Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-06

motor has to-day in getting new plays to suit
him is illustrated in Mr. ManteE's accept
Ance Of Edward NJ Allfriend's The Louisi-
Rnian," which he played at the BUou on
Friday night. Nc doubt Mr.. Manteli chose
this drama from among many offered him,
end how bad they must have been it makes
one shiver to think Of "The Louisianian"
might have been expected 10 be a picture or
life in Louisiana at q most interesting time,
for though the play is vaguely dated ''time
Of the First Empire" judge that th7 period
Immediately succeeding Louisiana's sals to
the United States, that is, after 1903, is
meant for an American Governor of Louisi.
ana appears in the first act of the play. The
play has no historical value, and local
color Is absolutely wanting; the whole story
might have been placed in any other coun-
trv with mere change of names and
scenes. When the construction OF the play
Is considered The Louisianian" appears to
no better advantage. The first act Is mostly
talk prologue in fact. The second act
takes 4 jump from Louisiana to Paris, and
the conventional masqued ball is lugged in.
In spite OF the great difficulties besettinf
ocean travel n hundred years ago moso OF
the IOuisiaGidns male and felnal%, have
crossed the Atlantic and meet in this bali
room. Naturally duel scene succeeds this,
though how the duel forwards the story OF
the play, or what its rGiSon d ,etre, is beyond
my comprehension
The story of "The Louisianian" is, as far
as 1 can make out, this: Louis 81. Arn,oild is Il
Creole of distinguished family. He has been
having wild time in Paris and returns
home at the commencement of the play.
There he reEews his suit for Ruth Claiborne
hand and is accepted, though his parents
object to the match because she is the
daughter of an American, and her parents
because he is a Creole OF unsteady habits
They are renewing their engagement when
first old armand arrives and disinherits his
son for disoOedience, ana then to cllnch
matters a mysterious French Countess
LDUiS returns to France and en-
ters the French service He meets
Ruth at masked ball, where
that discreet Young person is found unchap-
erOned. 4 former suitor of Ruti,S IN the
English navy discovers them billing ana
cOoinE and insults Louis. Then follows an |
elaborate duel with pistols consuming a !
whole act. Louis is wounded; the audience |
Is led to believe fatally. But Louis Is tough /
and survives 10 meet the mysterious count
ess, who claims TO be his wife, in his apart-
ments. She tries to witch him with her
beauty, ana after letting down her beautl-
fuI hair and crawlin" about the floor on her 4
knees to no purpose. attempts to scare HIM |
with threats. A police officer overhears her |
bCaSttul con IeSSIon of how she has plotted |
10 get L0tty' money, and arrests ner. but she |
staDs herselftO the heart. Then LOUIS re-
turns to America and marries the vlrtuous
Ruth. This wonderfully new and original |
story il worked ont without any regard |
for probabilities. and there is not line OF
natural dialogue IN the play. 1t Is all Dlonot- |
OnOuslV stupid: and even act ", which is
supposed to be thrilling, only succeeds IN
eingfunpleasart. 1t is acted badly by the !
whole company, excepting perhaps Miss
JeI<1e Busley, who put some tender sensi-
bgAIy into the character Of Ruth. Mr.. Man
tel was unusually monotonous, and ap-
pcaTed TO have great difficulty in pumping J
out his emotion, which never got beyond the
vocal Perhaps the taking OF and putting !
on a variety OF gorgeous clothes, together
with the heaviress OF the play, exhausted
his energies. Miss Behreus tried very hard
TO make tho mysterious French countess in
teresting-it was too huge a task for her or
any woman. The rest of the performance
was bad.
The little curtain-raiser, ga Lesson in |
Acting as has already been said in THE
DIsPATCH, is cleverly written and Mr.. Man. |
tell aud Miss Busley did justice to their |
share in ii. The story briefly is this: |
EGsIrice LdSarge of the Comedie Franchise, |
has wife fifteen years his junior. She is |
enticed away by an enemy OF her husbands
who pretenGs to be her lover. Maurice re- |
turns home, and a stage-sUruck youth calls |
upon him for aid in climbing the Thespian |
ladder. Maurice, to show him practically in |
what good acting consists, enacts a little |
domestic drama. Suppose" says he, 'your |
wife has deserted you and you find |
note on your return home an
would express Your emotion on the STAGE /
The sta-C-struck lad tries and fails, of |
course. Then Maurice undertakes to show |
LlIl how EuCn scene should be acted. But !
Maurice picks up the letter which his wife |
had left TO tel him OF her elopement; and as |
he begins to read it the acting becomes |
reality. 1t is q neat idea, and Mr. Mantell |
was very successful in distinguishing the |
actor from the man, as well as in the broader |
work of bringing out the pathos of the cpl |
Eode. The boy looks on In wonder at the |
ore = 81 he lie
in his art, and the curtain tails as the dis |
tracted husband swoons away.
There is not much to be added to what |
has already been said about "The Senator"
as a performance it is on the whole q work
OF art Nj. Crane is not the whole show, to
use slang phrase, and as far Pitts
burg audiences are concerned, Miss Hattie |
Russell, as that altogether charrnin big
widow NrS. Hilary, by her unique vivacity
and earEestness shared the honors of ap-
plause with the star. Mir. Frawley's sub
dued and phlegmatic lieutenant is also a
Ia king departure from the common, and one
might so on and praise almost every person
iu the cast. Miss Stuart and Mr.. Leslie are
missed, and the gentleman who takes the
latter's place is out of his element: though
what is element l cannot pretend to say.
Mr.. Crane viii be fortunate If he retains
Miss Russell
The scenery in ''Amy Robsart" is quite
out Of the ordinary, as the stage hands at
the Grand Opera House know to their cost.
1t is the heaviest and the loftiest lot of stuff
set upon a local stage this season. In the
last act Of Amy Eobsart' the Grand Opera
House stage, big as it Is, was packed with
set pieces, drops and wings from the first
TO tkp back wall.
Miss W ainwright is frittering away yalua-
hle time on such things as the unsubstantiaI
character OF -Anly RO6S0Tt, and while We can
even in the pictorial mazes of this romantic
melodrama distinguish her beauty as a
woman and her abilities as an actress, it must
be the hope and desire of her admirers that
she viii return to the higher walks of the
drama Which she so much adorned. From
I'i9LZ and Roydliad to Sir Walter Scott's Amy
HrtsaJT, filtered through cheapl y-ninded
dramatist, Is a long descent and l hope for
one thas Miss Wainwright will retrace her
steps.
Romantic actors who want to retain their
standing as something superior to their
rnelodramatic brethren, must keep good
company. 1t is in the artistic and not the |
moral sense that this is meant: a star of such
preteasions as Mr.. Mantell cannot afford to |
ravel with a support so weak as that which
made great many who visited the Bijou
last week very, very tired. 1t is not square
deal with the public: and if Mr. Mantel is
tain to consider il Selfishly, 1t is bad busi-
ness policy. The more unwise is it in 5heac-
Tor who cannot expect to long avoid the
penalties of increasing years, corpulence
md q loss OF youthful looks.
Harry Davis Museum.
Linus, the horse for which 100000 was re-
fused lately, is to be at Harry Davis Fifth
Avenue Museum this week. This magnifi-
,ent animal has been on exhibition in most
1f the principal cities of the country, in
,luding New York, and has created a. tre-.