The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-22
TWO PLAYERS PORTRAYED.
n 1RlGEDIIN AND 4 DANSEUsE
As IN CHARACIERS.

.'The Royal BoS." q View Version OF an
Old Dumas Drnmn-'The BALLET Girir =
View OF Stage Lite According TO Nr. nice.
A fragment Of an old play intcrpolated In a
new one has boon n frequent expedicnt of
writer's for tho stage. Tho elder Dumas EN-.
ployed II In "Koan," n piece which has
been performed In various variants and
languages. AZ the Fifth Avenue Theatre
last night We had a new version called
"The Royal Box" Charles Coghlan had worked
the Dumas material over with considerable skill,
and no played the chief character admirably.
The story. as II runs In the present piece, makes
the hero an imaginary motor named Clarence,
instead Of using the real Eedn. This man
In q London celebrity carly in this CEN
fury. He Ia illicitly In love with a Countess, the
wife OF q Swedish Ambassador, and is himself
beloved by a wealthy and ambitious young ANA
tour actress. He carries on his liaison with the
one and at the same time gives good
guidance to the other. The upshot is that the
wife escapes calumny and the maid goes to
America in the mans professional company.
30 far as Mr.. Coghian's work here is original, 1t
10 in the direction OF modern realism. and
away from Dumas's romanticism. 1t Ia un-
oxaRgerative. literal, natural and decidedly un-
Ideal. The life OF the actor Is denuded of illu-
sion and presented in a disseminating manner.
And all this is good art, too. Whether 1t is en-
t%ertainment such as most of our theatrical au.
diences require is quite another consideration.
The one scene that may. and doubtless will.
appeal successfully to the moro ndiscriminate
appreciation is one which represents the stage
OF tho Drury Lane Theatre during tho garden
passage Of !" Romeo and Juliet" Mr.. Coghlan, in
the guise Of the actor Clarence, appears as
Romeo. The Juliet in the balcony Is Gertrude
Coghlan. his daughter, and n none too proficient
debutante. But Mr.. Coghlan recites tho
familiar lines efficiently. of course, and
looks very we'll. though much older than he
did o year ago in Tess Of the d'Urber-
villes." The players impersonating the Prince
of Wales, the Swedish Ambassador. and the
wife OF the latter take their places al auditors in
. prosceuium box. The sight Of the Prince and
the woman together rouses the players jealousy,
he forgets his part, and launches instead into a
denunciation Of his royal rival. That is a the
etrio climax. 1t Is exportly dealt with. and It
the only excitement in the play. and for popular
PURPOSES TbS ,S;I 1t may a. yn 6e the the MAKING %S,ngg Ct IT: a., ,,u.
woman Is ine1susaSie. She is not in any
band. even though he is himself sincerely ardent.
love With him. but her heart is not SufacIentlyy in
evidence to constitute mu b OF a motive in the
not reciprocate her feeling. nor does he deserve
TO be rewarded with her In wedlock, as the tag
g 81 thu shH pRis csa in son" Is sn s9 a he a]e Is FSieF 81 to what be
dramatists t,rm heart interest. But 1t has com.
Pc ,atory merits of truthfulness, realism. and
Coghisn himself adReres closely and cieverly to
sentation Of Dumas's old character OF Kean In a
new md modern spirit. In that he succeeds
positively.
The fortunes of the Manhattan Theatre took
. turn for the better last night when
Edward E. Rico produced 1.-THE Ballet
Girl" another musical farce from Eng.
land, IL not from London. Its authors were
Adrian Ross and James 7. Tanner. who
are known here through at least one other eff
fort, and an American hand had frightened the
text in several places. There must be more
work from that American hand and there must
be considerable condensation If the ~pointless
dialogue which now clogs the action of the
farce O. "The Ballet Girl" is ever to achieve the
success that seems possible to 1t. As the enter
tainmen stood last night. 1t was nearly alto
gether charming. Mr.. Rice is an adept at inn
proving his performances. The present piece
seems to need less Of that process than his
initial productions usually do. With a liberal
spirit in dispensing with the dialogue
he should make his latest piece a nota-
bly, prosperous and entertaining work.
There was not a single speech in the
text at which the spectators laughed last
night. Some Of the lyrics were bright and most
of them were neatly written. One topical song
In the first act-obviously an Interpolation
was clever enough in its way to add new popu-
larity to that hackneyed form of musical humor.
1t appealed to the audience more potently than
any other number.
The scenes Of the farce are picturesque and
the characters interesting. One act passes In
Holland and the other on the stage OF a Paris
music hall. The action involves an American
heiress, q ballet dancer. q superannuated
English noble. a stage manager. and
half a dozen other entertaining types. The
amusement and interest; It was only The
fun realization of the pieces ,possibilities
last night; There was enough applause for the
Ii sfaF sh snd SPECTATORS ssastsi It d Tss Gniy sh' i Bas % @TSe
Ballet Girl" will soon be reduced to the proper.
tons necessary for such a light personality, and
then the farce will be among the very best of Its
The acting was uneven. Edouard Jose, who
used to play the piano for Herr Van Biene, gave
adelightfully artistic and amusing performance
of a French ballet master. and Frederick Solo
successful. David Lythgoe. with a good voice.
an agreeable presence, and some skill IN acting.
Rice usually selects to represent his senti'
mental young men. Allene Crater was intelli.
gent ana VlVaclOuS. Wnlle Louise Herner sang
and acted agreeably. Christine Blessing added
an amusing travesty Of a Dutch landlady to the
evenings Amusement. Charles Arthur dis.
played a remarkable Whitechapel dialect;
guard. including Violet Potter and Irene
Vera. They seem to DO taking on flesh
as the years roll by. There was not the
usual average of comeliness IN the chorus
and that has indeed become rather q
Tradition. The beauty OF the Rice cho,
perfSrmance passed Of with the viysscity apt
City Directory II 1t were set to music ant
had to be sung by young women in tights
The costumes were exceptionally cheap In
material and awkward in design. A number o.
young women who appeared in vari-coloret
boomers In the second act barely escaped tn,
derision of the SPECTATORS. The. colors wer,
crude and at such determined variance that thu
eyes ached In contemplating them. But tn,
two scenes-an exterior by the seashore and
Moorish court-were delightful.
Christmas week Is Astounding in good plays
new and old. and the range OF choice for holida!
entertainment at the theatres Is very wide
mn