Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-03-31
DRAMAS PROGRESS.
ATTRACTIONS THIS wnEl
A New ouartette-Tbe Princess Boz
,ie-story Of the PIsy-Ths Chimss
=, wormandy-Preparations for Its
Production-Theat Notes.

/
observation-disclosures Notes.
Thu olea OF the actor-T speak the
words OF others; I've none or my own 10
sav"-did duty once, and folks were con-
tent with this emptiness OF mind. But
this pitiable apology has long since lost
its force. What Cibber or Garrick couid
do. their SUCCESSORS 1t was felt should not
he backward TO attempt and achieve; and
close upon the demands that actors
should hold and vent opinions Of their
own came several endeavors to prove the
activity Of players In other channels OF
mental industry than the stage.
Progress at first was slow. hashing-
up OF threadbare stories and timid. Sc
cond-hand judgments upon men and
things, passed must as the In
teilectual harvest OF leisured favorites
A speech had only to be grossly egotistic
and cheapy humorous to be evidence Of
"brilliance" and "eloquence." But the
large and liberal views Of Joseph Jeffer-
son and Henry Irving and their states
man-like utterances upon diverse ques-
lions of the day. altered all that. The
habit was acquired of holding the mirror
up to nature for other purposes than
seeing themselves therein. and Berbohm
Tree. as the author OF an inter-
esting treatise on the imaginative
Faculty" has lately taken his stand as
a genuine man OF letters. 1t is too gen.
orally assumed that man who attains
distinction in one branch Of art must
necessarily be an anna teur In every other
Charles Dickens. being facle prin-
ceps as "a writer, was allowed only
a complimentary need OF praise for the
acting which hard Judges thought re-
markable. Because George Henry Lewes
was a philosopher, II was considered alb
surd that he could be touch-and-go
light comedian. Sir Frederick Leighton.
with that unexpected triumph in statuary.
An Athlete Struggling with a Python"
sent numberless eyebrows incredulously
arching like the backs OF a legion of
angry cats. The shoemaker and his last
are evidently much in the public mind.
Very possibly. this imaginative faculty"
will never appeal very closely to the ma
jorty. They take their drama no more
seriously than IL truth be told, they take
their politics. Both are sbod fun, per-
hitting of plenty OF partisanship and en-
joyable emotion. and there is an end of
ii. For piercing TO the root in either
case is too laborious to be done for plea
sure.
Since the actor il limited to his OWE
personality for his stock-in-trade, 1t seems
TO me that he whose imagination
Is most untrammeled is he who Is
most likely 10 touch the imagination of
an audience. To Imagination all things
are possible. That daily experience
teaches, while nocturnal experience drives
home the lesson to the palptating ac-
compartment of leaping heart. Even
the physical man will appear transformed
II he magines himself a taleman, he will
appear so to the audience. How often
have we not heard people exclaim that
an orator appeared to grow in height
as his speech became eloquent. IL the
actor imagines himself fat man. he will
appear fat 10 the spectator There is a
kind OF artistic conspiracy between the ac-
tor and his audience. 1t is not the outer
covering. which is called the makeup"
which causes this impression IL Is the
inner man. who talks fat, walks fat, and
thinks fat.
Vital force produced In excess will
manifest itself. not In the interior and
in the 8 guar play of the wheel-work Of
the organization. but in exterior move
mentS-as cries, leaps. gestures, gambols,
faces. Laughter Is one of these safety
valves" From lie Comique en- Must
que" by Emmanuel Briard)
Then. why should not laughter also be
a safety-valve for Indignation aroused by
the stupidity OF a comic opera or farce
comedy? If there were no laughter in
such case. the nearer would possibly
break the furniture or tear an usher limb
from limb. Surely the laughter heard at
many of these lighter entertainments is
the safety-valve for indignation or despair
and the very badness OF the work Is
periodically the cause OF the apparent
popular approval that beats trumphantly
upon the drum Of the managers ear
Briard investigates the cause Of the
laughter that follows the common acct
dent OF person who Is skating and falls.
legs In air. without serious injury" The
fall Is well known to all lovers Of American
comic opera and farce-comedy, and never
falls to produce uproarious merriment.
SO. too, the word damn" OF the drink |
ing out OF bottle causes invariably
stray deacon In an audience to beat his |
sides and snatch fearful Joy. Whence !
comes this joy? Not because We see |
another's misfortune, which we dread. !
Not because the victim escaped without |
injury. 1t is because Laughter is a pro-
an anomaly" A man should not appear |
in the ordinary walks OF life with his |
legs In thu air. Therefore, there is |
laughter when he falls. Not only in the |
drama and in music, but in all the arts. |
the extraordinary, the accidental, the |
ugly. and the monstrous no longer ex- |
cit, protest. Adieu, tho Youthful fresh |
ness OF good cense. which made us as |
children burst With laughter at every |
thing uncommon:
Mr.. Edgar l.. Justs has organized |
vocal quartette. which will be known |
hereafter as the MendelssOhn Quartette. |
IL is composed OF Miss Mamie Hopkins, |
soprano; Mrs. Durrett. contralto; Mr.. |
Haddon Watkins. tenor, and Mr.. Oscar |
l.. Lehman. bass. They will make their |
first appearance as an organization at |
the Academy tomorrow night, under the |
auspices OF the Mozart Association, when |
they Will sing the following selections: |
"Mlller's Wooing." choral ballad. by |
Tanning; duet. Love on" Mrs. Durrett |
and Mr.. Lehman: soprano solo. He Was |
Prince" Nynnes) Miss Hopkins; duet |
(by requesO. THE Fisherman" Gabussi) |
Messrs. Watkins and Lohman; alto solo. |
Where the Lindens Bloom" (Buck) |
Mrs. Durrett; plano solo. 'Scherzo Bril- |
liant" Wollenhaupt) Mr.. Just!s; tenor |
SOlo, SOlIle INTO lHe bdrutn, MAUD,
(Balfe) Mr.. Watkins; duet, "Estudian- |
tina" Qacombe.) Miss Hopkins and Mrs. |
Durrett bass solo. THE Wandering Min |
strel," Mauzone) Mr.. LohEian, and quar-
tette. ''The Sea Hath Its Pearls" pin |
sutD. q
At the Academy, for four performances. |
commencing Thursday evening next, we |
are to have the first opportunity Of wit |
Messing the latest comc-opera success, |
The Princess Bonnie" The piece is by |
Willard Cnpnser and ire orpat sIiccess fs