The sun., 1897-10-25
4 FAIRS OF THE THEATRE.
SETEEAL IMPORTANT PLAYS THAT
ARE HEADED THIS WAY.

Elsriculture Our SthEe SHOWS Improvement
"A WelI-Mennt and Probably WerthJ sf-
rort ct independent DrnmR-An ENhibitien
OF Candidates for kisndiks Tntrimony.
Several now dramas OF Importance have start
ed In other cities on their way to Nav York.
Frances liodgson Burnetts "A Lady OF
Quality" rcmodoled in stage version by tho
author, will get here a week from to-day, de-
spite tho destruction Of itn entire outfit by fire
afte- tho first performance in Detroit. This
1s Julia Arthurs venture, and the impress
sion which she made In the one representation as
Mrs. Burnett's strange heroine was favorable.
The play differs In plot from tho book In both
incidents and Characterization.
A now romantic drama. "a Ward OF France"
which klaw & Erlanger produced sumptuously
in Philadelphia last week. has been kindly
commended by tho critics. 1t is not foreign,
As the name implies, but Is q depletion of lifo
in New Orleans In 1903, when the colony of
Louisiana was being transferred from Spain to
France and thence to tho United States His
torical truth is said to have been kept In view,
and some of the characters are copies Of real
personages. Tho adventures OF young
French girl, wrongfully deportod from France
with band OF criminals, run through the
play, and constitute its pathetic interest. "a
Ward OF France" will come TO broadway in
December.
The frequent and hitherto futile attempts of
Smith and DeKoven to repeat the success
which they achieved in comic opera with
Robin Hood" appears to have beon followed
at length by a success. Tho Bostonians have
tried '.The Highwayman" within week in
New England, and, while the accounts are
manfestly tinged with marked friendliness,
their assertion of positive merits in the piece
credible. 1t is to come to New York in
month or two.
lrop, xyit hn pf Spll ff
France" was brought out last week in Bos-
ton. Its heroine is Joan OF Arc, and tho pieco
is understood to bo based on q French work.
This version Is from tho pens of Fannie AyuRr
role Of the Orleans heroine, OF course, that
falls to Miss Davenport. THO fault of slow
ness is found in tho work and there Is an excess
action, but 1T would seem that those things
might be rcmedied. The production is de-
scribcd rich aud beautiful.
Love for Love" has been revised for new use
by Prof. Sylo of the University OF California,
and thus Invested, presumably, of its original
coarseness, It viii be acted by students OF tho
Academy OF the Dramatic Arts next month
at the Empire. The piece has been condensed
sonewhat through the necessary elisions,
and reeSnstructed into three acts and a pro.
wholly pantommio play will be a novelty
is l"e called Ist I'm Old Japan It viii have avn;
INC eeTNlCeS VI thutc. whose
art as a silent actress was unfortunately as.
sociated with meretricious venture last
ssbsh here tho ropu,aeon Which she enioys no
in Paris We may also see tho utmost posi-
blities Of pantomime as real drama in this ven
ture.
Stage horticulture is improving. The influ-
ence Of tho realistic movement has touched it,
and there is no doubt of the advantage In the
change. Formerly few tropical plants OF any
ind aarvrioeahle m Neyy Enulnnd
garden as for an equatorial forest. The par
ticular weakness of stage managers used to be
the begonia, and contrasted with this was tho
artificial India rubber plant, with it's natural
stiffness accumulated by sticks and wires.
Variety was given by burst Of color which ap-
peared to revel in species Of vegetation
known only to tho theatre. There was. indeed.
little connection to DO seen between stage vege.
tation and botany. Tho Imagination of the
foouight florist was seldom restrained by any
consideration Of that science. But tho reform
has come along with other advances In stage
art, and the old-fashioned blossoms of tho
pal1ny days have faded and gone. Edward
Ii. Sothcrn in the last act Of Change Alley"
arranged tho wow Of an old garden " which, with
its tall hollyhocks had tho effect Of natural
moss. Ten years ago some indescribable mon
strosity of vegetation would probably have
fourished where those simple flowers grew.
In the first act of ''The Proper Caper," maid
servant brings in a pot Of growing tulips. and
they do not look like the kind that are dexterous-
ly carved out of radishes. The West Point house
in the first act Of Cumberland 81" gains In
realism from the flowers placed about its steps.
They are natural hydrangeas, and over the
roses that are not deity twisted out of red It's
sue paper to:ornament ham bones. In the quaint
gave to The First Born" flowers % OF tho t right
kind play an important part, and nothing on The
Stage aSes a more 70 sihe atnospheFe 10 the scene
merchant decorates the house in honor OF his
concubine's visit And the token which she
throws down to her little hoy adds to the ORR
These are small matters possibly. but they
play their part in creating the atmosphere for
which the author struggles, ana when one thinks
that the triumphs of Henry Irving stage man
agement is made up of u mass or such details.
Ii can be seen what influence they exert.
Care is not expensive even II taste sometimes
is, and there Is as much effect to be gotten out
vas and hogsheads OF paint. The second act OF
The Lady Of Lyons, at the Lyeeum would be
presented, but everybody who saw it WAS SEN
sibe Of the atmosphere that comes from the
ems skirts trailed over them 1t is still ilnpos.
sibIe for this same character to be impaired to
apartments in New York houses of the stage
which are astonishingly unlike anything which
was a time When Hugustin DAILY was 81 said to be
able to present the most natural scenes of New
YORK interiors; but II that was ever true there
are no longer any grounds for 1t. Sometimes
audiences are seriously asked to accept apart
ments that might be hotel offices, bar rooms oi
what not as. the representation Of New Yorl
houses in this year of grace. Always there 1t
an evidence OF the expenditure of money, foi
these curiOsities, and better results would bt
obtained by persons who knew what house
really looked like for very little outlay. I here
are architectural and decorative magazines
there are Ghotographs OF well.Anown rooms
and other documentary evidence sufficient Il
make 1t clear that such apartments man,
M iaf n
az. But they are still presented, and ut con
siderable outlay of money.
A new terror will attach to the Klondike re
gion next summer. 1t is already on the way t
the mines, but will larry at various dime mu
seumS between here and the Pacific slope. ant
Is now On view at lluber's. 1t consists of hf
teen women, avowedly bent ON securing
miners as husbands, and who, with the idea o
working their passage, have banded together 70
show purposes as the Klondike Brides. On TIL
museum platform they are flanked at one sid