Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-10-05

Rsa%IF MERRY WIVES OF wINDsoR-PAGE's HOUSE
 AND GARTER INN.
 blair" in which Sothern was seen to such excellent advantage. Bonnie Prince Charlie Is said to deal with the adven- turcs of the Young Pretender" in an in- teresting manner, although none of the details of the story has yet been allowed to get beyond the walls of the Lyceun. MT. Sothern is known to be very enthusi- astic over his part in 1t, and he generally knows pretty well what will fit him. It Is bit singular that Mfr. Sothern's only two failures should have come one imme- diately after the other. and at the begin ming too, of his annual season in New York. It is enough to discourage a yeter- an, but the young and plucky star does not appear in the least depressed by this untoward circumstance.
 "A Way to Win a Woman is scarcely worth criticising. The ''hcro," Harry Hal ward, Is e detestahlc rascal who permits his desire to wed a good for nothing. mer- cenary little snip to overcome whatever honesty he may have once had, and he ap- proprintes the fortune which his dear dead friend in Mexico had bequcathed to him in trust for his son. In the end Halward, after dispelling suspicious which have cropped up, tells the whole story himself, having called in most of the important peo- pie of the play. that his long speech may be effective. Then he takes prussic acid- in a glass-and talks to 1t while the "her- oine" (saye the markD sneaks back, whis- pers Harry" and then telling him that she really loves him, and that what he did was all her fault, asks him to marry her and take her away, or something of that kind. As he hugs her just as the curtain falls, 1t is presumed that Harry consented
 Up to the present time Mir. SOthcrn's acting in each new play has been a distinct improvement upon what has gone before, but in the casc>of A Way to Win a WOm- an" he Is seen at his worst. The part is in great measure nn emotional one, and Mir. Sothetn's features adaptable to comedy as they arc, arc unsuited for depicting pro- tractcd grief or remorse. To be brief, he is out of his element, and if he grasps the significance of the character of Harry Hal ward he Is at least not able to portray it. The same may be said of Miss Grace Kim ball us the "hcroine," Madge Carruthers- This lady, not oyerstrong in comedy, is almost ridiculous in the serious work de- manded by the leading female role of "A Way to Win q Woman" Mir. SOthern's supporting people were fairly good, but none of them seemed quite at home in Jerome's misflt play, of which, strange to say, the third act Is the only one possessed of the slightest merit.
 Still another failure to be recordedl For | tho nonce that sterling comedian. William | H. Crane, has abandoned the lighter mod | ern roles in which he is without a peer and Is appearing nightly at the Star thea ter as Falstaff in Shakespcare's Merry Wives of Windsor" The production has been made on an elaborate scale, and Man. aecr Joseph Brooks has evidently spent money liberally in providing his star with thoroughly appropriate surroundings in the way of scenery, properties, extra peo- | pie and other accessories. The company. | too is an excellent one, SO that Mir. Crnnc's | first appearance Lcfore n New York audi | ence as the fat knight was certainly made | under tho most suspicious circumstances | But the star, funny though he be iRth | line of work in which his reputation has | been earned, is unable to make Falstaff appear humorous He reads the lines in faultlcss manner, tho business Is carried | out carefully according tO the best author | itics, the obesity and the peculiar strut | arc all there, but the unction, the oily jol- lity and the unequivocal and omniprescnt complaccncy were lacking. The audiences. l too, hayc not been as largo as usual dur | ing Cranes annual engagement at the | Star The hrSt bits of work contributed by the excellent supporting company were the Master Page of Boyd Putnam. which l was q mastCrly impcrsOnation of not | commanding role. and the Mistress Ford | of Miss Ffolliott Pagct. which was always carefully poised between earncstness and merrimcnt.
 And now for the third failure of sin
 gle week, Lem Kettle is the title of tho play, the author of which Is Henry Guy Carleton, the brilliant writer who gave us The Butterflies, "''The Gildcd Fool" '.Yo Earlie Trouble" and The 1ion's Mouth" The star Is Tim Mur-
 phy, whose remarkably clever work as
 Maverick B-ander in Charles H hoyt $ A Texas Steer won for him some of
 the most complimentary criticisms have
 ever seen siyen to character of that sort
 1t is said that Mi CaristOn wrote Lem
 Kettle" to fit Mir. Murphy. but that seems
 scarcely possible in view of the fact that
 he has not succeeded in getting anything
 like the measure of the new star, who Is
 accordingly handicapped with a part with
 which he Is unfitted to cope Besides the
 story or the pay IS an absurd hodge poIe. | about an inventive country lOut who seem:
 to think that money Is certain to follow | III the Whke Ol HIS IuANilN- -tA4a iN
 in the play. The piece is awkwardly con
 structcd as though il had been slammed
 together inside of q month Most of thu
 characters and their hcts and wOrds nr'
 illogical and absurd Tim Murphy, witt
 a vehicle suited to his peculiar abilities | ought to succeed as star, for he Is une
 qualed in his particular line but in Len
 Kettle" I really don't see how he can pos
 sibly avoid failure.
 hear that dainty little Marie Tempest
 the Dresden China" prima donna, il
 having a comic opera written for her, ana
 that at the cluse of her present contrac
 with George Edwardes of London she will
 return to this country as u star at the hcaC of her own company. ft is stated on th'
 authority of the same gossip that Mis-
 Tempest will play a male part, not ap | bearing in female attire at all. She will
 have no manager. except one employed bI
 herself on salary. The librctto Is to b'
 written by an American and the music b!
 we'll known Londoncr, said to be Ed
 ward Solomon, Lillian Russells secOn'
 husband. She will only appear In New
 York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore
 Boston, Brooklyn, St. Louis and Cincin | nati during tho first season. The mone. for the venture will come from the othe
 side of the water, and a magnificent pro duction is promised. This may all b true, but 1t may be a Rialto vaporing. A II any rafa tho plan if carried out otlyht ta