The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-05
NEW YoRK,s SOCIETY rHEATER.
a Brief Account of the Way 1t Came
to be Built.

a Brief Account of the Way 1t Came
to be Built.
New YORK, March 3.-The long talked
of society theater for the exclusive use Of
amateurs, was opened Feb. 20. In April
last the attention of DIR. John S. White, of
! the Berkeley School, Hon. Chauncey NJ.
Depew, Hon. Joseph II. Choate and other
prominent New Workers, interested in edu-
! cational matters, was called to the need
that existed of a more centrally located club
! for physical development and for a drill
! room for the younger generation preparing
| for the leading universities, and it was de-
cided TO form corporation partly for this
! purpose and partly to give TO that large
class of literary aspirants for theatrical
! honors on the unprofessional stage an ade-
| quate stage and auditorium for their exclu-
! sive use
! The general design of the building com
! prises two stories of about 80 feet each in
| height, the entire upper story being occupied
| by vast gymnasium room and the lower
! half divided on the front with a floor,
giving mezzaline story under the gymna-
SUM. The rear half of the first story is
entirely devoted to the theater or assembly
room, which has seating capacity of
upwards of 500, or about equal to that of
the Madison Square Tbeater.
The proscenIum opening of the stage is
]
about the same as the Madison Square aud
the Lyceum Theaters, and surrounded with
a handsome glazed work i'll papier mache,
and decorated above with allegorical fig
| ure, in frescoe.
i The walls of the theater are decorated in
blue and gold, raised lace pattern in flock
of gold on "A basis of blue being carried also
throughout the decorations of the ceiling.
There are sixteen shafts for ventilation,
arranged in such a way that the lights of
the room act as a means of greater ventila-
ton, so that the room has two or three
times the means Of ventilation ordinarily
necessary.
The admission fee to the Athletic Club is
$40, the annual dues $50, and one great at
traction which does not exist in toe case of
any similar club is the fact that there are
no dues whatever to the members for balls,
for bowling, or any other Of the privileges
of the building, and as the members Of tue
club have private rooms, library, reception
room, locker rooms and private staircase
from the basement to the gymnasium floor,
the rental of the theater or music room for
any purpose whatever cannot interfere
with members privileges.
A grand carnival, for which unprece-
dentedly lavish preparations are being made
will be given i'll this little theater Easter
week, Lent being devoted to the necessary
rehearsals. 1t is presumably holy and alto
gether innocuous to rehearse theatricals in
the penitential season, however reprehensi-
BILE it may be to give actual performances.
This new idea of the matter is at all
events wonderfully convenient to the
society aspirants engaged in this enterprise.
The carnival, which is to continue for an
entire week, comprises series of
the most ambitious selections, lnclud-
ing no less than four standard plays: LAS
You Like It." by Shakespeare; Broken
III
w. S. Gilbert; and "Still Waters Run
Deep" by Tom Taylor. These will be given
under the direction of Mr.. F. f. Mackay e.
the great New York character and stage
instructor, and the casts will enlist an ex-
ceptionally powerful representation of the
young society who affect theatricals in New
York. In fact three generations Of anna
teur PLAYERS will be represented in the casts
of the plays to be produced
Mr.. John H. Bird, the Nestor of the
Metropolitan sstage, returns for the nonce
to give his familiar and sterling perform
ance of John Wildmay," in "Still Waters
Run Deep" Mr.. Edward Fales Coward, al
though young i'll years, but himself almost
a Ne'tor in experience, will come forward
as Orlando" for the first time in Gas You
Like It," while the youthful but talented
Robert Lee Morrell, the leading man of the
younger theatrical contingent of the Column
bia Cuuege Dramatic club, not yet
out of his teens, will assume the
test low comedy Shakesperian role,
"Touchstone," in GAS You Like IT. The
female parts will be played, it is antici-
pated, by Miss Elsie DeWolf, whose speciality
is in high comedy parts; Miss Alice Law
renee, whose great versatility compasses
several distinct lines of business: Mrs.
| Clarence Postly, talented soubrette
actress; Miss Ada Webster Ward, gifted
! character and comedy actress; Miss Belle
| Dewitt, new ingenue, and others more or
| less well known.
New scenery, costing among the thou
| sands, will s9e the light for the first time on
Easter Monday, when the carnival which
is to set tue seal of the public's approval of
the new house. will open with Still Waters
Run Deep" t.. -...
The musical features will also be impor-
tant. Nine. Giula Valda, the prima donna,
Herr Rafael Joseffy and Alexander Lam
bert the pianists, will cooperate in the
programmes, and another new musical
prodigy Teresa Carreno Tagliapietra the
4-year-old daughter of those great artists,
Mime. Carreno the pianist, and Sig. Taglia-
PETRA the baritone, will make her first pub
lie appearance.
A novel feature will be a competitive
tournament of amateur composers. Prizes
will be awarded for the best overture, the
best dance noreedu, and the best entire act
number by an amateur composer, by a com
mttee, of which Mr.. Walter Damrosel. of
the Metropolitan Opera House, will be the
chairman.
The competition for prizes will be suited
to amateurs who have never published any
of their compositions. The novelty of the
idea will uuquestionably create sensation
in musical circles. DAVID WECHsLER
AUGUSTA SOCIETY.
Interest Divided Between Kirmiss and