The morning times., 1896-03-16

tables sat two ladies and a gentleman.
One of the Indies was Miss Earle. whop played
the leading part in the Before de Wah'
Company OF H. Martel last week. This
lady kindly consented 10 go back with us
on the stage.
To get there we had To pass through
| deserted court. which is a garden in the
| summer time, and here a donkey was lied
| TO the gate, as ugly as interesting Il donkey
| as i ever sa w. He has his part III the per-
| rormanCe also and ! asked him how he
! liked the Stage, at which he Nodded his head
and rubbed against my hand affection
ately.
Once upon the stage you find the same
| proportions and appearance as at any thea
| ter. The stage at kernan's is excellent
/ being deep and cumnlodious. Miss Earle
Shove me her dressing which had
all the conVeniences OF the theatcr and the
| usual linconveniences. IL being 20 Iargerthan
| others.
| stood in the wings a half hour and
| watched the performance. talking with the
stage manager. From where | stood l
conld see the house. There was an upper
and lower box on either side filled with
parties or Ladies and gentlemen, and the
floor was filled with tables. al which sat
gentlemen drinking and smoking.
The performance was an excellent repre-
! sentation of negro life on q cotton plauta-
| dancing and singing. strung around Il very
| simple plot and was perfectly clean and
| wholesome. as was told all these perform
anceS are. Indeed, / saw large sign on
! both sides the proScenium arch which stated
that any touch of vuIga rity would be punish
able with fine OF S25. The place is very
similar TO the Folies Bergere or Paris, only
on a smaller and less princeIy scale.
II is at that theater IN Paris that Loie
Fuller does all her wonderfully artistic
dancing. These Bohemian theaters are
growing in popularity in every large city
and more ndrr ore arelosihg theopprobrium
which In former years wasattached to them.
In the largest cities the fashionable world
affects such diversion and appears to enjoy
the frolicsOme gatety much as the more
classic amusement OF the Legitimate stage.
BERNHARDT OFF THE STAGE.
From this stage l went over To the Grand
Opera House TO see Sarah Bernhardt.
Madam Sarah, as all her friends and de-
pepdents call her, is still the most inter
esting creature OF the dramatic world, and
always viii be Ii seems. since she has
found the fountain OF eternal youth.
Other actresses, such as Clara Morris
and ModjcSka, grow old. You recognize
their great art, and say what pity they
should show the ravageS of time. But
Bernhardt is as beautiful and as youthful
as ever, and quite as crratic. She still
has her fads and her temper, and her
barbarous and splendrous atmosphere about
her.
As entered the thcater an act was in
progress, an act of the great play of
Dumas, Camille sat down in the
darkened circle to watch the Incompatible
artist living and moving about her
Partisan apartment as though none were
observing her, though il were hcr
daily life. An odor rea Ched my nostrilS,
making me smile.
II was the same odor that was waited
out 10 one in the Theatre Renaissance III
Paris when the great plush draperieS were
drawn back from that stage. An Cdor
Of sandalwOCd. musk. violet, | know not
what mixtures. That is Nine. Saral'S
secret, as she once told me on my inquis-
| itive inquiry. 1t is an incense hat is
burned in her thcater and AZ her remark
able home, where il floods every room.
and, as ] now found. crosses the ocean
with her To permeate her American quar-
teTs. Did not say she has an atmosphere?
In response to my bit of cardboard as
the curtain went down a messenger came
to fetch me and went back TO see her face
to face again for moment. we crossed
the stage and | was given a chair ard
left TO sit outside her door. The mes
senger could not speak more than u word or
two of English and he left me after an
nounCiDg me. The stage was strangely
| quiet. L ne scenes were DtlnR put I'D place
but there was little talking. The men in
charge could only direct with waves OF
the hand, and the stage hands seem to be
under the spell of q strange language.
ELLEN TERRY'S JOKE.
1t was here that Ellen Terry a few
weeks ago played one of her tricks on me
which reveal the child under the woman
of forty-nine. That is her age from her
own confession, though she doesn't look il
/. by twenty years. She came out of that
double dressing room in which Madam
. Sarah was now installed, her golden wig
was in great braid down her back and
a blue cambriC rapper was wrapped about
her long, graceful figure.
She had brought me out into the datkened
wings to hear the girls sing in the forest
The play was liking Arthur" Then we
were crowded up into corner near tn,
end Of the arch and watched Irving, and
she told me to wait, as she had to run
around to the rear to pose in the vision
that appears to him, the King.
In about a minute the vision grew out
Of the blackness at the depth OF the stage
and she appeared in d wonderful costume
of gauze and Jewels. To friend of hers
who stood near, | exclaimed: well, thai
woman is a wonder; how did she ever get
, into that robe so quickly" Then some one
behind me tweaked my ear and pair OF
arms came around me. "Ha, ha, little
silly; that isn't l, it's counterfeit. 81
you don't know the true goddess, and how
shall you be punished
AS i unused over this incident maid
. came to fetch me to Madame Sarah. There
are two dressing rooms capable of being
| thrown together at this theater for great
| artists. And it is well there are, for these
women carry with them innumerable trunks
. and gowns which absorb the dimensions
of the whole side OF the ordinary dressing
room.
The first room we entered was filled
with trunks and lined with gowns. 1t haC
a clear spacein in the center, and here on little
chair sat q little girl playing with a doll
She seemed perfectly at home and smiled
when l spoke TO her in English but jab
bered reply in French too rapidly for one
to grasp whose havings in that dulCet Ian
guage are like Orlandos beard-a younger
brothers legacy.
From the inner room bounded a big
wolfish dog with long black, brown, am
white hair. He leaped upon me affec
, tionately, and even after l was Nseate,
within persistepty gave me his paw t
9 shake. This dog and his manner show tn
heart of the mistress. She is an anma
: with her animals. l have seen her with
] dozen dogs bounding and jumping aroun
her In o salon filled with the most preciou
a art treasures. The dogs leap over tn
c chairs and divans and have a royal tim,