The morning times., 1896-09-06
NEW York SEASON OPENS
New Plays Every Night Of
the Week.
DREW IN ROSEMARY"
Melodramas Were Thrilling.
Harrigan Falled-De An
CELLS Success.

New York. Sept. 5.-The season is really
open. You would have no doubt of 1t IL
you had followed Sans-G Gene in her trial
of first nights for the past seven sunoowns.
To tell you all, cannot tell you much a
each, hut you can gather general idea OF
what was served to US as first course.
MONDAY night there We're four openings.
/ only wentto one, and that was to see
John brew, in '.Rosc,nary,' at the EN-
pire. 1t was distinguished event. Old
familiar firstnightfaees Were seen on every
side. and the audience was in general cast
about as fashionable as possible SO early in
the TAU. John Drew, whom We are &C
customed to look upon as a distinctly up
to-date gentlemanly ideal, played a man
OF the year 1897. At least for three acts.
scene transferred to 1887 and Drew acted
his first old man role. As a romantic and
character actor he is a pleasant revela-
tion.4
Maude Adams played a pretty little first
OF the century miss in big bonnet and
cork-screw curls. Ethel Barrymore made
a hit with us all. The play, as you doubt
less know, is an importation, and was last
season, and is now, acted by Charles Wynd-
ham.
Tuesday evening went over to see Ned
Sothern at the Lyceuni, IN X. N. Stephens
romantic play, IAN Enemy Of the liking. ~
Sottieru has never failed. The near
est approach to An occurrence OF that kind
being 1.-The Victoria Cross" The new
play will carry all right. There are
twentysev characters, and the scenes are
laid at an inn, at a chateau, in mid forest.
and in a castle chamber To tell about 1t
recalls Zenda, but it Is quite different. The
exact period OF the play is the autumn OF
1885, when Henri Ill was King of
n.
In the Held at the head OF The Hugueno.i
army. Sothern plays youag Huguenot
captain. The dressing and mounting We're
as fine as the play and the acting. Grace
Kimball has been i'll and was unable to ap-
pear. and Virginia Harmed was seen in
the leading female role Which she will act
till Miss Kimball RECEIVERS.
LIAR" AND .CALIPH"
1t will be seen that the Frohmans domi
mated the week. They scattered their
openings over three nights. The third f
these was The Liar" at Hoyt's, farce
from the French, which was tried on the
Philadelphia canine last spring.
1t Is an enjoyable entertainment, in the
same class as Thoroughbred" The theme
OF the play is the effort of an athletic
young man To pose before the bra wn- admir-
ing mamma Of his swee,heartaS a Sa ndow.
The only way to do it is to lic He showed
no componction on this point, and went at it
manfuily, and got unto no end OF tangle.
Fritz Williams was the Liar, and his
pretty bride, Katharine Florence, was the
final victim of his glib tongue. Isabelle
UrQuhart came back To the stage in this
cast after a long absence.
Two OF the principal scenes in The
Long Strike" we're condensed into u single
act. introducing j. H. Stoddard and Mary
Hampton. 1t was relished by the audi
ences.
ON Thursday night the town went to the
Broadway to see jefferson De Angels.
twinkle rs d star in comic opera. JEFF has
long twtnkled, particularly brightly in
support, and he has earned his right to be
head OF the firm. He Produced The Ca
lipiT," and you'll concede when you see it
that we were right in voting everything
about the occasion just as big a success IS
etery one wished the anna Bile jeff He was
ovdteu and Deflowered and bespeeched
and be.artafhed until he nearly dropped.
The company is practically the old Della
Fox Company, with Della's frame empty;
In the cast were Alfred Whelan, Melville
Stewart, Edward Knight, Philip Branson,
Minnie Landes Irene Perry and Mathilde
Cottrelly.
HARRIGAN's PLAY FAILED.
Last night was the first OF the week
that did not present premier. l seized
the opportunity to 60 up to the Bijou
and See the typical East Side New York
thespian, 3D. Harrgan, in bis new play,
Marty Malone" You cannot conceive
of the reception he received on Monday
night lis I hear i. related, but. the piece
did not score.
1t tells a story of New York plebian
life. but lacked the coherency. color, aud
bunior that Harrigan usually inJects into
his pieces Dave Brabani's melodies are
the best part OF the show. You will prob
ably soon be singing Savannah Sue'' and
Others before very long.
OF the other productions / can only tell
you by hearsay, and SOME of the things
heard are very funny. They were all melO.
dramas of the most hair-raising stripe
Wheels nionopolize the first act of THE
Great Northwest The first to arrive was
d travel-stained prairie schooner" drawn
by wreck of a horse. The outfit carried
n farmer and his daughter, and across the
wagons top was the caption " Manitoba or
bust" The next wheeled entry consisted
of two hand-puniped fire engines, each
drawn by squad Of red-shirted men. Last
of the rolling stock was locomotive, and,
as such things go, good representation
of the genuine article. All this was shown
in the mai n streetof Northwestern" boom
town. whose inhabitants Were celebrat-
ing the locomotives arrival because it was
the first train to come to the place over
a new railroad.
Down at the Fourteenth Street was
given when London Sleeps" and from all
London sleeps out loud occa-
sioualiy SHORES. II is iEcarradine, with
blood, and Invertebrates with thunder. There
are two sensations in this piece and they
are corkers, in their way. The girl is pur- |
sued by a male scoundrel to her room, but |
SHE drives him out at the point OF a pistol |
whereupoD he revenSefully sets fire to the |
house, and it looks as though she and Child |
who is with her are bound to be burned up. |
But potse. This CIR is by tradea wire walker |
in circus. Outside the window of the blaz- |
ing room a Geographic wire is stretched |
from pole to pole She takes the child in |
in her arms, gets on to the wire and walks to |
safety.
The villains, there are two of them, are |
not much abashed by their failure, and they |
do not mean to stay baffled. They are |
bent upon incinerating that |
maiden. The man DISCUSSES himself as a |
Hindoo, and obtains employment as an at |
tendant at the shrine of a temple which |
has been established as part of an India |
in London. This is place of |
for the East Indians engaged at |
the fair. The conspirators lure the girl !
to the temple, in order that she NAV be |
burned on The altar of a Hindoo god. She |
is stretched on the faggots, in front Of a |
hideous idol, and the torch applied. The |
flames flare under her, rise over her and |
seem sure TO make ashes of her. Then, 10! |
the brazen idol cracks open, aud the hero |
leaps out to the rescue.
OTHER SENSATIONAL SCENES.
One week ago tonight, just afterI posted |
my last letter to you, there were four open
Dgs. At the Grand Opera House Scott |
Marbles Cotton Spinner" was produced,
and fell flatterthan punctured gas balloon.
It's sensation was "a cycloramic explosion"
in which the author must have anticipated |
his plays fate.