The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-16
A LETTER FROM MR.. kendall.

Mrs. Kendall and 1 have come to this
country in the belief that, perhaps. Amer
leans would like to see how we do in Eng
land some of the plays with which they
have been familiar here, so our repertoire
will contain such pieces as "a Scrap of
Paper" ''The Ironmaster," Impulse"
The Queens Shilling" and "The Ladies'
Bottle" with all of which the
American people are acquainted.
1t remains to be seen how
the scheme will be accepted, but we depend
upon and expect much from the Intelligence
and generosity of the audiences, of which
we have heard SO much from our fellow
countrymen who have visited these shores.
Tnen, again, the evidently great prosperity
OF the drama at the. present time would
seem to indicate that there might be some
share of it for u.s.
And this prosperity is not alone extant
here, but in England as we'll. 1t seems
almest remarkable that this should be SO,
considering the largely increased number of
theaters. Twenty years ago, when l en-
tered the Haymarket company, theaters
were comparatively few and far between.
The Haymarket was devoted to comedy,
the Adelphi to drama, the Princess to
Shakespeare, and afterward to spectacle,
and Covent Garden and Drury Lane to
opera. The lines then were more closely
tell precisely the class of entertainment you
We're to see by the name Of the theater at
which it was given.
ana how different were the programmes
at that time. Then there we're always from
three to four pieces played in one night,
commencing with LeUe du rideau, and con-
tlnulng with drama, a ballet or pan
tGmlme, and ending with farce somewhere
ABOUT midnight. Those were not the times
4
every penny of his salary. Now there are
no less than twenty-five theaters in London,
ana long runs are the rule rather than the
exception, and nearly all of these theaters
are oolng remunerative and many of them
highly profitable business.
VI course, our theatrical seasons are diff
lerent In London than in the American
cues, and the cream of the business is dur
lng the summer when parliament is in
sessloh ana society is in full swing. During
Snis period of the year the old custom of the
teoe du rtdedu is generally revived SO that
vne Ptece de resistance of the evening is not
reached until nearly 9 o'clock, thus afford
tng ample time for dinner parties to reach
tue theater before the real inter est of the
evening begins. To be sure, this makes the
performance last until a late hour, but the
PEG lie do lot seem to mind that SO long as
you Keep them well entertained.
NpeaRlug or old comedy revivals, we
nave had some notable ones in London of
iate years. One that will long be remem-
pered Is that of the "School for Scandal
9y the Bancrofts, at the Prince of Wales
.ueater, where the comedy had run of
nearly 2OO nights and was afterwards re-
vlVed at the Vaudeville with almost equal
success, while the Prince of Wales scored
a az great triumph in the revival
VI bulwer's Money" In all these modern
teVIVals or the old comedies il has ap-
peared 10 me, however, that there has been
trlle TOO much attention paid to mise en-
S oo.i 10 The comparative neglect of the
actlhg. The interims were as perfect as
though they were the actual thing, not
Pece OF furniture, a picture, drapery or
hanging that was not historically correct,
anu 80, TOO, with the costumes. They were
aiHsoiute reproductions Of the period of the
pay All this evidently caught the public
taIcV, Tor the public paid literally TO see it.
AN, ana, fpea ing OF London audiences, let
,io lay that when you are once t.seir friend
Jou are their friend forever; but, with the
uS british instinct, friendships are not
lAle hurFiedly. As a case Ia point. take
~ appearance o. Mr.. Days company at
- palstY Ibeater. The ening piece
vas the ''hailroad Of Love- The audience
~ "'Llea the ability Of the company, but
80 klnd u humfr displayed Ia the
bs1sy was something 10 which they
80 ny hsop hecustqnird, and the result
was comparative failure Then caino The