The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-24
THREE THEATRES OPENED.
ruEEMPIRE, THE KNICKERBocKER,
AND THE olympia.

untn 4. MCNnIy'h Now bAFVNs NJ sODu WE
meat. =, Acted ut tho Garrict-"'O Ono Round
.r pleasure" Resumed with Much Ado
ever, Little Faust" brought Hnto the City.
rhroc moro OF our theatres were reopenod for
~. new season last night. Thoy were all upper
n,,oIwov houses, the Empire, the Knickcr.
ho,t,r. md the Olympia. Although In no In
s,,nr, was on unknown play revealed, there
vos enough oil freshencd interest to gather and
.n,or,nin large audiences. At q fourth theatre,
,he Gorrick, the only outright novelty was pro-
.en,ed In John J. McNally's now farce,
"Tbe Good Mr.. Best" The Empire
ras nut into use q week earlier than
h,5 been planned In order TO satisfy
,ho r,r,her demand for Never Again." which
nos moved from the Garrlck with no approct.
,bIe change in tho company or in the spirited
manner of playing the really funny piece. Judg-
Inc by this performance, Mr., Frohman takes no
rcrkless risk in sending Never Again - and
,s American cast to London, as he is going to do.
There was much ado at the Knickorbocker
over the reopenlng of tho theatre and the re-
sumption OF ono Round Of Pleasure" The
very cntcrprising managers Of that extrava-
r,nza, Klaw s Erlanger. had taken extraor-
sinary measures Of exploitation, aud the result
was a crowded and widely representative audi
.nce. The house was profusely decorated with
foliage and flowers. Sousa's Band gave q con.
ecrt after the play was over. There wa a great
deal Of enthusiasm, not only hat which
was forced by Encouragement, but also
that which was hearty and spontaneous.
Changes had been made In zone Round of
Pleasure during the summer recess. Its three
acts had been reduced to two, Its construction
benchcially altered in other respects, it's old wit
,harpened and new wit interjected. the last yes
t.ges OF Misunderstanding matter eliminated, and
the comedians spurred to unusual vivacity by
the vim and hurrah Of the occasion. The play
bill said that the writer's Of this latest version
were Clay VI. Greene and Sydney Rosenfeld.
The audience was left to surmise what proper
tions Of the work they had done. There was no
manner OF doubt, however, that they and others
in collaboration had wrought out the most
amusing piece Of nonsense imaginable.
The portion Of Olympia known as 1.-THE audi.
forum. ;" hitherto devoted in the winter seasons
TO vaudeville. was l~egitimatizcd in so far as q
musical travcsty served that purpose. Very
Little Faust" was brought into the city from
Manhattan Beach, where 1t had been performed
By the Parry company during the previous
month. The cast had not been tempered with,
and the play was given in the manner which
had gained approval at the seashore. But the
entertainment was extended by a separate and
pretentions ballet entitled "A Night in Naples
In which mo dancers were led by Signor Alder
teri. II was q slightly affair.
The Bostonians went down to Manhattan
Beach and took possession Of the theatre at the
ACCUSTOMED fashion. With tho familiar names Of
Barnabee, Mcdonald, Cowles, rockingham,
Clati =, aud Davis in tho cast. and with nobody
every way as careful and complete as ever be.
fore.
John J. McNally. who wrote 1.-THE Good Mr..
Best" which Rich & Harris's company played
at tho Garrick Theatre last night, has pu,
together some farces that have been wholly
amusing and others which have had
comic moments. An example Of tho first
class was Tho Widow Jones'" and @
fair specimen Of the other was "a Good
Thing" Both of these were built to exploit the
particular qualities of certain actors, and there
was entertainment in different degrees to b
gotten out of both Of them. The performance o.
'The Good Mr.. Best" was accompanied las
night by some laughter, and the author was in
deed called before tho curtain to make a speech
But to the majority Of the spectators The Goot
Sr. Best" was a very dull affair. To some person.
In the theatre not appreciative of Tenderloin hu
NOR 1t had the worse fault of vulgarity
Thcyc were some cinematograph views in the
last acr which represented about tho height
Of this offence, and 1t did not need an overscru
pulous mind To object to them. Two twin broth
ers. OF whom one is good and the other bad. fur
nish the motive Of the farce, which. starting il
complication. soon lost itself in confusion, anc
after the opening scene the cohercncy OF tn.
piece dropped ont of view with more than usua
completeness. The bad brother represented thu
good TO a rich uncle, and he did this In a taxi
CcrInist's shop. in q Turkish smoking parlor.
and in a drawing room. 1t may be that
the presence of such an actress as May
Irwin has led audiences to expect some centre
for Mr.: NcNaliy's humor. There was nobody
last night TO take that place. r. A. Roberts had
more to do than any single performer. bui
he has little natural humor. John Sparks and
Annie feamans were playing together on q
stage that had seen some Of their best work
and both or them, so far as their opportunities
went, were amusing. But Mrs. Yeamans should
Cleveland has enthusiasm and Kate Dale
has beauty. But there was no one person
IN the performance that rose much above thu
level of the play. And that was not high. T
second act passed with a large chorus thai
turned the piece for the time being into conven
tional burlesque. and this element of tn,
Performance was blended with such a crude
that It seemed like the. afterpiece at
variety theatre. The mechanical ~staircas,
was a reminiscence that dates from Dan Bry
ants slippery Day." and it has done servic,
or this same HarriGan stage in one OF his earlier
plays. Josie Sadler as q German slayey wa
laughed at by some of the audience and a SOM
by Joseph, Coyne was received with more rea
But u niu,st be acknowledged that "The Goo
Mr. Best miscarricd at almost every point II
spite Of the fact that Is not agreeable to record
That only a small share OF success came to O ven
ture so carefully prepared. But It has prospere,
IN other towns and there may be q large field 10