The times., 1898-03-06

New York. March 5.-Yellow and green
decadent Spanish melodrama has been
the bin Of the week. The Criterion Inde-
pendent Theater. which seeks TO elevate
the stage hy producing plays which are
public educators, if not money-makers.
made the only new production when it
presented last Monday night "EI Gran
Galeoto, by Jose Echegaray. done out
of the Spanish into English by Miss
Maud Banks. VINO also played the lead
ing role.
New York is beginning to weary of
these Criterionites. Twice they have
failed financially. but a wilder lady,
Mrs. 9. /. Davidson. who runs weekly
paper The Criterion. Tor amusement
and education Of the masses. has invar-
iably proven the angel TO extricate them
from their difficulties. The last failure
was when f. J. Henley bade New York
goodbye and sailed for Europe leaving
numerous creditors and mourning Cri-
teriOnites behind.
The latter. however. have again come
forward, and this week put on a Spanish
drama which they claim will do much
toward eievating the tone OF the stage.
These Criterionites deal in plays which
no sensible manager would touch They
the Observation-Disclosures that true dra-
matte at must wear a halo Of green
and yaIlery reddish tints, and so they
put oa III Gran Galeoto.' 1t is done
by a good company. paid to act the
parts, but it has not met with great
financial returns. 50 that it is probable
that the Criterion Independent Theater
will be a thing Of the past after this
week
'El Gran Galeoto" treats OF scandal
the kind OF tittle-tattle INDUCED in at
afternoon teas and kettledrums A hus-
band. played by Eben Plympton. suspects
his wife played by Maud Banks, OF being
in love with a young man, done by John
Blair with an oscar Wilde makeup. The
scandal connecting these two people who
are perfectly innocent of wrongdoing.
drives the husband to a duel. in which he
is most conveniently killed. and then this
very talk growing out OF nothing. act
uaIly drives the wife and the young man
into each others arms This pleasing
program having ended. the long haired
men and the shogt-haiTed women who pa
trOnize these Criterion performances,
look very wise and knowing and murmur
things about the superb art Of the
Spanish
Another performance. almost as dis
tresSine as the Independent. was that of
East Lynne" revived by Mckee Ran
kin. Nance O-NeiI. ana Wilton Lackaye.
Nance O'Nei is the beneficiary OF much
free advertising at present. as she Is the
vogue among weeping women who like
10 patrclizc the theater for the sake Of
Sympathiziug with some one. Wilton
I.ackaye WAS one OF the principal fea-
lures Of the performance. He has been
unsuccessful IN his recent starring tours
and when he WAS engaged several weeks
ago for a stock company al Philadelphia
under Mckee Ranllins direction. he was
very much down on his luck. The COM
pany played in Philadelphia TWO weeks.
when IL was superseded by a stock com
pany headed by l-urenie Blair-uot much
better. you viii say. than Nance O'Neill
But Mckee Rankin brought his com
pany on 10 New York and announced
an aII-star revival Of East Lynne" with
Wilton Lackaye. Rose Eytinge and
Nance O'NeiL Its success really has
been remarkable. From q financial
standpoint the star cast is in clover.
II has already been booked for the BIZ
j0u circuit. which includes the Grand
Opera House al Washington. and il will
be out until the end of the
wish I could commend the performance
Itself. for il certainly pleased the pa
irons Of the Star Theater. where il has
been playing II popular prices. Nance
o'Neil. Of course, is most pathetic in
q black dress. You can almost see tn F,
Tears in her voice when her ''me-chiId'
dies, in Act ~ Added to that she
weeps real water. / don't suppose ii
Is her fault that she is invariably star
ing the back scenery out Of countenance
Just because she has nothing else to do.
bur she gives me he impression OF heayi-
ness. even though far-seeing critics have
hailed her as the coming Bernhardt OF
America.
Wilton Lackaye is very stout nowa-
DAYS BE wears a Eostee and a nous
tache and ieers horribly in East Lynne. -
lie plays the villain, Of course. with a
SFeuEall turn. il be were not quite so
Iat he might pass. A. il is. he Is &C
cepta5le because he is usually at home
iN these velvet-trOusers roles. But if you
want to enjoy Pest Lynne" wait a few
weeks until IL comes 10 the Grand ODcra
House at Washington. and YOU viii see
Wilton Lackaye in his latest creation
had irt-G talk with Edward J. Rat
ellie il.s week al the trial Of the two
divorce cases brought against him by
his TWO wives. I happened 10 be pres
ent during the proceedings. because
therefore had chance TO get something
from Ratciiffe regarding his future plans
As YOU have probably read he PLEADED
guilty 10 the charge Of bieamy in order
that his English wife could obtain heI
divorce. Both decrees were granted ant
both wives are now freed Of the matt
nee idol. lie is now serving the re.
rainder Of his sentence for Wife-beatinC
on BlackwelTs Island.
They cant drive F1g from tho etar,a o.
Ratcline said. They have me dowr
now Dut ] VIII get mp again. have
met vita reyerscs and J have made some
enemies, bur J have nearly a dozen Of
fers already which viii take effect when
serve my sentence. Things have gone
against me. but i VIII yet get on my
Ieet and prove that they can't down me
1 propose 10 act right here in New York
and j shan not leave the country Al
talk about further proceedings agains'
me Is nonsense. That has been set
tied, and ] have only 10 serve the few
months u my sentence 10 be "A free man
again.
The TumOrs Of the week have beer
unusually numerous. Il is said that Edn:
Wallace Hopper viii support Lillian Rus
sell next season. and also that she wi!
star IN a Normandy Wedding nov
running ~ the Herald Square II Is fur
ther said that Dorothy Morton, nov
singing the leading role in that opera, vii
be superseded by Miss Eva Gordon. be
cause Dorothy is not pretty enough for
the part. Miss Morton says she was en-
gagged on account Of her voice not he
looks. and that she VIII quit New York il
disgust u she is left out She threaten,
TO Zee to that haven OF impecuniOUs ac
tors out Of a jOb-Lond0n, where. by tn,
way. Thomas c. SeabroOke has found z
hacker Who proposes 10 build a theatel
H.r a.