The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-13
NEW THEATRICAL MATTER.
-yr ,1EWEsS IN "LEAH" WEEDS TIE
20" CHRISTIAN IN HARLEM.

"a at the Casinc-MRnaheld Gets
= Letter Of Authority from hostnnd.
nh. forsaken Jewess In Leah" after many.
vears OF suffering as n social outcnst.
L. had her pitiiul case taken up by q clergy
= The consequence is that she has mar
Ia her Christian lover In Harlem. She may
.non avery night at the Columbus Theatre
20 more the maiden in disgrace. but az a
anito respectable though still miserable wife
Snd mother. The change was wrought by
,hs Rev. oliver ]. Booth. He believed that the
,,sndard old drama might be cleaned up and
a. made brighter. He dulled 1t Instead. He
c,p he commended for only the sincerity and
u,oral purpose OF his effort. He has weakened
,a motives OF the play. confused the action
and nut nothing good into the place OF what
IA deemed bad. He cannot ascrlbe the lnef-
toctuality OF the changes to faults In the per-
L,rmnnce, The stock company ct this house
IA effcient enough to bring out all the salient
,olpts in any play. Una Abel. the Leah OF the
c,st. ia surprisingly adequate. Edgar l..
davenport does the best he can with all that is
lst Of RudoJ William G. Beach IL similarly
prevented from dealing uncommonly we'll by
Nathan. The Jewess 10 already the wife Of
the Christian when tho play begins. and thus
there is no forbidden fruit to tempt the pair Of
secret lovers. Their tryst by night at the
vayside ross. therefore. has no peculiar
meaning. The apostate's plot to separate
them is so curtailed and bungled that 1t no
longer provides a palpably good reason why
the girl goes away or why her adorer let's her
do il, The famous curse Is not consistently
led up to by the mans mistaken denunciation
he great provocation. her maiediction loses
lis dramatic potency. As he remains the law
fl husband OF the absent Leah, he can't marry
that amlable creature Is nov also foolish.
Nearly every familiar character Is belittled by
have hitherto constituted the vitality Of this
drama. and he strikes his final blow Of damage
when, in the last act. he reunites Leah, and
Rudolf In eonlugal happiness, instead OF leay-
InR them to coRent and logical misery. He
las done his we'll ,intentloned JOB crudely, for
passages not inconsistent, with his purpose o.
publication. However, the hand OF the most
expert playwright would have failed in this
Impairment undertaking., though less posi-
lively. perhaps.
The Royal italian Opera Company has once
more brought Puccini's La Boheme' before
the New York public. The Interpretation Is
better than It was last spring. chiefly
through the improvement in the orchestra.
The new musicians make the composers pur-
pose clearer than 1t was before. and the ad-
vantage Is not only his, the audience finds
more to enjoy. That the composition is cheer
less and morbid. and for that reason unsuited
to the story. Is an opinion that cannot be put
aside. There is a lack OF sympathy between
the score and the book. But the independent
beauties OF the music are not tn be ignored for
that reason. As It ia PLAYED and sung at the
Casino now. these qualities Of the score can be
enjoyed. A much better Interpretation would.
Of course. be possible. But the performance
now Is well wo nth hearing. New York does
not always reward operatic novelty. Man
AOara cannot RIM tho riGk NJ hanErlDtpy nv m.
peating a work in order that people may grow
70 like it. SO the new operas are condemned
unh earl by the public to the rest that must
ensue before they will be accepted. The cir
cumstances under which la Boheme" was
sung here make 1t possible to repeat the opera
without a ruinous loss at every performance.
The new works offered in the elaborate man
ner Of the Metropolitan Opera House can
not be attem pied before more than one or
I've .1o mail S audiences IN eS,oI The b s32mewhst imam,
has at least one advantage, 1t can be, kept, up
until the, public grows to like the work. That
tive ,smallness Of the Casinos auditorium Is
another circumstance favorable to the dra;
9Rat he s'd ss Of n sas c SDs5si msn this s GF9H s"i ID
La Vie de Bohame' or that prepared BY
Leoncavallo, as the story was. not adapted to
tan: 1t Is too slight and its comedy episodes
would not carry But at the Casino they are
Idllltu Ill Just tne TlRnt pTODOrtlOnS.
Cieopatra ,Nicini as Mrsette. the part taken
In the play by Ida Conquest. gains the honors
SamOns the women; she is 2 genuine come
Fpmagali are still the trio of B~ohemians. and
Linda Montanaci is the sad grisette. MIN
We are to have a plenty OF ''Cyrano de Ber-
Eerac' to read and to see acted. Copies in
French and English are cheap. Three English
Transitions are on sale and the price has
fallen TO 10 cents. NJ. Rostand Is said to be
wealthy. His play has sold enormously in
book form in Europe. Possibly these two
iacts may reconcile him to The lack Of the
ROYALTIES which it would have brought for
its sale here In book form il he had copy
f!shted it. He Is fortunate to have had Rich
ard Mansfield give his play such n presenta-
ton as 1t receives at the Garden. That will
DO much 10 protect his work from the dam
tge Of inferior productions. Mr.. Mansfield
will receive all the credit due him and large
money profits as well. For the first time
since it wns certain that the drama would be
used promiscuously in America the author
mas communicated with Mr.. Mansfield his
views on the situation. He said earlier that
%9atever 2recaution he might take. his prop;
fTV would be stolen. As no play protected
snat assertion is obvious. 1t would be inter
e;' ,hhg TO- see an attempt, to appropEiate, one
%Harbury able to lit a finger. NJ. Rostand's
reads: ' ~
CHATEAU DU souPIsEAu, PAR BETHIsY-l
SAINT.PIERRE, Sept. Is, 1898.
pAr, Richard HdnDaeId.
VESE Sir: ! want 70 declare publicly that 1t is with
~ anthCn1ation that You are to play "Cyrano de
h+rEeFac in the United States OF America. !
MMle gwen this authorization only to yousand
~; ring, and You both have recognized vol.
Inhslil my authors proprietary rights in my WORK.
r'nshk you tor 1t. II there are any American mana.
1T .lLfcrnpnlous enough TO take my piece and
~ against my will. protecting themselves behind
"NnG en- seems to permit actions so dishonest.
shh,h'sl before the great American public. I know
m'he care you have brought to the Transaction and
NV PRODUCTION or "Cyrano dc Bergerac,' and / send
AZ, SaohS with my thanks. the assurance of my
"".nsulhhed consideration. EDMOND RosTAND.
Meanwhile preparations to use "Cyrano de
% e here and there on our stage. II not
tme everywhere. are going on actively.
Ms,s susl DAYS version. with the title char.
he he cnrtailed to nsignitlcance and some OF
NJ NJ mailer taken from 1t added to the role
Tsb tme normally secondary heroine, for Ada
IInnmHSnn 70 enact. has been mercilessly de-
LS Ia ho by the newspapers where 1t has thus
AKA peen given. but he doubtless gets profit
iaryAd auuiences, as he keeps right on unde-
WbsSsd The Boston Herald suRgests that
Az ~ ne gets to that CITY the LlHdno nose be
Of 'IISSn a me piece will be presented In a dozen
houses cGehp-price theatres. Two Boston