The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-10
MeSSrS. James and Warde
and Miss Kidder.
MR.. JAMES PROSPERITY.
II is Shown In His Disposition to
Guy Everybody.
MISS KlDDER'S PERSISTENCE


are great times theatrical in the two big
gest boroughs of the Greater New York,
Manhattan and Brooklyn, and not the
least notable feature of the times mas been
the revival of pure legitimate drama
maintained for a week in Manhattan and
then for week In Brooklyn. Louis
James, Kathryn kidder and Frederick
Warde form tho stellar triumyirate'
whose talents have been the back bone of
this enterprise.
Perhaps Louis James Is the most inter
esting of the three; at all events he Is the
most fun loving and for years he has had
the reputation of being the most inveter-
ate guy upon the stage No matter how
solemn tho occasion or how eminent his
fellow actors, James used to take flend-
ish delight in making faces in their sight
just at the moments when to laugh would
spoil oil, and more than once the result
has been the entire upsetting of gravity
behind the curtain The putty blower
too, was long thing of delight to him,
and the story Of the way he peppered Ro-
land Reeds expansive nose during GER
tain performance at the Arch Street thea
ter in Philadelphia some years ago and
how near Mrs. John Ufew, then manager
Of the house, came to having fit over 10
has long been a1classic In its way.
Put the other Man Down.
There's another standard theatrical story
with Louis James for the hero An actor
named Howson was the other party. They
were acting together In play in which
James was to be put through stage trap
(supposedly thrown into a river) after "a
long struggle Now Howson was a small
er man physically than James, and IL
seemed the drollest thing In the world to
the latter that even sham struggle be-
tween them should lead to his discom1t-
ure. From regarding 1t as funny James
came to look upon it as outrageous, and
one night when both went on he told
Howson that he had got to go down the
trap that time. Howson protested, but
the protests were of no avail, and down
the trap he went, to his intense disgust,
the horror of the management and tho
utter mystiflcation of the audience. How
ever, 1t was msdo all right later by How
son climbing back upon the boards and
beginning the struggle over again. Then
James consented to go down the trap 'just
to be accommodating"
James was for years member OF Au-
Rustin Days company, and during that
time the actors pranks were at once the
life of tho house behind the scenes and the
horror of Mr.. DAILY. Daily is exceedingly
distant and severe with his people" as
the world at large knows very well, and IL
used to be James custom To kneel and
GROSS himsex every time he passed before
the mighty mans office door. On one oc-
casion DAILY caught him at 1t, and then
there was big row and likewise IA fine,
which was paid by James.
They do say that many of the rigid rules
now in force Mt Daly's theater were origi
nally formulated TO keep James down to
his proper level. But James himself de-
clares that he has finished with horseplay
on the stage and that he purposes never
again to break up either fellow players,
audience or manager.
Warde's secret Society Hobby.
Louis James is 81 and native of Illi-
nois Frederick Warde Is AZ and of Eng
lish birth. Warde was designed by his
father as an articlcd clerk in London
law office, but by the time he was II he
had determined his father was wrong and
SO cut stick for the theater TO which he
has adhered ever since. He began in the
Legitimate and. unlike James, who has
varied his "legit" performances with
melodrama now and then, has stuck to the
resounding roles Of Shakespeare and other
classic dramatists to this day
If Warde has a hobby outside his profes-
sion, it is that of secret societies. Accord
ing TO well authenticated reports, he is a
regular Joiner" but the knights of
Pythias is his pet society. Indeed accord
ing to the authority declaring Warde
"joiner," the actor would almost rather
roll the mouth filling words of the Pythian
ritual of his tongue than the noblest SEN
tences ever written by the bard Of Avon,
and his lecture on the origin OF Pythian-
ism is spoken of with little short of rever-
ence by his brethren in that order. He Is
always beseged by his brethren when EN-
tour to visit tho local lodges and "confer
the ranks" u service which enthusiastic
Pythans say he performs with unusual
force and grace, as we'll might be the case
considering his rather remarkable elocu-
tionary power and training
Warde supported both Edwin Booth
and John Mccullough during tho lifetime
OF these tragedians, and his manner and
delivery are naturally more American
than British despite his foreign birth and
early training.
Miss I<iddcr's Persistence.
Steady, indomitable persistence Is the
chief characteristic Of Kathryn Kiddcr,
the female star of the trio.
She was from Evanston, Ind, original.
ly, where her father, Colonel Henry NJ. |
kiddor, was prominent citizen, and her |
grandfather, DIR. Daniel :. kiddcr, a fer |
vd light i'm the carly Methodism of the |
west. That the daughter and granddaugh- |
ter Of Colonel and DR. kidder should be |
an actress Is quite out OF the. ordinary, |
and IL goes without saying that her desire |
to go on the stage was not Rratiflcd with |
out general ard first class family row.
Nor wero her troubles over with when ]
che got chance 90 tread the boards IL |
seems TO have been her original intention |
10 buiiS upn more or less successful RI
valry of Mary Anderson, then I'm the ze-
NTH Of her professional career, but many OF /
the most influential papers in the land put |
all sorts OF obstacles In her way. One of |
the New York sheets said then that Miss /
kidder's only claim to bc a rival OF the
divine Mary Ing In the extraordinary /
length Of her limbs and the pcrfcrvid i'm.
agination of her press agent These things.
tba ,a,,or a.lda1 t,pafha With . xvfiI s,rt