The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-05-18
ENTERTAINMENTS P
Hyperion Theater.


 JOHN DREW TOMORROW NIGHT.
 One of our most welcome theatrical visitors, John Drew, will be seen at the Hyperion tomorrow night, supported by an exceedingly strong organization, under the management of Charles Frohman. MT. Drew is now nearing the close of his sixth season under the astute Frohman direction, and the rec ord easily shows them to have been six years of gratifying success. The pres ent engagement will introduce MT. Drew in a new play, of which much that is enthusiastic has been written. It is entitled "A Marriage of Conven- ience," and is an adaptation by Sydney Grundy of the elder Dumas ''Un Mar iage sous Louis XVI The period-per- haps the most dazzling in French his- tory-gives opportunity for brilliant costuming and exquisite stage appoint ments, and MT. Frohman is admitted to have surpassed himself in these re- spects. The play has a very beautiful Louis Quinze background, with the painted panels, ornate gliding and ex- pensive and dainty furniture of the pc riod. The costumes are historically ac- curate, and will therefore be most pleasing to the artistic eye. No detail. it is promised, has been overlooked, from the cut of the brocade coats to the fashion of the snuff-boxes or the designs of silver embroidery on the backs of the gloves. The whole play is so dainty that it has been compared to Watteau fan, to "a group in Dres- den china, to a flagon of liqueur la rose, and likened to an old-fashioned painting, crisp in treatment, brilliant in color, minute in detail masterly in composition.
 MT. Drew's part in the dialogue, it is almost needless to say, flows with that ease with which he always handles a cynical remark, an epigrammatic retort or poetic sentiment The play, 1t may be added, provides him with the first light comedy role he has essaycd for several seasons. The story of "A Mar riage of Convenience, briefly told, con- cerns a union between brilliant man of the world and a young noblewoman, fresh from her convent school. It has been brought about by their seniors mainly for the purpose of uniting two great families and fortunes. Before their appearance at the altar the young woman had formed a romantic attach ment to the brother of favorite ,a h,1c fc m he meshes of an 'affair" with lady well known to fashionable Paris. The mar riage begins with an agreement which both expect to find charmingly conven- tent, that each is to remain Independent of the other, following individual pleas ures within conventional limits. The business of the comedy, apart from it's satire on the life of the period, is to show how husband and wife repent the heartless bargain, and play a. pretty game of wooing, which finds sweet and safe ending. Everything in the four acts moves to the sweet and lightly tripping measure of the quaint little minuet to which the curtain rises.
 Among those who will support MT. Drew are Arthur w. Byron, D. H. Har- kins, Graham Henderson, and Misses Isabel Irving and May Buckley It should be added that "A Marriage of Convenience' had a prolonged run al the Empire theater, New York There has been a large advance sale of seats. Prices $1.50 and $1. Secure seats at once.
 THE BOSTONIANS.
 Big houses will greet the Bostonians at the Hyperion this week. The de- mand for seats is great. ''The Sere- made" in which the Bostonians open their season here, won brilliant re- ception in New York, Boston and Phil adelphia where it scored an instanta- neous success. The action of ''The Ser enade" is laid in Spain at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and it af- lords the finest possible opportunity for effective staging and artistic pictures It introduces for set pieces an ancient castle, monastery and convent. The costumes as well as the scenery are rich, artistic and picturesque. One thing which is sure to please will be the return of such old-time favorites as Henry Clay Barnabee, William H Macdonald, Jessie Bartlett Davis, Flu gene Cowles, George Buckingham Harry Brown and Josephine Bartlett The roster of the Bostonians is larger than ever before, numbering fifty strong, with well selected band under the direction of I. L. Strudley. ''The Serenade' will be given Friday night and Saturday matinee. Robin Hood which has been one of the greatest suc- cesses ever given by the Bostonians, will be given Saturday night. Sale of seats now open. Prices $1.50 and s1.