The record-union., 1898-10-09

V ~
Everybody knows, of course, that the
essential qualities of novel cannot DC
reproduced in stage representation, but
until lately, it has been the custom IN
dramatizing a novel to follow the MAN
outlines of the original story pretty
closely. Now, as in the case of 1.-The
Little Minister" the name of the sue
cessful novel is retained as a bait, but
the play follows an independent line
This is often good policy as far as the
play is concerned, but it is disingenu-
Gus. Originally The Christian" was
spoken Of as a moral and religious work
of great significance, but less stress is
now laid upon this view, and it is COM
mended chiefly as a love story. This
is the wiser plan. It's fate will depend
mainly upon the extent of it's human
and theatrical interest and the oppor-
tunity which it affords to Miss Viola
Allen, who is to be the Glory Quayle.
*
Maybelle Bowman, who, as a child
did very clever work in the old Alcatraz
Stock Company, San Francisco, under
the Wallenrod, Osbourne and Stock
we'll regime has returned to the stage
after long absence, and is making
a hit as the country girl from Pike
County.
Mr.. Bancroft's play Teresa seems
to be prospecting at the London Gar
rick. 1t will be succeeded in due time
by new piece by Leo Trevor called
Brother Officers in which the inter-
est turns upon the love entertained for
the same woman by two men, a private
soldier and his officer Later on DR..
Conan Doyle's new play will be pro-
duced. This, it is understood, is a
study Of the characters of two brothers.
1.-The besetting fault Of the modern
poetic drama says the London
Academy" lis it's lack of movement
and variety. which tempts the actors
in their turn to engage in an amount
of attitudinizing and a slowness of de-
livery that they would feel to be out
of place in a modern story. Admirable
in purpose, The Termagant' suffers
from meagerness of incident and mo-
notony. Something it loses, too, from
the unromantic methods of it's chief ex-
ponent. Miss olga Nethersole is better
adapted by voice and physique to the
portrayal of adventuresses. Power she
unquestionably possesses, but it does
not easily admit of being directed into
sympathetic channels. Nor is Murray
Carson, intelligent actor as he is, the
ideal caballero of the occasion. Still,
The Termagant' as it stands is a laud
able achievement for all concerned"
revival of Weber's beautiful opera
"Oberon' is to be one of the features
Of the Brussels season. Puccinis La
Boheme" and Wagner's "Rheingold"
are to be among the novelties, and
Nine. Brema has been engaged for a
series of performances of Die Walk
ure."
The composer, Theodore Gouvy.
whose death in Leipsic was announced
recently, has bequeathed the sum of
10000 marks to the Royal Academy of
Arts Of Berlin, the interest on which is
to be applied annually in aid of some
deserving musician in poor circum-
stances.
title of symphonic work in four move
ments on which Richard Strauss is at
present engaged in Munich.
New York Post: In proportion to
their number the few remaining foes
of Magnetism are contributing a good
deal to the gayety of nations A few
months ago Count Tolstoi. who never
knew anything about music and had
reached the wise age of 20, heard one
act of a Wagner opera-the first he
had ever witnessed and forthwith
rushed into print to declare that Wag-
ner was a charlatan and his art a hum
bugi If Wagner had read just one
chapter Of one Of Tolstoi's books and
proceeded to demolish that philoso-
piers principles and works. probably
the Russian himself would have seen
the joke. Now comes another critic,
a Mr. Remy, to announce the discov-
ery-which it took genius to make
that Berlin is not a Wagnerian city;
that the Royal Opera gives his operas
only because they are sung in other
German cities. and because of the
pressure of foreigners in Berlin: and
that but for this his name would dis
appear from the billsl Now it happens
that. according to official figures, Wag-
ner had sixty-two performances last
season Gncluding the four hundredth
of "Tannhauser'O. while Mozart (twen-
ty-six), Weber (nine), and Beethoven
(five)-the only important German
mpetitors-together had only forty
Talk Of a Parisiam being polite, Here
are nearly 2,00G,0 Geo Berliners content
ing themselves with forty evenings of
their favorite classical composers and
meekly submitting to sixty-two even
ings Of the horrid Wagner, all because
of the 1000 or 5000 unmusical foreign
ers sojourning with them,
Elsie De Wolfe, who will remain a
member of the Empire Theater Com
pany thist season, will not appear in the
first play in which that company will
be seen on its return to the Empire
Theater, New York. She will be in
the cast of Catherine, playing the part
to Miss Annie Russell.
San Francisco Music and Drama:
Blanche Bates will play the part of
the Russian Baroness originally played
by Ada Rehan in The Last Word"
1t is q role for which the talented
young actress is eminently well fitted
Edgar Pemberton has presented the
of Tom Robertson's "Soci-
ety. to the Shakespeare Memorial The
ater at Stratford- -on-Avon.
1t is reported that John Hare has
won great success with a revival of
Ours" in Birmingham England He
himself resumed his famous old charac-
ter of Prince Perovsky. The Hugh