The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-27
STAGE FACTAND OPINION.
THE MEANING OF THE oOLLlPSE
AT THE MURRAY HILL.

bny, barrymore NJ = haletortCht h"SttCatS
Pirate. ana CoEhinn aa . TraGeaian.
The Murray Hill Theatre was not reopened
on Saturday, as 1t had boon advertised to, and
Frank d. Murtha, the lessee and manager, has
given up oil hope of pulling a success out Of the
failure. Tho enterprise of establishing a stock
company ut this house, in the manner OF the
atricals In tho days fondly as
palmy, has ended in n aasco. That climax was
inevitable. We have progressed in stagecraft
during the past quarter OF a century, and the
exactions by audiences have advanced cor
respondingly. No doubt there were many
among older New Workers. who believed that a
resident company could lie made up OF actors
able and willing to work hard enough, and at
wnges low enough, to permit of a weekly
change Of bill and a half.price schedule OF ad-
mission rates. The impossibihty Of success lay
primarily in the fact that the very ones who
longcd for a return TO obsolete methods were
/, disappointed and disillusionized upon seeing
them put into operation. No actor alive con
every week daytimes while playing another one
nights. He can accomplish no more than per
funstory and conventional r es IT, under nns snen
Of hurry apply to al the preparations OF the
Is necessarily slipshod, immature, and innrtistic.
The Murray Hill had some clever actors, among
whom were Miss O'Nein and Mr.. Rankin, and
of the school connected Will tho theatre, but
the average Of the performances was quite as
to exist in cities throughout the country. Such
ORGANIZATIONS as those Of Daniel Frohman,
be taken into consideration in condemning tho
old-fashioned stock system as utterly useless
now: The aim at the Empire, palyy's a. 1.-the the
gaps after failures, and in such cases things
from tho repertory Of the house arc revived. All
the resources of these managers would not sur
fec for a good new nrSduetion every Monday.
ance the cash account. The Same conditions
of elaborate rehearsal and expensive mounting
ayers OF travelling companies. and are com
piled with SO generally that the old,style stock
son in many cities could not compete in either
merit or popularity with the companies on
tours, and are being disbanded.
Who knows how many times the character Of
n police detective officer has been characterized
on the stagei And has he not been as often
caricatured, by mistake or intention7 1t would
seem as though all the fun possible had been
worked out of him in .arccs and burlesques.
But here he is again. He bobs up in 1.-THE
Highwayman,' and Is the most divcrting per-
The success of him is due mainly, Of course, to
Harry b. Smith, the author, who wrote the
t PsFs 1e, eSssp Eyit AND and at ex e hIieRPy h %eSlsn The be,
original of the trayesty Is the Sherlock Hol,ncs
Constable CUTLER, and has been sent from Bow
street with a posse to detect and capture a bold
highwaymen., just like Ho mes, only much
clues in unexpected things. and ,he only diff
ference between the two cases is that in the lat
the arrest by the detective genius of every sus-
pccted man save the right one. But nothing
shakes his implicit belief in himself. The best
of Mr.. Nmith's libretto is in this role. and it hap.
t@nss are are allotted snot eGG to o. it. Mri This Il Nersn ser Htppi66Sis
material falls to Jerome Sykes for Interpretation.
Mr.. Sykesis a rare actor IN the unusual fact that
he combines heavincss and lightness both phys
ically and otherwise. He weighs something like
200 pounds, yet is as nimble and graceful as
to carry. He has a weight of dignity common.
surate with his size, too, and a face that would
mimic counterfeit age; yet he is as ludicrous
as almost any of the ugly comedians now en-,
s sassd 81 sins eo%is G aPSmbina nio a't of i Sd!ffs sae
@ sYths Sb and SuT SS@iS SsxGGsedd iSn f. tn. + was Ro, Mr.
until the time came for him to sing a negro
dirty. with an illustrative coon dance and cake
smith and Mr.. De kovegn have given him to do
In The Highwayman,, and SO the detective
Maurice Barrymore. having recovered from
q week of illness, took UP his role in "A Ward
Of France" again on Saturday, and played it
with the same daredevil spirit and captivating
swagger that had contributed much to the sue
| CcSS IL IL uTdul IL NdlldCk b. n pirate Ill u
fervid and ford play, like the same character
in a novel of active adventure, requires the ut
most care in the manner of his presentation.
The author of a book may. by means Of cx-
is far more difficult. The limitations Of stage
literature forbid much of narration or descrip-
T Wben he n'f has wU done n' his best es t 6e is s sti1, Fdn epend ana
upon the actor. So 1t ID due to Mr.. Barrymore
| Dirata In "a Ward NJ Ernnpah q nm iD1nraa-
sively picturesque outlaw is due to his en-
bodiment of the qualities indicated in the part
the b stage is a transfer from history: Jean La
rite was q rich; bold. and powerful buccaneer
cal factor in New Orleans, just rs he is repre-
sented In the play to be. 1t is doubtful; how
Costume. though & is recorded &c that his eaiian-
try on one occasion bewildered Coy. Claibornc's
S Tifs Il" { s tse maef ri extent dre ssd t man ne iD T fss
Crescent City at a period when creole fashions
warranted ,gaudiness. But whether, xactly
is about. the most captivating raUcal seen in
drama since the days of the Dumas adyentur-
mentalism of the fellows bravado. and as happi-
ly misses that kind of assertiveness which
would reduce the matter to mere buncombe.
Dumas's "Kean" Is n popular drama to-day
with foreign actors, and only q few weeks ago
Ermete Zacconi, who Is accommodating a roper
toire for his visit to this country, used it in
Vienna for the first time. But young Ameri.
can players seeking pieces did not think of this
old one which. with all its Anticipated suRges-
tions. contains some powerfully effective scenes.
The dialogue in MIR. Coghlan's English version
Is easy and agreeable. barring occasional orator
ical flights; and even then his admirable elo-
cutIon rids them of an artifciality which would
otherwise be, detrimental. Henry Miller would
have been physically better suited TO the role
than Mr.. COghlan, and there are passages in 1T
less to deny that the fire, buoyancy and youth
full spirit which the role of the hero plainly re-
quires are missing from Mr.. Cogllan's interpre-
tation. But his finish, grace and ease compen-
safe fairly well for the deficiencies. The q.
feet of the theatre scene In ''Thc ROYAL Box is
strong enough, although something was gained
a the FIN Arenue Theatre the Prince ~
Wales's box is az the audiences left; Q er it
are the arms of Great Britain, and the decora.
lions are different. from those Of the other
boxes. AS soon as the actors enter IT the atten-
ton of the audience goes to them Immediately.
The players on the stage are not nearly so in
tcresting as those In the box. So the stage
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