The herald., 1897-03-03
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LOS ANGELES THEATER.-The
opening night of Louis James engage
ment was not propitious so far as the
elements were concerned, for the rain,
which falls upon the just and upon the
unjust, de,uged the streets, and TO doubt
accounted for some of the empty chairs
in the theater. The marvel was that the
audience was so large, and it was really
big and enthusiastic crowd that well
coined the popular actor back to the
boards on which he has achieved many
of his triumphs
The opening bill. as already an
nounced, was DR.. Birds somewhat ia
nous play, THE Gladiator" which was
first produced slxtysix years ago at the
Arch-st treet theater Ii Philadelphia. The
piece has since been rebaptized and is
known as "Spartacus," after the lead
ing character. a captive Thracian, who
becomes a gladiator in the Roman arena
| and afterward a leader in a revolt, and
who, of course, dies in the last act. Both
Edwin Forrest and John Mccullough
| achieved considerable rerown in the
playing of this part, and their success
has possibly moved Mr.. James to revive
the piece and to demonstrate his ability
in line of acting that was, In its day,
considered almost the standard of per-
fection The production is certainly in
teresting from one point of v.ew-it al
| lows us to realize more clearly than
| could be done from any reading, the
kind of play and the kind of acting that
won such unstinted praise in the good
old days when the Legitimate" was TIE
watchword of the drama. For Mr..
| James and his first lieutenant, Mr..
Lindsey. deliver the somewhat stilted
lines with all the fine, old ia shioned en-
phasis and cadence of rising and falling
| infections. Mr.. Lindsey, in addition,
has habit of catching his breath in an
audible manner that, by Its frequency,
mars the pleasure that might be expert
enced in listening to the lines, and is
somewhat too suggestive of the bad
habits of the old school of defamation.
THE Gladiator" was prize play,
gaining that distinction in a competi-
| tion, and, like most prize articles 1t Is
| not worth much as a literary piece of
work. The dialogue is often prosy and
| the descriptive lines SO often introduced.
referring to the beauties of nature, may
| be good reading in private, but are tedi
| Gus upon the stage. Some of the bes.
things in it show their borrowed origin
and the quarrel and reconciliation of
| Spartacus and Phasarius Is cold
/
scene in Julius Caesar" There are but
two women in the play, the wife to
| Spartacus and the daughter of Crassus,
| the wealthy politician. Miss Everett and
Miss Kruger respectively took these
roles. and had nothing particular to do.
except at intervals to express terror at
the prospect of being killed or joy at the
promise of being spared. The latter
emotion was expressed by hanging
Ground the neck Of the gentlemen to
whom they belonged. In spite of these
agonizing torments of mind, they each
managed to preserve a nice pink and
white complexion of undisturbed fixity,
and their hair was never disarranged
nor their pretty. bright garments in the
least injured by their living in tents and
being taken captive every now and then.
These were some of the advantages en-
joyed by the fair sex in the time of the
Roman rule.
Mr.. James is excellent in the first two
acts, down to the close of the scene in
the arena, upon which he received three
or four recalls and bunch of flowers
He depicts the captive barbarian with
fine effect, and II is hardly to be imag-
ined that the late Mr. Forrest could have
been better. But after the gladiators'
victory Mr.. James appears, for some
reason. in Roman military costume and
drops into his Brutus manner with the
dress. The elevation attained In the ear
lier part of the play Is not sustained in
the later scenes, and for this defect the
author is more responsible than the
actor, seeing that the latter can do but
little unless given the opportunity. Mr..
James was in good voice, and when he
threatened to make Rome howl" there
was an answering yell from the gods in
the gallery that woke responsive echoes
The supporting company has been
chosen so is to make good appearance
in decollete drama, and the men are all
at home In their respective parts, speak
ing their lines with an ease
that promises some enjoyment in ls-
tening TO them when they appear
in Shakespearean characters. MI
Kemper, who does the part of Crassus.
appears, from the limited opportunity
afforded him Of making any display. to
have special talent for dramatic work
The piece was we'll staged and went
smoothly enough but for the long waits
between acts.
This afternoon Romeo and Juliet" at
reduced prices, and tonight "Othello."
]. A. Hupp. of the Pittsburg Asphalt