The record-union., 1899-09-24


horse belonged to the bill poster. who
was also the manager and transfer CON-
pany, and he kept the horse in one of
the dressing rooms to save stable
hire
Kathryn Kidder will wear in the
Wagenhals & Kemper production Of
''The Winters Tale" a number of
pieces of expensive jewelry which are
reproductions from the ANTIQUE Gre
clan. Colonel Fl. M. Kidder Id them
made to order in Paris and presented
them to his accomplished daughter.
The French and German system of
employing a ''claque" to make a new
play a success has been greatly i'm
proved by the invention of a mechan-
lcal contrivance by which the regis
seur from his "coign of vantage" may
press a button and set a hundred
leather sacks in motion against each
other in different parts of the theater,
thus producing the effect of as many
human hands violently applauding.
This will be great saving to French
managers who have on the regular sal
ary list the names of forty or more
hired men whose duty it is to applaud
vehemently
The Ameer," Frank Daniels new
comic opera which is now rehearsing in
New York, will have it's first presenta-
ton at Scranton, Pa, early in October.
The book is by Kirke La Shelle, who
has managed Mr.. Daniels ever since
he became comic opera star; lyrics
by Fred Rankin, and the music by
Victor Herbert.
Cecil Raleigh, whose melodramas at
the Drury Lane Theater, London, are
one of the theatrical features of the
English metropolis, has been retained
by A. w. Dingwall, General Manager
for Jacob Lift, who has just returned
from an extended European trip, to
write one each year for Mr.. Lift which
will be produced at his Broadway Thea
! ter. New York City. or McVicker's S
| Theater. Chicago. Mr.. Dingwall also
brought over a number of plays by cele-
brated authors, which Mr.. Lift will pro-
duce in the course of the present sea-
son.
Olga Nethersole has selected Chica-
go as the place for the initial produc-
ton in October of Clyde Fitch's dram
atization of ''sappho."
Henry Miller will make feature of
"The Only Way next season. This is
dramatization of "A Tale of Two
Cities" by Freeman Willis.
Hamlet lately received it's three
hundredth performance at the Paris
opera, an honor which it shares only
with Faust and ''L'Africaine"
1t is now reported that Mrs. T. Ben
ton Letter. the Chicago society woman.
will give up acting. Apparently, she has
had enough of it.
The London censor has refused to Ii
cense 'Zaza" in French, and Rejane
has decided not to act there, as she will
not be seen in any other play.
The Bostonians will produce next sea-
son new opera entitled THE Snug
gler's Bride,'' of which Timothy Adam
oski is said to be the composer.
Sardou is one of the few great stage
managers in Europe; he and Sir Henry
Irving are probably the two best. How
is it done? Well, you see,' replied NJ.
Sardou, Il know exactly what / want,
and take care that l get it," Sir Hen
rvs answer to the same question would
not, one imagines, be very different
from this. Sardou does not read a lee
ture to an actor whose intonation is in
correct, or whose gesture displeases
him; he takes the actors place on the
boards for few moments and goes
through the part. In theory this is
simplicity itself, in practice it is some
times productive of emotions which the
scene is not intended to convey. AS a
rule, Mr.. Sardou'S demeanor at re-
hearsal is beautiful, but if people will
not do as he requests he can tear his
hair, and speech, to tatters, with the
best Of them. When the hurricane is
over, he becomes Mr.. Honeytongue
again-but he has carried his point. He
has a natural grace of carriage, a f1ex-
ibility of voice, and a skill in gesture
which would have served him well up
on the stage, had he not found it more
them. AS he utters a thought he gives
it more pointed expression by a ges-
ture which is both apt and vivid.
In speaking of the old actors he has
seen he initiates their voices and their
manners; and all Paris knows his won
derful skill as a reader. In conversation
he is now at ease in his chair, now with
his back to the fireplace, now springing
across the room and now extended on
the sofa, his hands and his whole frame
as full Of animation as his face; but
with never an appearance with posing
for effect. His delight in his work has
| never forsaken him; success has not
spoiled his industry. He tolls after pre-
cision of detail truth of atmosphere,
and historical exactness as strenuously
| as ever, and with the same intense and
never-failing interest. Give him a bit
of old Paris to reconstruct for a scene
in new play, and he will exhaust vol
umes to restore it to the stage in every
detail. He is as scrupulous and exact
ing in small things as in great. If the
stage carpenter says, II suppose an or
dinary chair will do, Monsieur" "Oh
dear, no. my friend is the reply, IAN
ordinary chair will not do Oblige me
with your pencil There; that's the
kind of chair 1 want! Let it be of that
shape, precisement. nt."-CasselPs Maya
zine.
The manager of a western theateT
has had a track constructed from the
nearby railway depot to his stage door
| in order that the scenery of combina-
tions playing at his house may be load
a nd 1iraln lad trn La IL,