The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-07
BIG HITS IN GOTHAM
ONLY TWO DRAMATIC FAILURES OUT
OF A SCORE OF SUCCESSES.
Comic Opera Stars Fairly Hog the
Crowds-New Fortune I'm "Shenan-
doah--LocaI Bills This Week.
Special to the indianapolis journal.

01G0
NEW YORK, Oct. 5.-The regular the
atrical season in the metropolis is under
way, and, as the racing men say, running
steady under a pull. There have been only
two failures thus far in New York, al
though all the frst-class theaters have
been open for periods ranging from four to
six weeks. That is to say, there have been
only two absolute and unmistakable fail
ures. There have been a couple OF sue
cesses Of the half-ani-half sort, but the
record in the main is quite remarkable.
The two failures are New Blood" by Au-
gustus Thomas. at Palmer's Theater. and
Lem Kettle" at the Bijou. OF New
Blood" a great deal was expected. partly
by reason OF its having come from the pen
of so skilled and brilliant a writer as Mr..
Thomas. and partly because it had been
heralded from Chicago, where it was
originally produced. as a big and striking
theatrical composition. 1t is considered
amazing that anything at all in the shape
of a play produced at such a popular the
alter as Mr.. Palmer's should not draw
large audiences. Mr.. Palmer. who started
off his season with an enthusiastic states
ment that he was going to produce Amer
lean plays in rapid succession, has preclpi-
lately Withdrawn from that attitude, and
Miss Olga Nethersole. a British actress.
who is called by her admirers 1.-The English
~Bernhardt," is TO be the next attraction
on this stage. in a London melodrama
called 1.-THE Transgressor." Miss Neither
sole visits the United States under the
management of Marcus r. Mayer, but her
plays will be produced under the direct
supervision of Augustin DAILY. 1t is
shrewdly suspected hat if Miss Nethersole
fnIGlIc o4f1n. Al, fhn rnnffof- NJ n
curing popularity in this country she will
become a permanent fixture in Mr.. Days
rapidly-increasing force.
Across the street from Palmer's ,Theater;
at the Bijou, Mr.. Tim Murphy has had
hard luck with a play particularly written
for him by Henry Guy Carleton, under the
title. Lem Kettle Mr.. Carleton has sur
prised his friends and many admirers by
the very poor quality of the work he has
given Mr.. Murphy to do. 1t mad been be-
lieved that a man who had turned out such
Drew ought to be able to furnish about
the right kind of a comedy for the use of
so skilled a player as Mr.. Murphy. But II
Lem Kettle" had been written in three
days time it could scarcely have been
more crude and unsatisfactory Mr.. j.
Wesley Rosenquest, the manager OF the
Bijou and Fourteenth-stree theaters, who
is not one of those theatrical men to whom
1t appears to be good policy to habitually
~eXaggerate receipts, told me frankly last
night that Lem Kettle was a failure,
and was doing no business to speak of.
"JERRUM" JEROME'S PLAY.
Jerome ]. Jerome's new comedy called
"a Way TO VIII a Woman produced one
night last week at the Lyceum by Mr..
Sothern. does not seem to have awakened
a very profound degree of enthusiasm. Mr..
Jerome is one OF those British ~litterateurs
who finds an occult sort of satisfaction in
the affectation which his double-ender
name indicates. He spells il Jerome J.
Jerome, and pronounces it "Jerrum'' Jer-
ONE. He has written a lot Of very bright
sketches for the comic papers devoted to
showing up the unreality Of stage plays
and stage representations. Having thus
demonstrated that everything unreal about
the theater is absurd. he gives us a play
OF his W vastly more preposterous than
any of the old-fashioned things he has
so humorously poked fun at. He tries to
make a heroine of a young woman who
won't marry the man she loves because
he hasn't $4,000 a year on which to sup
pr0priate a trust fund In order to get
money enough to marry. In the end, when
the hero is found out, he magnanimOuSly
confesses, and the heroine concludes that
she didn't want SIS, 900 a year anyhow.
This is the main thread of lie story, many
or the incidents of which are utterly and
ridiculously improbable. For his travelling
season Mr.. Sothern will probably rely princi-
pally on Paul PotterS play, The Victoria
Cross" which is a great deal better piece
lldn Ills ldlcSl COnlIlOUSlOn 10 cOllcLnpO-
raneous dramatic literature.
The town is full OF comic opera, and all
the big musical productions are doing a
large business. Della Fox, in THE Little
Trooper" De Wolf Hopper, in DIR. SYM
tax" and Francis Wilson, in 18th Devils
Deputy are all playing on Broadway.
and all three of the theaters in which they
are appearing are packed and damned with
people at every performance. Miss Fox's
success was the most instantaneous and
convincing of the lot. She had met with
almost countless difficulties prior to her
first performance, but with rare courag re
and nerve she chung TO her original design
and made a literally tremendous hit. Her
houses have been the largest ever contin-
uously known in the Casino, and those who
are best informed regarding her receipts
and expenses calculate that she will clear
on her winter season. barring any serious
disaster, not less than S60,OV-a pretty good
profit for a hitherto untried attraction. Mr..
Hopper has this season tried the expert
ment Of giving us a feminine chorus in long
skirts in place of the usual tights and
shapes" of comic opera, and the result is
pleasing, inasmuch as it shows that this
kind of entertainment can be attractive to
the general public without the exhibition
of the female form divine" Mr.. Hopper
himself has made a great personal success,
and the present season promises TO be about
the most prosperous he has ever had. Mr.,
Wilson, at Abbey's. started out with the
rather perilous undertaking of charging s.
a seat, but the result has shown that when
metropolitan ~playgoerS really want a GER
tain entertainment they are quite willing &c
pay handsomely for IL. The Devils Dep
uty' is a success of the strongest descrip-
ton. and Ii will fully restore Mr.. Wilson
to the position OF one of the most potent
theatrical attractions in America.
THE GAIETY GIRL
At Days Theater the English burlesque
company playing "A Gaiety Girl' is draw
ing most wonderful houses. The theater
has been literally damned at every repre-
sentation of this exceptionally bright and
lively work. which has just sufficient
naughtiness in 1t TO whet the public appe
tite TO its keenest edge. The younger gen
GRAFTON of rich New Workers are half DAFT
| over the pretty girls of this company, and
have not "tumbled' yet to the fact thar
almost the entire feminine chorus was re.
cruited by Mr.. Daily here in New York
BY the careful cultivation OF the British
accent, these smart American lassies have
succeeded in "stringing'' the moneyec
| youngsters OF Manhattan island into believ
ing they were 'furriners."
| John Drew has a great success at the
Empire Theater, where. in The Baubl.
Shop" he is playing the first serious char
| acter of his career as a star. The personagt
l. he depicts is a member of Parliament whC
has been a good deal Of a rounder, anC
who pulls up in time TO save himself from
the odilim OF having wronSed a young CIR
who trusts him. The public taste is, appar
emily. in just the condition to accept a her.
Mr.. Drew has simply torn the town oper
in consequence II rad hoap in+a,doa l..