The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-13
NEW THEATRICAL THINGS.
,utIIy RUSSELL At THE Held OF
CASINO ORGANIZATION.

2ane ~ VI NANA N-F ANNNh III
hre,to-"The strange Scandal in n New
ynrlnnd Town. by Dramatic Students.
rho beauty Of Lillian Russell. efTulaent and
.nnon, was on view at the Casino last night.
ohn n.orc the Grecian OF the Spartan
s,oon in " La Belle Helene" and they became
well. The reader may deem IL moro to the
",r,,se that she sang the music of Jacques
ng,rboch and some interpolated ballads by
,duir Highlander as well as she had ever
ing ANYTHING in her life. But 1t must be
So,ne in mind that the comic opera was
Cssinoed in this reproduction. and that
.i.h,s vern OF moro account than sounds
Me- Russell was the big casino In
,his game OF sport with Onenbach. edna Wal
lace Hopper was the little casino. and probably
,hore were many in the audience who looked
unon her as a winner. TO others she was in
sts,d a pitiful exhibit. She sang as small
"a her stature. and in tho role OF Orestes
sbs was only a moderately e~ffectual soubrette.
mt in tho last act. where the scene was at a
so,shore. she appeared in a lack Of costume
rlainly intended to make people talk about II.
she came ont wrapped in an ample cloth. but at
once threw It of and stood forth in a cap, n
mir Of shoes, a eauZy shirt that failed to cover
hor torso. and a bit Of breech clout that was
laced tight at each hip. with q suggestion that
sbe had used "a shoehorn to get 1t on at all. These
martial coverings were dead white. so that the
aash color OF the rest OF her. real and initiation
aim. gave an effect OF baroness hardly equalled
nm the stage even In these brazen days.
uer assumption of difldence and shyness
ssryed to aggravate the shamelessness OF her
e,ploit. She not only gave a song and dance
in that plight. but had q share in the
subsequent action without again enyel-
opIng herself until the performance was
NEARLY over. The chorus girls are usually
made TO pander to a depraved taste at the
Casino, and they were again degraded. but this
time a ~fayorite soubrette was found willing TO
serve that purpose.
This was in most respects a good revival OF
ia Belle Helene" Miss Russell was vocally
At the fore OF it. though her acting
was uncertain and her words frequently
halted. Her tenor companion in the singing
was william E. Philip. There were two funny
comedians in John F. Henshaw ana Thomas
D Seabrooke. Th scenery was tolerable, and
some Of the costumes were very rich. The
conoquial manner by Louis Harrison. 1t is true
that he had vulgarized the French text, and
,ha, tn there re, Is s,t e29 al b bfss Sif b 40 Si%%e1f noi him
his humor was appreciable, and wouldn't an
audience at the Casino miss the up-to-date
song by him, with the refrain, Keep
one eye on your country" was the best comic
thing in the entertainment. Mr.. %Englanders
made Miss Russell MARBLE Forever and for
ave- were excellent. Barring the indecencies
OF nudity mentioned. the representation was
generally meritorious.
: At its second matinee this season at the EN-
pire Theatre yesterday. the American Acad-
emy Of Dramatic Arts presented for the first
time THE Strange Scandal OF a New England
Town" by Pauline Phelps. 1t is a comedy OF
the Revolutionary days. The story is Of an
American soldier on a secret mission. which
even necessitates his hiding while passing
through his own town. When the folks discov-
sr that a man is being concealed in the village
by one OF the most respected spinBters it
causes great CONSERVATION. He is suspected
as an English spy and she as his accomplish.
As the former has escaped. the latteri ia brought
to 3 r tTiaI esi9 %ifb a m T9sff 90 i Sim p rHriseEsii in s ihs
churchyard after dark. and also of aiding him
~toescaDe his pursuers through her house. The
has secretly married the soldier, is guilty OF
the, frs, charge and an orphan child OF the Sec
ond. The spinster. however. refuses to an
man has returned and vindicated himself. The
construction OF the. play is amateurish and the |
amusing. The climax Of the second act was
unfortunately marred by some mishaps. One
p the actors forgot his lines and failed 70 hear
fell in his exit. The curtain was lowered half
way a few minutes before the end was reached
den ID" did not =" Show HS' to Such n an Sia advantaSe ina a
three;act play as, they do in one-act pieces, The
cast included Fernando Elscu. Nora Dumb
1 ladei Ci a9Ge .' joseph SIiS's May ieasfy Ga aTT1si S Jen.
kins. Mabel Howard. Lucy B. Harris, Edra Ed
gar Hart and Alice Chandler.
Clement Scott. in retiring from the theatre
cal critics chair of the London Telegraph. an
nounced that he was going to write a book.
Roughly speaking" he said, Il have had fifty
years experience OF the STAGE in this and al
most every country. ana have seen a great
majority Of the best actors and actresses in
the wor d. Now, that / have retired from the
devote the earlier part of my leisure to re-
corning. in as interesting a manner as l can:
so,nss t 1haro / III Kn SS npGmf me IS sthEe .
~tenahce or abandonment of the attitude which
Pc lately assumed as to the morals OF actresses.
Later, he accused actors OF being gamblers. |
The London Era says:
A scurrllous attempt has been made to represent
me modern actor as an ignorant and dissipated
We need hardly say that this description is but an
other symptom of the currish spite that often insti-
Atrcal critic 10 throw dirt upon the profession whose
.Gortt have furnished him with the excuse for his
modern actors would be going too far; in the dra.
" %suS as vel as n other rESfessiGns there are
Eholo class Of hard. working people as habitually
nnunR their substance at the gaming able; TO state
Insse facts to a section Of the public who. as out
s!aers, are ignorant of the facts of the case, and who
at only too eager to accept any statement to the
Hscredlt OF the stage a. Gospel truth " Ia all act
slich could only be paralleled by a slanderous at
neE upon helpless women. The latter offence could
hot De overlooked: but we are pleased TO see that the
Pnottsslon has treated Clement SCOTS parting
ute with the silent contempt which it deserves.
Commenting on This. another London theat-
ppeai Journal. the Stage, says that although Mr..
ocoit retires from the active life Of dramatic
SrltlcisIn. he does not intend to remain idle
aor let men crawl over his body" 1t men
uons a suit for damages. and adds that some
o9e is going TO have a very lively Christmas
,b LONDON correspondent Of the Clipper, says
rnaI MI, scott continues to bulge very large
upoh Inc dramatic horizon. 1t has been an
zen secret for years that he. and Beerbohm
tree have been bitter enemies. the enmity
,,rtihg based upon Mr.. Trees inability to stand
ne spur OF MIR. SCOTS criticisms. But now
,he dove OF peace has come to futter over
We Two gentlemen. all wounds have been
auealed and all rude remarks withdrawn. and
s friendship has been knitted once again
anu forever, This event was brought to a
TSSHs al the, wedding breakfast Of franklin
'trIeay and Grace Warner. members OF Trees
VWbhpany. Mr.. Tree had made a speech and
in iii scott had made a speech. and both had
Uuooled over with the milk OF thurman kind
n nsi Then / was that the bride diplomati-
~, brought the gentlemen together the black
H. Uu e variShed and the sunshine burst upon