The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-07
FIVE OF THE NEW A
LABOR DAT PROLIFIC IN BxPERI-
MENTS AT THE THEATRE

In 'ln Town." HIr. Ferguson In '.A Mach.
eior's H~oneypoes.. sar. Lipuan In "The
Indian," and the Rays In ga Hot OLD Time. ',
Tho new play at the Lyceum Theatre last
night, entitled Change Alley" gave vivid il.
Illustrations Of the speculative mania in England
known as the South Sea bubble. Five sets OF
moving pictures were shown. The first was at
Portsmouth aboard an old ship that had been
turned into q drinking and gambling resort for
carousing mariners and dissoluto women. Here
Edward II. Sothern, in the character OF a reck.
less rover from the sea, was informed that he
bad fallen heir to a rich estate. Tho second was at
his rural home Of luxury, where he gave q supper
TO his county friends, and was in love with q
neiRhbor girl imporsonated by Virginia Harmed.
The company was engrosscd in the South Sea
speculations and had invested money heavily
In thom. A third was at Sadler's Wells Gardens,
with a brilliantly riotous entertainment in
progress, and here the news came that tho bub-
Bile had burst, and Mr.. Sothern's entire fortune,
which he had in~trusted to IN attorney, was
swallowed up in the general ruin. The fourth
was a representation OF Change alley,
copied from q painting which prints have
rendered familiar. Here tho commotion Of n
mob OF speculative losers was shown, and in IL
Mr.. Sothern figured as being saved from pow
erty by the faithful efforts OF Miss Harmed and
two other loyal friends. A Hfth picture ex-
hibited Mr.. Sothern's conclusive peace and hap
piness In a rural environment.
Each OF the Ave acts was complete in itself,
inasmuch as 1t illustrated an episode char
acteristic OF the period. The stage was
filled in zach instance with strongly drawn
figures. who moved in and out Of slightly
rooms, gardens and streets. The scenery,
by L. G. Unit. had been admirably painted,
and. until an accident in the third act, II
was exhibited to hno advantage. Then the
electric lights went out suddenly. tho curtain
was lowered, and during tho rest OF the
performance gas only was burned. thus dam.
aging the visual effects. But enough Of tho
scenic outfit had already been properly illumi.
mated to prove what the remainder should have
looked like and TO command sincere praise for
tho lavish and artful manner in which the piece
had been cmbcllished.
Change Alley" must depend almost alto. !
gether for success upon its pictorial merits. and
these may be reckoned as including the charac-
ters that carry tho action. The authors, Louis |
\, Barker and Murray Carson, have put a
There are two pairs Of mutual stSsi lovers toSe sn in it. ps asyd
girl whose passion Is unrequited, but there !
little to provide desirable material for
MT; Sothern's own purposes. and nothing to
Spicuous. The dr.mstio element is eItryem SoL,
weTk' sound motives are lacking. and much
to sei1 waste IL fMs r. sos5srs!s ,ct goes the nes3.
worthy, and so was that Of most OF his
somgo eompanions. excepting that they were
that was due to a concerted attempt to force an
interest with matter that was not OF itself in
tcresting.
The young ladies of tho Gaiety are With us
again. The Gaiety girl-whatever they may
exactly be-is possibly q type not so well
known in Now York az in London, ,
but the words have already come to
have, through successive importations. |
somo certain significance here. Experience
has shown that tho girls from the Gaiety
Theatre that have travelled so far as New
York are likely to be comely. timber. |
kneed and tuneful. Their average OF good
looks is high. and they have the faculty
of appearing distinguished as well as mildly
wicked. But while they are indeed the former,
the latter is a mere resumption which they take
on with their rouge. But whatever the Gaiety
girl is. New York has gotten to like her.
Some Of those that were seen in I'm Town"
last night at the Kn!ckerbocker Theatre made
their conquests before. One OF these was
Juliette Nesville. who remains tho same inter.
ostinG specimen OF an Anglicized French woman;
Maude Hobson. who is as handsome as ever
and as totally Indifferent to any other effort at
acting than her own agreeable manners i'm. |
part. Marie Studholme. whose good looks are
certain L they are who'll. British. and Florence
display IN their original dignity. Among the
comedians. Louis Brodfeld is the best rcmem.
The merits Of London musical farce have
never been so thoroughly appreciated here as
have been entertaining to New YORK. SIns sG I'd : .ne@
oniy at intervals that were. separated
some hye years old now. Its speeches and igrics'
touched up for New York by Mrs. NJ. Ryiey.
IS hte BY SHe o SGT u pf c h9nnsF 1ts sna arl lsGss; l,s music iTfS !
all OF the pieces that succeeded 1t. makes no
Rre' SSs to %r H;ns5hi Is, but fot e5'royaSPneS. Since
has T impro %1sd.' and ins Elm ,of Tow3 95 Is thG nS, p sSSsi
I" is sS'f isns1s. and Il ,b is S Hsc'an. out TO =
were far apart. But i had some lively scenes,
nio,hins 0 On ,sd hat would haTs added bril-;
ssfst act. presented S SUCH !; row %H0 of p beau ahH
York stage has never seem bsfore. ~ In III this se ss.
s sDSaI, George Zee. EdTHTdo,'s cSnpsPies arg meyer
~ wa. sA sec: SSsu' last s"'H With pounds %% o sisss
s%eptiine S ons-@ @s@s'' omi nps hs Mlnn siS1E1Hh ta.
was a newcomer who sang with taste and kept
Sia q eli! aisye %s@e ehsr: "Ssa-s sie, a"ri as RS @ saii
boy; To Louis Braaaeld zen most OF tho
There was 2 graceful dancer in Rosie Booie. anii
enthusiasm. The Women should have been
LEFT In skirts. for in the second act they
cal exhibits in. The ' sn%o line 10 But Snr tho 10,
opening chorus Of Gaicty girls Is enough in itself
to make In Town popular" That was a
rarely brilliant display OF femininity. The niece.
moreover. had tho refinement and finish which
10 one OF the most agreeable features of these
London importations. ~
"A Bachelors Honeymoon" was a highly en-.
tertaining farce last night at Hoyt's. whose
season II started In laughter within a
minute after the curtain had been lifted.
Then. before the first of its three acts
was two-thirds over. It's characters wero
involved In a web OF complications. and their
predicaments were so laughablo that IL seemed
rs II the remaining acts must bring a fall in
interest. Tho tangle OF cross purposes was then
as great as Is ordinarily produced In such farccs
just before the solution is begun, yet the com.
icality kept up increasingly to tho end, and the
West AaSt.