Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-09-08

may unite with grace. delicacy. color, and
| humor in music The Offenbach ope-
rettas, on the other hand, show how
broad travesty may be dfgnlhed by
literary skill and musical invention. Com
| pared with the average operetta OF the
American stage these foreign productions
are as Shakespearian comedies compared
with the weird productions Of Mr.. Sydney
Rosenfeld.
Now there must be a reason for the
! inferiority Of our works. Our dear, Eng
| FISH cousins would tell us that II comes
| of our own inherent inferiority as a ma
ton China used 10 talk that sort OF
! talk 10 Japan. The French would proba-
| bly, say that they did not know we had
| any operetta at all; but there IS no ig-
| norance on earth so vast as well-edu-
| Gated Frenchman's Ignorance of the
| United States
No. the lack Of good operetta librettl
| IS not due to the nOn-eXistence or Amerl-
| cans who can write them. Even Sydney
| Resented could turn out really good
| libretto. II he had any incentive to the
| labor, and there are several other men
| In these United States OF whom little or
| do It. But they do not try.
Why not?
| Simply because they could not get their
| libretu performed If they did produce
| them.
In the first place, they would have the
| managers TO deal with. and ! should Ike
very much to know where there Is an
| American mann ger who has judgment
enough to decide on producing a ne"
| operetta strictly on its merits. DO not
! gentle reader. hasten TO tell me that there
| Is Mr.. Whitney. Why, If Rob Roy Ma"
| been offered to him by two unknown mel
| instead of by De Koven and Smith. he
would never have taken the trouble IT,
| read It, As n matter OF fact, be ensased
De Koyen and Smith to write an opeTe1td'
and he produced IL because they wrote H.
| Other American managers 90 the sam
| sort Of thing. The Bostonians, LOT III
| stance. would Ike mighty wen 70 nay e
| Rob Roy" on their list. but me hnlch-
erbOckers' frightened them away l..H'
| the two young Americans. AS lot ar
| French, manager Of the theatre In winch
| "The Knlckerbockers" was produced, ne
VIII rot touch an Operetta or any hlh'.
| because Utopia" lost him such pie ~
money. He blames the loss on operett.
as a form Of entertainment, when Amos q
any sensible man could have toid MN
| after seeing utopia" in London as ne
| did that It could not by any human pos
sibiiity be successful In this country.
Rut LET Us suppose that there are MANI
gers standing around waiting Ior NJ"
American operettas. The great question
is who is going 10 perform them? NheIe
ore tn singing actors with the refined
delicate suggestive art necessary 10 III
successful presentation OF hDrel'o o.
genuine literary cleverness?
II IL the lack OF artists In this Inc
oF business that makes the production OF
operetta libretti so Unsatisfactory hNei.
lihretttsts who can do good work are de
haired from the exercise of their skill by
the requirements of the leading llSnts o.
the operetta stage. Where Is the man
or woman in the operetta business To-
dav mat 4. capable of creating ne"
roieo Francis wilson might do IT, pro
vidad II was a role made 10 favor MS pc
cuIiarities. but no one else can. Nhai
new role has Mr.. Hopper created since
ba has been a star? Not one. lie mas
hanged his makeup and his costume
whenever he has changed the name OF his
mart: but he has done the same Oh thihb9
in the same old way in each one anu
has given one continuous impersohauo'
of De Wolf Hopper.
What has Mr.. Wilson done, OUTSIDE OF
| Cadeaux in "Erminie," TO entllie nm
10 consideration? Simply played ne
| Oolah" in other costumes ana win jim ..
yyies Henry Clay Barpabee is sim play
ing the sheriff Of Nottingham anu lie
| will play It as long as he lives -, ..,-.
Now. what happens when horet'isl
GOES "a one OF these great men win Il
| 6oak7 He is asked TO cut, twist turn.
alter. and remodel; and all LOT VIVA
| Simply 20 bring the parts withih tn1
| limits Of the abilities OF the people "hJ
orc "a NAV them The famous hshts oi
the operetta stage are Incapable OF com
| nosing" n new character. 80 WhaI D 'ne
| use of inventing themY ,..
4 ubrettist who desires 10 ger MS "oi NJ
| oroduced-and that seems TO be me hdtu-
~ ard lauaable object of the h5rettist-
must 10 to some OF the persons VIM @.
| hafora the public and here az once ne
| ,,aa,e with the obstacles Indicated ven
,,,ra "a saw that 1t Is an artistic impos-
| sihjI,,v 10 write a really good operetta TOT
| Tu,ian russell Why? Because she must
| 30 made the central figure she must
| heya all the interesting situations, and
| che must be on the stage most OF the
! fine Now, Miss Russell has no more
| comedy talent than a pump-handle' hehee
the interest which surrounds her must De
sentimental, and that settles the operetta
Tbe comedy element must take back
cot and thenceforward thoroughly
| God operetta is an impossbility' for
there has never yet been really good
| oneretta in which the comedy-not neces-
sarilv the buffoonery-element did not &C.
| cunv the centre of the stage
| Miss Russelrs case IS mentioned simply
as n sample OF the sort Of thing horet-
| lists have to contend with. The truth Is.
| that the star system In operetta Is alto
| gether opposed 10 good libretu. The rea-
son why the English. French, and Ger
| man stages have produced so many ad-
mirable operettas is the existence or
regularly established operetta theatres
| and operetta stock companies.
We shall never produce school OF COM
| petent librettists in thif country till We
| have a good operetta theatre. OF course.
a prime requisite for that establishment Is
a manager who can tell a good operetta
when ne sees one. II Is impossible at
present 10 tell where this light OF ma
| ture ,s TO come from. Consequently we
| must try 10 make the best OF such oper-
| ettas as we get, and must be az happy
as posslble with libretti designed 10 give
| h.sv