St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-25

actor of recognized ability. Should he
get a chance through the Hines
of the principal to play the
part he has underStudied, he may
make a bit that will give him further
opportunity to show his talents. and
after that he may reach the pinnacle of
fame at a bound. This height once at
tanned, anything is possible, even to his
filling the place left vacant by Mr..
Booth. l say that the honor may be
waiting for such a one, but, of course,
the chances are greatly against it. In
all probability, if Mr.~ Booth is to
have a successor, he will be found
among those members Of the
profession who have already reached a
distinguished place. One thing, how
ever, | regard as certain; the leading
American tragedian will not be chosen
by the people from among the group of
t%ragedians whom Mr.. Booth overshad-
owed during his brilliant career. The
prize will fall in some other quarter,
probably to some young man,
who may be regarded as never
having been in the field before.
Most OF our young actors fight
shy OF tragedy, though, and seek rather
to make themselves valuable to man
ayers in those lighter roles which the
prevailing public taste makes most
profitable from the pecuniary point of
view. The fact is, the present day
school of acting is not calculated to de-
velop talents of the tragic order. l
DOM mean by this that the American
stage is without actors we'll fitted
to achieve now as tragedians,
but the conditions hardly exist
now which brought into promi-
hence such men as Forrest, Davenport,
Barrett and Booth. A valid answer to
all this, however, is the trite, but none
the less true, contention that Shakes
peare will never die; and so long as his
plays remain dear to the public, the
possibility always remains that there
may appear some American actor who
will interpret them in a manner to COM
mand international fame. At present.
though, there seems to be no American
actor who can be said to be even
striving for such an object. There
'ho uOWONCLs WhO lhiSi0
we'll enter the lists. and with good proba-
bility of winning success. l would like to
see some of them do it. Richard Mans
field has i'll him the ability to win great
distinction i'll Shakespearean drama.
While 1t would seem we'll nigh impos-
sible for any actor to fill the can
upon the American stage caused by the
death of Booth. Mr.. Mansfield might,
by Identifying himself with tragic roles,
reach a degree of popularity analogous
to that enjoyed for so many years by
Edwin Booth"
Rose Eytinge. who is now retired
from the stage, is devoting herself to
literary work. She said laconically that
most of the present day actors would
have to be born again if they aver sue
ceeded Edwin Booth as the leading
American tragedian. Booth" she
continued, had the heart and soul
OF a great artist. Ee came of
a family of great players. He
could feel as we'll as act, for in his
life he had known what it was to suf-
fer. His life was such that it had de-
yeloped every siae of an intense nature,
and fitted him above all his contempo-
rarles for the faithful portrayal of
human emotions. Where can we find
an actor today of whom these things can
be said? [ don't mean, however, that
our stage does not boast of many excel
lent a~ctors-actors who possess talent.
and even genius, but it seems to me
there is lacking the something which in
an actor tends to kindle the heart of a
nation, and awaken that sentiment felt
by the American people toward Edwin
Booth.
There is a very young actor, as yet
unknown to widespread fame, who, I
think. possesses qualities which may in
time bring him to the forefront of pub
lie attention. He has had the courage.
rarely found nowadays among young
actors, TO begin his career in Shake
sperean drama, in which he has been
e%minently successful from an artistic
standpoint. in the judgment of
those who can season their
criticism with homely reason.
HIS name is Walker Whltesides.
He played a short engagement a year
ago at the Union Square theater. l saw
his performance of Hamlet and it
profoundly impressed me. Some of the
newspaper critics. L believe, made
satirical reference to the similarity of
his methods to those of Edwin
Booth. The intention was to sug-
gest that young Whiteside made
a feeble effort at Imitation
of the great actor. My opinion is
that this was unjust That his Hamlet
was In some respects like that of Booth
is true, but it did lot strike NE that the
resemblance was the result of studied
Imitation, but rather the mark of a
genius all the more to be admired, be-
cause it possessed traits of the kind
which contributed to the greatness of
Booth. That may be called a charitable
criticism, but l do not intend it as such.
At any rate, L believe that young
Whitesides has great talent. / saw him
in other roles. and after zach perform
ance L came away with a higher regard
for his abilities. [ don't wish to be
understood as saying that Walker
Whitesides is destined to he the sue
ceSsor of Edwin Booth as the leading
American tragedian, but, if there are
any aspirants to that distinction, | don't
think his chance for success is by anv
means the smallest"
Louis Aldrich is IL OF the old-time
ACTORS VINO knew Booth before he be-
came famous, and is familiar with the
history OF his career. as well as that of
other American t~ragedians who gained
widespread celebrity. In his opinion
Louis James IS the actor best equipped
10 take first place as the exponent of
ShakeSpearean plays or as an interpreter
of any of the great tragic roles. Louis
James," said Mr.. Aidrich, lis an actor
OF the very flrSt rank. AS a reader of
Shakespeare he is f~orceful, always pict-
uresque. and has a voice full of
resonance, and is never >clamorous.
When he performs a Shakespearean
role he does not seek to startle his
audience with modern meanings and
sensational effects, but plays it
within the safe lines of stage
tradition. That's how Shakespeare
should be played if the genius of the
Bard of Avon is to be enjoyed in Its
best aspect. You can't make q tank