Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-23

The art of Eleanora Duse has been placed side by side with the art of Sarah
 Bernhardt. In consequence, there Is a diversity of opinion among the metropol-
 itan critics as to which of the two women
 of different nationality shall be the SUI
 preme idol of the hour. That there has
 been any doubt upon the subject cuts
 Bernhardt to the quick. She does not
 care to divide honors with her Italian rival Her sway must be complete. The mysterious charm and fascination with which she holds her audiences must be as potent today in America as it was in
 the days when her Yannetto in .Le
 Passant' was the talk of all Paris. It does not seem possible to her that a peo-
 pie who have been swayed in the past by
 her marvellous power, who have thrown
 aside librettos and hung upon her words,
 could see her in the ma tIlrty of her art
 and go away absorbed In coldly critical comparisons.
 In some of the criticisms there has been
 a vengeance that seemed to be born of
 hate for Bernhardt, rather than a just
 comparison between the French woman
 and the Italian. You would judge that
 Bernhardts star had set irrevocably.
 That Duses perfect art had eclipsed all
 others; that she touched the heart of the
 people in way that Bernhardt had fail
 ed.
 Sarah Bernhardt would not be human
 if she accepted with resignation the pitt
 less criticisms that have been heaped up-
 on her. l think that she only means to
 be just when she says that there is no
 similarity between her work and the
 work of Duse, and that the latter cannot
 play the poetic and tragic roles which are
 in her repertoire.
 To those who have seen Bernhardt in
 her death scenes, and when she dies, she
 dies it will be hard to acknowledge the
 supremacy of even the Italian genius. Duse may become to our nation Of theater-goers the queen of the dramatic
 stage, but the people of America will
 not soon forget woman who by all that
 was best in the art of playing brought a
 nation under the spell of her genius. Duse opens her New York engagement tomorrow night at the Fifth Avenue theater in Camille"
 It will be remembered that Caroline Miskel-Hoyt won the prize in the recent beauty contest of the Dramatic News. The cut of her at the head of this column Is taken from late photograph by Falk. Age cannot wither Trilby. If she keeps on she will reach the land of the mid night sun. The drama will be presented shortly in Russia at the Imperial theater of St. Petersburg. Paul Potter says
 that Adelina Patti advised Coquelin to secure the rights to Trilby for France. But Coquelin decided that the Porte St.
 Martin would not be an ideal Svengali Madame Calve wrote to Henri Cain in re-
 gad to his writing the libretto of an op- cratic versionsof "Trilby," but Potter and DuMaurier have decided to have thh op- cratic version later on, when "Trilby' as a play will be regarded as a thing of the past. Duse wishes to secure the Italian rights to Trilby.
 Margaret Mather begins her New Eng land tour this week. The repertoire will include AS You Like It. "The Ledy of Lyons, "The Honeymoon" and Romeo and Juliet" Frederick Pauldings will support Miss Mather.
 Mrs. Potter and MT. Bellew will be seen next week in a production of Romeo and Juliet" at Daly's.~ Mrs. Potter no longer has any fears of a metropolitan success. She Is considered one of the most beau- tjful and celebrated of American actress es. Her Juliet will be we'll worth seeing. "The Rivals" will be presented in New York in May. Joseph Jefferson, John Drew, Nat Goodwin, DeWof Hopper, Vi- ola Allen and Mrs John Drew are to be among others in the cast. Mrs. Drew as Mrs. Malaprop will be handed down as history. It is a great thing that she has not that fever of persistency which Clara Morris seems to possess in clinging to youthful roles.
 "Burmah," the English melodrama, writes a metropolitan journal. is laid out