The herald., 1897-05-30

| engaged in designing the costumes,
scenery and properties of play spec
tally written for him by Joseph Hatton,
intended to faithfully transfer to the
traffic of the stage" the famous series
of Hogarth's pictures known as THE
Idle Apprentice" which, by the way,
will be the title of the play. The part
of the hero, Jack Sheppard, will be
played by Weldon Grossmith- The
principal role, however, will be that Of
iona than Wild, the celebrated thief
catcher, and as yet no one has been cast
| for the part. Mr.. Grossmith's wife,
May Palfrey, will be included in the cast.
1.-THE Idle Apprentice" Will be drama
in four acts The first act will be divided
into no less than five scenes. The prin-
cipal difficulty that now confronts Mr..
Grossmith is to find q theater with a
stage sufficiently large to admit Of the
setting OF his piece.
Wilson Barrett was recently taken to
task by q London dramatic journal for
presuming to orevise"Virginius, in which
play he was to appear. If 'Virginius' in
its original form was good enough for
Macready," said the critic, ''it ought
surely to be good enough for Wilson
Barrett" Whereat Mr.. Barrett. replying,
proved that "Virginius" was not good
enough in it's original form for Mac
ready, and added: "Tallow candles for
footlights were good enough for Bur-
bage and Garrick. Mrs. Yates played
Virginia in hooped skirt, twenty-four
feet in circumference, with an over
dress looped up with bows, tassels and
cords thick as ships hawser. On her
head was a powdered pagoda foot
high. On the summit of this edifice
waved five enormous ostrich plumes;
thus the face of this sweet Virginia
occurred somewhere near the center
of her figure. This was good enough for
Garrick, who himself considered q
cooked hat, bag wig. ruffies and full
court suit good enough for Macbeth.
Would the critic in question consider
these things good enough for today?"
From reading the foregoing remarks
of Mr.. Barrett it would appear that he
had entirely overlooked the difference
between a restoration of accurate cos
tunes and accessories and a deliberate
alteration of the text. Garrick thought
that he could improve on Romeo and
Juliet" and Colley Cibber had the same
idea about Richard the Third" Wilson
Barrett may be, and very likely is. in
the same category Of presumptuous,
we'll meaning, but mistaken personages.
Much was expected of La Montague
Enchantee, "a playin five acts by Moreau
and Carre, which has been produced at
the Porte-St. Martin theater, in Paris.
but the expectant ones were disap-
pointed. 1t is true that the staging was
beautiful, says a critic writing from
that city, but instead Of the looked-for
-uovelty and ingenuity was found =
pretentious piece that dragged woe
fully. The story is of the Arabian
Nights order Even the brilliant act
ing of Jane Hading did not save it from
the pitfall of tediousness.
"Phroso" is being dramatized by
Messrs. Anthony Hope and Edward
Rose, who are being assisted in the work
by II. V. Esmond.
Manager Pearson Of the Burbank has
arranged to give a benefit to that active
and courteous press agent, Len
Behymer, on Tuesday evening. June
Sth, on which occasion Katie Putnam
will appear in the exciting drama
called 1.-The Old Lime Kiln" Mr..
Behymer has enough friends here to tax
the capacity of even a big house like
the Burbank, if they will all turn out,
and there is no doubt that the bene-
ficiary will be honored by large at
tendance, which he well deserves.