The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-14
TOPICS OF THE THEATRE.
.rocK COMPANIES LIKE THOSE OF
TIE PALMY DAYS.

. \ i IA h"NN " 49, VA
.ny next season OF tho old.tashioned kind.
5gnn hills will he changed once q week, a wide
..n,o ~ nlays will DO enacted, and people who
..,Iovc that the methods OF 1.-The palmy days"
~,rs hotter than those commonly pursued now
,dnvs will be gratincd-or disappointed. The
.~n.rim,nt is to he made at the Murray Hill
dor competent direction. II has lately been
,.,od IN other cities, and the ensuing winter will
snd ,venty.two resident organizations working
IL ,be old style. But let not the old folks with
memories enchanted by distance, nor young
fills with ideal expectations, conclude that
,bsy arc going TO see as good performances as
ar, given under the prevailing system OF special
sas,s and travelling companies. AS an expo
aI,nt for tolerable amusement at low prices,
M, revival OF stock companies serves an excel.
,,rt purposc, but thoro are plain reasons why II
,,nno, AXE rank with, much less Bupplant,
N. never and better method. To cut the
nr,cc. OF admission in half means q correspond.
,ns ABDUCTION In salaries, and SO the best talent
that can be obtained is respectable medioo-
5,y. The public has become accustomed to
,ri,ablo scenery and costumes, and will not
,ol,rate the makcshifts that used to DO
accented as a matter Of course. The weekly
change of play. with little or no change
AZ actors, precludes the thorough rc-
h.arsins requisite for such representation as
suSsinnsirS advantage Of the special cast and the
travelling company 10 that. through the shrewd
ssnsration 1' Of Ola ali ; bis efforts upon i, no is far
more vaiuably employed than he could be In any
other way. The dramatic production into, which
lime and thousands Of dollars before tho curtain
IL raised. in which every actor Is chosen for par
iicular talent, and in which success means q
srned' cannot be rivalled by anything that
an be done with a stock company.
-
It Ia practically settled that there will soon be
,ohange in the administration Of the Affairs of
Roster & Balls Music Hall. and the first step In
that direction was to be the resignation Of Wa
Mcconnell, who has been the business manager
NJ the theatre for seventeen months, and was re-
sponsible for the engagements Of Chevalier,
Ioie Fuller, Yvette Guilbert, otero, and other
notable vaudeville performers who have ap-
reared there Of late. Alfred Aarons. who has
been Oscar Hammerstein's business manager at
the Olympia for some time. has been engaged in
Mr.. McConnell's place. Tho stock Of the Roster
L Bil company is owned by several persons
who are said to hold various Vows as
10 The control OF the theatre, and there
have been. from lime to time, rumors as to
changes in the ownership Of the stock. During
William McConnell's term as manager the music
hall has been highly prosperous, but the lack OF
any noted European performer to bring to this
country Is said to seem an embarrassment to
this as well as to other music halls at present.
This subject has already been considerably dis
cussed, and it appeared for . while as though
the injudicious puffery Of q great many foreign
performers who did not deserve it had 1t last
led the public TO expect 90 much that 1t was in
the majority of cases sadly disappointed. In .
conversation the other day with . manager
Of long experience in vaudeville. o SUN
- -t-t--
the music halls here were destined
TO fare as badly in the future AZ persons have
predicted Of late. Oscar Hammerstein. for in
stance. has declared that the business hero IL
practically dead in comparison with what It has
been. But the manager who talked to The Sun
had no such idea. 1T did look for o time he
aid, "as though tho public that attends tho
large music halls had been educated to a point
1t which it was no longer possible to satisfy it.
People began to think that every music hall pro-
ramme had to contain at least one famous CO.
lbrity. Some of the best known Of these people
in Europe came here, and in spite Of their great
regulations failed completely. Look at Dan
Leno and Otero. Tho failure OF these. as well as
the practical exhaustion Of all the very we'll
known people on the European vaudeville stage
naturally led to q certain decline in attend
ance, and then the managers became frightened
eA NA1A hASS hNS S~StSA ASN ASpINN wa
Of vaudeville completely. I think by the time
the next season opens tho air will be cleared
again, and audiences will be glad to return te
the music halls and see q good programme
whether it contains any foreign celebrities OF
not. There are plenty Of good American vaude.
Vile actors, and there are still enough compe.
q Kara Shows that. Anna Held was
S St@S'' and a no tSsra sr Shs Sous shs c nIeStS ove eI
women on the European stage Just as attractive
Without the presence Of ivette Guilbert, Chev
.Oon be as well satisfied with . good. weil.se
!isssa h IisSSGs4eili REs sfopsans Began ss II to w come s SHsr
a,Tanged for Roster & Bial'a, for instance, wa
was clean throughout. Il contained a number q
s ssry clever i.Hr people, and the audien &C. was salts
not be long before the managers win bseL
the vaudeville public to their music hall
week, or half that sum to 90 Il. There are plenty
q good vaudeville actors in this country, anc
me rather q cause for congratulation that ths
smanl it Of high price stars has been exhausted
Eaters vii be really on a more businesslik,
nAris, and when the managers know that thee,
foreign stars are not absolutely indispensable K
success the competition for the services Of what
smf new ones may develop will not be nearly
70 sharp as It was, and whom, they are brought
70 this country It will be at prices not so ridicu
ious as those paid In the past"
more OF Eleonora Buses history than was evel
tnoWn here comes from Paris. 1t seems tina
se was born on a railroad train between Padui
and Venice. and her birth was registered In tn,
hlle village of Vigenano on Oct. 8, 1859. II
W time OF Goldoni one of her ancestors. ais,
named Duse. was a comedian. Her grandfathe
,ounded at Padua the Theatre Garibaldi, ant
ef father, Alexander Duse, was O comedian o
'me merit. He was the head OF a wanderin,
s0mpafy. which travelled in Piedmont an,
homoardy. Notwithstanding their theatrica
aaeestry. Duse was the first woman of her fam
y! act. She made her debut when she wa
syears Did. At the age of IS she played Fran
u'ca "d RImint. At IA she gave In the arenl
- Verona the famous performance OF Julie
n" hrst started her reputation travelling
,nrough Italy. She had to wait, however, unit
\ lot the final acknowledgment OF her pow
'nit came in Naples when she acted in lola
iueiese Raquin." 1t was not until 1887. how
"er' 'Aat she went through Italy with her owl
wSupahy' One OF the French newspapers say
I'LL EhA