The sun., 1897-03-08
DRAMATIC OBSERVATIONS.
pI4rWRIGHTs WAITED FOR NovEL-
IsTs TO LEAD THE WAY.


t,ctIon-The CsIIou- Behavior OF Audience.
reward Good speciaiists-stage Gossip.
poc. not the present vogue Of the dramatizcd
,oycl Indicate that original DIR lmatists have
.uovcd the novelists TO anticipate them In
,..tlne the taste Of the public? Those OF the
now books that have succeeded when made
into dramas were selected because they had al
,esdy established q popularity. The inltia-
,,v. might as well have taken In the play
houses The theory was held that THE Pris-
oner OF Zenda" succeeded as q novel because
the reading public. .wearied Of analysis CT char
sc,er and motives. turned enthusiastically to n
,,lrring romance. Tno same explanation was
given OF the success Of the work as play. But
,h.r, Is a we'll. l.founded belief that there never
ia public demand for plays Of this or that
particular kind. More general Is the convie-
st S'a any time. Still. a masterpiece rnay have
turned the public toward demand for ro.
Eu the thst5s wasd iSr wro. sse .asS
piece as The Prisoner Of lenda' until the
took had been read BY thousands o.. Of people pie,
such a den and existed until the publ" had
rusiel after the novels. Then .n the aramatis:s
2enda''-it is impossible to avoid that In:
stance swept through the printed fiction OF
5s md 'T the % piiy was the dominant success OF q
winter rather because OF its own merits than
any condition pns waited S PGSi' IL, s In. S,o
Tnen the drrmatists rushed IN, and the cos.
tune. as tho jsrgon calls II, still exercises i!s
fird transferred from novels TO the stage.
will tho next transition be indicated by tho
noyelists, or will tho dramatists sec their own
way 10 III
THE theatres which we often hear are TO be
built" said a manager. do not always ma
terali1c. A Jhsme which could increase the
number OF large audiences wo Id be very
t.tl IA al Npl "A.
ing good plays.to put into all the present thea
tres would seem to be as much as the man.
ayers are capable OF overcoming. But It
would be an advantageous thing II all the ru-
norei theatres. really were. tuilt. Their pro-
;ectors might not all be succ ,ssful. and their
manasers might have the usual trouble in
getting acceptable entertainments. but even
thi. result would produce one condition OF ad-
yantages. The unoccupied theatres would
make the production of new plays more fire.
ouent. Rather than keep their houses closed
managers would take risks which. were there
more plays than theatres. they would not 9
willing to assume. such a situation would
alo tend to cheapness In the manner OF the
drama world make its promoters chary OF -x-
pendtqre. so there would De greater op-
Ii. stage. more liherality In the KINDS of
dramas selected, and an increase In the ar
tstic activity OF the theatre. which would pro-
duce certain good results II no great profit,
were possible and the losses would not DO as
Gs nsy ia a' a ny 90 90 tho
population. than here in New York. but tho
number nearly always ine1pensively available
for experimental performances Is very much
greater. The number Of new plays Is larger
there than here. mainly for that reason; The
theatres is larger and the dramatic activity
considerably greater than IL l. here. Plays
ersso chances OF success are attemp pted be.
cause their production in 'olves much
smaller OUTLAY than IS necessary here. SO.
the more theatres we have the more plays we
are likely to see. and this wocld extend the va
rety OF the pl,ys and introduce many which,
u,n. OF production, would never get before
the footlights-"
Either Broadway vaudeville audiences arc
becoming world-worn. or elso they are getting
TO realize that the specialist Is bound to do his
full turn" whether IL In demanded or not.
This Indifference TO any but the best and new
est performers Is most marked in the case OF
the first and second specialtie- In programme,
which nowadays are almost ignored so far As
applause 10 concerned. An act that served as
an example was done Last week at Roster 81
Balls by woman iuggler. She was young. had
an attractive face. and never for y moment re-
laIed in her endeavors to please. Then. too.
she was well practised, and had rs an assist
anita nimble negro whom. she kept busy-bring-
ing articles to her: and catching them after sho
had done with them. Nothing In her sDe-
cialty marked her for novice. and che had tho
further advantage OF being q stranger, yet her
watchers wouldn't relax even at such OF her
tricks as were new. She had two balls two
rn,a Ssae, ~ diameter attached ache to the end Of
whirlet the balls about her head rapidly, con-
trolling their revolutions so thoroughly that
she could knock the ashes from the cigar which
her assistant held in Lis mouth. or extlnguish
candles flame without disturbing tho can llo
dozen faint hand pats was ali the applause.
Another feat that brought indications OF
umbrella. IL wasn't extremely difficult. but n
year ago its novelty would have saved IL rom
silence. The bottle was tossed In he air, and
caught on the ferrule OF the umbrella, which
was opened as the bottle was sent wEirling.
with tho bottle impaled. a shake OF the um-
brella handle loosened a cork that was away
up inside tho bottle. and water poured out TO
tflesle down over the mbrella. 1t must be
,se thsr i !" tse ,nHehtnrs b ot such devices to
Down a; Keiths they take such contriyances
AZ very different valuation. Proving this
,seribed professionally as :nokes." and SS % some me
symen as unspeakable nuisances. heir new
iHS!er tubing. tiny moa,tpecr oG and psf a large
,ih IN tunnel stuck into the other end TO serve as
sNu12 MS funnel about, holding the tube by
.ne middle, cnriously reverb-rSnt tone re-
snlting To mutiie tn. tones each man grave.
held his instruments bell against the pit OF
hls stomach, when the tone could just bs
heard. The coDtrivance v as in uss less than
TWO minutes. but th.t Was long enough to
prove that IL was brought to the right market.
The sisterhood OF the West End synagogue OF
the Rev. DR.. Mendes Is to have its charity fund
repIenishei by matinee at the Knlckerbocker
next Friday. Al Hayman and the Frohmans
nave arranged bill to include a monologue by
MT. Dodson short play by Miss Allen and Mr..
Miller, The Rose" by Miss Shotwell, Miss
Ho'e' Mr. Morris. Mr.. Mills. and Mr.. Colts
enAik' and When a Mans Married." with its
Lyceum cast.
secret Service" will be acted at the London
Adolphi In May, with exactly the same players
snd scenery that were seen during the long run
o'the drama at the Garrick Theatre here. Such
scohplete transfer Of New York success to
London has never been attempted before. Tho
ne!ssoh oi My Friend from India" which is
H." H., paying there has been 80 much changed
,,4at At IAt piece, from the printed descriptions of
T. Senl5 scarcely recognizable The play will
'Inrrah,lHltd into German by AL Neumann.
r2genepl Al thc Garden Theatre in two ING weeks,
,,,nuis ~ Parker, who Is an American by birth
tH.,"ough he has spent little time in this COun.
w. Mlli hereafter live for half OF every year In