The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-12
THEATRICAL ADJUSTMENTS.
rWo NEW PLAYs THIs WEEK AND
PLENTr OF OLD ONES.

KAunH mtNn hhtFnt NANhNN HNDE hHthWt ~ Nme
Heroino OF "share Acres "a Tauit That
!. Found with Miss OPP TIVE novel
Gympasts Appear Tn keith's Vaudeville.
The new plays this week consist Of ono drama.
sTbe Countess valoska" at the Knickerbocker,
and ono farce. "a Hired Girl" nt the Star. But
the old ones arc plentiful and generally popular.
a. Ward OF France" and "The whirl OF the
Town have gone from Broadway to Harlem,
the romantic drama locating itself at the Colum.
bus. and the frisky burlesquo at tho Opera
House. whilo MY Friend from India" hns
shifted to the Grand, in Eighth avenue. These
pieces are being performed quito as we'll as
aver by fine companies. "Tho Fencing
Master" is the light opera revival At the
American, and THE Bat" at tho Irving
place. This Is tho last week Of " The Salt Of the
Earth " Mt Wallack's and "Tho Governors" ut
Hoyt's. One week after this remains ench to
"The Princess and tho butterfly" at the
Lyceum, "Shorc Acres" ut tho Fifth Avenue,
and Al Irish Gentleman" at the Fourteenth
Street. Other continuanccs are Tho White
Heather" at the Academy of Music. "Tho High
wayman" at the broadway, 1.-THE Conquerors"
at the Empire. THE Little Minister" at tho
Garrick. THE Royal Box" at tho Garden. The
Ballet Girl" Mt tho Manhattan, 1.-THE Telephone
Girl" at the Casino. Tho French Maid" at the
Herald Square, and "The Swell Miss Fitzweil"
ct the Bijou.
The performance OF Cinderella for charity
At the Metropolitan opera House is a remark.
able amateur achievement. employing s. 200 per.
.ons in RELAYS f9r its singing, dancing. and act.
The distinguished ones employed in the cur.
fsns fGn'i and Sde NV Williams i nnnf for The Se'f pi MSMGo
Palace; Lew Doekstader, Tony williams, the
Annie SeSmSns John Wild. Dan coilyer, and
James Thornton for Proctors Theatre; and the
For the music halls John w. Ransono and
Hilda THONGS arc "a At tN Weber = Fi ~ supple
Daisy Mayer, Delmore and Lee. and the De
S Esil. are are some 'ps % e The Sp %S.in H,i a. K f0psss q:
e S,Si = F Sad H Hal nnI and Mo %Hsi Fuller Tier. FORCES In
The stage show at the Eden Mus6e is a per-
%formance by msrionettos, with pictures and
weeks s% show Substantially without Change. '"''
1t would be a likely theory that plays which
lie in the middle register Of the emotions endure
better than those which rise to tho heights Of
passion or sink to the depths Of fun. Experience
Is opposed to that iden, however. and the works
that have survived longest are by no means
pitched at the medium. Possibly when they
are not masterpieces they do not die SO soon,
II there are no extremes in their motives.
The realism of James Herne's "Shore
Acres" has often been praised. and its
truthfulness has tho potent charm to-
day that won commendations four years
ago. Certainly 1t plays upon tho medium
notes of human emotion il ever q drama did.
The melodramatic episode of the lighthouse
does not interrupt, except for a few moments.
tho easy flow of moderate interest. But its
grip on audiences remains as strong as ever.
On Monday night Uncle Mats troubles absorbed
the spectators, his homely humor amused them,
and the turkey without the gibIets was a de-
lightful touch Of country life. 1t was difficult
to realize that Shore Acres" as the public
York had it during ing one whole s." Season soa' It's
own freshness Is exceptional enough. The
interest sy.S mo that rs II h,s for TT the ,bs audiences dsy.' is is
which a plays vitality is usually exhausted
After one or two seasons; It is some,
performance as to sec exceptlonsi talent in The
Ing is remarkably proficient, The spirit OF the
ton. The actors are taught to deliver speeehes
with inst the right, natpralness. The result 10
much to keep the play alive as the other work Of
,ts auther. A notable feature is Julie 4.
Hsyne. and she made her first appearances as
Helen Bern, in this play, She is q slender. in.
s sment. tx f,si e wirh SasHnS %ish E Esmaafs s% gray
In that role Is not. Of course. to Miss Herne's
advantage but she is a talented beginner, and
ashore Acres has not been successfully imi:
tated, and that is not an easy matter to explain.
the people Of the Maine coast. MT. Arthur has
Succeeded. II his element Of melodrsma had
been as adroit as Mr.. Herne's, 1.-THE Salt OF the
than it is. Aside from Mr.. Arthur. there has has
hhsver appeared any rivals in the heid to t ia the
10 SO much material for them on every side.
When 1.-THE Princess and the Butterfly" was
acted first at the Lyoeum the fear was expressed
by THE SUN that possibly Felix Morris, who
played then with admirable skill a'comedy role.
might fall back into his too deliberate Methods:
but his performance is as excellent as it ever was.
Curiously enough. the change in the representa-
ton has como from an unexpected quarter. julio
Opp. as Laura. now drags out her speeches
with an irritating slowness which Mr.. Morris In
his fnical moments mover equalled. Tho
worst of this change is that Miss Opp
speaks two.thirds of her lines to tho
s sSOits' Of her fellow S% aetors in their vain en-.
dsayor to get a look from her; 1t Is 9niy the
did dSr not repeat w%isi MI fe' Pi hsa speeshes M the per- ::
Torrance would look as IL the Prineess Pdnno..
nta were not on speaking terms With The rest OF
proposes 70 Miss Opp. She never looks at hin.
from the slow. tedious and artificial dragging Of
tho Scene is ! the result Of Miss Ops
new and temporary. may 1t be hoped,
style of playing the role in which she at
first showed SO much genuine talent: Possibly
It is the result of her English training, which
may have taught her that American. like Eng.
llsh, audiences must have that point very
deliberately and decidedly made. But that is
not true, and least OF all could IT DO done In the
case Of a delicate comedy like Pinero's. On
Thursday night Miss Opp added a little OF her
own humor to the authors. All" she said
after the quarrel scene in which Marine throws
the water on Sir George LamOrdnt,. shower
bath" These mannerisms are not those OF a
young actress. but of an old stager. Miss Opp
should not permit them TO obscure her natural
talents.
Two performers at Keith's put an entirely now
face upon a form of gymnastic specially that is
plentiful in the variety shows. They were i'm
ported from Europe just because of this novel
twist. Their outfit consists OF three horizontal
bars placed in the conventional manner. so far
as distance apart Is concerned. but they are