindloy
Murray, when this Muse was in labor? THE lead
ing dramatists," it will he remarked, are Shakes
peare and Sheridan Knowles. After that We are
not surprised To be told that Such attempt
so grand scale has never before been made
either in this Country or in Europe" In
the circular line the attempt is. indeed
unique, and we trust it will not be rivallcd.
The glowing document CLOSES, however, with these
ominOus words "AnOtoer circular will be issued
very shortly" For that he'litcTary world nclnes
its receptive ear. Having learned by tins one that
Sh kespeare is % leading dranatist." and that
NAT" Goodwin ranks with James f. Murdoch as
"great star" shall, perhaps, ascertain by its
successor that Buffalo Bill Is equally rspresentatlye
with John Mccullough, and that a due regard for
the discovery of the existence of tne
beautiful" on the banks of the Ohio
demands the Introduction OF Miss LOtta
10 dance An Irish jig with Clara Morris But for
the firnness of Mr.. Lawrence Barrett-whs pos
sesses a strength of Intellectual character and
quiet dignity of thoughtful purpose unusual among
actors these amiable persons being mostly children
IN all serleus emergencies)theF Festival would long
since have been TO ali the bOwlers and rautsrs
in the land. What new devices vulgar business
policy can devise to mar good scheme for real
reunion Of art the new circular may be expected TO