The herald., 1897-06-06
trdited by Geo. "A. Dobinson.)


y The partial destruction of the Bur
bank theater by fire is quite loss to tn
community, the house having been :
favorite family resort, in which thu
patrons were regaled with light com
.edy, innocuous melodrama and varie
gated burlesque at cheap prices. Man
-ager Pearson had, by careful attention
to the wants of his patrons, made the
fheater attractive and was apparently
on the road to prosperity when the acci-
dent happened which destroyed his
scenery and nearly destroyed the build
ing. Fortunately for the Katie Putnam
company, their wardrobe, furniture and
properties were saved, and arrange
ments were Immediately made to trans
fer the production of "Erma. the Elf y
to the pavilion, where a matinee and
night performance was given yesterday.
Owing to the inability of stage carpen-
tcrs and scenic artists to manufacture
adequate scenery to produce "The Old
Lime Kiln on Monday evening. the
pavilion will be dark till Thursday even
ing, when the benefit for the Admission
day fund of the Native Sons will
occur. The patronage will doubtless
be large, if only in recognition of Man
ager Pearsen's enterprise. and out OF
sympathy with him in his misfortune.
r 4
Len Behymer takes his benefit on
Saturday night at Fiesta park, in spite
of fire and any other hindrances, with
"Faust" as the attraction.
y \ \
This is the time of year, says the New
York Herald. when the theatrical man.
ager packs his grip and boards steam
er for Europe. Several Of the best
known Of our amusement purveyors are
already on the other side and others are
going by almost every boat. For resi-
and recreation? Well, yes. that is par
TALLY why they go, but the main object
of most of them in visiting London and
Paris is to see If they can possibly find
some new play or opera or some vaude-
Vile novelty that will ''go" in America
And their task is no easy one. We reae
of this piece and that one making tre
medous successes in the Eurpoear
cities; some Of our friends come bacl
and tell us how they enjoyed such ant
such a play; that we wonder why in the
world Mr.. Frohman or Mr.. Daily or Mr.
Somebody else doesn't bring thosf
pieces over here and give US chance tt
enjoy them, too. Well, the truth of the
matter is that the play that is tremen-
dous success in one city is very apt te
be a direful failure in another. That is
the case even with reference to Boston
or Chicago, as compared with New York
and yet the inhbitants of all these cities
speak the same language, live under
practically the same laws, follow tn;
same customs. How, then, can we sup
pose that play that pleases an Englisf
or a French audience will be equally en-
joyable to an American? The theatrica
manager knows very we'll that he car
suppose nothing of the sort. Scenes mus
be localized as well az language, and il
doing that very often the whole poin
of the piece is lost
= 4
The German mind does not appea
capable of taking "Trilby" seriously, q
a letter from a German correspondent
to a New York dramatic journal shows
Says he: The first real representation il
Berlin Of Du Maurier's "Trilby' tool
place some two weeks ago at the Neua
theater. Emanuel Lederer's transla
tion of Paul Potter's adaptation wat
very good. Frau Marie Reisenhofer 81
Trilby acted very well and showed he
beautiful bare feet. Wilhelm Royaards
from the Royal theater in Amsterdam
an actor with decided technique, wa
brought down to create the part o
Svengali, which he succeeded in maxim:
repulsive and grewsome. Last, but no
least, Director Lautenberg was no
sparing with his new scenery. But al
to no purpose; the people would no
take the play seriously. They evinced {
desire to laugh, which on more than on
occasion threatened danger, and at tn,
close Of each act there was an ever
toss-up which was loudest, the applause
or Kisses. But this was balsam com
pared to the criticisms poor "Trilby'
received the following day from the
honored members of the press. No;
"Trilby" is not for the German mind
When the German goes in for the grew
some he wants it either plausible, dra.
matte or poetic He goes to the theate,
to laugh or to think, and when he finds
nothing to laugh or to think about, wher
he finds play neither symbolic, noi
poetic, nor psychologist, nor historic
then it has no attraction for him.
L Il
The American Dramatists' club, IL
constant effort to assist its members
has brought about a new departure for
the benefit Of authors and of managers
Secretary Charles Barnard said to a
Mirror man: "The club has become prac-
tically clearing house for plays When
we receive from a manager a letter set
ting forth the sort of a play sketch
burlesque, or what not else that he
wants, every member of the club is at
once informed, and the manager is ap-
prised that such action has been taken
Then each member who has something
enter into private communication with
that gentleman. The club is in no sense
an agency; no charge is made; it col
lects no royalty, but simply places the
demand in touch with the supply. in
England as well as in America. Manag-
ers applying to the club and statina
fully and exactly what they want are
those most likely to get the best returns
The method seems the simplest, most