The times., 1898-11-27
CRANE AND HlS COMEDY
Worth a Niiiioh~ Proves Not
Worth That Much.
NEW PLAY AT THE LYCEU NJ
Il. y. Morgan Heads Daniel Froh-
mans Company I'm ''Treiawney Of
the WeIIs',-JuIia Arthur Presents
.Inromar' mt Waliack's-R1chnrd
Mansfield Leaving TOwn-Notcs.


New York, Nov %, lS9S.-W. H. Crane
hogan his,engagement at the Knickert ock-
er Theater Monday night. appearing In
play by Eugene Presbrey, cAiied worth
a Million" The new piece has evidently
been written to order, and the leading role
Is a tight fit for the popular comedian.
The story tells of an American millionaire,
who becomes the guardian OF a young Sifi
whom he has never seen. In his efforts
to discover the whereabouts Of his ward
he tangles things up generally, but In the
end all ends happily-just as 1t always
does in a 10-cent novel. Mr. crane was
given an enthusiastic welcome at the
opening performance, and. as usual, be-
! tween the acts told the audience how aw-
fully glad he was to get back TO dear
old New York" This time the star has
, fairly good play-not a great one, minu
you but just good enough to exploit ms
familiar mannerisms to the best advan-
tage In 1t is the usual fussy. good-na-
tured old fellow who is anxious to make
everybody happy. but only succeeds in
setting his friends at SKIES and sevens.
, The supporting company Is good one,
including such well-known people as Wal
ter Hale, Boyd Putnam, Percy Haswell.
Gladys Wallis. Kate Lester and Yisobel
HaskIns, who plays the part of Chinese
! hoy in a manner to frighten all of the
Celestials out of the country. Worth a
Million is not quite all that the manage
ment claims for it. but will do for limit
ed run. Ii is beautifully and generously
staged.
Julia Arthur is presenting her idea OF
"Parthenia" to the patrons of Wallack's
Theater with the happiest results. l have
seen Mary Anderson and others in the
part and must say that Miss Arthu: Is
I Just as good as any of them. Her inter-
( probation lacks something in spontaneity
l. but possesses unusual charm, just the
same. She really gives AN excellent per-
| formance and is most satisfying to her
| friends and admirers. 'Ingomar" has
never before had a more elaborate
and costly production on the local stage.
| The scenery is beautiful and the cos
| tunes correct.
Last Saturday night. Augustin DAILY
! made known his lOng-talked-of produc-
tion of The Merchant of Venice" There
was plenty of fine scenery and
| picturesque costumes but the
! gent who played Shylock was
| unusually incompetent. Miss Re
hans Portia is one of the best imper-
! sonations and takes rank with anything
| that she has ever before attempted. In
! the trial scene her magnetic reading prov
ed a treat and brought forth well-deserv-
! ed applause At the end of the act. she
was called TO the footlights half a dozen
times
| A big crowd of first nighters assembled
| at the l.yceum Theater.on Tuesday even
ing TO see the first performance of Pine
ro's "Trelawney OF the Wells. The piece
| is u comedy in four acts and is in the au-
| thor's most brilliant Vein. 1t scored
heavily and is certain To have long and
| profitable run. Edward j. Morgan, fresh
from his splendid success as John Strom,
in tine Christian" NILS given something
of an ovation. Mary Manncring. William
CourtleiEh. Mrs Walcot, Mrs. Wiffen and
other leading members of the company
were greeted cordially. Manager Daniel
Frohman furnished an adequate setting
to the play.
"The Village Postmaster has "caugfg
on" in great shape at the Fourteenth
street Theater. where it Is drawing some
of the largest audiences known in the
history of that house. The Offering tells
an interesting story of life In New En-
gland. Frank Mordaunt has made MT
In the title role and other important Tarts
are carefully acted. The novel eff c,s In
troduced include rain storm of real wa
tor during which many OF the people on
the stage get wet: u brass band a church
| choir and a threshing machine in full
operation. The piece has baen put on for
| three weeks but Manager Ross inquest Is
| irving 10 arrange for an extension OF
| the engagement
| For the first time In the history of con-
| tinuous vaudeville. a melodramatic spec
tacle is being presented at Proctor
Pleasure Palace. The effort Is called
| The Battle of San Juan and in it are
| employed two hundred people-some OF
4
is told with much force and the various
tableaux are as novel as they are excit-
ing. Actors on the stage are made up to
represent Col. Roosevelt. Gen. Wheeler
and other prominent officers.
| A new play and new actress are on ex-
| hibi;iou this week at the Star Theater.
The play is entitled The Two o phans
| and the star is known to fame as Kate
Claxton the fire queen" Charles Ste
venson, an Englishman who orce belong
ed to the Wallack Stock Company is
supporting the young lady admirably
| Prominent in the cast is that comely
| young actress, Helen Tracy, who once
| upon a time appeared with John McCul-
,ough< This combination of youth and
beauty is drawing good-sized audience:
and will probably not make necessary q
, change of bill for many years to come.
Bettina Girard. who has has lurit
career both on and off the stage, ]!
said to have recovered from her late i'll
ress. and is appearing at Sam I. Jack
In the burlesque. "A Warm Reception.
Not many seasons ago this woman was
popular favorite here. She possessed
splendid physical charms, could sing
exceedingly well. and was capable ac
tress Today she is wreck, and cal
. only find employment in a vulgar show
nv dr.lna females.
jefferson de Angels is doing a fine bus
iness at the Broadway Theater. wher
he is likely to stay fof. some time. ''rh
, Jolly AIusketeer' is a success. and a
i every performance the house holds
large and decidedly swagger audience
The scenery and costumes of the oper
transport ones fancy back to the day
of love and intrigue, of duels and elope
ments. A strong feature of the De An
CELLS Company is the large number o
young and pretty women employed. The
( are all "a likely lot. and TWO or three o
them possess unusual beauty of fac
{ and figure. While no special effort
made to give an anatomical display-th
curves of these girls are enticing enoug
e to drive the front-row gents into
seventh heaven of delight. Manager Be
Stevens is evidently an expert on femal
r beauty-moreover. he don't believe
hiding a good thing from the public.
The season at the Metropolitan Oper
= ! House begins next Tuesday, when Ernes
Vandyck, the Flemish tenor will make hi
: local debut in ''Tannhauser." Vandyc
l /, comes to us with a great European repu
n tation and there is much curiosity on tn
part of the public to hear him. The sut
scriptlon list is a large one and man
e seats have been sold for the opening nigh
e With the beginning of the operate seaso