The herald., 1898-04-29
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LOS ANGELES THEATER.-Timew was
when 1t was thought necessary to make
an apology for a Hoyt production by pub
fishing an advance statement to the effect
that his concoction made no pretensions
to dramatic construction was destitute oil
plot and was CONSTRUCTED for laughing
purposes only" Now that Mr.. Hoyt is sc
well known and that his pieces have
brought him fortune on account of Their
popularity, the old apology Is no longer
needed. Everybody knows that the Hoyt
| amusement mill grinds out nothing that
will at all tax the mental powers of an au-
dience. Perhaps an exception should be
| made of the names chosen for his cast Of
characters. "A Stranger in New York,
| for example, contains a list of about twen-
ty names which are as difficult to differen-
| tiate as the cast Of characters in the Chi
nese play of "The First Born" In Mr..
Hoyt's latest production, which was given
last night, the names of the characters
furnish most of the wit there is in the
show The piece Is in three acts, the first
taking place in the reception room of the
Hoffman house, where much wine is con-
sumed, and the other two in room at the
Madison Square Garden, New York, while
the annual French ball is in progress, and
here much more "wine" is consumed as a
matter of course. The action consists in
showing a jollifcation of ladies and gen.
tlemen who are supposed to be members of
New York society and to exhibit them in a
relaxed condition as to manners and suf-
fering from temporary lapse of memory
as to the proprieties. Mr.. Hoyt knows just
how far he may go in the way of sugges-
tiveness in dialogue and situa uations, and
nobody better than he can skim the thin
ice of conventionality without falling into
the river of coarseness and brutality that
flows beneath.
"a Stranger in New York" is certainly
not equal to most of the other Hoyt pro-
ductions and falls considerably behind
them in its power to excite the risibillties
of an audience, as was seen last night
Judging it solely by the standard estab-
lished by the author himself, 1t falls far
below his former work in cleverneSs,
brightness and originality.
Much of the success of the Hoytian drama
depends upon the performers. seeing that
so large a part Of the time Is taken up in
the doing of vaudeville "turns." 1t may
be that the present company is number
two" or a number three" on the road and
that the members are not considered quite
so efficient as those in the original cast.
But whatever may be the reason, there is
in effect a deficiency of the peculiar form
of humor that distinguishes Hoyt's best
efforts. The company headed by Joseph
Coyne in the title role appears to be rather
more than fairly competent to the require
ments of the piece, and any defects must
therefore be attributed to the author The
people all work industriously and the ac-
ton goes in the usual rapid manner without
single hitch. Any detailed remark about
the different happenings of the three acts
is quite superhuous. Every theater goer
knows what to expect in Hoyt perform
ance, and it Is only needful to say that in
this instance the people in the cast do their
turns in such a manner as to elicit the ap-
plause of the audience. The two best things
of the evening were perhaps the pessimis-
tic ballad of Mr.. Coyne and the daAce by a
trio in which two slim-legged but pretty
little girls took part together with an agile
| footed but rusty-voiced comedian. Tht
| Baron Sands, a la Baron Chevrial of Stew
Maley was good piece of character act
| ing. Joseph Coyne has peculiar gift o.
| humor perfectly adapted to the require
ments of his part, and fully carries out tho
eccentricities of the situations which to O
large extent depend upon his cleverness
and quickness. Anna Boyd wore some
pretty costumes, as did the others of the
feminine part of the cast.
The house was not we'll filled, probably
owing to the large amount of money just
disbursed on the opera season of Melba
The piece will be given again tonight and
twice on Saturday.