Evening star., 1898-12-17

"a Stranger in a Strange Land" which
came unheralded and very new In Its ca
recr. has captured the theater-going public
this week. and the audiences have increased
with each performance. The jefferson Com
edy Company has done good business at
the National and THE Sign of the Gross"
has delighted many people at the Lafay-
cite Altogether, the business has been sat
isfactory. considering that so many people
have been engaged i'll making their Christ
mas purchases, which not only takes up
their time. but also their money.
Next week Olga Nethersole will be at the
Lafayette. and as that young woman Is
very popular here. and justly so, she should
be generously patronzed. At the National
Anna Held will appear. and the sprightly
little Frenchwoman has many ardent ad-
mirers in this city. "A Bachelors Honey
moon will be the attraction at the Column
bia and it will probably duplicate its sue
cess of last season. At the Academy Way
Down In Dixie" will delight the lovers OF
melodrama. while the Lyceum will present
Its usual good vaudeville attraction
Olga NethersoIe. who Is said to rank next
to Henry Irving in the world of detail she
exacts in all of her productions. was asked
the other day that she considered the most
urgent of current stage needs.
plays. plays. plays cover the whole cry
of current stlge needs, l believe spirit
edly declared Miss Nethersole.
America and London are rich in histrl-
onic genius. Irving, Terry, Anderson. Nor
ris. Potter. BeIlew, Tree. Jefferson, Good
win. Harmed SOthern. Campbell, the Ken
dallS NarlOwe. Arthur and score OF other
names head a yearning army whose powers
only require creative playmaking effort TO
give the playgoing world new pleasures
Scene painting has reached n stage OF art
It has ever before known: COstumery on
the stage SurpaSsCS the briliancy of many
salons: mechanical effects designed to re-
feet reality have reached absolute perfcc-
tiCn, thcateTs have never been 50 costly and
perfectly appointed. Plays are what 'e
stage needs. Other wants are Incidental
ard really insi gnifiCant. In Denmark actors
and actresses are apprenticed TO service
after the manner of the traditional trade
irdenCure- Applicants are entered as young
q six years Of age. Few are accepted after
twenty. The students thus pledged to the
drama are put through a curriculum COM
pared to which usual college course would
he n vacation As the inc}inatOns and
powers Of the students develop they are
sieved. as it We're. into their natural play
grounds Tne comic. emotional. aCrOba-ic
and ballet fields all have graded classes.
Rigorous discipline accompanies the stud
les. All are paid by order of the king, and
are pensioneI in old age. Such an insttu-
tion in oUr Enelish-speaking countries
would surely have beneficial effect on the
drama But plays are our urgent neeIS.
MUmminS al best is an irresponsible art
present on the stage today in their high est
measure in artists who never enjoyed bat
random moments Of tUelagC Temperament
Is the great mentor of dramatic measures
But unless some one Will write plays We
must continue in sorry way. l know 81
dlnary plays are written every day. or say
every week But | mean an applied sys-
TEN OF NlaYm1kIng- ! mean an academy.
PlaywTightS, like actors. are horn rather
than made but | believe an institution nos
s.blT where genius in playmaking could lie
fIFG Gr-r TpF Fvrl- l-r,Et
n attachments Of competition. l am sure
the profession would willingly lend lis
whole aid toward the establishment of soma
such institution. The public too should
be given yearly in all Of the big cities and
IN" receipts devoted 10 its Sustenance The
invitation for playmaking effort should te
broad ana encompass the world"
The ability Of an actress to successfully
portray character depends greatly upon
her education It is a fact that those wo-
men who have given US the hest character
sketches Of the tough side of life have been
women whose birth was humble women
who were reared in an atmosphere of want
and priyatioH- There can he little doubt
that Ms. Leslie Carter will be successful
in her portrayal Of ''Zaza" as a great emo
tondI actress. Mrs. Carter has well earned
her success. Against untold obstacles she
has demonstrated her ability as an actress
OF the emotional school The work she did
In David EclasCO's military play The
Heart Cf Maryland" convinced the most
SkepGcal that she had rare talent She
loves her labor for her Iabor's sake. Mr.
B-4aSco no doubt realized the genius that
was in her wnen he undertook to convince
the world against the worlds preconceived
n"tl'n OF what society actress must be-
that Mrs. Leslie Garter was a genius and
n great one as well Mrs. Carter goes
about her work with as much care as an
astronomer sets about making calculations
on the moving bodies in the heavens. She
VIII spend days on one sentence debating
whether this word or that should be ac-
Cented. or whether a pause should be made
here or there on the rise or the fall Of her
voice.
Not the slightest detail Of information or
accent. not the most trifiing gesture es-
caPes her. She studies it all. and to this
no doubt is due the remarkable success.
She Is thoroughly in love with this new
play OF BglaSco's. one could not talk with
her i've minutes about this play of ''Zaza"
without gathering some of her bOundless
enthusiasm. Zaza in the original as seen In
the trst act Of the play, is a concert hall
singer. cheap, common and coarse. She Is
seen IN her dressing room, preparing for
her turn, and il is then that her hair is
lDoscued and hangs in all it's wealth and
glory far down below her waist. The cos
tunes Mrs. Carter will wear in this play
have been made in Paris. They are alto
Eether out of the ordinary. so 1T is said
hut further than that Mrs. Carter, as We'll
as Mr.. Belasco. declines to talk. Quite an
Unusual amount Of interest has been ex-
CliFl already rcg&rllNg inns new prUtuC-
tiCn. The public Is naturally curious to see
what she viii DO as a tough concert hall
singer. II will be hard for a woman,
raised a. Mrs. Carter was. to so far forget
her early training to depict the typical
singer in a French concert hall. The boxes
f0T the opening night have already been
engaged by surn people as the PauncefOtes.
and there VIII be presidential party.
Quite q large contingent Of the diplomatic
corps will also he there. In short, It bids
fair TO He a great society event.
Charles r Hanford was recently in con-
vcrsation with a friend who assumes
very pezsimistic attitude toward the mod
6rn stage. Let me read you something,
said Mr. Hanford and he proceeded: How
wouli the wits of King Charles time have
laughed could they nave seen an actor ex-
poseI 10 a tempest in robes Of ermine and
sailing IN an open hoat upon sea of paste
board. little skill in criticism would III
FORM Us that shadows and realities must
not he mixed together in the same piece;
nn1 that the scenes which are designed
the representations Of nature should be
filled with reSemblaCces and not with the
things themselves. If one would represent
a wide. champagne country filed with herds
and fUc<s. IL would be ridiculous to draw
the cnIntry only upon the scenes and to
crowd Sey- n! parts of the stage with sheen