The sun., 1897-04-12
THEATRICAL TRANSITIONS.
1ug EMPLOYMENT OF LEGITIMATE
ICTORS ~ G4UDEIILLE.

aud Predicts tue Outcome-Tho Experience
nj y Musc Hail with Players from tho
Dramatic stnEe--Notcu or the Foreign stage
The vaudeville stage has gained the services
AZ so many wellknown actors, and It's rewards
yere 40 rlu,h greater than employment In the
,euular theatres offers, thNt many names which
rsnk high are noS priated on the programmes
n, tho continuous" performances. Clara
Morris ana Agnes Booth are said to contem-
Mate an appcarenc In the vaudeville theatres,
and ucy would give final dignity to this
new phase OF the variety shows. When the
y,udeyiiia entertain ments that lasted most of
,he day nnd half the night were introduced
they we're n ovel In that respect, but not other
sise That the unendinR tape OF acts" would
intimately include some Of the best theatrical
4 names was not expected. However, this kind
NJ entertainment soon began, in one way or an
! other efforts to absorb the drama. Ona mana.
4 ger combined with the performance of such
| pluys as Tho Two Orphans" and "A Cele-
4 brated Case" slices of vaudeville in the In or
missions OF the play. But this allowance OF
lhe legitimate" was too liberal. Only recent
ly two OF tho vaudeville theatres had entire
Il companies OF travelling comedians But 1t 10
with the one act play that the dramatic actors
have ct length settled on the variety stage.
Sofia Scalchis proposition to follow their lead
IL an indication that famous singers, too, seek
less dignihed II moro pr prontable Hcids. II was
TO inquire what tho permanent effects of this
tendency might be that q SUN reporter asked
Marc Klaw when IL would stop, IL 1t were go.
ing tn stop, and what the upshot would be as
to tho dramatic stage.
THE demand for well-known actors In veude-
Vile will surely come to end" Mr.. Klaw
said and the reason 10 that the mana ers
will not be able Tn pay the prices that make
Thes, managers are going TO create ultimately
4 q demand which they cannot satisfy. They
! On their programmes, and they pay them high
salaries Their audiences VIII continue to do
msnd these %e-know9 WI, -S.ors ct or G.hsr. even
vide them protitabr at the prices OF ad dinission
these theatres get. and their public, dissatis-
which constantly demands something be tier,
sannot be gratitied at the prices they ha. been
paving. will cease to patronize these houses:
several years ago. when the So led 10 20, and
80 cent theatres were started throughout the
country. 1t was impossible to satisfy the de-
mhnds OF the audien .es after they had once
seen the good com oanies that were occasion:
the only sort of attractions that could be with
any profit presented at the prices so tho
scheme eventually taiieu; Ih' n experience m ,6 ot
same. The punlic will require, after while,
rhat tie manaccrs canno: afford to give. ana
then We shall have all our legitimate actors
back on the dramatic stage; The thing hna
reEulatet itself in way lately BY the number
factors from the vaudeville stage engaged
for burlesaue and extravaGanza. But the end
Of th ese days in which the vaudeville stase is
fetting our good actors is certain to come
toon."
Our music halls at the end of the season have
ceased to rely on one or two hiGh-priced per-
formers. and lave turned to burlesque. The
managers created taste in their audiences
Ehich refused to be satisfied with anything
less than II Guilbert. q Chevalier, or an Otero.
lndiscriminate putting and praisinE excited
public curiosity about these actors, and 1t made
them profitable for a while. but not all of the N
stood tho test of even one appearance.
0tero fell fat. and Guilbert was failure on
her second visit. With none of the celebri-
ties left to make a hullabaloo over. there had TO
10 a change in policy. and burlesoue is the re-
course. Thi. interlude may serve to bring
public liking back to the vaudeville. and next
celebrities to boom. Cleo de Merode is already
announced. 1t 10 fairly safe to say that II this
sued next season. there viii be the same
urgent demand for burlesaue by the end Of 1t.
A brief e eIperisnce OF comic opera actors on the
vaudeville stare DISCOURAGED tae MANAGEMENT |
Of Roster & Balls, who engaged for In Gay |
est Manhattan" such D rformrrs as Henry f:
Osborne. 1t was obvious from the ou :set that
they were out of place. 1t takes very different |
music hall. the size Of Koster & Bial's. AS |
an example Of this II is only necessary to con-
;tast the result OF the work accomplished by
known variety comedians. Matthews and Bull
ger. who have Just the accent and the empha-
Sis that touches the music hall public They
are clever in their way. and the burlesque. al
ready very much improved over ta first form.
They have some good new Jokes. and some 20 ID
old ones. This week the burlesque will be
\ turned over entirely TO vaudeville actors. and
, the end ot the comic opera or farce comedy
actors a. Roster e. Balls will have come. In
tntpre. burlesoqes. or anv other productions.
will be nut in the hands Of actors ac gus toned
TO tho methods Of vaudeville. Merri Osborne
who has substituted a much more decorous
drese for her former cxposure) is the most
effective Of the women In the piece and she |
mas given lhe only assistance from the actors
OF the dramatic stage.
Arthur PinerOs new comedy, The Princess
, and the Butterfly" or The Fantasies" does
not seem TO have been an unqualified success in
LONDON where on its first performance the play
look four hours to act. Tho comedy satirizes
London society and is said to be too episode In
form to create any sustained interest In its de-
relopment All OF the London newspapers re-
cord the fact that the audience was most enthu-
iiastic and this is stated in curiously apollo
getic manner. There seems to be practically no
story In the play. As much as there is in 1t con-
Germs a widow OF forty. the Princess and man
nve years her senior, who is the Butterfy of the
'ite. The two decide that as middle. aged people
they might as well get married, but they agree
10 allow one another month in which to con-
slider the matter. At the end of that time the
woman Is In love with man many years her
junior and the man is to marry girl less than
half his age. The inference seems to be that
love Is really stronger in the end than any con.
senuon OF life or any agreement that this may
lead people into.
The episode OF these two lovers who have de-
eided thatthey are middle.aged. commences the
pay and II is young diplomat with whom the
frtnceSs falls in love. She is the widow OF a
hungarian who was twenty years her senior
"hen' after twenty years of married lfe he died
anu lett her wealthy. The girl with whom tho
h"'erHy falls in love is ward whom he sup.
posed to be his brothers natural daughter. She
an Italian, and Fay Davis the American
ae'less' made what was apparently the most
genuine success Of the production by her pcr-
,Uliihcc ad % o this role; The drama is In five acts
pai pr sho Ttehe passes in London and In and about
III ;aIis, Inc types of London society satirized in
caricaa alaa are said to be rather more broadly
Thatured The a,thd than isusual in Mr.. Pineros plays
iuo authof, who took almost a wear ia wriie tha