The morning times., 1896-04-19
NEW rORK'S 5 THELTRIClLS
General Shaking Up of Atlrac-
lions at Gotham PIayhOuses.
VILLAGE POSTMASTER Won
How Walter Jones Was Made a Cats
paw by Canary and Lederer 10 w in
FAIR Lillian and Was Then Dropped
With a Loud Thud-Souvenirs Seat
tered by Half "A Dozen Attractions.

New York, April 17.-This is a lively
week al lite theaters. There was an opening
on Monday night; another Will lake place
Saturday night. This is tie last week OF
half Il dozen important attractions, and
souvenirs are being handed out i'll lavish
fashion. Thisis The last week of j Ohm Drew
IN The Squire OF Dames,'' and he has
been here nearly all winter. Kathryn
kidder IN ''Sans-Gene,' Rose Coghlan in
Madame, Lillian Russell in Little
Duke and Rice's Excelsior, Jr." all
leave town Saturday night. ''Chimmie
Fadden, 49, Excelsior, Jr., Widow JONES'
Bohemia" and The Black Sheep are
distributing souvenirs.
Monday night / went down to the Four
teenth Street Theater to see The Village
Postmaster" 1t was the only first-night
in town. and the old playhouse revealed IA
miliar faces which have not seen each other
down behind the massive pillars in many
SAY. Jerome Eddy and Alice Ives are the
1utbors OF the new piece, and everyone
united in saying that they have written a
good play. 1t is a rustic. domestic drama,
suggesting in style, without initiating in
fact, the "Old Homestead and The County
Fair The cast gave efficient assistance.
You know mcst of them, NJ. A Kennedy, L
J. Morgan. Forrest Robinson, Sadie String
ham, Amelia Bingham, Bertha Creighton,
and Queenie Vassar. When / tell you
that fife and drum corps. a real church
choir, real wheat threshing, and the rescue
Of the heroine from a machine making 500
revolutions a minute are features. do the
production n great injustice. They were
all consistently and eujoyably introduced.
''Tbe Village Postmaster is in for a run,
* seems.
The only other play new to New York
this week is 4" The Specula tor to be given
Saturday evening at the Fifth Avenue
Theater. and Thomas Quigley, the ex-
bank clerk, better known as Thomas Q.
Seahrooke will make his first appear
ance in this city as dramatic star. |
believe you have seen this play and Mr..
Eeabrooke In the star role. so YOU are that
much ahead OF us in point Of time and
know more about ii than / could tell
you.
Perhaps Il is an injustice TO say these
two are the only novelties. You know we
GOthamites think there is nothing worth
while off Manhattan Island, and Broadway
ties are Just as InSular. We regard an
east side production s preconCelved mis-
take. This week the hustlers of yaude-
yIlIe-weber and Fields-made an eX-
cursion in farce comedy mana cement, and
produced successfully "A Trolley Party"
at the Peoples Thcater, with one of their
best companies. Weber and Fields are
The frOlnlanS OF lle NduueFtlie- 1itS
have six big companies touring, and next
season they viii have more on the road.
Their best-known companies are the Rus
Sell Brothers Comedians, Weber & Fields
Specially Company. the Vaudeville Club,
anu The Trolley Party
Has your ticker kept you posted about
De Wolf and his new SouSa- Klein opera?
II was done in Boston on the dog-'iOn't
throw beans. please-and comes to the
Gfs1 llflr
as sufficient gold, silver and currency come
into the box window to send the players
contented out the stage door. Hopper is a
great favOrite here. and as 1.-THE dog on
Boston papers praised ''El Captain very
highly we expect to keep him here all sum
mer. BY the way. this opera was put in
rehearsal in Washington. Isn't this an
other score for the Capital as theatri
Cal mascotS
Franklin Fyles makes an interesting
diagnosis Of the Walter Jones' Lillian Rus
sell-Canary & Lederer game. FyleS says
tha. when Mr.. Jones was the comedian in
Excelsior Jr.' at Hammerstein's and
his frequent diSappearances from the cast
dana ged the performance. he was usually
able to be at Abbey's after Lillian Russell
commenced her season there. even when his
tonsilitis was most acute. in the end Jones
and his manager separated. When he was
enga ged for The Lady Slavey,f that was
regarded a a graceful expression Of graft.
tude from the managers who had secured
Miss Russens services, and were doing
something in return for the comedians
devotion.
1T was in reality a reward for the serv
ices that the actor had done 10 Canary anC
Iederer. When they began to cast enviou:
eyes at Lillian Russell, they were not OIL
terms which permitted them, even in busi
ness way, TO make any advances. Their,
was mutual case of marble heart, which
1t seemed impossible 10 overcome. Tht
only man who appeared to be able 10 bring
them together was Walter Jones. II,
knew Canary and Lederer and he knew
Lillian. So. Walter was carefully cher
ished, ,engag ged to act in The Lady Slavey,'
ana there were vague rumors TO the effec
that he was TO become the comedian O
Miss Russelfs company: but these brigh
prospects were never realized.
After Lillian and her managers had beel
brought together and the contract signet
Jones received two weeks notice of dis
InissaI so promptly that it may have beer
written with the same pen that signed tn,
contract. He leaves THE Lady Slayey,
and a more distressing rumor says that III
has ceased Ia be regarded favorably from
another and more sentimental quarter
Evidently the only persons that Mr.. Jone
can look to now are Abbey, Schoeffel (
Grau, who. in the happiness OF their reIeas
from the cares of their contract with Mis-
Russell, may be in mood that will promp
them to reward Mr.. Jones for his share il
bringing about the result.
1t has heretofore been the custom to hayt
''sister'' acts performed by two or at mos
three won e1 who at least resembled eacl
other. Hammersten with incompatible
impertinence has eight women who dom
Resemble each other in the least doing
sister act al the Olympia
could tell you gossipy yarn about
peculiarly neurotic pantomime being give
In town, but the notoriety would only in
crea sc interest in the disgusting exhibition
The manager was arrested last Wednesda
for outragIng public morals and deserve
incarceration as reproach to the profes
sion
We are enioyingthel lastofthe opera. Berl
hardi, Irving and Duse, perhaps. vii
play supplementary enga gements befor
returning 10 the other side. Monday nigh
John Hare opens q brief enga cement a
Abbey's. Julia Nelson and Fred Terr
have gone home. so he will confine hi
repertoire 10 A Pair OF Spectacles'' an
''OId Cnonies."
Herbert Hall Winslow's new America
play. THE Great North west" is to b
produced for The first time in Newark. N
j.. on Monday evening next.
Hose Coghlan's retirement from Daily
Saturday night closes flrr srasoss. She ba
good piece OF property for next year ii
her Madame
The attractions In town are John Dire,