The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-25
VIEWS OF STAGE AFFAIRS.
rovry IN "TORTH 4 MILLION" IND
.TRELdWNr or THE WELLS"

VII That Broke Miss Bntemnn Down
,,.,hods of the Old stock Companies.
,.,o ,,ppg actresses in Worth a Million"
AZ many "a n dozen made very
Nj in thc lntcst fashion. Miss Haskins,
Nv, uasvelI aud Miss Wallis are uncom-
Ii, nretty ~ themselves. and IL Mr.. Cranes
me- for stage art would permit him to in
-. in business economy. he might have
80 tho cost II those costumes by tagging
- with the names Of the makers. No es-
.-k,ishment could be more valuably adver-
80 than by such raiment worn by such
-.,,1 women. But Mr.. Crane gets a good re-
,r,n for his expenditure. no doubt. Modish
..di.pces In a modish theatre like to see
-odIsb toilets. They are n positive help to n
.l,v They are important factors in THE
H., and catherine TIL critical objec-
Alan In those two cases. that the dressing OF
M. women is at times finer than the circum-
,,,nces OF the PLAYS warrant, counts for little
:, rothinC against the fact that 1t makes nat
Sr,IIr lovely actresses artihcially ~lovolier. The
I,oss display at the knickerbocker Is logical.
h.o,use II is made at a reception and n we'd
st.s lint who would deprive Miss Irving OF
.~.r the elaborate gown In which she goes out
.,,.psbly for n ramble at the Empire, or re-
Sr,s the splendors of Miss De Wolfe's allur-
Ia, ,nlendors OF garb in u HON scene at the
G,rck? A contrasting exhibition of femi-
nina clothes in the STYLES of thirty-nve years
,ro.stonishcs and amuses at the Lyceum. The
,omen in Cumberland 81" are to be seen
,his week at the Columbus in q modification of
m, fashions Of the civil wars period, but there
IA no such compromise in "Trelawny Of the
Wells" The hoped skirts are us distensive
~ any that ever we're worn. Some small con-
r.. If. ~
heroine. but Miss Spong and Miss Tyree are
made monstrous not only by the crinoline:
fut as well hv faithful reproductions of absurd
hats and disiguring coilures. Shouts OF
laughter greet the entrance OF each of these
martyrs To riuero's stage art. They are as
ludicrous in aspect as anything achieved by
Young spectator finds it hard TO believe that
they are not gross eN~aEgcrations. They are
conducive to the mrrriment OF, the first act.
rar and beyond a doubt they are a successful
" bold eNpedieut of oddly, but IL is an open
question whether they are n desirable element
In the later and sometimes timer scenes.
The case OF Victory Bateman. insane and
probably diving. illustrates the strain which
membership in the cut-rate stock companies
places upon some OF their members. Miss
Batenan had spent two years almost inces-
sanity in such enjoyment. She had acted
nearly every Monday a role new to her. The
STUDYING. rehearsing and performing had been
more than her brain could stand. She was not
robust. her mental organization was sensitive.
and It is said that she was extremely conscien-
tious in her endeavors. 1t is n curious fact that,
while in some Of these companies two leading
actors are hired SO that they may find relief in
an alienation OF the laborious parts. the lead
ing actress hardly ever gets any respite. The
reader may wonder why it was that in the old
J,r, th;, sor+ ~ horJ rork dana ar /,
matter Of course. The conditions were less
onerous than they are now. The resident
actors we're used almost altogether in the sup
port Of travelling stars. whose repertoires
were more old than new. and so a proportion
otthe plays were repeated, season after season.
Every member o: "a stock company was en-
gagged for a definite line OF characters and was
partially II not completely prepared before
hand for fully half of those which he would be
mands by the audiences were not nearly so
hard as they have become under the culture
Of good. taste at the theatres, The versatility
tribes to the bygone actors did not exist to any
thing like the extent that we are sometimes
told Of, The actor was not required to diff
t~erentiate strongly; nor to adhere TO the text
precisely. save in standard pieces: nor TO be
c~Oncisely explicit IL, conveying the authors
meaning instead Of his own hasty understand
Ing. He was permitted to do his work. in a
way that was careless as compared with the
thoroughness required ty the hest stagecraft
Q, to-day, and which is approached as nearly
as possiA in the new stock companies. Miss
BatcI,an might have kept her head as & lead
Ing actress thirty years, ego. but i is no Won
der that she was crazed by the effort to play a
different part with modern excellence every
week.
The bad weather made no difference with
the Thanksgiving audiences yesterday after
noon or evening. Nearly every theatre had
sold all its seats beforehand.
Tho author of Devils Island" the melo-
drama Of the Dreyfus case. was not named at
the time Of the original production. but mis-
fortune now reveals him. Arthur d. Hall
has sued the manager for $1,000. which he
says was promised for the job. but which the
impoverished treasury does not yield to him.
The theatre 10 lie built In Harlem by George
A Blumenthal Is to he named the New Am
tterdam. Work on Oscar Hammerstein's
Victoria is going on in Long Acre. and he SAYS
1t will he ready to open before the winter is
over. The theatre projected on the Boule-
ward below Sherman Square shows no sign
Of Itself as vet. Various rumors OF a recon-
t~lruction Of the Olympia are denied by Presi-
cent McCall If the New York. Life Insurance
company. who says that the property Is for
iale only.
A manager writes to THE sun his wish
MAJ a united effort might be made to sup
rress me I hlcago highwaymen. who lie in
from them in true blackmailinc fashion
th specifications show merely tina Chicago
what they owe.
me Eks' annual charity matinee has been
arranged lor Dee. Y al the Fifth Avenue. The
omGn'eers are said TO he numerous ard to in
,,ulle annie specIalties for Il fine vaudeville
lruRrammr.
~" u ltcn.ty u framing theatrical contracts
- ,na' penalties Tor violation may be exucted
ToHs 10 nave been overcome. Several aW-
1M,'s demonstrated that a claim for damage
unHf3 upon problematical value could nor be
n.r,v!u. ilefelor" 4 sum TO be paid by the
f"'y Wiuch breaks the bargain Is prescribed
~, lne Agreement. The Appellate Court has
,'ale d ruling which su-tuins such n clause in
s s"h.La,l between Tony Pastor and the Rog-
H. nroihers. who agreed 10 perform for Mr..
,"S.or IN vaudeville. but got the opportunity
vi 20 mo one Round Of Pleasure The de
,t IN y t..ht they must pay the 5000 forfeit
'TrrRisdIrl hS Iiuuldated damages"
,t Ts IllHh drama written by Augustus Pitou
Al LEalIrey; Ol"utt IL called "A Romance OF
AMI Iueen ana itS place and time are Ireland
,HJ = ~ - apncar Isl sketch OF Southern life,
one s q ~ it Dl hlrkaninnics will figure in il. The
ne az az kIhys to h" disclosed at the next matt
III" me Academy Of the Dramatic Arts ara
Whit - ~ :, Est'lle Johnson: "a Lesson in
a. u. py. George and Helen Matthew, and
Marta Il sign OF the Buff Bible" by Beulah
pr M a Los Angeles theatre a sliding scale OF
ls.aMsIS mas been adopted. The manager prom
,ba 3Snat ny raising aud lowering the rates Tor
encs inherent pays and comuanics. the audi
whIsa '""' get their moneys worth all the