The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-21
THINGS AT THE THEATRE.
a REMARKABLE TAUDgYILLE SHOW
TO HELP THE ACTORs' FUND.

rav.rttss rally rer the ssppsrt or less Eortu-
safe Actors-Tbo view German R~arce-sIens
tien Or seue or the YsunE Wounen whe
Esact Oid wemen In the CurTent Plays
Ldzsio Raymond sang my Coal Black Lady"
at Koster & Bial's music hall last night with as
inhnrIhonious and awkward a chorus as
aver maltreated music, yet a crowded
audience hpprauded uproariously. The reason
why the two or three dozen mon we're
deemed satisfactory was that they were all
fayorites Of the vaudeville stage. with dean
Antonio Pastor at their head. That was the
finishing number in an entertainment given
By vaudeville managers and actors for the
Actors Fund. As Abraham II. TUNNEL OK.
blamed in n short speech, the members OF that
branch of the theatrical business had gotten up
the affair as an act OF charity TO q worthy insti-
tuition controlled and supported hitherto mainly
by what are known as 1.-THE legitimate
About %, 900 was cleared, as the use OF the
theatre and all tho things making up a
long programme had been contributed. The
nhow was more curious than brilliant. Tho
law forbids anything in a theatre on Sunday not
within the legal limits OF a"concert." There
fore the bill had to DO composed Of plain speak
ing and singing. Makeup in character is for
hidden, and there must be no changes
Of scenery, dropping OF a curtain. or donning
Of unusual costumes. Acrobatic feats and
dancing ore taboo. Anna Held wore her short
nkirts, embroidered tights, and enormous hat,
but she was the only y~iolator Of tho statute.
and even she was not permitted to introduce
the "liying music Sheet" because the taking
on and on OF tho paraphernalia might be con-
strued as a shifting Of scene.
ThSintentfon had boon to show the heads Of
vaudeville mapaHers instead Of the customary
a k..s 4. tl,n hoJ 90 bo oha ,1nna1 pnf
the audience found compensation in seeing
performers look on the stage as they do
OF ne stage. Press Eldridge with o white
face Sam bernard without his visage gro
tesauelyp painted, and Ezra Kendall and Bobby
GaylorG TALKING respectively like q Yankee
and an Irishman while not, resembling
s ss1ess "0s were Kate Davis. Loattie Col;
lins, z Julie ;MseEey, Miss k,nymIonp sI;,,n and
regular stage employment. Clara Morris read q
story @ ler own SomgSSs!tion. Edogard Remenyi
Master Peabody sang. Polk and Rollins picked
banjos. Charles }. Ross and Mabel Fenton re-
combined circumstances Of restriction and be-
nevolence.
The German farces are always most succeeds
full, not only before native audiences, but to
foreigners az we'll, when they partake Of the
really national character. "Eintoller Einfall,"
which William Gillette translated into A tho
Comforts of Home"--or was that from pension
Schoeller"f-was notably prosperous among
recent pieces and was thoroughly German
In spirit. The average French farce, when It
secs the.ight in German, admits its nativity I'M
blushingly. and makes no pretence Of having
been written by somebody who only translated
1t, and for that reason pieces but thinly dis
guised arc not palmed of as episodes among q
particular people. The common 'expedients..oe
farce-whioh are indeed limited-are at homo
In every country Of the world. So the In
trigue of these German plays frequently has
tho Palais Royal. Tho "Systeme Ribadier."
for instance. was an intensely characteristic
French farce. But it had a starting point SINH
lar to that Of "Logenbrueder," which was acted
Friday might St the Irving Place Theatre; That at
late the title any further than to say. that it
lodge. The point Of resemblance between
the two pieces lies in the fact. that both
s ssnd p1 %snas Sn To th9 ss %e AWAY IL Xom mh his wife 4 h nnd
s sotisea h her : rihe In as sRs Pnsnsh R Fl {h ss n asp,
so offensive TINT Paris alone could stand It. 1t
failed in Vienna without fumigation, and here
It rejected because its indelioacy and its fun
ty was taken away the other disappeared too.
But. Logenbrueder'' Is wholly German and en-
s : elg.s aRnfps Ires,b Il Is % ass Smmol but Ssr there he ei is
his vito into behaving that when he goes out In
That Idea Is the basis Of an American Joke that
has become historic. In the new farce the
s Say night Il s fSe laughter M0t Wss i Gse; ant anaf It
was laughter that came naturally from the stu.
ations. The actors were not compelled to tear
Ing was ssdmirabie. Emil Marx is proving
CeedinR piece at the theatre shows him to great
seyfertisz, and WiihslmiHe schliqetor were con;
spicuous figures In the play. "Logenbrueder"
ought to find its way into English.
A series of biosraph views at the Pleasure
Palace shows the battleship Maine as photo
graphed from a ~tugboat that steamed around
her as she lay of Brooklyn Navy Yard. For q
full half minute.the v~essel;is In view and almost
at the end of that time her .stern is brought
into the centre'of the screen. with "Old Glory
f1uttering from the Flagstaff. Naturally that Is
o great. sIirrer In these days Of patient waiting.
This same influence WAS quite as strong with
another item of.last weeks bill. but 1t had OK.
preston with the performers. They were the
Mimic -Four, a quartet of men, each Of whom
initiated some stage celebrity, and then all
Joined In songs and dances. Their concluding
bit Of dance was In mimicry of Carmencita.
Each" man wore spanish hoadgear, had a long
scarlet scarf about his shoulders and carried q
tambourine or castanets for q Gathering accom-
paniment. The men approached their Castil.
Ian capers in a doubling mood. Once started,
they rushed through 1t as fast as they could
and ended without arousing n hostile demon.
~stration. But in their haste they had not over.
looked seeing to 1t that their last imitation was
not very Spanish.
The Actors Society of America Is projecting
q benefit for it's treasury. Antonio Pastor
heads the committee, and the plan Is to occupy
a broadway theatre during a week In March.
Fay Templeton, who has not been seen In New
York since Excelsior, Jr.," is to go to Weber
d Fields's within a few weeks. Shells a bur.
lesquer whn never does 30 well as when she is in
the association of actors as spontaneously
amusing as the combination at that lively music
hall.
Lucille Flavin. who was in 'The French Maid
last. week, Is not a beginner. In the early part
of the winter che was n promising member of
tho Mckee Rankin company ut the Murray
Hill. MI. Rankin has a stock company In Phila,
delphia, with Wilton Lackaye, Rose Eytinge,
and Mrs. Courtney Barnes, a daughter OF, Mrs.
EytinRe, as members
Ethel Kendall. who was to have made her ap'
pearance as a vaudeville singer, has been IN
this country several months, and has sung al
private musicales in Philadelphia. She.is: now
Under the chaperonage Of q well.known American
actor and his wife. Although not on good terms
with her mother, who Ia irreconGilably opposed
TO her going on the stage, she receives a regu'