The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-10
OID PLAYS NEWLY ACTED.
,u,KEsPEARE WITH MISS HIDDER,
uR JAMES AND MR.. HlNFORD.

A D.aduCtlOn OF no "1hteTu no
Ca,tle square Company Sings "Romeo
81 Juliee' In English-DsnmanT homp-
.or once Again in "The Old Hon estoad."
K,,bryn Kldder. Louis James and Charles B.
unn,ord are together on a tour with two OF
sh.tespeare's plays and two OF Sheridan's.
Thsv have brought that highly legitimate rep
ar,or, to the Grand Opera House. whore they
s.oon their week last night with an interest
INC and common dable performance OF The
Winter, Tale" That comedy 10 seldom acted.
Tbs reason for the stage neglect Of 1t is not
,r,pprecaton OF It's poetic language. quaint
humor OF humane philosophy. None OF its
,n,,su,ine characters Is attractivoly dominant.
ard 40 the great actors passed 1t by 1t has
,,o berolnes OF about equal interest. and
,.lther running through the action with sum-
liant continuity to serve the purpose OF an
ambitious actress. Mary Anderson assumed
botb roles in one performance. No elimination
=, essential text was required and II was
found that. although the effect was
blurred when a woman OF personal dis
emotion represented two psrsonages with no
.ppreciable disguise Of herself. the device was
uksd by general audiences, no matter II some
close critics did condemn it. Miss Anderson
rad como back to America after an absence OF
,eyeral years In that time her crudties had
teen overcome. her gift OF defamation had
b..n trained and she had become a facile
actress No dssentlent voice was any longer
raised against her. BY common con-
sent she was acclaimed dramatic
eenns Her triumph was IRENE ndous in this
crv Shs started on tour OF the country.
Then her health gave way. Something akin to
nervous exhaustion overcame her. Her con-
duct became erratic Suddenly she could not.
~ not
abruptly from the stage in the height OF her
fame. and settled down in an English home.
That v.s ten years ago Tho Winters Tale"
ba, not since been played anywhere. until this
t.mons revival OF it by Miss Kidder and her
comrades O, the James Kiddsr- Hanford COM
rany.
Thisreminiscent tribute to Mary Anderson
need not be construed as intentionally deroga-
tory to Miss kidder. Nobody would think OF
making a com parson. which would necessarily
be "A contrast. between the two actresses. But
Miss Kidder has tho personality and the accom-
plishment OF a satisfactory player. Her Her.
,nione, the unjustly accused Queen, had a mien
OF graceful dignity and was pathetic in
all the phases OF suferings from
Jealous Kings inJustices. The transition to
Pe'd,ta. from the repression OF the sad mother
to the liberty OF joyous daughter was a
sufficiently demOnstrative emsrkence from
shadow into sunshine. 1t was not quite spon-
taneous The gay activity OF the shepherds
dance. well simulated by most OF the Others
was visibly laborIous to Miss Kidder. But
her dual achievement was much more than
merely creditabe. About the Same degree OF
praise may be given to Mr.. Hanford. who
played the insanely jealous King LeonieS with
y great deal OF earnest force that was not al
ways dlscreetly tempered. but with uniformly
clear elocution and a good assumption OF au-
thority. He made much NJ tho mans dis
tracted grief and remorse upon learning tho
innocence OF the supposedly dead wife.
and did his utmost to recommend the repel-
lent character to forgiveness. That sndeavor
was necessarily futile Shakespeare's Othello
10 graded to bestial fury by others. Leontes Is
his own inventor and utterer OF caIumnies. 1t
would take another Booth to mako him an
Interesting monster. The curiously success
ful thing In this revival OF The Winters
Tale" was the part that Mr.. James took
In It, He was the .iuto'yruS. that old
rogue who does not appear until the fifth act.
the " sr6 H%y and nn a. rsi ballad
aspect was ludlcrous. his behavior dro!e.
deeply bass f Hs forced i lnt o s can.p
cHonsness during about ten minutes
cndlhcteF. small IN inc 20 u and hitherto
cut down into inslgniflcance on the stage 1t
Vas a unique aud very clever achievement
The scenic representation Of the play was new
and excellent. little Of the acting 10y other
than the principa % was admirable Most OF 1t
ranged from mediocre to bad. But there was
aredee ming intelligen Of direction to apollo
RAe, II not atone. Tor the failures IN execution
The Castle Square Opera Company got out OF
the deep waters OF Wagner last night Gounod's
Romeo and Juliet" was the second opera OF In.
season and II restored Grace Golden to her
admrersamong the audiences at the American
Theatre. Evidently they are numerous. She
was rapturously greeted on her first appear
ance and noisily applaudcd during the evening
whenever there was excuse for IT, She was
compelled TO appear before the curtain after
every actan after the waltz song received an
armtul OF bouquets and more vociferous en-
Performance w.
These facts establish Miss Goldens popularity
WIN the Americans audiences They are in
terssting for another reason. The same scenes
one IS accustomed to witness when GoUnod's
Eps,ra,ssung at tho Metropohtan were repeated
TT,nRer ~ the cast, SO its audiences are salts
heu WITH the Castle Square company however
"SMLS .a nG 4nsympathetic criticism may be-
MISS holNen has Just returned after a year OF
huuy 10 lat's although it Is difficult to see why
ine snought 1t necessary to spend that time in
learning something In which her hearers will
rot interest themselves in the least But she
POPULAR ~ MANY "'' VIZ
ME stil sings somewhat cxplosively and her
trhees shrlll rather than attractive in quality
rml ac!s with intelligence and seemed last
Tght 70 be forcing her voice constantly
Joseph sheehhn. who appeared as Romeo, ia, OF
routse. Incapable Of expressing the refine
ment ann delicacy Of the music that Gounod
mIUte. II" seems also to have acquired some
no NV notlnns about singing which were chiefly
nouceaD!e through the nasal quality OF his
s I've. now that he has learned how useful he
nUso may De in forming a tone he will probA bly,
tbme 10 realize later that il Is a m istake to use
ras organ as transmitter. The orchestra
Tha' 700 small to give any idea Of the share in
t t'se mork that fe to it. There was indeed lit
ne suggestion Of Gounod's Romeo and juliet"
i.h any Detail al the proceedings 1t is aston
~ ,.'ng now this industrious collection of sing
stro Cah sometimes miss every essential that
f,or rs me ana Illusion to an opera quite apart
''0'p any IDEA OF lis technical difficulties
yesterday was Electrically remarkable as
Aolday IN October with no new play. E1-
'op' IN theatres where the bill is changed
sa'n week there was only one revival. That
Vas Inc Old Homestead at the Academy OF
atuN, Denman Thompson made his annual
tn"y IN that New England piece. Nothing in
,i performance or the audiences apprecia-
Wv" RNv' anv sign that any one was in the
least Eredofit
"'" comeiy scene was introduced in the
''COIl act OF 'pntnr St,ivyasant