Kansas City daily journal., 1897-01-31

at the Coates opera house tomorrow even
mere o fGa I Rerry in in his his
successful play of American home life,
Shore Acres" This work has been played
in the East continuously for nearly five
years and is recognized as a masterpiece of
dramatic construction. In New York it
has had S22 representations; in Boston, 115
representations, and in Chicago ITO repre-
sentations. All this speaks well for Mr..
Herne's comedy, and one may safely count
upon witnessing production of more than
In speaking of Shore Acres" its author
lately said: Il had written play on the
life of the dwellers on the coast of Maine,
the location not being determined upon.
Mrs. Herne owns a little farm at Berry.
which faces Frenchman-s bay, near Bar
Harbor. She had passed the previous sum
mer on the place and was so struck with
the characteristics of the people in the
neighborhood that she wrote me about
among them in order to get the local col
oring and study the idiosyncracies of the
folks in that out-of-the-way spot visited
the place the following year, remaining
there nearly seven months. This had the
effect of changing the whole tenor of my
play. and decided to rewrite it. The land
speculating scheme spoken of in the first
act is a true one, but l am happy to say
that the man who invested his capital in
, the scheme has chance to realize upon 1t:
valuable spring having been discovered
upon the property. The characters intro
duced into the various scenes are nearly all
| slightly exaggerated types Of people came
in daily contact with"
| The story told in ''Shore Acres" is a SIM
pie one and the characters are all every
Martin and Nathaniel Berry are brothers.
Martin is married and has grown up
| daughter, Helen, whom he is anxious to
| have married to Josiah Blake, the village
| Croesus. Helen, however, loves the young
doctor, Sam Warren, and finding they can
not obtain the fathers consent they elope.
Uncle Nat has been their good angel, and
\ when his brother Martin attempts to keep
| him from relighting the lamp that is to
guide the ship on which the young people
| are fleeing from off the rocks, he wrestles
with him, and in the ''understandin' they
| have, Nathaniel is the victor. This Is said
| to be the only stirring dramatic situation
| in Shore Acres" In the last act, which
| transpires after an interval of fifteen
months, the audience is again introduced
J to the old New England homestead. 1t is
| Christmas eve and things do not look par
| ticularly prosperous around the Berry
| home. Martin has grown morose and sui
| len and he takes no notice of his brother
| The little children come and go quietly
neither dreaming nor understanding the
| tragedy that rs being acted before them.
| The return of Sam and Helen brings recon-
| ciliation and the midnight hour that rings
| in the birth of another Christmas day is a
harbinger of happiness to the folks on the
| Berry farm.
Among the players are Messrs. Robert
Fischer, James T. Galloway, David NJ.
Murray, Alden Bass. John V. Daley Guy
| CrameT. a. l.. Roster, Alexander Paul. AL
len Crolins, and Misses Grace Gayler Clark.
Lucy Morrow: Eloise Enneking, Emily
] w dkeIliU, Ielli Nldy Idul, fidnud,
Gladys Crolins, Lizzie Barriscale and Edith
| Taliaferro.
| A new comic opera star. heading a COM
pany bearing his name and appearing in a
! new opera which proved itself to be an at
| tractive one was launched so successfully
| last season that the managers of similar
companies Immediately admitted that it
was worthy to rank with their own pro-
/ ductions. This was the Frank Daniels Op-
| era company in 1.-The Wizard of the Nile. -
which will receive its first production in
/ this city tomorrow night at the Audito-
rum. Frank Daniels had long been a sue
| cessful comedy star at the head of his own
! company. and has been seen frequently
| here in many plays, the best remembered