The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-04-15
O'NEILL ON SEATTLE.
The Well-known Actor Visits 1t
After Five Years Absence.
A RETURN TO THE LEGITIMATE.


air. James - Neal 10 TO. only very sue
cessful actor, bat shrewd business man
and close observer Of men and events as
the result Of constant travel This makes
him an intelligent and interesting COM
panson with . fund of ready Information
and power OF impartlng it that charms
his listenera A representative of the
PosT-isTrLIr6EscKR found him in his
dressing room AZ the Seattle sheater last
evening. where he vas sgreesbly enter
tanned during waits for half an hour.
Seattle appeared TO be Mr.. o'Seiirs theme
and he said:
Il was last In Seattle FIVE years ago.
right after the grea. fire. when everything
was in q chaotic condition. The little
city then seemed TO Do hemmed in on all
sides by dense forests, while the many
beautiful hills between the bay and Lake
Washington we're apparently az impene-
trable wilderness which no one then
dreamed would be populated in SO short
time. found Seattle q. that time, how
ever. perfect bee hive of industry with
the most active, sanguins and enterprising
set OF business men I ever came across ia
all my experience. Croakers. Of course.
were plentiful, whose business IL seemed
70 be to belittle Seattle and praise other
cities. hnt the people here only laughed at
them and kept right on digging.
Money was proiuse and l played in the
old Turner's hall on Jefferson street one
OF the most profitable engagements of that
season. l went away wonderfully i'm
pressed with the place and its progressive
people: in fact. their enthusiasm was so
contagious that had l not shortly before
that invested all my available capital in
California. near Los Angeles, / should GER
tainly have bought Seattle property, and
Of course you can readily understand that
l have many times regretted since that
did not do it.
'.Of course / knew since then that your
city had grown, but l was not prepared
for the surprise that greeted my eyes on
landing here Thursday afternoon. The
change was . transformation scene to my
vision that could hardly credit as the re-
suit OF Eve years work. and In fact have
not done wondering yet, for great is Seat
tie"
The interview was then turned to the
dramatic profession.
II never like to talk shop" said Mr.
O'NeiA when asked for an opinion reIa-
tive to his profession. .sTheaters, you
know, are like stores and have 10 cater to
public taste. and the dramatic bill of fare
dishsd up by managers in the last twenty
i've years clearly shows how varied those
tastes have been. The legitimate drama
lost its grip on the general public twenty
five years ago and since then farce
comedy. comic operas and sensational
plays have in measure satiated the de-
maud. and believe there is today an un-
mistakable tendency toward return to
the legitimate; unfortunately, the very
light character of the plays that have
been before the pubic so long has not
tended to create great actors. so that the
very few who have remained faithful to the
legitimate school will, think, now reap
the reward ef their perseverance. l find
this taste for the classical especially
strong throughout this Western country,
where the legitimate takes better than IL
does in the East, fact which can only
attribute to the greater percentages of in-
teliigent people to 10 found here as com.
pared with the slower and more settled
Eastern states. where push and energy are
not ever day requisite TO success. dis
covered this to be specially so since have
added 'Virginius' to my repertoire and
the success l have met in the part has
been so very marked that have about de-
cided TO enter the legitimate field and pre-
sent exclusively such dramas and charac-
ters rs have been made famous by actors
like Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth, John
Mccullough and others of like sterling
qualities.
II have always had a leaning toward
Shakespeare. and one of my earliest sue
cesses was as Romeo to Adelaide Nelson's
Juliet, and that brilliant but eccentric
woman created joke at my expense,
though paying me compliment, that
shall never cease to appreciate. 1t was
while she was in New York. and some me
asked her who was the best Romeo she
had had 10 support her Juliet. Miss Nell
son. after thinking awhile. said:
The best and most graceful Ro meo
ever had to play Juliet to was a little
freshman in Chicago. but can't recall his
name. Oh yes il vas James oNeilI.'
THAT phrase, the little Irishman,' stuck
TO me for many years.
James ONeiil sprang into . national
reputation by representing the chief
fgure in the Passion Play" about ten
ears ago. 1t was produced in San Fran
cisco. but was stopped by the authorities.
salmi Morse. who adapted i. 10 the stage
from the famous representation in Ober-
Ammefgau. then took il to New York and
spent large sum Of money In its prepa-
ration. but public sentiment proved too
strong. and 1t Was never produced. Saint
Morse became respondent and flung him.
self into the Hudson river, where his
body Was afterwsrd found. James
0'Neill's delicate presentation of the Sa-
viouT was exceedingly refined. but people
shrsnk from the spectacle. and it was
never again attempted.