Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-02-20

p~laygoers here owe many a hearty laugh
and much interesting philosophical spec
by John Drew. AN American Citizen,
played by Nat Goodwin. and "A Coat of
Many Colors'' in which Herbert Kelley and
of Madeleine Lucette Ryley. and durins
the ensuing week at the Coates. The MySi
tefi gwen MY BY 5 5osseph Holland Hei intis' sue'eSs' WIN
Now those who are familiar with these
comedies will no doubt wonder where Mrs;
Invariably unique characters. Il is in
characterization that she eXcels. Some
of the people in her plays are so novel and
refreshing. that 1t would seem, they could
not possibly be drawn from the imagina-
ton and yet they are none of them, eS-
theatrical types. Mrs. R:yley has never
yet presented the conventional odd WON.
an" nor the stage villain nor the dude"
cute soubrette." nor any of these old
time favorites. Though one may have met
a few CT Mrs. Ryley's stage puppets in
keen sense of humor and masterful obser-
walton to put into stage land.
the proprietor of The Mysterious Mr..
Bugle." is a brother of the fair author,
and he was persgRded TO give her away
have a new play of my sisters" said Mr..
Bradley, and / am invariably the first one
on the ,qui viye to see what new recruits
from the circle of our acquaintances or
friends have been called upon to speak her
lines. Some of these may be people she
has spoken to but once, and some peculiar
eccentricity alone has caught her fancy;
others may be those We have known for
many years and never appreciated their
CHARACTERISTICS until she wove them into
her story.
II remember when Christopher. Jr.,' was
first presented. how some of the writer's
alluded to Mr.. Glib, the man who ut
tiers but one word throughout the entire
play (hurrayD as a highly amusing but i'm
| possible individual Now Gijhh was not
impossible for l have seen and spoken with
him. IT happened in this way. Some years
donna, she and l went down to one of the
fashionable hotels in New York, to see
a Mr.. Blank and his wife, two amateur
impresarios. who wished Mrs. Ryley to sing
in an opera, either Mr.. or Mrs. Blank had
written. The lady said her husband was
picions. However UeS ~throughout the inter-
view Mrs. Blank was very boastful of her
husbands remarkable talents and his thou
Blank showed signs of chipping in on the
conversation Mrs. Blank would interrupt
with, Yes. Just as Mr.. Blank was about
got from Mr.. Blank was not Murray, but
good-day, the rest of his intentional re-
marks, as to calling again, being spoken
"I thought Mrs. Ryley would be unable
to control herself much longer and with
buried excuses got her outside, where rr she
all about the incident until a year or two
later. when again appeared Mr.. and Mrs.
Blank under the name of Glib in Chris
topher, Jr.' Two other characters in that
play, christopher, Sr.' and his wife, SEEM
ingly two equally impossible characters,
through the medium of a third party. are.
although perhaps 1 ought not to say it,
connections of our own family.
plenty of our friends. Take the firm Of
Brown. Barbury and Cruger. No one for
gets the conveniently deaf Barbury, to
i ryhnr, rnr1on' ,oina &c tho nN1v nNa
he could hear, and Brown, the individual
to whom Cruger sends the liniment. These
three men are exact copies from life. The
amusing urchin who knows something
about 'mislingtoe.' was q, playmate OF Mrs.
Ryley during her brief six months school,
in aTbars she =. b ever had cb by the way IA the Goat
Of Many Colors' that belongs to stageland.
Even Mrs. Magendy and her pathetic story
brother into so much trouble and then up
braids him for his laundering, was a wom-
an in real life, but the characteristics were
"one Of the amusing hits in the ,'Mys-
FERROUS Mr.. Bugle' is a short sighted boy,
who stumbles over everything. imaginary
neighbor of ours som time ago at the
seashore. He wore big goggles and one
day Mrs. Ryley tried to sympathize with
tinued series of mishaps. he always seemed
to have a bandage somewhere. But the
good lady told Mrs. Ryley she needn't be
/ III IICu. tHil SbC iiuu 6ot iuitc ooN "
it and that she would hardly be able to
recognize her son but for his bruises, it
gave him something to think about, too.
and her an occupation.
II think it is due to her wonderful OBJ
servatioh and her ability to utilize eccen-
t%ricities Of character. always in a humor-
to maintain the reputation of her first sue
cess. This faculty makes her field of
operation almost limitless, and I believe
she will be turning out successful dramatic
material as long as she has health and
strength. The managers believe in her
more than in any of her men rivals. for
she now has contracts for new plays that
will take her at least two years to write.
The orders she can get are limited only by
her story and planning of situations, etc,
she is no quicker than most playwrights.
p poh as a as s It always is. she is marvelou nhy
rapid. I would match her in this regard
against any one / have yet heard ola
sort of lightning calculator, only in words
rather than figures
Charlotte Crane, otherwise Lottie Bowes,
of Topeka, the pretty actress who is appear
Ing at the Empire theater. New York, in
at tights. This statement
Mi. c-., would not be of so much i'm
portance If 1t were not for
viii not the fact that Miss Crane was
-- recently requested to leave a
wear iighes. fashionable ball at Charles
ton, S. c., because the society
women under whose auspices it was given
did not consider her a fit associate for their
sons and daughters. merely because She
was an actress. Others say that these
women were merely jealous of Miss Cranes
charms-for she is very beautiful.
Miss Crane refuses to wear tights be-
cause she does not think it womanly to
do so-and she loves to be womanly. Fur
thermore. she promised her mother when
she adopted the stage career that she
would not change her style of dress. But
the desire to be a good woman that a miss
of 20 should be, Is her strongest reason for
refusing to yield to the opportunities OF
stage managers to appear in skin-fittins
garments.
II love more than anything else to por.
tray on the stage the character of a good
woman said Miss Crane, like the limo.
cent Isabel Irving that I played in Ala.
bama' last year. To listen to or portray q
bad character leaves a bad taste in my
mouth. / will not wear tights. but 1 have
nothing to say against actresses who do
for there are lots of good women who
wear them. not because they like to do so
but because they have to-"
Manager Bradley, of THE Mysteriou.
Mr.. Bugle' company, which will appear al
the Coates next week. is continually ask
ing himself the question, rs there a Mr.
Bugle on earth?" He is Just beginning t
appreciate the inventive genius of Mrs. Ry
ley in selecting n name for a husband
that it seems impossible for any man Il
claim. In all the cities the company ha:
played so far, Mr.. Bradley has searched
in all the directories for this mysteriou:
Individual named Bugle, and has com,
across the name but once This occurred
In New York-there actually was q Mr.
Bugle. a message was sent him in fever
ish haste. His address was somewhere OIL