The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-26
DIXEY In SEATTLE.
An Interesting Talk With the
Famous Comedian.
HOW he LIKES THE NORTHWEST
Something About His Dramatic Career
snd the Plan or His Piays--wash-
fngton Theaters.

Mr.. Henry z. Dixey, one of Americas most
popular comedians. arrived in Seattle yesterday
afternoon, registering at the Rainier hotel
Though he is over so, his fair, boyish fare and
curly hair makes II . matter Of some difficulty to
guess bis age.
'Ihis IL my first visit to SEATTLE" said he to q
reporter OF the Posr-INTELLIGEScER, but It
will, trust. not be my last. Ny drst trip TO the
Pacific coast was made three years ago, and TO
me 1t seems that there has been the most mar
vellous growth ever witnessed in any country.
At that time It would have been considered the
rssnest sort of business venture for large
company. such a. mine 10, to think Of travelling
tue Portland .Tacoma-Seaiti circuit. But am
just ending 1t, and am glad I came.
OF course, / have read much OF
your wonderful city, aud can frankly confess
that IT has exceeded my expectations. With its
great fire aud its rapid strides since that memoir
able period, why should IL not be called the Chi
cago OF the Northwest?
you wish to know something Of my theatre
cal career? Well, while it has not been quite az
long other theatrical careers. think can
say that II has been fairly successful Very few
peop,e knew who Dixey was un I'll played the
famous hind-leRs Of the heiierin "Eyangeline,"
and as every body seems inclined to date my
histrionic genesis to that period, / suppose /
must acquiesce. That was when was Is years
old. Dick Golden, Old Jed Proufy, was the fore
legs of that same animal / played four 9th ,r
minor parts in the play, including that of the
policeman, and for this work received the mu-
nifcnet sum OF s25 per week.
"Ihat company, BY the way, produced more
stars in the theatrical armament than any
dozen companies. I need only mention the
names Of w. A. Mestayer, Louis Harrison and
Richard Golden to emphasize my statement;
next played the part Of the Lord High Chan
celior in Iolauthe' and then LorenSo in the
Mascot
without saying anything derogatory to
sEvangeline' as q burlesque, the thought was
ever uppermost In my mind that burlesque, of
ali things, was standing still; that its progress
had bsen SO slight as TO be almost unnoticeaDle
1t was confined to the Old attempt at bad
rhyming into which had been injected W rse
puns. In this line burlesque had its only In
dividuality and in this it was distinguished
from the other branches oil the dramatic art
My ideas, when they crystal!ized themselves had
for their cardinal points the total extinction OF
the features have mentioned, and a subssitd-
ton, not alone OF something which was pleas
ing the ear but something which saiuted the
eye and the better sense OF humor as well.
Beautiful scenic effects; lines which did not de-
pend upon puns for their effect and music from
the brains OF the best composers In the country.
"The result was 'Adonis,' and when tell you
s
managers, you will hardly believe me. Still
that is fact. / read the manuscript to a dozen
managers, who, after had finished, would ask
me to classify the play. i. Is DurlesQue,' I
would say, and they would smile and tell me
burlesques were not built that way. However,
1t was produced, and guess some of those man
ayers now believe that they have missed a
fairly good thing give the 3,056th perform
ence tonight at Turner hall, and for me to say
/ bel be MI ia a m sf Q9prp ssf III
one Of the century would, hope, be considered
a pardonable statement
"What about the Seven Ages? That play
il q little more am bilious than 'Adonis' and the
portrayal Of several of the characters notably the
old man, has been. in my opinion, my greatest
promotion since have been a player. had
been casting about for something which would
so 20 make mp repertoire, and jacques ia
nous soliloquy in Shakespeare's AS You Like
It flashed upon me. I collaborated with Will
lam 4. Gill and the result has been most sur
prising one. When you remember that 1 por-
tray, as the title suggests, the seven ages OF
man, and that these include the infant, school
boy, lover, soldier, justice, old man, and the
period bordering upon second childhood, you
viii readily understand that the range is a de-
cidedly wide one for one man. My other play
is called RIP and as have several others on
the stocks the chances are good that my ambi-
ton will be realized to have q repertoire of
about half dozen PLAYS
las for the advance in dramatic art, believe
the greatest strides in stage mechanism and
effects have been made during the past decade
To go into detail would, think, take up too
much Of your space, bu: you will comprehend
me when say that we have kept up with the
advances made In the sister arts and sciences.
But of course the improvements on the
mechanical side are more marked than those in
the strictly artistic. That is, we have brought
all sorts OF stage mechanism to the greatest per-
lection, just you have developed the won
derful periecting printing press, which turns
out 30 many thousand sheets an
hour. But these presses OF yours print nothing
better In their way tnan the delightful essays
that Addison. D ok Steele and the rest gave 20
the world a century or more ego through the
medium of press worked by hand. And so
suppose the old masters of our art, in spite of
their wretched scenery ana poor stage appli-
snces, often reached the human heart quite as
effectually some of our best molern players
There is something of the same analogy In mu.
sic. The clavichord of our grand mothers was a
poor thing compared with the modern piano
and yet the music written by Beethoven still
holds its own. But in qualifying the statement
that an advance has been made, do not under
estimate the worth of stage appliances using
that term in a broad sense TO cover every arti-
fetal help that the actor may have. They give
TO the performances of today a completeness
never before known. a completeness heretofore
impossible. And thus in q high and good sense
our plays are more effective than those of the
past
'As TO the future of the Northwest in theatri.
Cal matters, you know that theatrical managers
are the quickest TO recognize good fields for
ventures, and when You bear in mind that you
being visited by the best companies now
on the road, you can understand the value of
your country from theatrical standpoint If
you tell me that a community patronizes good
shows l will show you people that is intelii-
gent In my opinion it will not be
far In the future when companies will spend
one-hah their time on the Pacific coast AT any
rate have nothing OF which to complain. Nv
manager. Mr.. Warburton, is the youngest man.
sger in the country, and he is as prominently
satisfactory as he is youthful. His father is the
proprietor OF the Philadelphia Telegraph, and
he has seen some service in the newspaper field.
He has surrounded himself with young men as
mis- aides. aud haven't the least fear in saying
that ne will be very successful in his new field !"
Ar. Dixey and his company play "Adonis'
again tonight ana tomorrow morning leave for
Fresno to finish the Calf ornia circuit,