The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-25
NOTES AMONG THE ACTORS.
NINHIE MADDERN FIsKE BRINGS
our ~ VIEW PHYS.

That" and n Version OF Bumns's "Lr
Femme du Claude" - Points In Cheva
tiers SinginE-The Bins OF the Week.
Minnie Maddern Flske's al ties and her cour
age go hand In hand. Her most daring exploit
thus far. and one In which her singular power
a. an actress was successfully concerned. was
70 produce Dumas's La Femme de Claude in
English.
This she did at the Garden Theatre last night.
People who remember what they read about
plays performed IN Paris will recall this
one as having shamsd even that city NJ free
theatricals. The wife OF Claude Is n mis-
erably waBton creature. degraded before
her marriage and unfaithful a%fterward. His
love changes to adherence and ho dsvotcs him
self to scientific pursuits. utterly disregaidIng
her. At length she makes up her mind to win
back his heart by good conduct, but he disbe-
lieves and spurns her.
In revenge she seeks to rob him of the secret
OF a valuable invention. and to do that she de-
llvers herself to his young assistant, who is
madly infatuated with her. This act In hor de-
plorable career Il set forth In the play with
shocking expllcitness, and constitutes one OF
the most unclean scenes ever placed on the
stage in this city. The piece used at the
Garden was q condensed translation by
Alice Kauser, and was called "CRsnrinc."
Mrs. Fiske enacted the wicked heroine
with her accustomed naturnlness. and with
more than her usual force. Some Of her mo-
ments were electrical. aud at no time was she
other. than enRrossinx, In the wife's pitiiul
plea for forgiveness and rehabilitation, followed
by frenzied resentment against her immova-
bly, condemnatory husband, the peculiarly
gifted actress was at the best of her effort,
Judged for either artistic skill or what may he
called emotional realism. IL was n performance
TO be admired or not. according TO ones dispo-
sition to condemn or excuse the illustration on
the stage of gross sin between the sexes.
4 short comedy, This Picture md That
sarine.'' and in remarkable contrast. for a more
inoffensive piece was never seen. nor one more
inconsequcntial or unainustng,
A widow mourns her husband until she
learns that he has been unworthy of her es-
TEEN; a @as 'n nSsoI sns S' Go more a nT pIot sheS w fSst,
and not the smallest touch OF dramatic, quality
nor the faintest scintiliation 4t verbal bright
tiresome talk of those commonplace persons.
Anybody in quest of theatrical amusement
must be hard TO please IL he cannot find some
thing to his taste on our stage this week.
Eleonora Duse appears in "Magda" at the
Fifth Avenue this afternoon, and In "Caval-
leria Rusticana" and La Locandiera" at
q Friday matinee. Julia Marlowe Taber
acted in Twelfth Night" at the Har-
lem Opera House last night, and before the
weeks end will contribute her agreeable per-
sonality to She Stops to Conquer "A You
Like It," Henry IV..""Romeo and Juliet" and
The Lady of Lyons" Minnie Madden Fiske's
bill at the Garden includes "Ctesarine" and
This Picture and That" Rose Coslan is
just started in Madame" at Palmer's,,
House Of Cards" at the Fifth Avanue. The
cDpr%nsD phases RR.uss'' Of Paris lie in "Bohemia,S
while those Of the Lyceum are devoting their
talents to msiodTams sI in mans = pT RI" es no OF
ing enjoyed by The Heart OF Mary and Mt The
Herald ! SSL a Square, "a "a I BlHGf sheep, nb "a. Hoy anS
the only week e NJ. Be,lew and Mrs: Potter in
of"The Shaughraun" at the American. The
Last Stroke is a new rousing mclodrama at the
With With stage HS st folks "e on view in m" the r"q boxes S;s't Win
be given at the Casino tomorrow. The
Widow Jones' will soon celebrate a three hun
remain to Chauncey olcott and The Minstrel
2f Glare" at the Fo% 4t street Joha!
will have to end in less than n month at the
Garrjck; WILLIAM II. Crane is at tbs brooklyn
and. a Rosenfeld company at the Park with
The Two Escutcheons" There is a revival Of
r p.sS a. R e. b sy sas ws yell-hP Escel. Ta''" IS i sO% It's
fnal week at the Olympia. but Marguerite" is
there to -s stay Hys a ling t time ,ss yet a, R ,Sn GeInu and md
STA" is .t the Peoples, and Rush City" at
Visitors to the variety shows may have three
or eleven hours of vaudeville ente rtainment.
according 10 tnelr CnOlCo o THEATRES. ITO
grammes that cover both afternoon and even
Ing are offered at Proctor's Twenty-third Street,
s Ksi'h fhs T asis,v' s snS Z +, pTFS ss,SrSs. PI ss ,Ts r Iaa;
psmed house the week is gay, because it begins
MIR. Pastors thirty second year OF variety show
There are the Olympia. Roster & Balls. the
Trocadero. AMI the Imperial. Then Miners
Bowery and Miners Eighth Avenue are not far
removed from this class OF resort. OF miscella-
neous shows are the Eden Musee, Huber's Mu-
seums. and Cabaret du Meant.
Fresh from a course of instruction In Europe
and from employment in grand opera In France,
Mile. Selma is singing in the continuous show
ct Proctor's Pleasure Palace. 1t is her first
week In vaudeville. and her tones and selections
are very different from those that are usual In
the variety shows. Her voice is soprano OF good
quality. and her ballads are chosen to display it
to good advantage rather than to move her
hearers by the story that the stanzas carry.
Mile. Selma comes in the programme two num-
bers after Bonnie Thornton. Whether this slight
detail Is regulated by the singers contracts is
not known, but vocallsts have preferences in
such matters at times. Aiming at d!spassionate
descriptions, and not at invidious comparison, 1t
may be said that Mile. Selma does not sing,
from manuscript, songs about the y rays that
are announced us written the night before. nor
does she daily with lines that tell of words her
lips would not utterah," nor has she as yet the
gallery bowling with. songs about Cuban lib
e%rtee." Neither has Mile. selma y diamond set
N', 80 h'fh hs ''AN NAAc
does sing n ten-syllable verse in less than nine
teen seconds, on the average, and her tones are
sweet.
There is a gentleman at Keith's Union Square
whose specially OF climbing outdoes jack his.
torical shining of the beanstalk. He is Sp nnel
Burt. and his paraphernalia consists of an ordi-
nary ladder Of seventeen rungs, which Is set in n
shallow box four feet square. Holding the
ladder upright, the performer steps upon the
nrst rung, and then climbs to the top. Both
feet are moved from one runC to another at the
time, SO that the progress is by jumps
rather than by, steps. Frequent bitches OF one
side OF the ladder or The other maintain
the climbers balance. III" movements OF
the bottom of the ladder for this pur'
pose being confined to the inner surface
OF the box on which tho ladder rests.
When the top rung of tho ladder il reached
there are extensions OF its sides for
the performers hands. and no stands here long
To remove his outer costume. Then. Ia
prove that his unusual, progress toward fame
has not made him undemncrutic he lights n
and surveys his admirers ltRivnly as
he smokes. His climbing OF u ladder that leads
has led to this gentleman's being con-
founded with the philosopher that lifted him
self by his bootstrnps. They are learning at
that he Is quite another kind OF gent"
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