The morning times., 1896-09-06
AZ. FRED BERGER left last Tuesday
morning for New York city. Sol
Smith Russell, who has beenspeDding
the summer at his Minneapolis home
tHe sufHIIIcr at IllS MIHDtHfpIISHOfi
came East week before In st tn La

l. Tue SufuiIlcT at his NlnDeafOUS nOfDc
came East week before last to Lake
Placid, N. Y, where he met Martha Morton
and heard the finish OF "A Bachelors Ro-
mance," which she has been writing for
him during the summer. Author, star,
manager and company met "Wednesday
morning on the stage OF tie Fourteenth
Street Theater. where rehcarsals will be
held. and heard the play read II is in
four acts, dealing with modern life In New
York city, especial prominence being given
to the various aspects of newspaper Boz
heinia, Mr.. Russell and Mr.. Berger were
delighted with Miss Morton's work and be-
lieve that they forSee al success equal to
"A Poor Relation" and ..P eaceful Valley
1t has been Mr.. RUSSELL custom to open
In Toronto. but this ycar.Milwaukec will
first see "A Bachelors Romance" The
date OF opening is the 2fst but en- route
West few dress rehcarsals will be given.
to break the journey, at WilliamspOrt, Pa;
Wilkesbarre, Pa, and Elmira. N. Y. Mr..
Russeli's Tour does not bring him to Wash
iDgtOn until inauguration week, when lie
will find at least one other strong attrnc-
tion against him In Heart of Maryland"
at the Columbia. Mr.. Russell's company
this year is more expensive than ever be-
fore. 1t will not hang over his head, as II
does over Jcfferson's. that he hashad poor
support In the company are Arthur Forrest,
Charles Mackay, Alfred Hudson, George
DeDhan, Z. d. Tyler, Stewart Allen. James
Burns, George Cook, Cha rles Lehman,
Bertha Creighton. Beatrice Moreland, Mia
Allen and Fanny Addison Pitt.
he first guns of the season were fired
last week in New York city, and the
smoke thereof furnishes sufficient
indication OF tue direction in which
the dramatic winds are blowing.
Thus Gar ten productions have been made.
The picturesque has prestominated IN all
but one OF them. Theeye has beentr.lted
asweli as the ear Five of them were nlelo-
dramas, which denotes the strong hold
which this form Of the drama has on the
puryeyors who are following, not lead
ing. public prejudice. Its plcbian first
cousin. low character comedy, as typfied
in Marty Malone" and its aristocratic
first cousin, romantic drama, as tyrined
by Sothern's Enemy to the King" high
class comedy, as expressed by Rosemary"
legitimate farce, exploited In THE Liar ~
and comic opera, as set out in jeff De An
gels ..Caliph," each stands in pu bile
favor for only one-fifth of melodrama's
hold But these melodramas seem 1t
TO have been written for the story's SAKE.
The principal feature of each was n sensa-
tional effect. Character drawing, enjoy
able comedy, heroic affection consistent
and coherent story were all neglected and
but moniep nd was in no case cretiitablc
to the dramatist, and left his audience in a
state OF dissatisfaction with the rest of the
play, because Of its lack of balance.
The theme was, of course, time worn
The old trick of saving life. That is the
trite device Of every melOdramatfc writer
Prescription: sweet girl. Manly lover
Vicious villain. The V. v. tries to win
the s. g. from the IN. ]. She declines The
v. v. sends the m. l. off the scene He
places the s. g. in peril of her life and
cries 'Ha! I'll show you how to spurn
Bart FoXwell.' The IN. /. rushes in and
saves the S. g." Precede this with one
hour and thirty minutes OF any old thing,
because the audience has paid its money
ing; add another act, for though the aud
fence knows perfectly well that the IN. l.
and S. g. are going to marry they want to
be told so and zee them clasp hands in
the last act.
The ingenuity of the melodramatists
has been devoted to this one method Of
Jeopardy. Augustin DAILY put his heroine
in front OF a railroad train in After Dark"
the precursor of the long line. Joseph Ar
thur introduced the buzz-saw. Someone or
other invented the drowning act in
tank of real water. The rest of the story
is always the same. Last week there were
five rescues. In "Under the Polar STAR
the jeopardy is caused by floating ice in
IN the Heart Of the Stcfm'' the s e. is
saved from sinking in the quicksands; In
1.-THE Cotton Spinner the v v. had her
nicely strapped to a machine in the cotton
mill when the m. l.. arrived; In 1.-The Great
Northwest windmill threatens to do the
fatal work which the hero Is, OF course,
promptly on hand to prevent as the curtain
goes down; in when London Sleeps the
usual victim is cast upon q Hindoo altar
to be incinerated when the idol divides and
there is the conventional life saving service
In spite OF the distressing depravity OF a
form of drama which, in its right Treat
nent, is potent to warm the heart and stir
the passions, confirm our love for noble
hearts and noble deeds, one cann0s but ad.
mire the ingenuity displayed by these SEN
sation mongers.
surprise clilnaxes and sensational scet..s
are not ''of themselves dcplorahle, but
they indeed are as .'by themselves II
.hese men who write around these cs-
libits of lffe-savfng service had the in.
stinct and talents Of draInatists; in q word,
II they were dramatists, we should have
had in each Of these five plays worthy
associate of Heart Of Maryland" melo-
1raina, pure and simple, but inspiring and
worthy. Every one Cannot be Belasco.
rrue, every one cannot be dramatist,
either. The faculty of inventing . new
jeopardy for a her0ine's life is not the ca
pacity for writing play.
To make play for the populacc is not to
make it putrid. John Philip sousa writes
popular music, but 1t 10 g0sM; James Whit
,omb Riley writes popular poetry, but he