The times., 1898-04-24
THE PASSING SHOW.

this may have for Iandlubber, it is
true in many respects. Voltair replied
TO rebuke won by hiss despair by say
ing that his failures only hurt him when
he remembered that they had once been
hopes of success. From these two stand
points there should be plenty of room
for many thea aericai managers, whose
promising openings came early TO grief,
to drop a tear upon me mounds in which
lie their buried dreams. For this has
been a hard season-a bitter season, in
contrast with which the much-,alked-of
one which preceded it fades into abso-
Lutte nothingness.
AS usual, the beginning of the theatri-
cal year was made with great deal of
eclat and enthusiasm. Stars who had
never before been heard of sprung up
from all over the country like frogs after
rainstorm and managers with promis-
ing Ell Dorados were by no means scarce.
The bhthesome author was not behind
either and announcements of new plays
by newer playwrights filled the columns
of the dramatic papers. Such sentences
as 1.-The well-known manager, Mr.
Patrick Ryan, is contracting with George
Murphy for his famous play. "A Dollar
and a Half, in which the charming emo
tional actress, Cora Di Vorce, will star
next month were not rare and the aver
age reader of stage news would have
imagined that the exodus into the ranks
| of the theatrical profession had been
| enough to seriously jeopardize the well
fare of all the rest. AS matter of fact
| something like one hundred and twenty
! new pieces were put on the road at the
beginning of the season and started on
ward in their career with every prospect
| of success Press agents were kept busy
| detailing the merits OF their respective
! companies and managers sat in their
offices dilating over the size of the oat
| crop or shaking hands with themselves
/ on account OF the excellent promises an
! other year had brought forth. Every
/ thing seemed bright and people connected
| with theatrical interests in that great
! mart of trade known as the "Rialto' felt
| that they were at liberty to congratulate
! themselves.
/ When it is realized how quickly many
/ of these bright hopes faded, and the
! enormous loss anu T5a@Iul disaDDoiht-
meni that some of them lssit, one
J cannot help leeling that there Is more
I risk in that business than in any stock
market in the world. out OF the six
score productions, given as rough es-
/ innate, about ninety-four represent the
| number Of first Presentations con-t.ti-
( plated early in the year. OF these nifty
| eight have failed utterly, ana been taken
| from the boards, While only thirty-siX
! have met with even partial success.
Something IKE sixteen Of the thirty pre-
sentatiOns that had been tried 6eiore.
Z ls
! adverse conditions under which all Ia
( bored. Eleven of Lf0se, rehearSed and
! prepared for the road. snr announced as
! being prepared, never saw the light OF
day, against me eight i-eterward sue
| ccssfully produced though not thought
| OF until the season was near is close.
i Forty-eight OF the failures were Gra-
mas. the romantic school being largely
! represented while only seven OF them
! were really rnelodramatic II tendency.
| Comparatively few farces or musical
comedies were removed, eleven being
the exact number of the former. Whtie
the latter, probably because Of extra ex-
pense, filed in the remaining twenty
five. "'t' '.E'-
The successes consisted mainly Of ro-
mantle and melodramas, the thirty-four
OF them still before the public proving
less their ability TO please than the su-
perabundance of such pieces when con-
trasted with the failures in that line
Those still on the road are mainly given
by the bigger stars in the theatrical
horizon. From the last, sixteen musical
comedies or operas and seven farccs,
whether legitimate or vaudeville, surviv-
ed. Only one established star proved to
be a falling one. 4 careful estimate
shows that mclodrama Of the vivid and
| realistic sort was most successful, though
| farce vas close second and musical
comedy not far behind. Romantic drama
pleased least Of all. Ia every case the
failures far outnumbeTed the successes,
frequently oyershadowing them
Through and through from beginning 20
end. the season marked the verify Of a
rule concerning the survival Of the fittest
The leading lights Of the theatrical profes-
sion suffered very little, the smaller and
less worthy aggregations being the ones
| to fall by the WaySde. New plays did not
do well, most Of them proving altogethe,
unworthy and in many cases forcing the
| stars to fall back upon past features OF
their repertores. This is the more Ia.
mentabie when 1t is considered that never
before has 50 large a percentage of dra-
matte writing been from the pens oil
| American authors. To do them Justice
I however, it may be said that English pro
ductions have proved no more stable thar
those Of native birth.
The reasons for a bad season are al
ways wrapped in mystery and this veal
has proved no exception to the rule A
continuation of hard times, of course
had a great deal to do with it and a
number of minor conditions almost a.
much. The fact that the better class
Of attractions made money tends tc
show that lack of merit was largely {
blame for lack of business. The prey
alence of stock companies. the ex
treme competition and, for the last three
months the restlessness caused by the
war scare has undoubtedly reflected OF
what, apart from it's amusement side
| is undoubtedly one of the largest bust
ness interests in the United States
AS has already been stated the yea
has not been a bad one for stars. Nat {
Goodwin Sol Smith Russell Henry Miller
E H. Sothern, John Drew, De Wolf Hop
per, Francis Wilson, Frank Daniels
Joseph jefferson, Richard Mansfield
Charles COghlan. Digby Bell, Wake
Whiteside Robert Mantell, Roland Reed
Stuart Robson, w. II. Crane William
Gillette, Thomas E. Shea E. S. Willard
James A. Herne, Herbert Kelcey. An
drew Mack, Chauncey Ocott Mimi
Madern Fiske. Ada Rehan, Julia Arthur
Maude Adams, Julia Marlowe, Lillian
f Russell, Della Fox, May Irwin Modjeska
Anna Held Effie Shannon, Fanny Rice
Marie Wainwright, Fanny Davenpor
and others justly celebrated as being a
! the top of their several lines of wor
! have not done in the least badly. eigh
! or ten having played wonderfully success
! ful seasons.
, katherine Kidder, Henry F. Dixey, VIII
ton Lackaye, Otis Skinner Auguste Va
Beine. Louis James Frederick Warde
5 Robert Downing, Verona Jarbeau, Mari
Jansen. Eugene Blair, Mr.. and Mrs Rus
Whytal, Edward Harrigan, Edward Mil