Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-06-28
IN THE THEATRICAL WORLD.
Pauline Markham's Former Pagan
Magnificence.

NEW YORK, June 26.-An interesting
to the public. was the revival here on
Monday night of Miss Pauline Markham,
in what is technically called Legitimate
DRAMA" but, strictly speaking, is dime
museum diversion. The event showed
how ephemeral is stage representation
when not built upon ability. Markham
was at one time the best sung, the most
widely admired, and the most recklessly
hattered woman in America. She it Is OF
whom the Shakespearean scholar, Mr..
Richard Grant White, wrote his best
rhetoric. He called her voice "vocal
velvet" He said she had restored the
lost arms of the Venus of Milo { TO whom
she restored them he didn't say). Attired
only in his English undetiled, she walked
the boards OF Niblo's Garden for several
seasons a thing of beauty-but, alas! as
time has shown, not a JOY forever.
recall now, as l look at her in w0m-
AMY skirts trying to do the drama, how
the sensuous town went mad over her
Pagan magniicence. One well-knOwn
artist offered her an enormous sum to
stand for him as Godiva. Managers saw
fortune in her If she would only play
Mazeppa on horse. w ealthy TOueS and
her hotel door. One of our big clubs in
stalled her as their PaphIan Venus and
wOrshiped her full-leugth photograph.
she sat IN state when not exhibiting her
superb limbs and measured out her smiles
to swarms OF admirers.
1t is difficult to get the town to look at
her now. She opened her engagement at
the Third Avenue Theatre in Tom Taylor's
"Ticket-Of-leave Man." There was a very
slim house OF apathetic people who PROB
ably never heard of her. The name In
big letters. pauline Markham" had no
longer thrill in it. A matronly woman
came on and played in the mos conVen-
tional manner. Here and there in the
parquet were bald-headed men who tried
to fan the fire of the past out of the ashes
of the present. and failed. Markham is
still superb woman in the Pagan sense.
Her very step is like the Roman goddess.
Her bursting figure is the af1uence of vital
femininity. But she can't act. She never
could. Her vocal velvet has lost its pile.
line lost arms" are there and the other
limbs that were never lost, but alas! OF
what use are they in draped melodTamal
If the actresses of New York had a bit
OF moral pluck they would rise up and
call upon Markham to give professional
matinee, and then they would buy and
distribute tickets among all the yOurg
men, so that they might 20 and see once
for all how futile is beauty OF form and
sensuous praise to preserve womSn's
success on the stage.
once heard very beautiful woman
who thought she could act say tc Mr..
Harry Palmer that she Intended to become
a Charlotte Cusbman.
''Then," said the remorseless manager,
''you'll have TO use vitriol on your face
instead of rouge" This was the neatest
mixture of philosophy and compliment l
ever heard. Put into plain English Ii
means that personal beauty is bar to
permanent success.
Dime museum theatricals are gnawing
away the best elements of mslOdrama.
The reduction Of sterling plays to the
cheap and nasty goes steadily on. There
10 Nh. Frederick Paulding, a young man
of great promise, who has been associated
with some of the best productions. He
is playing in the''Sea of Ice"with a woman
named Rose Lisle. A more insufer-
able afflictlOn never encountered. Mr..
Pauldng appears to have sold out his am
bitlOn for 10 cents. Rose Lsle was sent
from Alexandra in saIcOphagus some
years since. She is aromatic and, like all
Egyptian ruins, well preserved. Her act
ing is like the recitation of Plutarch by a
victim of st. Vitus' dance.
NYM CRINKLE.