The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-07
ON THE NEW YORK STAGE.
ELLEN TERRY,s ACTING IN 4 NEW
Pant AND An OLD ONE.

hh A'N AE"N
Ellen Terry. In her new role Of Yoidnde. IT
Lawrence lrvirg's "Godefrol and Yolande," Il
called upon to exert her finished art, 10 lend hci
authoritative presence. and to apply her indi.
vidual characteristics to the delineation of a re-
pulsive personage and to the illumination OF a
peculiarly difficult role. Her success In doing
these things at Abbcy's Theatre 10 one OF the
most memorable achievements OF her career In
this country, and II II were not for the dis
agreeable nature Of this one.act play It's ropoti-
zion would DO welcome for the sake Of this per-
sonntion. which was seen for tho only time in
this city last Monday night. The joyons and
luxurious ain Of tho courteean is mhde known
ct tho beginning. and the audience Ia soon In
formed also that her indlsposit!on. concerning
which a physician has been summoned, Is due
10 The i%ncipicnt stage ofleprosy. The entire sit
uatlon In all its horror Is therefore revealed be-
fore Yoldnds, still unconscious Of her terrible fate,
appears on the scene. This ignorance OF YOidnde
enables the actress to run the entire ganut OF
the emotions of which such n woman Is capable.
Contempt OF all things noble. heartlessness In
all matters of love, cruelty to the unfortunate,
triumph In her power, eager expectation of hav-
ing the King and the Archbishop as her guests
In her palace OF Venus, cupidity more than lust
In her consideration Of her lovers, and total
insensibility TO everything which could appeal
70 n woman's true nature are exhibited by Miss
Terry in her brief scene with her maids and the
doctor and Godefrot with remarkable vividness.
As she laughs ut one and the other, and as she
lounges on her throne and utters bitter cruel
ties, she ia the embodiment of beautiful and
reckless vitality; yet even here che betrays, for
an instant. uncasiness under the mastcrful love
of the poor secretary whose poverty she despises.
All these traits. except the last, nre emphasized
in n picture OF mobile and statuesque grace
when the woman reappears In all her glory TO
receive the homage OF her lover from the holy
Land AMI or her rUNnI ana Dr1ncply guests. |
The knowledge OF impending and immediate
less to quell the SYM athletic realization of
the woman's abundant, and victorious, lowell
demeanor Of this later Venus, who seems as
powerful as Aphrodite gliding thropsn tho
Sd0rdmotr recoils from her dead-whitc hand,
and the crushing revelation comes, aud she Is
on her pedestal of gorgeous infamy, an extra
ordinary picture of suspended despair. Her
d Gi, ! sos and argument anch h and hin final ,b Gon ,ai,h9ni
Godetrot, are as dramatic ms one, would
s snRsst Of II her th snu, actress ,o rssorn ths So u o,S,l , GW"k;
than riches and lHst is so edmirabiy depicted
f Ssa-a it ,o appears sgs a aike : her rey yItimo OF some en, I'll things inEs
mission to tho one strong man who befriends
her in q world Of rage and disgust has In 1t an
air SO sweetly womanly that, despite her un-
cleanness. in heart and body. pity goes out to
Tie stricken f"I ,gnG as to a woman deserving
acme of q UNIQUE and memorable illustration of
Ellen Terry's art.
Ellen Terry's Lady Macbeth is especially graft
flying to the readers OF Shakespeare. Its de-
psrture from the treasured traditions Of the
stage at some points brings 1t nearer to tho
intention, and the actress does not
venture so far In the direction Of imparting
Romanliness to her Interpretation of this role
~ to imperil tho authors purpose to show a
cruel and harsh nature underlying the feminine
characteristics which he bestows on his heroine.
Miss Terry's first scene sets the key for her COM
plete performance. and this Is not departed
from. Her reading of the letter has none Of the
masculine aggrcssiveness which we are
wont to associate with this incident, and
none of the purely theatrical tricks which
young actresses or new aspirants to
this role are apt to perpetrate. Her
behavior is natural. and leads her audience at
once into the atmosphere of the tragedy rs no
The fraiiness of her voice shuts her of !
from the robust affects effected by most person.
the urgent pleading with Macbeth which follows
the reading OF his letter. She rises to unex- !
at the lines which demand this Style of .
speech. At those that do not require 1t her in -"
goes hand in hand with her Judgment, and the
'esuh is u better reading than any one else has a
oven us. !
There will be no appreciable wilt In vaudeville II
Enterprises from summers heat. to judge by
present indications. for when summer begins
ne" EcSOTtS Will replace those tnNt close
or the heated term. while some Of the present F
will take to the roof and others will con-
inue in their usual quarters. OF the latter sort
, Keith's Union Square, where ventilating and n
'ooling apparatus OF the latest sort will be put +
nto service as soon as the outside temperature :
it. and where the only effect of tho T.
season upon the programmes will n
esult from the more frequent employment d
( recruits from the legitimate and operatic n
A Drnrtnr'a 1r,yapt, th;,I C,zo, 600 III
he plan of keeping open summer and win ="
or is already established, and continuous II
will be the rule on week days u
the summer, with concerts on Sun d
that last from early afternoon till late In 3
he evening. Pastors is In its first year OF con-
inuous programmes; SO there is as yet no rec 4
rd OF vacations %foregone. but there will be by
Iutumn. for it is planned to keep up the present
,rder OIL exercises without lapse. AT P%roctor's 81
'leasure Palace the beginning of summer will n,
ring not an abbrevtatiOn Of affairs, but a de- "
tdcd increase, and one that promises IA feature al
bat Is nnique., This Is the opening Of n large hi
en- of Palms. The latter fronts on Fifty-elghth u
treet, immediately to the west of the music nj
nHsiic hail hail stage ts E SO That 0s the tw UP AUDIENCES "n tss D.
Pill face each other; The stages are separated Of
? adjusted that it can be raised and lowered; di
nus the audiences can view the same stage per-
pr nee, and u each can see the other Both
eng hurried to completion for opening on June
=. soon alter that the Pleasure Palace will q.
ave an entrance from Third avenue, which BY
nil be unusual. II is almost n hundred feet tn
One side of IL will be devoted to booths, IN
nd will be called the Pleasure Palace -"
rcade. SIT
Two shows of vaudeville that In summer wi
orsake the street level for the roof are Roster da
Balls and the Olympia, At the former the re
oof season will begin on June 4, and by that On
a encouragement of the elevated garden 10
increase its seating capacity slightly, and a
Nv more boxes will he placed. Edison's Vita
cope Is to he transferred to the roof, and
'reign specialists will be in tho programme.
I the Olympia, the roof garden Is to be- done -
nd occupied by June /. Because of its being SUI
'nfed In with glass 1t presents n novelty In roof SCI
instruction, and Just because OF this covering pr,
Will be practicable to make its nme ~,
ons more ornate than Is usual with the ordi- ~
AIRY open air roof rea5rt., Performances OF pr
tiny nights are assured, rs they are In most of SUI
10 other roof shows, which. however transfer TO
ioir audiences to a, downstairs auditorium an
non II rams. Roof shows that represent Just
much increase OF vaudeville since they have
D corresponding winter entertainments, arc A
lose or me Madison square Garden, the Ca 90,