The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-18
When these two clever actors are seen there
they may DO considered as Simon.puro products
OF our stage, and DO praised accordingly.

tncy may DO C0naiuereu as Stmon-purO urOuuCtb
OF our stage, and bc praised accordingly.
Pantomimic copying OF a woman completing
her toilet before her mirror has long been n fa-
voritc Interpolation with Comedian James Pow
ers, but in THE Circus Girl" as renewed at
Days, he disoards this device and substitutes
newer ones that are more comical. In the first
act, paired with Mary Young, he is a waiter
serving his companion with refreshments, and
from tho presentation OF tho vino card TO tho
reception OF his tip the whole process Is followed
In minute detail. each stop unmistakable, Ill
though words are not spoken and his hands arc
empty during tho affair. A stanza Of a aong
suggests this performance and u second stanZa
has his companion shaving him, Powers's
portion being TO sputter through invisi.
bio lather and to writhe comioally under o
m!smaneged razor. Then comes an elaborate
row, one behind the other, the coined Ian In tho
last one. For a moment his expression shifts,
as he staros straight ahead. from hilarious
amusement to CONSERVATION, and as he attacks
q slot machine to get an opera glass his com
e sSnir IN Tf front y S E nns III. garden aissnst nat At t iHk' int sns
ference is apparent, and soon he sidles, with pro-
fuse apologies, past an imaginary line OF %sitt,ers.
n%a returns lis. 70 face ING Is 'F tgfsmp pSslft as SSF hs
his tormcntor's view a bit, but soon resumes his
former place to DO again distressed. For most Of
the first scene of the second act this comedians
face Is twisted in dlsmay as ho thinks OF his
coming encounter with the circus wrestler. A
fresh shade OF woebegoneness greets every
In his meeting with his opponent prior to their
bout in tho ring. Here he looks are propitiatory.
In the concluding scene of this act BiDps 10 at q
hall. dressed as u clown. and his face is thickly
coated with white paint, but even this does not
prevent a variety OF expressions as accompani.
ments to his clownish capers. But Mr.: Powers
Is not the company's only e~ssnyist in silent fool
AIRY fyril S.ntt mud Nirpipin Elr ria ha IA n trv
at it in a song that tells Of the Joys Of circus lie.
Between stanzns Miss Earle skips about In a
rope walker, and Mr.. Scott jugglcs nothing in.
dustriously and puts an unseen pack of trained
tating the gait of a dog that trots about on his
hind legs.
The growth of tho music hall" idea in New
York may we'll be traced in the career of Albert
Bial. who died on Saturday last. Roster &
Balls was the first variety theatre In this CITY
that corresponded in any respect to the music
hall" of the European city. Indeed. the term
music hall. which has since become fixed In our
theatrical terms. was unknown then. 1t was
not until the thing itself arrived that there
was felt the need Of a word to describe 1t spe
officially. The old-fashioned American variety
chow was something very different. 1t was
made up largely Of native performers. who OK
plotted mainly Irish. negro, and Yankee humor,
'AsA h'S N@.NhAo ehN ~ sHS SN0 NASS
serio.comic. Barring the Yankee humorists
who have practically disappeared. these fea.
lures survive still in some of the variety thea
tres Of the country. But they are worry spar
ingly represented on the programmes Of what
are known as our music halls"
The commencement OF the Roster s. Bia.
place In West Twenty-third street followed tn,
old-fashioned lines very closely. The performers
there at tirst-after the instrumental concerts
were abandoned-wcre native, and the bur
lesques at the close wero the only novelty of tn,
enterprise. There was. indeed, such a wholly
American institution as a wine room adjoining
the stage, and that Western adjunct to Z
t assr t sis. ep IT SsH yoIk n Sc MeE RFS as IF d,S any Y
the Twenty-third street resort. But thi'
was abandoned after the foreign actor
tinued almost until the downtown place wal
abandoned. The importation, of the foreigner
the vaudeville stage, as it had begun to b
called. was first seen there, and as the natura
appeared &c rradneiiy. Music hall prosramme
in Europe, from Stockholm e Naples, var!
Eanoni. Fougere Dufour. and Hartley. Paulus
and then Carmencita. were particular instances
OF this new policy.
the music hall as it exists to-day. For the frs
time il became evident that the prejudio'
ehsraeisr. a music hall like the present Kostei
Of people who came to see Carmencita hrs
commenced 10 go to such resorts. Tn,
old building was not suited to audiences
OF the class which Roster s. Bial hat
learned could DO relied upon to come to So
foreign celebrities to the accompaniment o
smoking and drinking. Luckily. the Thirty
fourth street building was then available, AM
after Roster 8 BIal moved into that New Yorl
had the music hall just in the sense that the Euro
pean cities have this institution. Roster & Bial'
meant the same to New York that the Empir,
does to London. the Folies Bergere to Paris. o
Ronachers to Vienna.
The Roster s. Bial name had represented tn,
growth OF the music hall system here through
every stage. New York demanded the new In
stitution and It prospered. Oscar Hammerstein
who built the Olympia. has announced his praC
teal withdrawal from the same field. and tn,
beautiful theatre he built for a music hall viii
he devoted to other purposes. This will leav
the original establishment practically alone il
the field. The music hall idea prospere'
in its particular field. but It did no
spread. There are to-day four or hv
theatres devoted to a similar form o
entertainment, but the European music hall a
it Is represented by Roster & Balls has no
spread. The American taste goes rather to tn
variety theatres that retain a stronger loca
favor in their programmes. New York has on
music hall which Is as fine in every detail a
any in the world. But it IL evidently ~satisfie
with only one. and 1t will support only that on
literally.
THREW COWITCH ON PEDDL X