The herald., 1897-04-18

The past week has been one of compar
ative quiet in amusement circles, pre-
paratory, perhaps, to the excitement
the Fiesta week upon which we are nov
entering Vaudeville continues to leaC
in popular favor, for, while the Orphe
UNI has been nightly crowded to over
flowing, the Los Angeles and the Bur
bank have not attracted the patronage
which the merits of the respective per-
formances deserved.
"For Fair Virginia. an excellent play
of its class, which is that of the roman.
tic order, treating of war times. has
been capitally presented, well acted and
prettily mounted, but the theater-goine
public had evidently spent its money toe
recently for the purpose of witnessing
the Cissy Fitzgerald wink and listening
to her Cockney accent, not TO mention
he expensive recreation found enjoy
:. le by many people in contemplating
49,. misrepresentation nastiness of "Gis-
mona. l.
e. -, fair Virginia was comparatively
,,a,ao,a, :, and even the clever perfor-
neSltClctl
.,,a,as - Harry Corson Clarke at the
,,...,,,- -. re not seen by all the people
-. sto,,d n. We gone to Manager Pear
son,s comforta, 'le house. The vagaries
80 nonu,ar taste are the perplexity of
theatrical manager 8, who often find sue
,a.s in nroductions concerning which
thew have had but n oderate expecta-
tions. and, on the other hand' nave peen
keenly disappointed with the pecunlary
failure of plays which were pronounced
upon most favorably by the critical and
intelligent few.
Manager T. D. Frawley has just re-
turned from a trip abroad, Where ne
went in search of new plays with which
to delight future Pacific coast audiences.
He has secured one excellent work,
which he will produce in the autumn,
and hss under consideration sew eral 9TH
ers. While in Paris Mr.. Frawley' says he
saw at the Comedie Francaise the Law
of the Man" which for naturalness anu
charm he has never seen equaled. In
London Mr.. Frawley went to number
Of theaters. He says; Henry Arthur
Jones latest play, The Physician l saw
presented at the London Criterion by
Charles Wyndham. 1t is somber, some
what on the lines of Rosemary, but
lacking the charm of that comedy.
Wyndham does beautiful work, ana ahe
play boasts some daring epgrams, but it
all needs Frightening" Mr.. Frawley
does not admire London theaters and
saws that excepting the music halls
and a very few theaters, the playhouses
are all cramped stuffy badly lighted.
I'll ventilated-little stuffy boxes that
NAV not be compared to the American
houses. One pretty English custom is
that of recognizing by applause the en-
trance of a popular player into the audi
torium of a theater Upon the first night
of The Physician Ellen Terry and her
brother entered the stalls and the ap
plauee did not cease until she had bowed
in acknowledgment. American visitors
are royalty welcomed and charmingly
entertained by the English players and
by their clubs The most cordial feeling
exists among our British brethren for
us. and they are ever ready to give eVl-
dence of it. One strange thing l dis
covered in London was the fact that the
tradeemen there, having invested heaV-
lily in antlcips tion of big crowds at the
forthcoming Queens jubilee. have all in
sured against the untirlely death OF her
majesty. Think of the cold-blooded in
surance men gam mblins on the Lire OF their
respected sovereign
The Frawley company opens in San
Francisco on MAY 81 for thirteen weeks
season. Seven of last years company
have been retained and eleven new peo-
pie will be added
A sigh of relief is heard over the land
because the agitation concerning the
theater hat is soon to cease. Journalists
who have raved in two-column spasms
over the shocking depravity shown by
the fair sex in wearing the view-ob-
structing theater head-gear will now
have to turn their brillancy into another
channel. The funny man and the comic
Illustrator will have to think up new
themes.
For all the time that the press has
been discussing the subject, during tht
period when would-be legislator hav,
proposed to nfict all sorts of penalties
lovely woman has said nothing but ha,
been doing a lot of thinking. She ha'
listened to all the masculine remarks
on the subject and although she would
not for the world confess it to her nat
theater hat an invasion of social right
and a relic Of barbarism. The theate
hat must go. she decided. But she sale
nothing al all. She never does. She jus
went to work and reformed affairs, a.
she always can-when che wants to.
So the fiat went forth that the theate
hat was questionable. New York wo
men set the fashion of leaving thei
heads uncovered at the theater Sal
Francisco women quickly followed tn
example, and now Dame Fashion an
nounces to all the world that to wear
hat of any description al the theater
to confess oneself behind the times.
1t Is estimated that probably 1875 ne'
plays are offered the public every yea
through the New York channel. Charlie
Frohman is credited with having Pre-
duced nearly all the new play triumph
and sensations for the past three sea
sons Mr.. Frohman is said never to rt
fuse play in which he sees a ia
chance of success, for he has a gent
for taking dramatic or comedy nuclei
Of this kind and by suggestion, revision
remarking and strongly casting, ge
ting good thing out of it. He has ha
offered him the best dramatic work
the new and old worlds; the chief Amel
laxrx %txrl, ,tr ,sHl IA,1 4 i