The times., 1898-02-13
THEPASSING SHOW.

LEI AODlNU OuU w.
There are certain questions which,
! however much discussed, never grow too
old to be argued. Politics is one of these;
| finances is another; human nature a
| third. and so on ad infinitum. In the last
| four or five years a standard topic of
! conversation among people interested in
| the stage has been the personality of Sol
Smith Russell and whether his charac-
! terizations outweighed that personality
! sufficiently to give the gentleman men
toned the right to cali himself an ac-
I tor. AS yet no satisfactory verdict has
been given, and about the only result the
debate has had is the not dispIeasing one
of giving people something to talk about
There probably never will be a decision
10 satisfy everyone, for Mr. RusselFs 6
charm, to great extent, lies in his un-
alterabie mannerisms but, at the same
time, little space to the matter would
not be in bad taste
No one can deny that Mr.. Russelrs
influence on the stage has been wholly for
good. Were one disposed TO doubt this
the ten years of continuous success that
have followed the players efforts would
prove 1t. In his clean, legitimate work
Sol Smith Russell has done more to pre-
serve high class comedy on the American
stage than any man alive. and. at the
death of Joseph jefferson, he will by
right Of conquest, easily take rank as
the Dean" of all that is good and noble
In the theatrical world of this country
Success has never had the effect of max
ing this actor degenerate into slothful-
ness-he has never ceased to be a stu
dent and an artist, wit hthe highest of
aims and the brightest Of hopes. With
the number Of roles which he has had
built to fit him ra ther than model himself
To any limit except his own. he has in
variably been distinctly and unvarying-
ly pleasing. Whatever may have been
the sameness of his portrayafs they were
never monotonous-all OF them have been
lovabie and as a natural result. with the
possible exception of Mr. Jefferson, there
is not comedian IN this country more
generally liked than Sol Smith Russell.
But all these traits while excellent and
exceptional enough, do not go to make
an actor. Besides the rather Indefinite
explanation that an actor is a performer,
the dictionary defines the verb, to act, as
assuming or performing the character
of another Thus a man who merely
gives voice to his own peculiar feelings
or characteristics may be a performer or
an entertainer, but is certainly not an
actor.
Assuming that ali this Is true, Sol
Smith Russell has no right to term his
work acting or his parts portrayals. Ii
is a generally known fact that, be the
role what ii may. its distinctive features.
first. last and all the time, are those of
Mr. Russell The laboring inventor, in
"A Poor Relation" the eccentric Howe,
In Peaceful Valley" the melodramatfc
Valentine, in mfr Valentines Christ
mas" together with the more recent Da-
vid Holmes, in "a Bachelors Romance,
and even Bob Acres. in '"The Rivals" are
almost precisely alike True, there is a
slight change in sentiment and eonse-
ouently in dialogue, but essentially there
is no difference Were the lines all
alike one might cut Mr.. Russell out of
one play and put him in another. as chill
dreu put paper dolls in the dresses of
their fiimsy companions, without sacri-
ficing a single idea of propriety or CO.
herence.
Mr. Russell cannot step out of the
marrow limits of his own nature-he
is himself in all things and the best
he can do is to make that self as low
able as possible. If he were called
upon to play the part of clown in a
musical burlesque it is certain that the |
fun-maker in question would, in spite |
of his painted face, be quiet, eccen- |
tric recluse with an unobtrusive love |
story-and a big line in front of the box |
office.
As an entertainer Sol Smith Russell |
Is delighteful. He is bit of unique |
nature. with all the purity and fresh |
ness that belongs to nature and nature /
alone But as an actor, man of ver-
satility and of other peoples charac-
ters he is failure.
But, in spite of this, it is pleasure
to see big audiences going to hear Sol
Smith Russell. One has surety that
they will be benefited by the three
hours spent in his company. This is
not so in many other cases and par
ticularly in that of Anna Held, who did
an extremely big business at the Co
lumbia last week.
The success of Mile. Held is the
greatest reproach that the theatergo-
ing public have to bear today. That
her houses are always filled is tribute
to the baser appetites of our people,
and the excuse that she is d genius
does not make it less reprehensible.
AS a matter of critical fact Anna
Held has not even talent to aid her
friends in excusing themselves. She
has no voice of power or sweetness,
she can neither dance nor sing, her
ability to act is decidedly limited and
% the single fact that she pleases the
senses About her there is a remark
able magnetism that is born of her sug-
gestiveness, and it is that power to
fascinate that draws portions of her
audience 1t is surprising, but it is
rue that far larger number go to see
Ter lift her skirt or move her shoulders.
Won't you come and play with me"
las little merit as musical production
md still less from a literary point of
riew but in its suggested lewdness lies
IN evident charm that draws men and
women alike to the shrine Of Mile. An
Ia Held. 4
And this brings US logically to that
emarkably intellectual sermon preach
d last Sunday ba the Rev. Hugh
Johnston at the Metropolitan Metho-
list Episcopal chur9h. The topic tax
n up was The Young Christian and
Popular Amusements," and the ele-
nent most dwelt upon was the theater I,