The sun., 1895-01-06
DRAMA FOR WEST SIDERS.
BERVED AT An HOURS, HOT,
STRONG, AND HIGHLY OoMPREasED.

of humble purse and simple tastes SO great a
variety and quantity OF entertainment for the
low price Of ten cents that one Is not surprised
to learn that seven or eight thousand people
have been known 10 cross its threshold In
the course of a single public holiday. II al
ways contains q wealth of instructive
entertainment in the shape Of glass blow
ers, snake charmers, stuffed birds, tat
tooed ladies, Clrcassian beauties, and
living skeletons, while its manager takes
pains to secure from time TO time what
ever human monstrosities or cccentricities may
happen 10 engage, for the moment, the popular
fancy. These wonders are shown on the upper
floors of the building, and aro changed from
week to week in order that tho always abnor-
NAL appetite Of the west siders for uncanny and
mlsshapen humanity may not be cloyed by too
much sameness. But the ground floor is de-
voted to the drama, which is served up daily
and nightly with the hot and strong seasoning
which the Eighth avenue palate demands.
Tho presiding deity of this temple which Mr.
Doris has dedicated to the dramatic muse Is the
experienced stage director, skilled dramatst
and vivacious actress, Miss Fanny Herring;
and when IL is said that an insatiate thirst for
novelty on the part Of the regular, frequenters
Of the museum compels the production of q new
play every week, and that Miss Herring herself
either writes or adopts or condensos every ono
of those plays and charges herself with every
detail Of scenery, costume, and rehearsal, be-
sides enacting the principal role, it will be seen
that the office which she holds is by no means
"A sinecure.
The conscientious student of the drama who
views one of these productions and familiariZes
himself with the me thOds pursued by this daunt-
less lady in the precious uliment OF her many
sided art, cannot fail to be impressed with
the strong resemblance which they. bear to
those in operation in the more pretentious play
houses of the town. There is this however, to
be said in praise Of Miss Herring. SHE performs
with her own hands and brains the work which
in other theatres is divided up among half a
dozen more high-salaried specialists. and per-
forms 1t, too TO the satisfactton of al whose
81 her genius and toll For, Miss Her
George w. Presbrey. the Maurice Barrymore,
and the Ada Rehan Of Doris's Museum and the
enormous enormous work work and d responsi6iity @ % Which her her
place demands from sheer love of her profess
sion and not because Of { NECESSITY, for she has
coming W TO New New YORK for twenty ' weeks at the
I'm here because like it," says Miss Her.
ring. u" can't exist away from the footlights.
to Be- IS st soo ana sa0q aoRs
TO complain of. | was the stock star Of the
R9Tsry Theatre Sr and 9Hyed sn% Tith W
of them. Once. it was in 1858. l went to the
Arch Street Theatre. phiadclphia. 10 play
l>UCUNOluuS 10 john DEOuEHhln f~OIHHnU III
his famous burlesque : 'Pocahontas.' Among
the Indians in the piece were Edwin Adams. J.
Wilkes Booth. and John Mccullough, Well.
they're all dead and I'm alive, and the liveliest
woman roma you ever saw in y'u your life" , - l..
the artistic life of Eighth avenue is simply in
calculable. She moulds the dramatic tastes OF
the young. and supplies them as well as more
mature and experienced playgoers with the
in which their hearts delight-the same sort of
entertainment that restored for time the fail
nj rn uln a
dozen years ago; the same sort that Mr.. Palmer
offered to Broadway audience last Monday
Mr.. Palmer and Mr.. Frohman look 10 the
modern French and English dramatists for their
from an old abandoned mine known TO an elder
generation as the BOwery n leatre. There is
scarcely piece given at Doris's that has not
already been seen in one form or another on the
stage of the famous old-time playhouse and the
whole work OF revision, adaptation, and con
densation is intrusted to this able and indefat-
igable woman.
For, example, Green Bushes, IN English
melodrama in which Madame Celeste and Lu-
forefathers.. is widely and favorably known
fHlOng Eshh t ns Idr the title Of The
let Captain" last weeks attraction, was once
popular under its original name Of The Idiot
Miss Nil. Herring with inspratISon are Wild Ned"
CANE EcG SPUR yrD AS snG Jsak q shap shs
pard," every one one OF which dramas is literally
the kind well calculated to stir boys hearts;
In the Herringized versions of these pieces
there is frugality of words which ought to
commend them to audiences which have been
called upon to endure certain windy and cpl
grammatic productions of recent years. Plays
which used to Inst three hours are now given In
in less than half that time; aud. such is Miss
Herring's skill and cunning, without loss or
injury to the thread OF the story.
The members of Mr.. Doris's stock company
begin work at 12 o'clock every day and keep at
It with scarcely minutes intermission until
seven repetitions OF the drama, but on holidays
IL often becomes necessary to give a dozen or
the vast crowds OF visitors. and on such oeca-
sions the Herring pruning knife cuts the piece
down TO thirty and oven to twenty minutes.
artistic triumph which will long live in the an
mails Of the. house. The play was one dealing
with the period of the Revolution and the star
of the company was giving one OF her most ad-
mired impersonations, that Of blithe young
proeIivities. r In n lie Course ma of the drama
the maiden notices that General Washington
seems TO be oppressed with grief and care, and
relations, the savages. The enormous attend
the drama, TO twenty minutes, but, al
though whole scenes ruthlessly
@ sssS @ S Sea a % the ss ideals
of her art so great was her fear OF disappointing
the Eighth avenue public. that she positively
dance, and her brilliant terpsichorean effort
was given no less than twenty-five times that
afternoon and evening. Not even the kindly
protests of Mr.. Doris or the assurance OF Gen.
Washington that he could find ample diversion
and ,refreshment in simply gazing upon her
could swerye this Incompatible artist from the
rigid path OF duty, and her contract with her
manager and the public was caSfied out to the
bitter end.
The glib professor" who goes through the
museum every hour with a great multitude at
his heels invariably introduces Miss Herring TO
her audience in few honeyed phrases which,
BY the way, are totally unnecessary, as she is
much better known 10 the visitors than he Is.
lie usually describes her as, supported by
performance OF "The scarlet Captain" last
week must admit that the polished and i'm
presslve lecturer spoke entirely within bounds.
In this sterling melodrama Miss Herring gives
a touching and lifellke delineation OF an Idiot
boy whose mission it is TO destroy thirteen OF
his enemies, which is At the rate OF one every
two minutes, according TO the acting time table.
The play is one well calculated TO display the
talents OF the versatile supporting company TO
the very best ADVANTAGE. and in a manner that
proved entirely satisfactory TO the succession
OF large audiences that witnessed and ap-
plauded their efforts. Mr. Byrnes, the leading
man OF the Herring organization. possesses many
OF the qualities common TO men OF genius the
world over He Is now In temporary seclusion,
and bis rolo-that OF Count dc BrtgdndpilLe-was
intrusUed 10 MIR. Billy Kits, his understudy.