The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-16
40
"CYRANO", EAST IND WEST.
TIE MANSFIELD AND DAILY PRODUCTIONS
uDd q Threat From the Acozor.
. . . Q = . . . . . Q oUoUU oUQ 0UUU Qu Q oe
0,NO DE RERGERAC"

-RANO DE BERGERAC" is !
threatened with local produc-
+tan at the hands Of the Alcazar |
1 stock company "Cyrano" is a
tempting masterpiece for the
,.-a-fran manager. Mr.. Mansfield is
-na only one who pays royalties on the
-,ra-. and he pays them, not because he
l,qe 10. but because he wants to, and
because bv so doing he had hoped to
;,s,-s the exclusive rights. But Angus
-f- Daily. William 4. Brady and the
other managers who either have pro-
duc9d or are about TO produce the piece
nav nothing. and Mr.. Mansfield writes
- the newspapers drastic letters on
the ethics Of The profession. He says
that he viii bide his time and get good
and even with MI. Daily. He as much
as saws that some dark night he will
swipe some play which Mr.. DAILY thinks
is exclusively his own. / can't think
Of any dramatic possession of Mr.
DAYS that is really worthy of Mr..
Mansfeld's dark-lantern and jimmie.
The German comedies would be safe
from Mansfield even We're they left out
ON MIR. Days doorstep with the milk
and morning papers; and l am sure
that not even revenge would inspire
man to steal Mr.. Days variations on
Shakespeare. The only Daily property
that could be of real service to him is
Miss Ada Rehan; but she would mean
a division of the center of the stage,
and MI Mansfield is used to having
plenty of room. Whether or not Mr..
DAILY has been undignifed and unpro-
fessional the legal truth remains that
"Cvrano" is the American property OF
any manager that wants il; ROstand is
as free as air, or Shakespeare. and the
Alcazar stock is Well within the law IN
taking a popular priced whaek at him.
And who shall. say that the FraWleys,
TOO. Will not make merry in the piece.
NJ. Frawley does not always tell an
that is on his mind. After the ire
mendous versatility and power SNOW
} by Miss Bates this season we coulu
pleasurably expect her in any part
even Roxane: and surely MI FraWley's
ambitions would not vince at the man
ties of Couuelin and Mansfield, ana an
inch or two more Of nose. Cyraho
is the order of the hour, and let US nave
nlanrv of him. Rostands play
though born lately at the end OF a
weakly century. is a masterpiece; ana
what more delightfully."- unique than
free masterpiece so popular that man.
ayers fight TO put it on the stage? May
be we VIII get boied-down de Bergerac
and nosev specialties all over the Vau-
deville. The ordinary long noses with
rha incardescent furnishings are out Oh
date among timely variety pepple-out
('vranoses would boost variety to the
top notch of modernity.
Perhaps. though, the tmpetuous west
.,ro,lId better wait a little and see now
"Czrano" turns out in the East. IN
New York ii is not as yet an unquali-
fad success. and Mr.. Days opposition
version as played in Philadelphia
seems 10 be something decidedly less.
israel ZanewiH stopped lecturing long
.anof,eh to review the latter production
-for the Herald He says that he does
not approach the DAILY version without
VnraflI]ice. for though Mr.. Days open
renudiation Of Rostand's name may.
indeed. be discovered in minute letters
Y4ouewhere on the programme tWhere
even those who supply the tneaters
drinking water are acknowledged IN
Main tvpe) there is no Information as
10 who is responsible for the adapta-
ton. The phrasing is, as nearly as ne
can remember very much Ike, ana
several Of the passages Identical win
the version published in London by MI.
Heinen1ann; but some of Cyranos best
ftres are nut in thes mouth of Roxane
and so. says Zangwin, we have
further sample of Mr. Days considera-
ZION for his original After cruelty
cornpIfmenting Miss Rehan on her de
sfghtful suggestions Of Shakespearean
comedy" he once more goes for DAILY.
saving that he has given Rostand
delicious revenge, that he has shown
that "Cyrano" can endure even a Daily
adaptation
The popuIar fate of the Mansfield
production is not yet settled. Not since
the first visit to America Of Henry
Irving has a dramatic attraction been
50 loudly and variously heralded. Dur
ing the weeks of preparation there was
hardly a day in which the newspapers
did not interview or paragraph Mans
field. The Sunday supplements devoted
double pages to Cyrano's nose; and the
play itself, long before production, was,
I daresay, written about and quoted
from in every newspaper and magazine
A-in the country. The ticket spectators
made a fortune out of the New York
first night, selling the regular 81 seats
at prices ranging from 81 to SO. Every
thing conspired to advertise the play
and the producer. Mansfield spent
thousands on the production; he en-
ploys over $50 people at every perform
ance; he booked himself at the Garden
Theater for two months The failure
of "Cyrano" would practically break
him. Beyond the cultivated few-pro-
portionateIy as few in New York as
they are here-the most of the attend
ance is the result of the advertising,
represented by persons curious to ex-
perience fad, not masterpiece. And
Of this class not many are pleased with
what they find. Two and half acts
of "Cyrano's" FIVE puzzle and bore
them. They would prefer Anthony
Hope or Stanley Weyfnan TO the poetry
Of Edmond Rostands seventeenth cen