Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-29

Inc week now closing was not WHOlly
disappointment in the average Of merit
maintained. and left no room for complaint
as to variety There was no opening for
the suspicious caviler who asserts that
managers have during the present season
been pitting attractions of similar charac-
ter against each other in the hope OF
crowding the weaker to the wall. 1t was
a fair field. and a diverse representation
of the current product of the American
stage The gamut was run from the heavy
bass of Mr.. Hoyt's comedy to the altitude
nous flights by which Rhea wins admira-
ton. Mr.. Hoyt's humor would be techni-
cally described as Tow comedy" He
ought to curb a tendency to become more
low than comic "A Stranger in New
York." laughable as it was. did not come
anywhere near fulfilling the expectations
awakened by that legitimate and admira-
BILE satire. "A Texas Steer" 1t is q re-
version to his first work, but does not
stand comparison with earlier efforts
which were youthful. spontaneous and fr-
responsible. "A Stranger in New York
strikes the observer as the work of man
who knows better and ought to be asham-
ed OF himself.
Rhea has a devoted clientele, who have
gladly met her half way and made allow
ances for the accent which still fingers
slightly for the sake Of the art which ami
mates her efforts
Never Again proved to be non-com-
initial bit of farce. When 1t was first ex-
plotted much difficulty was experienced In
the selection of a title. SO the chroniclers
tell. In the throes of brain-fag manager
vowed that he would never again" ac-
cept play without title And this sug-
gested the name under which. after a dis
Greet metropolitan run. the piece would be
put on the road 1t was unfortunate that
the mere selection of title should have
been permitted to monopolize so much in
tellectual energy A share OF 1t might well
have been bestowed on the performance
itself. The production has humor. but Vt Is
of the intermittent type 90
Limbs and lyrics were ,nbundantly repre-
scented at the Academy of Music. I'm Gay
est Manhattan was a surprise-not be-
cause of its superior charaeter-but be-
cause of the patronage which 1t secured.
Its record Is a monumental warning to
the players who seek to display the efforts
nally produced, with Indifference which
threatened at almost any time to collapse
into downright aversion. 1t was coddled and
rewritten, and now starts from Washing
ton for southern tour after an engage
ment of unmistakable prosperity. Dazzling
and lavish ingenuity of advertising such as
few shows outside Of circuses would at
tempt TO rival, awakened curiosity, which
ueESlOpcU lfJO genuine interest And II
seems that patrons were well content for
the manner in; which the attendance held
out till the close of the engagement proves
that the earlier audiences had commended
the production to their acquaintance.
The variety theaters had the usual list
OF specialties.r Kernan's presented the olio
which q large patronage greets with unin-
terrupted approval
Madge Ellis was the 1uminary at the
Bijou- Miss Ellis is one of the songstresses
mt
seeker long for the year 1901. This END
of-the-century" atmosphere is becoming al
together too rarified for the ordinary con-
stitution-
The outlook for the coming week is
gratifying. presenting, as it does the hap
Ply combination of new plays and old ia
Voritcs to act them.
AS walk the well-paved streets of this
beautiful city" said Mr. Water Lennox the
other DAY, Il am struck with the different
appearance of Washington from what it
was when / first saw it, If remember
rightly" he continued, that was in ISL.
My father had taken the MANAGEMENT of
a theater here and in Alexandria and 1 re-
member that the house in the latter CITY
had been closed so long that the interior
BACK OF the stage was pretty well covered
with cobwebs. Anyway, the first star that
my father played there was Junius Brutus
Booth, who opened In Richard III and /
played the Duke of York. My fathers
Singer
who afterward invented the sewing ma
chine.
I've had a long career upon the stage -
added Mr. Lennox, musingly longer than
the average member of the profession, and
l mink L may say my career has been an
honorable one. for / have done nothing that
would bring reproach upon my family or
my calling. I've got to that point when I
live again in my childhood. take great
pride IN my daughter Jane who is in the
nd br
veioped ability as an actress. / have edu-
Gated her in music. and she has voice of
great purity and power, thai trust will
one of these days be heard in comic opera :
but think she should first know how to
act"
Miss Jane Lennox is only twenty-one but
she is already a young woman of many
graces of person, with a weII-moduIated
Voice and distinct enunciation. She has al
ready gained distinction as the leading wo-
man for Felix Morris. and she does good
WORK with Mile Rhea as Marie Louise. the
second wife OF Napoleon. in the play of
ne Empress of France" Miss Lennox
seems 10 Justify her fathers pride in her,
and apparently has a bright future before
her. She has inherited talent both from
her father and her grandfather and will
undoubtedly keep up the standard of the
family name.
''All who have crossed the Atlantic re-
member with mingled feelings of pleasure
and regret the concert which ALWAYS
comes on in the saloon the day but one
before reaching port" says Otis Skinner
Mr.. Skinner does not believe that the actor
should recite, and the rest of the story
which he tells goes to illustrate the point
OF his contention. The last time that 1
came back from Europe" he says 'ft was
on the Teutonic. Those concerts are Just
az certain as the tips you are forced to give
the steward. or the beef broth or hard bis
cults 1t Is my opinion that they are
put of until the last moment that all
may have found their sea legs and are
likely TO be more generous in their contri-
buttons. But / loathe these cabin concerts
There Is fixed upon my memory a compo-
site photograph OF a dozen or so of them
A slender. large-eyed woman With fear
full case of stage fright, singing sentimental
ballads about flowers and doves and
caves and graves just about three tones
on the key; then follows a comic ditty by
n young man whose nose has been sun
burned by a few days promenade on deck.
whose collar is Invariably too tight for
him, and who always accompanies himself
upon the banjo Why, / don't know. He
can't play the banjo and he can't sing
But everybody listens to the comic ditty
as If IL were a discourse upon the silver
question by Senator Teller. Then there is
the commercial traveller with a set of
Marshall p. Wilder stories. He gets an
encore and gives some Hebrew limitations,
at which 1 fly TO the cabin. But the anna
teur violinistsi You have heard the anna
teur violinist. haven't you? You never
have? Half the pleasure of your life is an
unknown quantity to YOU. But i was CO.