The evening times., 1896-02-17
DCSE Welded TO HER ART.
Something About the CareerandC Char
acter of the Italian Actress


acfer of the Italian Actress
Eieonora Dusc makes her fret appear
ance before a Washington audience to
night at the Lafayette Square Opera Huust
In Camille"
She differs in many respects from any
other foreign artist that Europe has sent
10 u.s. She stands as one or the fort1n ost
actresses of the day. The ablcst critics
nave acknowledged her superlltIys. ..biiit r.
me public has acclaimed her and sarah
B.rnhardt has admitted her compel tive
| IaLnts.
When she came to America three years
| ago IN !et thHn ten DAYS she was declared
! by every theatrical critic in New York 10
DE n very greai actress. lai IN anot her week
| sue was the sciiSalion or the metropolis and
| the winter.
| THIS uRexampled train of circumstances
ty which she came unh. .ralded and yet
| bnrst upon the city as Il star of the first
! magnitude, was due to her management
| neF genius ami her peculiar personality.
Aer Iirst managers in New York were Ger
hAit.N. a 81 t-'. "' nn':t rtl.,i the ri cC adj
| ver'ising as 1t is practiced in America.
! III they did, the public woull have bccn sur
t"''' 0 '.Itnnc yso! EiconoTa Dusc before she
| came.
80: r. r-o ia !':!r enc Of tles. Ger
! man American managers. when he WAS in
Si'bin' took II into his head to go and see
some native talent. II happened that he
saw busc She was already the pct and
sensation la Italian dramatic circles. bat h,.
had not given her any Thought He was as
t"nished at her originality and her nower
To produce tumuituous excitement and he
houiich hi> brother and partner that mere
was "a woman that wonid ma X. a great deal
ofinnEeyfor thu firm. Bur nothing W as,oI,e
toward securing Duse.
w rt-!> . "a sE .grEt WIS instructed
fo "ii"" rr.ni ttirI- VIII her. but through
konie hiundcr or lack of skiI he failed
Ddse, in tie ntaniiIEc. continued her
Phenomena! successes In Italy and In
spain. IN which lat'er country She was
a.So tie greatest faSuTitc after the chief
bull fighter Of each year.
'heair!Cni manager i'll Vienna named
Jahnet, lie whCsc bDu,e was burned some
years ago with terrible loss OF the lives
of the Ptop;c in IL. was arranging an ex-
hibit.oB or matters connected with music
ami the dranIi in The Old Vitnna Worlds
fair building in tie winter OF 1891 He
waste open the novel show in May, 1892
\ mo1ei tLCajCr had Ecci buiu on the
Exposition grounds, and ~ IL lie was TO
present 'one of tie greatest troupes OF
European players
Nine. Dusc ItaTd OF this and Instructed
her manager. Or ter administrator C>cerc-
tary. rs we would sayj. 10 write to Jaunct
Tor permission TO open the novel playhouse
''Duse Due" J t said when he read the
letter. II never card Of such an actress"
So he tod bis secretary TO decline the prop
ssitfon.
On receipt OF tie refusal she Instructed
her manager TO hire nrsi-class thcater in
Berlin for February.
The thHstcr was obtained and Duse
PLAYED TO Overlooking nHuses. She enjoyed
thea precisely such sue, s-Ss as she had her.
three years ago. Mr.. Jaunet, quite ignorant
cf tie Offense he had given her. and only
mindful OF his own speculative interest in
human commodities. approached DIse hat
IN hand. and sdii that II" would he honorsd
IL sue would open his EIodcI pIa yhouse in
MAY.
She refused and returned to Vienna Just
as thc model playhouse Was opened. and
though IauEet was doilg his best with his |
exposition. the talk ana the excitement !
and the success az the .louient were al! for |
huse. She PLAYED In Euda-PeS;h while. |
thea In Prague. and then went back Ia Italy.
When she came here she was the first
great foreign player VINO ever Courted an
iII"riCau verdict before she had appeared
IN London or Paris.
Never was more difficult task In the
way OF obtaining news about a fsnluus per
son than her case has proved. She Will not
tell about herself, AMI her managers do rot
know about her. Certain it is tina; she won
ber way few years ago TO the position OF
? star performer. II Is said that about !
fifteen years ago she married an actor who
iftcrwdrd became Journalist. and that
she is separated from him. but IT is not
hnught that she is divorced. She has n
laughter twelve years old, at school. in
Dresden.
DTse speaks Only Italian and French. and
tie er has Il word 20 sayto any
me IN the EolC-S at which she stays. She
las n"r meals in her rooms, is very deli
ate in her appetite aud particular in her
a>teS. Sh. ~ a quiet and "A model boa rJter. |
She is recalled by her iow-boa rders
IS woman OF plain appearance, with Il !
ace that i a once Intellect nal. sad and vet |
sweet in its habItUal express
ion. She dresses in a way that attracts ! ,
70 special attentIon. She is said to have |
nd by money aud To have q modest for |
uns. She lives IN the former house of 4
coleman in Venice, called the Palazzo
arberiro. .
Il have heard" she once remarked that
D America gold IS piled up in banks along {
be street like the snow. 3ut now | sec :
lat gold is TO different here than else
here. IL can only be had by working
ard
On the subject OF interviews with news
aper reporters and OF advertising pure d
nd simple, IL Is Duse's habit tn remark: Il | {
m not a circus. and do not want TO be I
egarded q one" ,
Next she found fault with the ap-
earance of her name in the amusement |
ivertisement columns in the newspapers.
ne wanted 1t taken out. AT that her !
lends were Obliged To explain to her that | Il
me consideration was due 10 the taeater :
QUESTION; that merely because she was ! q
laying Ia IL the house should nor com. to ,
be regarded rs closed. :,
She would GO away, it was explained | ,
it the theater would remain, and IL was
IT right it should be forgotten by the y
ibiic. a
The critics say that nuse Is unequvo- p
lily natural. that she walks ON and Off II
e stage as other women walk into their p
wing rooms. She Ielk> with her back to :,
e audience when shr phases, as Coqueliu !,
,es sometimes, and she never plays IN the =
iddle Of the stage and demands the subor- "
nation OF all other parts when she Is on"
That Duss absolutely >nrrenders herself "
her art is seen by her Indifference to | $,
,toTieiy. 10 society and to all the orii- | r.,
ry pleasures OF "a star. such as dining | ,
II, giving dinners. calling. Sightseeing :
ID the rest. none of which she ever does. ~