The herald., 1897-03-21

matte force Whlcn Sne DrlngS 10 pedr.
She and her splendidly balanced COM
| pany, with the aid of a most artistic
! stage version of the novel, prepared
| with admirable stagecraft by Mr.. Lor-
| rimer Stoddard, held a large audience
| positively spellbound for a matter OF
| nearly three hours. Mrs. Fiske is a
unique personality on the stage. Her
| methods are as natural as those of Duse.
| Her fine intelligence and sense OF dra-
matte effect are often startling in their
Significance. On the boards she is the
character her mind has outlined Her
| Tess is a triumph of mind over matter.
| Her anguish as she confesses her past
| to Angel Glare and her frightful agony
| as he leaves her, were expressed with
| a vivid force that moved the great ma
| iority in front to tears. In its entirety,
acting, play and production, Tess of the
| D'Urbervilles' is as satisfying an enter
] tainment from al intellectual and ar
tistic point of view, as has graced the
metropolitan boards this season"
The comparison of Mrs. Fiske's work
with that of Duse, which seems to have
struck number of the New York crit
| les simultaneously. is, of course, the
highest compliment they could pay to
| the new star. BY the by, II
Mrs. Minnie Maddern Fiske would
| follow the example of Mrs. Julia
| Marlowe-Taber and drop her married
| cognomen for professional purposes, 1t
| would be a great improvement. She
| has always been known to the public as
Minnie Madden. and the public does
not take kindly to changes.
In the death of Nelson Wheatcroft,
which was mentioned in last sundays
Herald, the stage has lost very capa-
BILE, conscientious, forceful actor. Wheat
croft was not one of those ready-made
actors, who step from the counter or
the counting house to the stage. lie had
been through a severe course OF train
ing and was, therefore, qualified for
many parts. He never made failure
of anything he undertook. His per-
formance in this city of Matthew culver
in THE Wife" with the Lyceum COM
pany, will be. perhaps, better remem-
bered than any other.
We quote the following synopsis of
his career which may serve to show
that a successful actors career is not
always along a path of roses
Nelson Wheatcroft was born at Lon
don February Is. 1852, and upon leav-
ing school was apprenticed in his faith
er's metal working establishment. He
Joined however an evening elocution
class at the Birkbeck institute, class
of which Jeffreys and Catherine Lewis
and Arthur Wing Pinero were members.
His first actual stage experience was in
a farewell performance given in 1873 at
Swansea, by Jeffreys Lewis on the eve
of her departure for America, and this
appearance resulted in an engagement
for the local stock company, with which
he remained for fifteen months playing
440 parts of all sorts, on salary of 80
shillings a week. Leaving swansea,
Mr.. Wheatcroft played at the Theater
Royal Bristol, and then toured with
Sarah Thorne. Then came London en-
gagement in 1880, and a South Ameri-
can trip, which covered ten months in
Buenos Ayres, Rio, Rosario and Monte
vdeo, whence Mr.. Wheatcroft came to
New York, making his American debut
at the New Park. theater, now the Her.
aid Square, in Her Sacrifice" Engage
ments followed with Lewis Morrison
and Robert Mantell and in BARLEY
Campbell's separation"
Rapidly Mr.. Wheatcroft advanced un-
til he came to be regarded as one of the
best actors of heavy parts upon the
American stage, his unusually hand
some appearance, his fine eyes, his gray
hair and his distingue personality COM
bning with rare dramatic instinct and
thorough training to render his services
most highly priced. When Daniel F'roh-
man produced The Wife" at the Lyce-
um theater, Mr.. Wheatcroft was cast
performance was a feature of the MEM
orable run of this popular play. In many
other Lyceum successes he was prom
inent factor during four successive
years, at the end of which he left under
engagement with Augustus Pitou, to re-
turn to New York in THE Girl l Left
Behind Me" when the Empire theater
was opened. After a season at this
house, Mr.. Wheatcroft established the
Empire Theater Dramatic school. under
the patronage Of Charles Frohman and
with the assistance of corps of capa-
BILE instructors headed by Mrs. Wheat
croft (Adeline Stanhope). To this school,
the furtherance of its interests and its
establishment among the highest insti-
tutions of its class, Mr.. Wheatcroft had
of late devoted his time and his energy.
How we'll he succeeded the school shows
for itself. During the past season
Charles Frohman persuaded MIR. Wheat
croft to accept the first part of Sir Geof-
frey Pomfrst in 'Heartsease," with Hen
ry Miller's company, and the part in
! "Sprtisme." which. one of the actors
strongest characterizations, was des-
tined to be his last.
One Of the latest specifies for voice
building is advocated by Frenchman,
who poses as d scientist. and who de-
clares that inhalatlOns OF curacao Will
raise the voice two notes, the aspiration
of absinthe VIII add one high and two
low notes and the extract from pine Will
give two low notes. He asserts also
that coffee beans stepped in rum viii
strengthen the middle register, and that
there are even greater possibilities in
kerosene, turpentine and strychnine.
II he had a specific fOr curing tbs trem-
olo movement so much affected by third
rate vocalists, and a process by which
they could be forced to take it, he would
be a genuine benefactor 10 society.
There is an almost p,airtive tone in the
query of the "Matinee Girl" who asks:
Has any one noticed that an epidemic of
! slim and slender girls has arisen on the
stage? The reign Of 1he lady with u
! figure" seems to be over. Measure
ments don't count now, even in the
chorus. Ladies who used TO draw large
salaries, leading amazons in gl!ttering
armor now languish among the supes.
! Corsetless curves are in demand Even
Rice, they say, no longer carries tape
measure around in his vest pocket
The ups and downs of theatrical life.
the varying fortunes of the differen.
daily dramatic ventures and the genera!
trend of the business from a financial
1 DOirt of view are nowhere hotter re