New-York tribune., 1885-08-16
ROOrrH AND sTHE BOWERY."
xxw.yoRK THEATRES FORTY YEARS AGO.
vAIr WHITMAN RECALLS HIS YoUrHFoL MPkhs-
sIOys.
c,nvy10hL 1885.

sIOSS.
C,puaohL 1895.
.-.;c,e not long since, aMrs.Siddons as LAZY
.oh.,hr in The Niasieeata Century, after describing
49, h;., rorretfulncss to mankind from the loss OF
49, s,stcass POEMS temples, pictures gone and
.n;ahaa from any knowledge or record oil men, the
r;terf Fleeming Jenkin) continues: Ii this be ouf
sA.l;ng SO TO the more durable works OF art, what
sball we say of those triumphs which by their very
r.ture last no longer than the action which creates
<hsmthe triumphs of the orator. the singer OF tho
actori There is an anodyne in the words must DO
s, inevitable and there ia even some aosernity
in longing for the impossible. This anodyhe anu
our sense of humor temper the unhappiness We ioei
when. after hearing some great performance. we
,s.vs tha theatre and think Well, this great thing
- h.er aud all that is now left of it is the feeble
mint upon nv brain the little thrill which memory
iii senl along my nerves. mine and my ne'ghbors
a wa live longer the print and thrill must De
feobler, and when we pass away the impress Oh the
grcat artist will vanish from the world Inc regret
th.t great art should In its nature be transitory
explain. the lively interest which many ieei IN
reading anecdotes descriptions OF great actor.
All this is emphatically my own feeiing ana
rsu,iniscence about the best dramatic and lyric
artists have soon in by-gone days-for instance
Marietta Albon Fanny Kemble the elder Booth
Forrest. the tenor Bettini, the baritone Badiali
. old man Clarke,n-I could write whole paper on
the latter's peerless rendering OF the Ghost IN
Hamlctr at the Park, when was young follow
IAN actor named Ranger who appeared Ia America
forty years ago In genre characters, and many
Others. But willmake few memoranda at least
Of the best one knew.
For the elderly New-Yorker OF to-day perhaps
nothing were more likely to start up memories OF
his early manhood than theheadline OF this article
AT the date given the more stylish and select
N ko tniA
Park @ large and well-appornted house ON Park
Row. opposite the present Post Office. English
ouera and the old comedies were often given In
cspital style; the principal foreign stars appeared
hNre. with Italian opera at wide intervals The
Park held large part in my boyhoods and young
rranhooFs life 1t was here (some years later than
tina date in the head-lne) heard Mario many times
and at his best In such parts as Gennaso in
q sLucrszia Borgia," he was inimtabe-the sweetest
of voices pure tenor, Of considerable compass ana
respectable power. His wife Grisi was with hum.
ma longer irst-class or young, fine Norma though.
to the last
But getting back moro specifically to the date and
theme started from-the heavy tragedy business
prsvailei moro decidedly at the Bowery Theatre,
whore Booth and Forrest were frequently 10 be
heard. Though Booth pere. then IN his PRIME
ranging In age from forty to forty-four years The
va born in 1900, was the loyal child and con-
tiuuer of the traditions of orthodox English play
acting, he stood out himself alone IN many
respects beyond any of his kind record. and with
effects and ways that broke through all rules and
ali traditions He has been well described as an
.cxor whose instant and tremendous concentration
Of passion in his delineations overwhelmed his
audience and wrou yht it into such enthusiasm that
it partook of the fever Of inspiration surging |
throu Oh his own veins" He seems to have been OF
beautiful private character, very honorable,
sfectionate good-natured, no arrogance, glad TO
giye the other actors any good chances lie knew
ali stage points thoroughly and curiously ignored
tho mere dignities. oncs talked with a man who
had seen him do the Second Actor in the mock-piay
TO Charles Keans Hes,Iet in Baltimore. He was
naarveInns linguist He played Shytock once In
Lsndon giving the dialogue in Hebrew. and in
New Orleans Oreste tRacines Andromaque' y in
French One trait of his hahits. have heard. was
strict vegetarianism. He was exceptionally kind
to the brute creation. Every once in while he
would make break for solitude or wild freedom,
sometimes for a few hours. sometimes for days
He illustrated Plato's rule that to the forming an
artist of the very highest rank dash of insanity
Tor What the world calls Insanity is indispensable.
He was sma-sized man. yet sharp observers |
noticed that however crowded tbe stage might be |
In certain scenes Booth never seemed overtopped |
or hidden He was sing ilarly spontaneous and |
fuctuatIng; in ths same part each rendering |
differed from any of his others He had no stereo
typed positions and made arbitrary requirements
on his fellow performers.
In any portraiture of Booth, those years, the |
Bowery Theatre with its leading lights and the
manager Thomas Hambn, cannot be left ont 1t
was at the Bowery first Edwin Forrest (the
play was John Howard Paynes Bruins, or the
Fall of Tarquin" and Unaffected me for weeks, or
rather might say perm lnently filtered into my
in Of hia IA nd
ability. Sometimes (perhaps veterans benefit
night the Bowery would group together five OF six
of the firyt-class actors OF those. days,-Bo0th
Forrest, Cooper Hamblin and John r. Scott. for
instance. At thar time and here George Jones
Il Count Joannes'1 was young handsome actor
and qIite iavorte. / remember seeing him in the
title rsle in aJulius Cssar.' and capital
performance it was.
To return specially to the manager. Thomas
HAmbn made first rate foil to Booth, aud was
frsqueatlv cast with hum lie hal large snapoy
remember well his rendering OF the main role IN
Matur;ns BertIam, or the Castle OF ST. Aldobrand"
(But thought Tom Hamblin's best acting wa' in
the comparatively minor part Of Faatcesbiidge in
King join" ,"-he himself evidently reveed in the
part, and took away the honse's applause from
young Kean the Kiagl and Ellen Tree tConsfdacs !
and every body else on the stage-s0me time after
ward at the Park) Some Of tho Bowery actresses
were remarkably good. remember Mrs Prltclard
Curiosity and Miii,oood in George Barnwell." /
wonder wnat OLD IeiioN feblkna tnoSc nues VIII
recall the line comedietta OF" The Youth that Never
Saw a Woman and the jolly acting In 1t OF Mrs
Herring and old Gates
The Bowery now and thcn the place, too, for
spec,acnIar pieces such as @The Last Days of
Fomoeii.D The Lion Doomed, F." aud the vet undy-
mg aMazeppa" At one time Jonathan Bradford.
or the Murder at the Roadside Inn" had long
and crowded run; John Seston and his brother
William acted in Vt. i remember we'll the French
woman Celeste splendid pantomimst. and her
emotional Wept OF the Wish-ton- Wish" But
certainly the main @reason for being" of the
Bowery Theatre those years was to furnish the
public with Forests and Booths performance
enthusias sc admirers, and critics fully equal TO the
fhouoh nconle W ere dtvtded For