The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-03
AFFAIRS OF THE THEATRE.
VEN ExTRATAGANzA AT WEBER&
FIELDS,S MUSIC HALL.

---. KAnnRnA0 wv SNN'Ns 800 |
S,,a unnd"-uow an eighth Avenue Snu-
1.,m. Audience Reanrda n Comic Opera
news votes Among DrnmatistH and Actors.
Tho music hail Of Weber & Fields was re-
.o.nsd last night. The entertainment began
N,,h an hour OF vaudeville, and then The
o,ad Hand" O new cNtravaGan6a, was per-
sormeJ until nearly midnight. This affair hada
,.mblanco Of dramatic form. with an author
a, Its words In Kenneth Lee, and n composer OF
a., mpsic in John Stromberg. There were a few
consecutive and coherent ideas concerning a
t..per OF q scashore hotel and n miner from the
Vlondike, both OF whom we're fooled out of
money by the tricks and devices OF two pairs OF
sharpers.
II will be sufficient description OF these six
characters to say that three Of them were Ger
Sr,ns enacted by MIR Weber, Mr.. Fields, and
Gam Bernard; that two OF tho smooth
.,vlndlers were Peter f.. Dailoy and Charles
7 Ross, and that the other fellow was
Johu T. Kelley. All these are comedians whose
nethods have become familiar at this house,
excepting Mr.. DALEY. who found u new
and appropriate place there. Tremendous
t.vorites these six actors were with an entirely
eonsenial audience. and the author OF the piece
b,d given them things to do that were within
their very comic abilities.
There was a-plenty Of witticism In tho text,
en0ken and sung. anu tho ncaTeTs iouuu " mug
.he. Not all of 1t was polite. and some OF 1t would
h, unintelligible to others than frequenters
a Emusic halls. but It was the sort OF stun that
mccessful Weber & Fields entertainments are
made OF, and therefore must DO rated as o tri-
umph In Its way.
II was presented in q careful and even lavish
style, too. There are excellent actors and
singers In tho company at this house.
Tho mountings are rich as to costumes,
though tho costumes often show alarming
amounts Of bare women. The scenery Is as good
THE Glsd Hand is quite as clever
e any Of i'S arp pre ssSfssSs w sSsee enIhss, Isds
over 1t. Tho tobacco smoke was dense, the
was not bounded by the footlights.
Miners Eighth Avenue is awasn with a bill
low Of reaIrm. and for this weeks six nights
and three afternoons is o homo Of comic opera.
Its doors have been flushed. too, and its walls
are freshly decorated. The opera Is a new one,
the book original with 0ctavus Cohen. an ex-
pert professional writer, the music has been pre-
pared by Robert Rocker, and is named Tho
Gavlooler." Though a very different thing
from the FREQ and easy burlettas that ordi-
narily hold this house, it is, nevertheless. in
charge Of vocalists ripe In audacious burlesque
service, and tho taste which dominates such
Affairs has laid its marring hand on the opera
Tho book suffers most, for much Of 1t that Is
not versifcation falls to tho comedians. who
arc o wild and woolly lot There are four Of
them, each getting into skirts before the opera
d over as q concession to reforms demand for
dnped limba. With all but one, who is tho
Eotesque female character, 1t seems more do
tghtful to swear than to draw salary. SO pro-
family brings laughter where tho authors lines
- L. 49, - n 49,,
Two Of them are cheeky life insurance agents.
whose pursuit of q third as q possible insurer is
marked by an acrobatio intensity that makes
their speciality OF high kicking. between the
paired a. husband and wife. both using Ger.
nan dialect when they don't forget 1t, ono sing
e ID ! y that { seSSe he Wslc s o Being fns o Seaei m iSn ose 80
Eheimed by the chorus women. In these come
dams L. the ~soundest evidence Of the newly
turned leaf, for all are skirted to the ankles.
no reason for the audience to stare at the cos
gone. daft. The costumes ARE by Eaves.
s ss outlines Ii es'e Glossy fol i owed and GPe 1ats
loren. color from the heshings. and, that there
may BY no installing where shoe top ends and
LEG begins. another contrast Of colors marks
the place. Blu the book docs not supply the
less costumes, and the comedians, though will.
ING. arc but specialists after all. The music
thrSS D0tuef. NeICl6 De COurSey certainty does
not abuse 1t, and much Of it fails 10 her, yet h !
tdlls lack the brassiness that uierces 10 the es'
tem Of the Eighth Avenues vaudeville patrons,
There zip TO tho choru5eS, but after that first
hnrted act the women are In poor repute, and
their hearers fail to recognize the sources OF
By the knowledge that some Of them are easily
traced back 10 master hands. Next week the
sSd d w1tl naE I1 t their ns sustG%sFS Z 'R }. S,i Of s mas,
apparent here that reform has other trouble:
than those Of nominating.
Many new plays are being acted tentatively
"on tho road prior to possible use In New York
but several p reductions this week are In biz
cities. "A Man OF Ideas" by Sydney Rosen
field, Is being acted in Boston. 1t contains tn,
character Of a trolley boomer for Roland Reed
and 1t is said to ht the actor well. One seen,
10 Q comic Shakespearean rehearsal. For
Frayne," which the Actors Society failed t
bring out hero last spring, Is current in Chi
cago. 1t was written in collaboration by Capt
Charles King. Amy Sheridan Fry. and Ami,
Sutherland. Afterward Capt. King issued
version of IL as q novel. The critics say that
with condemnation and alteration. 1t will sue
eeed.
The scene and characters In Blind Justice
In which Clara Morris is acting at the Uniol
Square, are French, and SO are the motive ant
manner Of the work. Therefore, THE So.
asked If Kenneth Lee was not either bold OIL
earsless. In claiming the sketch as his own.
ID. Leo writes in response that 1t is not takel
from any foreign source, but Is his work ,"il
tho motive will allow"
Wo are to have TWO independent" theatre
ssIt winter. The first impulse is to smile a
such news. The 6asco OF the Theatre OF Art
And Letters inclined many people TO expec
nothlng. but pretentious foolishness from ven
eures Of that sort. But we may fairly expec
agreeable results in these instances. Tn,
Produce at intervals Ave plays, TO be selectcr
py . committee and performed by protes siona
Aetors who have been graduated from the school
TSe 1thes enterpri.o is under the direction o
Gent Theatre. II will bring out several o
lbsen,s works. besides such native PIECES a
may be deemed desirable.
Clementine Do We're Sapio has arrived from
europe TO make q tour. Cleo dc Microbes. tn,
fiarisian dancer, Is coming to Roster & Bial's
9sry Mannering and James K; Hac, cit hav
Peen playing In "Roemo and Juliet In Chicago
Marie stndholme almost missed the steamer
Sut II waited an hour for her, and she is on no
way with the in Town company for mex
Monday at the Klieker3ockeri Cardinal Richie
painting AZ the Academy OF Design.