Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-24
NEW YORK GOSSIP.
A Letter From the Great
City.
News Notes About Theaters
and Actors.
Interesting Professional Gossip from
London.
Good Times for Managers-Ada Rehan
to Star-Theatricals In London.
The American Goose Tired
of Being PIucked.

NEW YORK, January 10, lS92.-Every
theatrical manager in this big town is
happy over the prospect OF good bust
ness. The dull times that preceded the
holidays are over. This state of affairs
is not confined to this locality, however,
for managers from all over the country
write to me that business is "picking
up."
OF course, there are exceptions to
every rule, and this holds good now in
one or two cases. For instance, the
season of Italian opera at the Metropol-
itan opera house is not success. Once
before in the same house Manager Abbey
lost over quarter of million dollars
for his hackers, and it looks as though
the same thing would happen now. for
the big barn-like Metropolitan has only
held one large-sized audience-on the
opening night.
Funny, isn't it, how New York has
tired of Italian opera? There is good
reason, however, when we consider that
it costs $6 to take your best girl to the
opera, not counting carriage hire, etc.
For 50 or So at most you can take the
lady to see the best drama or comedy on
the stage, interpreted by the best actors
of the day.
High priced singers have had their
day. Why, tenor like Jean de Reske
receives more money for singing once
than many star actor receives in a
week.
FOREIGN ARTISTS NOT IN FAVOR.
By-the-by, the foreign artists are not
plucking the American goose as easily
as they did few years ago. Even the
great Bernhardt, who is, undoubtedly,
the best tragic actress now living, is not
securing as many dollars of the realm as
she thought she would. Her season in
New York was not eminently satisfac-
tory, and Sarah went away with poor
idea of the culture of New York.
Why should people pay double price
to listen to an actress who talks in a
language few of them understand? Most
theater-goers prefer to pay less and see
some OF our American tragic actresses.
We have quartette that is hard to
equal. Mather, Marlowe, Gale and
Wainwright can give us tragic acting in
good, old-fashioned English that is suf-
ficient to satisfy even the most critical
auditor.
Really, the natives appear to be in the
ascendant. And this is true OF the
dramatists. There are more plays by
American authors on the stage today
than ever before in the history of the
drama in this country. Bronson How
ard, William Gillette, Henry De Mile,
Martha Morton and number of others
are well represented. Next in order
will be plays on strictly American
fhor,,oo tuyr Of NH ic1, ho;pn,
hearsed.
HOME FOR COMIC OPERA.
Before another year rolls around we
will have comic opera presented in a
home of it's own. BY comic opera 1 do
not mean that conglomeration of horse
play, old jokes and few catchy airs,
including topical song. That, to be
sure, is the present accepted idea of
comic opera. But the comic opera |
spt ak OF means such works as The
Merry War and like ilk, sung by artists,
not butchers OF melody. Some of the
cultured people of this city have already
taken steps to raise a fund for this
object, and the scheme will soon be
fully matured.
So there will be two new opera houses
in this city next season--the home OF
comic opera, and the new house to be
built by Manager Hammerstein. New
York is music-loving city, as is evi-
denced by the success attending the
Casino, where Nanon has just been re-
vived, and by the business being done
at the Garden theater, where La Cigale
has won triumph. Then the Sunday
concerts by Damrosch, and those by
Seidl are always we'll attended. Pretty
socn, SO hear, Gilmore will start in.
and If he does his success is assured, for
the genial Patrick s. has host of fol-
lowers, and, as he always produces
popular music, he is sure of crowded
houses.
FAILURES AND SUCCESSES.
The first half of the present season
saw number of successes, but as l look
oyer the list of new productions in this
town, l notice many failures. The So
iicitor, with Dlxey as the star, at Herr
mans; The Khedive and Beautiful Star,
at Niblo's; The Black Masque, at the
Union Square; Pauline Blanchard and
La Dame de Challant, at the Standard
Letterblair, at the Lyceum, and the
Meininger Troupe, at the ThaIia, were
the most prominent failures.
On the other hand, The Man with
Hundred Heads, The Better Part,
Thermidor, Dorothy's Dilema, The Dane
ing Girl, Lady Bonntiful. The Cadi, The
Struggle of Life, have all achieved sue
cess.
ADA RBHAN TO STAR.
The latest actress who desires to be a
star is Miss Ada Rehan, of Daly's conf
pany. While the lady does not admit
the factor, rather is non-committal-
/ have it on good authority that she is
endeavoring to perfect plans to that end.
Miss Rehan is pretty well known in this
country; she has appeared with the
DAILY company in all the principal cities.
Besides, she has appeared in England,
France and Germany. No actress on
the stage ever built up a reputation on
less merit as an artist than Miss Rehan.
Her nasal ntonations, and her "same-
ness"--so to speak-in all that she does,
are not calculated to raise her in the
esteem of the critics.
Taken in Daly's theater, surrounded
by people who have far better claims to