New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-15
rwo PLAYS IN THE EMPIRE THEATRE.

TWO PLAYS IN THE LNI nv
Tho middle of May rarely bcs;ows upon NV
vorrars a dramatic novelty Of especial oP'u'|'
~ 81. substance. In the handsome Emp -
theatre last evening large auilence receive" WIZ"
go will one-ac: dramatic sketch prepared Dy
a. pouc,cault from Bret Harte's quaint ana
oho-ro,nr tale of The Luck of Roaring camp ana
.r,,ad languialy here and thee a. some or INC
..n,., in an Enc,ish farce by Thornton C.aTk ana
Yor,s y Parker entitled "Gudg5ons. !. Is r.
norted in the vicinity OF the Bridge OF signs ana
,nn Dore.s Palace that Charles Fronman WAS COM
nsued by the terms Of a contract 70 put "u'-
eons, on the stage before the close OF this season
o. ha would have los, his rights in the piece, for
It, no was said to have paid a considerable sum.
7, =. No, a. all clear that Mr.. Frohman would no;
have chosen wisely Il he had cas-; the gudseons
h.ck into the murky stream from which he had
N.Asd them up Thornton Clark and Louis Marker
are no, names TO conjure with and Il they nave
reached the lim; Of their ability to interest ana
ar,r.a in this commonplace farce they should Jet
their pens rust and their inkweils run dry In 'he
character Of Persls Harrison the have tired then
n-entice hands at the representation of an Aneri-
can girl Of the Daisy Miller type. But Henry
James's Daisy Miller beWltching with a.! heT
obtruslve faults Miss Persis Harrison is rudey
fippant and far from charmngly coquetush Ihey
are no, entertaining people. these characters ="
'Gudgeons" They are not facile in bright taxi
three acts The story concerns itself with inc
schemes Of an impecunious Engishman. named
James Ffolliott Treherne TO enrich himself pF '"e
fleeing Of an American millionaire, whose rose
garden has amazed him By startling meta
morphosis into d petroleum wei o, almost A"''s-
less capacity. This American millionaire Eo"aFi
r. Harrison has one child. daughter. whom be
prizes above all treasure. For her sake ne rles
to enter the Four Hundred Of Park Lane ana
Belgravia
While the authors coarsey carlcatuie Americans
In highly offensive manner. they arr not more
lenient with the English characters in the farce
They present James Ffolliott Treherne as The most
brutal Of English cads in his treatment Of his meek
and much-enduring wife. Henry Miller took This
part and his acting was 50 extremely realist, that
lola or Ibsen would have been erathei to observe
Il. He was 50 hard-hearted. unfeeling. un-
manly in his conduc. toward the unhappy creature
who had taken his name that those who saw ana
heard him inevitably reminded Of the rcveia-
tons OF certain Infamous divorce trials in Eng
land in which irrefuable proof was given that
British noblemen bearing lofty names - me f.nt-
lish peeragc had been guilty OF beating and KICK
and who had been compelled TO suffer from the
cowardy fe.ocity Of their noble cons)rts.
Cyril Scott pleased the slaencs as the gambler
the restless and ingenious American. slas =. Hoop.
err manager Of tn AnglO-Anerlcan ana Universal
Agency In London. Mr. Scott il one OF me mos.
valuable and versatile actors in the employment OF
tAdrle5 frOnmdn He does many things well. W liz
IAN Faversham fairly acceptable as Reginald
Ftoliott in "Gudgeons" X. H. CrompiOn was un-
fortunate IN that the author had given him slight
ana shallow sketch In the part OF Howard y. Hei-
iilson' the American millionaire Some Eng.shmei
nave a vehement and imDetuGgs c0ntemp; for the
nteNgence Of American audiences. For instance.
VINO put an Engiishman OF The most stOhd and
stupid sort would ever have venured to send over
such traves;y OF company as that which
ceaiIy ootched badly the Gilbert e Sullivan
opera Utopia, Limited" IN the Broadway Theatre?
10 SEND across the Atlantic such a troupe OF
gnuhsiers 70 sing ana TO act in Of the principal
snedfes or the greatest city OF America. the thrG
Sn On the globe, was most reckless and audaciou,
insult 10 American admirers Of fine singing and
good acting That nsul, cost some one certain thou
ssnas Of pounds. for that wrctche1 company drey.
,Ssss.ehed houses. Possibly some ErSlshmen viii
- n IN time that II they wish to make money Out
~ americans Il is nos the most iudciOus course 20
w ia New-York and the United states generally
"..n scorn and contumey
Inc Dill which was set forth In the Empirc Thea.
org .as, night has not convincing promise Of great
stSSy ~ Dro BY Dion Boucicaut's fragmentary
on, oi Bfet Hartes enthraling story is not with
tsssar1s the rising OF the "Gudgeons'' TO the sur
veerp let the work Of Thornton Clark and Louis
more LEI IN ms ahar woaid probably attract
,sslon IN which John Oakhurst was supposed to
ciss ~ ne shufing Of the faro pack with the cXor-
xamIaady NH Just hint in closing 10 Miss Viola
s r.en shd Miss Kitty Cheatham. Their dgessmak-
ss ana mliners did display their most deli
sate discretion in the gowns and hats which the
W. actresses wear IN "Gudgeons" Both young
sV,Ie s nave been seen frequently upon the stage
AZ. oIhes and hats which were much more suit
e''e ana c0mely than those seen last night
Mss COGHLAN IN "FORGET-ME- NOT"
Al the Madison Square Theatre last night Miss
a0se Coshan again seen in one Of the most
similar and popular parts Of her reperiory. that
-. s'ephsnle In "Forset-Me-Not." Her impersona-