The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-09
AFFAIRS OF THE THEATRE.
NEGR0 HEADS AS LYING NOTES IN
ANNA HELD,1 BALLADA.

Auos uItEpOT VI AMIN htolC II Iuhkluk v 70
perato attempt TO secure to hor alone the de-
vice that 10 the most striking feature Of her cur.
rent speciality at Roster & Bial's. The music
hall programmes bear the lines, A rights for
America and Europe in tho animated score arc
protected" tho drop curtain on which the
acorc 10 painted has n copyright imprint, and
advertisements In the dramatic woeklioS warn
other managers to keep hands Off or DO over.
whelmed with litigation. But the Idea was
used In Broadway ton years ago by Low Dock
stader, whom no was struggling to establish q
permanent minstrel show. Tho device con
nists of q white drop curtain on which arc
painted the words and music Of Miss Held's
cong. This is q two.year.old negro ditty, Il
Want My Presents Back" Three bars Of music
run across the curtain, and some of the notea
are painted black, but moro arc taken up by
negroes heads. Thirty-two grinning faces OF
various shades Of duskiness stick out from tho
curtain, and as many voices roar out the re.
frain after tho soloist has gone through with 1t.
All OF those singers are hidden but their heads;
che heads correspond in size to the notes, SO at
FIRST glance the curtain looks like a mammoth
piece Of sheet music. As the soloist begins
her first stanza her assistants arc hidden by
another drop, and when as she reaches the chorus
this curtain is lifted the disclosure is surpris-
ing In good degree. In the minstrel show the
- 49, .n,is,ta ,hnn ~ rrosan. - E.oh
49, - b., =, 49, a., ,ha, A. 10y, :
.rond,nr % tho 80 ,hrourh ,vh;or, his ho,a
was stuck. So when the chorus started. its air
ran along the painted score In curious fashion.
and with an effect that might reasonably have
brought the name OF human xylophone."
At Dockstader's the vocalists weren't drilled
finely in this exercise-it was at a time whom
of the effect waA lost. but the ono man.Ono-nOt0
t%ea Mas ,ar SSpSa,or 40 tnS present tSssn xe maesno q
headed squads Of negro lads in pickaninny spe-
ctelties should find a Welcome opportunity In
ifonssr neM an s oD,e norniiv u nesded and t 1eo
the big curtain will serve another good pur.
pose It NV will . hide the er rstwh = ,h lads , 10 tha attn. no
one nev IN a Inc ap t2n inoh can n see esa ths ao LSes s haSs
-
wor-worded text, the picturesque naming of
tho s,o,s characters m"ans,, and t., tho -, occasional sa,ion ad FLASHES .,,. Of a
suggestive of the same Henry Arthur Jones
the tecbnious Of Wilson parrstt and this kesn,
49, go. ,.as., ~. 10
ehVe o strong tneatrio interest," tnat Is moro
,~h,nh tmm.s,ato,r nroo.dsd ri. oua No
body would to-day thinksof presenting Youth"
for instance. I'm the Ranks" or even 1.-THE
Lights of London" None of these pieces has
the elements which Mr.. Jones contributed to
'Hoodman Blind and Mr.. Barrett supplied
wa .NI Gu n I'll SoAO = q"
n,.sS,asso,. go s.onnaa 80. s;aht 1855.
S...o,s 80. HNH .IIoaess p,.Ss,,
.hst - ;nto.ost atta"hos 60 a. r.r;r.I ga,
-, A.. n....s- II,II .s.-s... a.
~ h.rona d.so,in.,on paro,r 800 : ~,
W, oudi.,o. - ~. annsnttn IL
80. ,snrasa.toion,. .h,, 80 49, D.
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..,,.a :. a. 49, - rooo;ras
sa.wo,t ~. e.io,d,r .tto,.ta, .av,s -.
49,. o,Nau 80 ~ ;,sn;.dn~ - e.
IN the new stock company. She remains there.
Andrew Robson is better than his predecessor.
ana Inomss tatndeI Is an0sner ontnnsiaSMh Ho
Rankin has been an injury to any performance
in which he appeared, SO it WAS as a stage
hanager tnas No might nave Deen vaiuapie.
al the Murray Hil. out OF ne company has
gradually dropped nearly every element that
WWAtIhe .r ~ y nred;it fn = an und oSsut n > ths sP ni'rra4;
$500. 20 n ~ III ~ ~ y ~ Pnbson for y
sEPii sa SiS aad mani manly d mteTpr "a ION OF ms me mere
.drasssS IN / S se1ms cnsfnme of st - aMn,ns
cloth; MI: RanEia busters and roar; PSssi'
But the slipshod. Careless pprsoductions AZ thc
Murray Hiiii could easily p, Se@edied or i'm
R taps Of m mu SGm tim pssp or sar wi'h an t noss S6Peh the
soho,a mneI IN = eeiTSS' .i1Pus Use % pSy;n n
4 a ne, m w !, itHhP mp Sia . y. nsr.a niO OY1 ~ iiad phhu
- 'e''ofi' Ii pau . oor'@ih iHAeu
.s. o,,-.-,
Shanus obrien ms gone TO tho star, not
as an opera, but as o melodrama in the old and
the new sense ~ that word. On Monday night
the audisUos Welcomes IL hsarti,v Ths-a Sa'
always existed here a well-defned limit to the
feld of the Irish play-at least since the Bouoi.
- 10 80
Gapit pieces held their own on every stage
They were indeed Irish, but their quality carried
them into theatres which are not accessible n
az - - T,,. ,aa;.S 49,. L.. :.
tne Irlsh plays To-Day. ihls teenhg that there
10 a place for everything and that everything
has its place, especially an Irish play, is doubt
Tess deep enough seated 10 nave kept popular
New York. Aside from n fact that e. was M,
Nhoiy serious nor whoiy comic ana that thers
seems indeed no place for operas Of this kind
here. its subject was too closely connected ir
tno Sew VI nAu ",un L piSys tns' az
WITHIN INC i''sh hmit' ~ was meiouraiha Oh q
ISL JA HlIh H1 11u Ill IhH IBhI III