The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-09-07

not in many seasons has New York city
had such q generally dull and uninterest-
1ngly colorless theatrical opening as the
present one.
The production 10 which attention has
been most forcibly directed is THE Ken
lucky Colonel" which had It's premier at
the Union Square theater. The interest
manifested in this play was as greatly at
tributable to the fact that it waS a dram
stization Of the novel by Opie Read, the
humorist, as to the unusual circumstance
that it was enacted by the nearest ap-
proach to an 'all star" cast that has been
seen in New York for many days. Mckee
Rankin, Frederic Bryton, Mr.. and Mrs.
Sidney Drew, Robert Fischer, Harry C..
Stanley and Clarence H~andysides certainly
ougbt to make a play go If there is any
go in IL, and the fact that 1.-The Kentucky
Colonel dragged along YEARLY is the best
evidence produoible that good actors can
not make a good play out Of q bad one.
IL would be remarkable if there were no
good bits in THE Kentucky Colonel"
There are, but these GASES only serve to
bring into more dazzling prominence the
enormous waste of -platitudinous desert,
and TO emphasize the in~signi6cance of the
puny little rills of Misunderstanding
which trickle through the play babbling
monotonously on their aimless courses.
1.-THE Kentucky Colonel" is either an ar
tistic failure or an inartistic success. Iii is
certainly not a dramatic or a literary gem.
1t lacks something-in fact, most things
and the only well defined impression which
IL leaves upon the auditors senses is the
odor of mint julep or the aroma Of toddy.
The play is unreal, the characters are over
drawn, the comedy lines are forced, the
heavy speeches are blatant, the situations
are stilted and the CURTAINS" are thor
oughly inartistic, while as a character
study the play is an absurdity, the ridicu-
lous dialect attempts contributing con
%spicuously TO this end.
1.-THE Kentucky Colonel" may possibly
be whipped INTO a money winner" but l
seriously doubt il, for there is not sufficient
literary merit to please the occupants OF
the orchestra chairs, enough blood and
thunder TO compel the admiration of the
gallery contingent, or the proper quota of
lOvesick heroics to wiring tears from either
the frequenters OF the back rows OF the
first balcony or the matinee girl.
Two Irish plays have recently been pro
duced in New York city, Killarney" at
the Star theater. with Katie Emmett as
the heorine, and mora Machree" az the
Peoples, with Sadie Seaman as the star.
The concensus of opinion seems TO be that
Killarney is a good play in its way, but
that it doesn't weigh much.
Sadie Scanlan and her play may be
summed up in almost the same words
They will both give satisfaction to those
for whose patronage they cater.
A farce comedy, THE Kid" by Henry
White and Laurent Howard, Of Brooklyn,
seems to have made a distinct bit on the
occasion of its initial presentation in Har-
lem. 1t is Of course merely a humorous
thread containing IA few knots to enable
the stage manager to introduce pretty girls
AND interesting specialties.
Mrs. Godfrey Hawley Chapman, who
was shot and dangerously wounded by
Searvant, the male nurse of her demented
husband, will probably adopt the stage az
q profession. Unlike most beginners who
nave been thrust into prominence by a
series of unfortunate circumstances, and
have drifted thereafter toward the foot
lights, Mrs. Chapman does not expect to
eclipse Clara Morris all at once. In fact,
she does not even claim that she will ever
become q great star. She only declares
that if she has enough dramatic ability to
enable her, with conscientious work and
hard study, to master the dramatic art,
she will some day get to the top of the lad
der. Mrs. Chapman's first public appear
ance will be made at a trial performance
Of a one act play at Proctor's Twenty
third Street theater in the near future.
If she should not come up to her own ex-
pectations on that occasion, it is within
the possibilities that she may then and