Evening star., 1898-12-03
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| I'll after she had become noted as an act
ress. She inherited her ability both from
! her father and her mother. but she had Ce-
clded originality. She was possessed Of Il
keen analytical intellect and great capacity
| Tor detail She was one of the best stage
( managers and always looked after her own
| productions. She produced more new pI;vs
ana snent more money in their pres IN a
| ton than any one else and her aim was
10 give the public the very best that could
/ be offered OF her great abilities rs an
actress only words of praise can he ,soid
Her death was a positive loss to the Anlc ri
can stage and to dramatic art
! In making his adaptation of ''Zaza." in
which Mrs. Leslie Carter will he seen in the
| title role on December 26 at the LAFAYETTE
square Opera House. Mr.. David Beasco
mas closely adhered 10 the original story
! He has simply eliminated 4 few passa ges
OF dialogue, essential perhaps in Paris but
! "hich, being of no consequence to the plot
and perhaps offensive to an American audi
! ence. are better out than in. He has also
changed the relationship of some of the
characters in such way as 10 produce a
stronger interest-So much so that the orig
NAL authors acknowledged the worth of the
| alteration when they read Mr.. Belasco's
| arrangement of their work BY this means
! the vital strength of the heronie has been
| riiiced
! 1t was thought at first by some superficial
| observers (among them Mr.. Frohman's own
| agents. that ,Zaza' was a play that could
I
| form, or rather a form accepts BILE to Ameri-
| cans. When Mr.. Belasco had seen only two
acts of it in Paris he telegraphed that he
| SAW way out of the difficulty with the ut
! most care and without in the least altering
! the character of the Dlay
| Not seldom have inexperienced adapters
spoiled good pieces either by eliminating
| TOO much of the original adding too
| much of their own. In fact it may be said
| that man can only be Il good adapter after
| ne has become good play maker himself.
| No one will deny this position to Mr.. Be
| laSco, against whom no failure can. far,
| be recorded. He has gone to his work on
"Zaza with the utmost care and discre-
| tlon, weighing with the most careful de-
liberation the value of every word and
line. 1t has been no slap dash labor hur-
riedly thrown off If under inspiration
which is usually synonym for careless
ness. The costumes have been made and
watchful eye. so that every detail may fit
another. The public will have the satis-
| faction of witnessing in 'ZaZa' a homo
geneous whole. The members of the cast,
too, have been chosen for their peculiar
| htness to the roles they are TO play.
The fame of the stage is indeed feetinG"
said Alfred Bradley the other day, and no
one realizes it so much those who are
closely identified with it. Names that you
would imagine were firmly fixed in the
minds of all intelligent people as the words
breakfast tea or supper you find every
now and then have never even been heard
OF. | remember an excellent example of
what j mean which l experienced some
years ago in Philadelphia. when ] was rep
resenting Alexander Salvini. l was walk
in;, down Chestnut street with the veteran
actor John y. Lane, whom We have now
with MOdteska. by the way. when some ore
stepped US. Philadelphian, of course, ard
he said to Lane:
Why, hello, John. who are you with
nCw?'
"Salvini," said Lane.
hat ~ T,l CHI civ,
Well, Lane is a peaceable man phil
osopher. rather, and instead of hitting his
interlocutor, as l wanted TO. he simply re
piled. Soprano" and we walked on Well
as it was a Philadelphian. there may he
some excuse, but l reached the climax tne
other day right here in Washington. |
happened to call at one of the most fasf
iOnable hOtels-that is, one of them that
charges the highest rates-with the view If
securing apartments for Modjeska and her
husband. the Count Bozenta. l waited for
the chief clerk, and when he presented hii.,
self | said would like to what arrange
monts l could make for Modjeska. iayin2
some stress on the name. thinking IL
would be interested in giving me more "f
his attention. But his features BETRAYED 10
s.Sn OF intelligence. so ! said: You ..now
the name. surely; We play at the National
next week Then his face lit up with 4
feeble sort of smile. and he replied: Yes
Of course; he's an opera singer" Now. of
course, your readers will dismiss this as =
theatrical yarn, but both instances | quo
are tiudl IdCIS. 1 ltIt mat MOTEL with
mental reflection on Shakespeares words:
They strut their brief hour upon the stag
and then are seen no more" 1t is indeed
high time that Madame Modjeska returned
10 the EatlonS capital, else some one WI
not even guess she's an opera singer"
LAFAYETTE SQUARE OPERA HOUSE
The Royal Italian Grand Opera Company
which is to appear at the Lafayette next
week commencing Monday, has been pro-
nounCed by the foremost critics of New
York to ne of the finest musical organ
. lzauons that has come to this country in
many years. Contrary to the rule with most
grand opera companies, there is no star to
take all the receipts, thereby forcing the
management TO engage inferior singers for
the minor roles. Every member of the Row
al Italian Company is an artist The prima
dnnnas. Signorina Linda Montavari and
SlgnOrina Eldnd, have both won fame
abroad, and whenever they have been heard
III lhiS country have met with nothing but
praise. The leading tenor of the company
SignOr q. Agostini. whose voice has been
pronounced one of the finest and richest
Italy has given to US, is artist whose
singing is all music. every note being clear
every phrase as good as the one before H.
SiSnor Collenz, the other tenor is n singer
of equal merit, so that there are no particiI-
lar nights with the Italian company. The
chorus is a specially strong one, and an
augmented orchestra, under the direction of
signor Moreale, proves to be a wonderful
treat The repertoire for the week is as
follows: Monday, Cavalleria Rusticana two
acts from Lucia di Lammermoor: Tuesday,
Trovatore; Wednesday, Faust; Thursday.
'avallcria Rusticaua. Pagliacci: Friday.
.Trovatore; Saturday matinee Lucia di Lam
mermoor; Saturday night, Faust
COLI MBlA THEATER.-One of the
principal events of the season will be the
engagement of the Liliputians at the CO.
lumbia, where they will present their latest
and greatest hit. the grand spectacular
play, The Golden Horseshoe" next week
The company is this year composed of
nearly one hundred people, headed as
usual, by the clever midget actors among
them Franz Ebert, Adolf link. Selma Goer-
ner. Bertha Jaeger, Hermann Ring Max
Walter. Toni Meister. Elise Lau- Ebert and
Helene I-Indner. 1t Is doubtless the largest
travelling organization, and the new produc-
ton SurpasSes in elabOrateneSs, SunlD-
tnorsness brilliancy and tastefulness all
their previous efforts The little artists are
today more popular than ever and have
added thousands Of new admirers to the
legion of old friends. THE Colder, Horse
shoe has an interesting and coherent plot
II deals with an immense legacy which has
been left by a woman in q western town
to midgets less than three feet high. The
woman's brother, the sheriff of the place
a midget himself, is convinced that up to
the date named IN the will no other small
people will turn UP. and is very disagree
ably surprised when all OF a sudden quite