The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-23
TOPICS OF THE THEATRE.
coon AND BAD THINGS IN RIOE'S
LATEST ENTERTAINMEyT

hhlmoutNt " w huu huhTtINNtC NOaNuuNNA
in ''The Banet Girl "A Pantomimo by
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. or tho Foreign stage.
Edward T.. Rice has an abiding confidence In
the amusing value of a q~uadrillo danced by
eight women who drag up their skirts and show
their stockings. Ho puts II into every succeed.
ing production with q naive belief in It's sure
success. "When In doubt play an immodcst quad
rifle is his motto. He writes music for II, or
such an accompaniment as tho noisy. tuneless
tum.a.tum which the orchostra.banged out while
tho eight women'danced on Tuesday night. Tho
spectators sat quietly through this performance
and perhaps some OF them tried to compute tho
lumber of times II had becn offered before In
spoctacles, music halls. burlcsaucs, AID other
form Of theatrical diversions. Mr.. Rice must
have heard somewhere that quadrillcs are not
the latest device Ia stage dancing, but he seems
to have forgotten that fact. "Thc Ballet Girl"
when a full hour Of its dialogue has been cut
out, will be quite as clever MS THE French
Maid" Comparing the first performances Of
the two. the advantage lies considerably with
THE Ballet Girl" A chief value Of 1.-THE Girl
from Paris came from Louis Mann's antics UNI
der the inspiration OF n bad smcll. There was
clever acting In that piece, too, by Joseph
mora arid stretches Of dulncss in that
55Ss tIis, On T,r is mr. first .i night n,,t than IN. IN m . .IhS
rare personal soma hu mn as ,s' Mr. f Mann nS and NJ Mr.. i Her,
bert brought to ''The Girl from Paris" Edouard
osei is tn best of tho actors now at the Menhet-
tan, and the surprise OF that comes from tbs
fact that he is quite unknown in this country.
,layid L,ythgoe Is an exceptionally agreeable
I.oniso Horner i acceptable, and Frederick Sol.
ssnee Of Rumor in the rest Of tho eonedia rs.
ana Thomas Rickotts, in particular, does little
painful lack of comeiiness in the women Of the
chorus. 1t is customary to dismiss the cos
T i&@q result IN a q P's sSa Ti IS tho 3 fS S~d p eostn@inT , Tofd T.
worry few cases is It artistic, but ra ely is 1t 50
crude. flashy, and tawdry as in "The Ballet
Girl" In the second act there arc a half dozen
pairs OF pale pink and purple boomers that
tcrest enemy. The colors throughout the even
ing swore at one another so loudly that they
critical attention to the costuming and some.
thing besides kindly complim mt would soon
t nPa"s sts shs MSw of ff Iond it%se ana "a f PsrIs s''r SSt s spd to
selections as those of THE Ballet Girl are ex-
s ptlonal in their lack Of any artistic quality.
The story Of The Ballet Girl is lively and
Interesting. The songs are good. There III
duction on tho first night, and the dances, in
It was a quarter to /. o'clock before the per.
formsnce ended But With The necessary com.
as any English musical farce that Mr.. Rice has
ever given to us. barring THE Girl from Paris"
80 A@eS nAoooS boo " W Va SAi pa
pantomimo that will flourish here or anywhere
VIII ere there are children TO be amused. 1t is o
blend of "Bluebeard" and "Hu PITY. Dumpty,"
and Is played in THIS marionette theatre.
There is a playful in which the actors names
are Beech, Elm, Maple. and Birch, and in which
the supernumeraries are of the Wood family.
After these is a synopsis of Hum PITY DumptY's
experiences, which are without exception of o
painful sort. II he sticks his head out of O win
dow the sash is sure to desC6nd and imnriaOn
him. II he tries to run away with some sau.
Bages,, they stretch out to the width Of the stage
and then act as n rope by which the unfortu.
nate Is jerked back and slammed against a
wall. His trials with a donkey are bone break
draws his cart over him. His game of see.saw
sends him flying %skyward, and after he has
2 song, and while singing he is s6soMered with
hloodthirstiness isn't exploited, and the old say.
n,ge is made to do a lightsome jig before he is
the as% Visit Of aus a sk eh 9 It to o Hamsp paes9ms atSm # #
dances, falls apart and dances In sections. and
Is finally drawn together and sent off waltzing.
clcntlr unreal. however, to keep the most sensi:
tive y"ungster from being frightened. and
Tommaso Salvini made his first appearance
after a retirement of three years at a perform
Rnce in aid of a monument to Modena in Flor
ence. He acted with Novelli in 1.-THE Civil
Death and was received with great enthusi-
asm. He delivered an address on the life and
character Of Modena.
Henry Irving's pet dog fell through a trap
door and was killed. simultaneously comes
the equally distressing news from Paris that
Jane Hading has been sold out and compelled
10 dispose of her pet dogs collar for the miser-
able sum of 3 $1,000. Thus is Sir Henry bereft
but Is compelled to view It collariess. sarah
l5ernhardt Vows she Is in deadly, terror of q
wioman who wants to throw vttriol at her, and
Mime. Rejane, evidently light hearted, has had
her photograph taken skipping the rope for her
children's amusement.
Paris has lately seen two plays based on
economic questions. One was given. by An
tome. and that is not difficult to understand;
Ut the most famous French actress OF the day.
should have given a socLaiistic drama Is far
ncIcd at the Ambigu. the; home of molodrama. II
tailed promptly; But The Meal Of the Lion"
f by Ffia ia Ssoiso dc Of cp sSs Y ;@sd iSs a great T Wa sr, maIs s o9 =
sermon than a play, Its development, was &C
rom2li5hed chiefly through, dialogue, which was
other ideas as 70 the Improvement of the race.
1t concluded with the murder of the socialistic
were not Hnderstoed. sarah Bernhardt,s new
drama The Bad Peasants" was undoubtedly
which has already been acted in Paris.
Iowa. i, Is T. REALISTIC Tis study Of n Poverty y a among long the 1e
Tho drama, judged by the synopsis sent to this
lures, which find their climax In the last
scene of death and misery. Taking Sarah Bern
l.ardt as the leader OF the French stage. It is
Interesting to contrast her advance with that
OF Sir Henry Irving, who has never shown that
he has the slightest sympathy with any iniu-
cnce OF the drama newer than the class of plays
in which he gained his first successes a. the
Lyceuni. This. OF course, does not refer to the
Shakespearean performances there. just at
present he Is preparing Peter the Great"
which must be. from the frequent delays in It's
production, a most elaborate work In tho mat
hnruf has rapaptlV shown a lrRatar aymnnfhy
with the young playwrights and the newer
schools OF dramatic writing than any other
person IN her eminent place.
George Engels, tho comedian who acted here
AT the Irving Place two seasons ago, has writ
ten II comedy. His first work. The Chaste SUI
bannah," will soon be given in Berlin, where
he Is tho most popular of comic actors.
Marie Gclstinger is closing Il notable career
pnlhetically. She has lately been playing in
Vienna, ana win soon BIO heard at the Winter
Garden, II Berlin music hall. She Is 90 years
Old. \ woman asked her In Vienna II it were
true that was, really .hcr age. III il, is