The sun., 1896-02-14
ON THE DRAMATIC STAGE.
TIE KNoCxABoUT COMEDIANS AND
THE DI0NIFIED TRhGEDIANS.

Mario Drcssior and Daniel Daily Act Like
Acrobnts In "The Lady Siavey"-Rd Edward
vroom IL y Rcma.tie Decisimer In " For
the Crown- - The Players In London.
Comedians Of might and main arc Marie
Drcssler and Daniel DAILY in 7" Tho Lady Slavey!'
sticklers for dramatic dignity and decorum
will blame them for the knock about rough-snd
tumble catch-a h-as.catch-can dance which they
perform; but X they arc willing to risk their
bones in tho acrobatic effort, why should not
people laugh at IL without getting resentful?
At all events It makes clean and very
hilarious bit of a show. 1t is one of tho
incidents of tho new burlesquo at the
Casino. Miss Dressler is q big and stalwart
beauty, with such gifts in low comedy as arc
rarely possessed by woman. Her role Is that OF
q coarse and boisterous vocalist from tho music
halls. Mr.. DAILY is practical disciple OF realism.
Give him chair or table to stumble over. or a
stairway to tumble down, and he is most graph
ic artist. In the present play he enacts n British
army offcer reduced to mcnial service. When
Miss Dressler and Mr.. DAILY come together
in dance they make the legs fly. So do their
arms So does Mr.. Daly's body-al over the
STAGE The stalwart actress throws him about
In tho most astonishing manner partly by
means OF her own strength and partly through
his acqulesccnt agility. The finish Of their joint
exploits lie waltz. In which the woman rntates
o%s a hs a%ay from he es SV S a
trifugnl force. Again and again he picks him
self up. chases his waltztnR partner, like .
encircles her waist with hodfast arm. only to
be slnne violently to some corner OF the stage.
That isn't artp Oh. but 1t Is. No more adept or
expressive pantomme has been seen here In
long while. Don't let us put on foolish airs when
we go to q theatre to laugh.
The circumstances under which Coppee's
"For the Crown" was produced at Palmer's
Theatre by Edward Vroom are not important in
any consideration Of the plays success.
Whether or not 1t was presented through the
support of various subscribers. and whether or
not they were men Of position. seems to play no
part IN any consideration OF the enterprises
success or failure. May be. in the promise that
something n little better than the theatres Or
dnarily give. and the claim OF n pur-
pose which does lie at the rout of most
theatrical undertakings. demands result
proportionately more satisfactory to the public.
Any suggestion of a scheme weighted with the
platitudinous explanation that Is going "to
elevate the stage" does not only affront the men
with whom the theatre Is q business. it is a re-
fection which the public as we'll resents. The
stage in this country is what the people
make 1t, and the managers who sue
ceed are those that give the public
what 1t wants. Americans have no reason
to be ashamed of the fact that they 20 to the
theatre to enjoy themselves and resolutely stay
away from performances In which this result Is
uncertain. In France. in Germany. and to a
less extent In England. there is an interest in
the theatre which makes it possible to produce
there plays OF q character which would receive
no support in this country. But even
abroad the dramas that interest and
amuse the greatest number the ones
best typical OF the taste of the people. There is
=, al.
works which aim first at this end. Some Eng
lsh investigator came to the discouraging con.
clusion that when scientific or literary men went
out for an evenings relaxation they were likely
to take II into their learned heads to go to bur
lesque or music hail. SO the higher drama
was deserted by the class on which it had most
claim.
But the result OF Mr.. Vrooni's enterprise at
Palmer's seems striking in the first instance. as
the result of an actors domination. unaided by
the managerial direction. which Is supposed to
have made such an undertak ing as the produce
tiun of For the Crown" "A necessity for the
preservation OF the stage and public intel iRence.
This tragedy OF Coppce's won its success In Paris
rs II poetic work and not as ncted drama. The
f'renc verse in n country in which people 20 To
the theatre to hear poetry made the original
course. little suggestion OF this charm in the
possibly as much Of poet as NJ Coppte is to have
made this result in the translation, Even with
Seaoms s popular Even the pSs,ry % @s's Of shaks
plays he spa to Of
productions or the genius of great artist to
attract the publ to them;. But For the
Crown" came before the audience on Monday
night rs an d-style piece. without poetry in its
speech or gen ius in its interpretation. Mr..
Vroom had selected in the majority of cases
With With. public taste w to-day So So the result
offered was not striking in any respect Dis:
10 Mr. vroom that heither For the Srown"
nor the actors engaged In 1t were likely to
above the public that, Mr.. Nroom and " For the
Crown" were entirely out of sight of the re-
bellious public which refused to go to the
theatre when it did not expect to be entertained.
LONDON. Feb. g. Sir Augustus Harris Is n
genius ever II Americans did make fun OF his
speeches and his clothes. Finding it impossible
by ordinary means to prevent the actors from
blocking the prompt entrance at the Drury
Lane. he has had a metal grating set into the
floor and an electrical connection made SO that
any person standing on the forbidden SPOT gets
Il shock. The failure here Of Michael and His
Lost Angel " was as quick as In New York and
there Is ill-feeing between Henry Arthur Jones
and Forbes Robertson. because changes advised
by the actor at rehearsals were not permitted by
the author Mr. Jones is writing his next
play for f. S. Willard, who will take it
to America, should 1t prove successful. Coppfes
For the Crown" is ready at the Lyccum. The
present double use Of Mr.. lryings theatre Is for
pantomimic spectacle at the mntinGes and
drama in the evenings. and the friction is SO rate
that space on the blboards in front OF the house
is fought over. Tho revival OF 1.-THE Colleen
I3awn' at the Princess's. with a tank of real
water for the hero to rescue the heroine from,
leads veteran actors to recall the fact
that. when Boucicaut first divcd in the
rescue scene in 1850. his device of painted
gnuZe to represent the pool was regarded as
remarkable realism Agnes Robertson. who
played the colleen then, is now the old irish
mother. Stage historians have just brought
out the fact That the lrst drauntzuton OF "ihe
Collcgians' was acted thirty, years before Bou-
cicault made his famous version. Another cur
rent topic in stagciaud is what arc called NY
ing Inatinces." That Is 10 say. companies en-
gagged with successful plays in London are
whirleh Off TO other cities In the swiftest possible
special trains to give afternoon perforna noes ANA
then back again for the evenings NJ home. The
managers and actors in the places thus visited
suffer severely from the competition.
Osmond Tearle, once Wallack's leading actor.
and his wife. Minnie Conway. have for several