The Philipsburg mail., 1899-10-06
THEATRICAL TOPICS.
SAYINGS AND DOINOS OF THE
PLAYERFOLK.
The Late Augustin DAILY Was Not
Commercial" Manager-Had o Respect
for the Sacred Character of the
Stage.

Although the current era of theat-
rlcal speculative management had
forced Augustin DAILY from his high
position as the leading manager of Am
erica, his death, which occurred sud-
denly in Paris last June, nevertheless
deprived the American theater of it's
leading representative. Despite Mr.
Days many shortcomings, he was a
man who held the stage in too great
respect even to make it a matter of
mere business speculation. His reck-
less expenditures of money in matters
OF art showed that he had mind far
above the box office and doorkeeper
standard. His accumulation of a IL
brary worth several hundred thousand
dollars is sufficient evidence of his
aesthetic and artistic interest in the
theater. For several years past, how
ever, the trend of the times had been
directly away from the classic walls of
his playhouse, and to save himself from
bankruptcy he was obliged to accept
the inevitable and become almost ex-
cluslvely producer Of melodrama and
musical comedy, two forms of theatri-
cal endeavor which he had always dab
bled in ever since his embarkation on
the sea Of management over 80 years
ago. In the season just ended de-
spite his elaborate production of "The
Merchant of Venice and Madame
Sans Gene" his only financial sue
cesses were "The Runaway Girl" per-
formed by his musical stock company,
and "The Great Ruby" presented by
his famous dramatic troupe.
During the past ten years Marie
Wainwright has developed, oddly
enough, from an actress of classic roles
to an exponent of sensational and COM
monplace melodrama. Last season she
starred in "Shall We Forgive Her."
and for the coming year she is plan
ming tour in that or some similar
play Time was when we looked to
Miss Wainwright as a coming actress,
but it now seems impossible that she
can ever arrive at any desirable goal,
despite the twenty years of her expert
ence on the American stage. She made
her debut in 1887 at Booths theater,
New York, as one of the six Juliets in
George Reynolds famous benefit per-
Torrance. After tour of six months
in Reynolds company, she went to
Boston, and made her debut in that
cit, as the Princess Katherine in King
Henry "" In 1878 she became a men,
Der Of the stock company at the Bos-
ton Museum" "When | was negotiat-
ing with Mr.. Field" said Miss Vain
wright once, 81 asked him what 1
should play, and he said, a varied line
of parts In my ignorance l did not
know what this phrase might be made
to cover, but l was happy because I
was engaged as Juvenile lady"
Hilda Clarke is another beautiful girl
who has recently made her mark in the
comic opera world. She comes from
Kansas City, and after completing her
musical studies abroad was selected
some four years ago to play small
part in "The Princess Bonnie" Short
lived comic opera in which Frank Dan
iels made merry in the leading role. A
short time as prima donna with the
Bostonians was followed by her en-
gagement two seasons ago as leading
soprano singer in "The Highwayman,"
musical piece with which De Koven
and Smith hopelessly hoped to dupli-
cate the extraordinary success they had
made with their Robin Hood This
season she appeared as La Pastorella
in 'The Bride Elect" the part created
last year by Nella BERGEN"
Although it is now almost twenty