The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-25
THEMES OF THE THEATRE.
rr1 REVIVAL or TgE sEEESADE"
~ ERE BosTo6TAEs

Vaudeville In Europe aud America -hr.
Daly's Use of "Cyrano de BerEerhc.''
uolo, p.rtram's return to the Bostonians at
Ntsphattnr Beach has the effect Of cleariug up
The one mystery Of The Serenado's" libretto.
10 long A. Aiice Nielsen played Yponne It was
M. possihls ~ conceive how The green velvet
breaches could stretch enough 10 inolose Jessie
Rartlett Davis and be used again on the follow
inc night There were other differences between
Mas Nielsen mud Mrs. Davis apart from the
f.ot that one Is q soprano and the other a
oontralto. These were Of n kind. moreover.
that were most emphasized by skin-tight vel
vat trousers. SO there wss never q Perform
snce o. "Ths serenads" with the original
singers that did not bring up the question OF the
Amazing elasticity Of the fabric employed in
making them. Miss Bertram stiles the oues-
ton. She and Mrs. Davis are nearly enough Of
A size to make them a their proper place In
the scheme Of tho story. Miss Bertram is
an agreeable nctress and sings as well
m ever. II there is one point OF her
acting which attracts more attention
than another IL Is the intelligence with which
abe speaks every line. Plainly none of the
meaning OF the text In q loss TO her. and some
times that fact is accumulated too sharply.
MIRA. pavis's voice is fresher from her vacation.
and W. H.. Macdonald. William Philip, Harry
Brown and Henry Clay Barnabee are as expert
IN the former roles as ever. William Philip,
since he sang first hero In His Excellency."
has improved as an actoS and singer. and the
Gerbert's score wears we'll. The music has
not been made monotonous by the popularity
Il has gained and the inGeniously~ recurring
Al Manhattan Beach. Mt. Smiths improve
ment as a writer Of comic librettos. was never
more strikingly shown than in this one. and
hia aTnraoaA1 OBLIGATION TO n foreign source
ought to suggest to all writer's the possible
profit Of b%roHsinE among The old French and
70 How S;,v would The Serepade" be without Eu-
ssftmngSI Srs questions that must occur to every.
body who thinks Of the opera and the company.
Mr.. Cowles has been supplanted, by William
a STGae veil. He He has i IN not sttRSe lie SeSatif 1fi 6ass S9 Of
his predecessor. and such voices arc indeed
rare on the SOmiC Opets .. sfSse; ,n AZ an a1G Sst0r
which Is noticeable chiefly in the work. Mr..
cessor. But The Serenade" varies little, II
any. from its original power to please.
English vaudeville agents are reported to be
on the way to New York to begin the transfer Of
American specialists to the Old World. Com
OF this fact to 4 Sun reporter. Man
aeer Aarons OF Roster 4 Balls said: "Ameri-
can variety folk are already being well received
IN London. Eighteen to twenty : turns are
frequently included In their music hall bills.
andin some OF these resorts fully two-thirds Of
the innings are in the hands Of Americans.
This number Of specialties is made possible by
the fact that the lesser vocalists. for instance.
sing but one song. and half the audience win
hardly know that the performer has been on
before she IL OF to appear at some other
music hall It 10 not alone. the big
~fAyorites who appear ct two and three
places nightly. but the practice extends to the
less important entertainers. Another striking
the length Of time that performers stay at one
resort. vii 3. Fox, the pianist who buriesques
EonSOn Sal. Ri Rit ldstsf tSe, S SsS Sis[S w IsSdds 2es oes
tke . tramp. made Q like stay on the other side
before playing here last winter. Even more re-
ehharet. the dancer. who has put in something
IKE Jour months In one engagement -Four
SISIo. sS 81 H = Ssn Sav ssf EoS y sSf Si 9SSp s9 imBos,
thinE that sent me ali over Europe on a like
stayed till the moment I returned more than
A EtlUp s9as m sns iiSf SaFl so Sss 81 tse c Spstts se SS;ib but
remains; You have the serio.comic. the e sHSn
R 1as a4 fnss sSS ' ~ fks p sad safss whom Ro0nt N tnS
YorkerS have seen. I secured the Zigzag troupe,
Thoss ecrobatios include a few new twists. and
are new here. Perhaps none OF these will setthe
soNa wild but each and every one win make
4ES0G. and supply q capita; satisfying show;
euph specialtieS that are 10 be had. and, besides
being frst class. they will have the added adj
English specialists change their acts even
though the Rqmber, Of variety folk over there /;
bone market as It would II the entertainers
|6ied more new material; As to the trans
audiepces are being rapidly educated up to
American fun, and that applies not only to
ePeeiaities. but to burlesques,. AS to bringing
less enterprise. Their work doesn't GO"
Among the entertainers whom Manager Aaron
Secnred are jeanne de Lorme. Blanche Deliere.
H1arzella. 1rma ,Lynnes. Henry French. Mile. |
Aealy' the Hengler Sisters and Clssie Lotus.
Augustln DAILY announces that he will pro-
luce Cyrano de Bereerac" at his own theatre.
Ro1dne the most important role In the
play and giving CyrdRO to Charles Richman.
Mss hehnn will be seen as the heroine. This
play by Rostand. who says that
10 believes it will fail In any other language
han French. must he changed before it is pre-
'ented here. but such a transformation as Mr..
DAILY suggests would astonish the author.
have a way of caring very little
That is done to their plays here 80 long as the
comein. The need Of important alter
llons may be well understood when It is
Known that the first nights performance atthe
Lyeeum in London by Coquelln's company
asted four hours. even with Coquelln's rapid
lhsnVefy o. the long speeches. One critic said
nat me play translated faithfully into English
Nou!u require from five to six hours in repre-
But that danger has been avoided
trough aobreyiation In the role of CUTdHo.
ncggording 70 the plans made for the production
y PAYS; james Young will play Christian and
SSyaney Herbert will be the COmte de Guiche.
Z nether the play is ever given at Days or not,
,Ipgle could De contemplated no more remark
rue peryersion Of the authors intent than to
make RoSdne, and not CvrdnO the CEN
rai nguIe II is true that the London
TUGS found little to praise in the work
Il tne actress who played the part there.
attention of Sarah Bernhardt, who
commended her to Coquelln. She was ac-
,HEhed OF initiating her patroness and Of artih-
aality and GOODNESS. but ROgdnes Alterations
W ~ = greater part Of her character than her
Mr.. DAILY claims that he may use
pay because the book is on sale. II Ia
Sudily true that all Of Arthur Pinero's dramas
' De bought in print, but they are not 70 DO
iau with the acting rights.