The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-31
THINGS IN THE NEW PLAYS.
rho PIECES UHICH AUDIENCES WERE
~ SOME DOUBT ABOUT.

>.w plnvS arc in three OF the lhkhionaDlc bfodu-
pct,trs Two 81 tho pieces are so uncon-
..,,,,r,l that they PUZZLED the earlier nudc noes,
wi caused more than the usual disagreement
.n,org the reviewers. But II the qualities oi My
an" ,,d" Ind 10 be tested by other than the
a .a'' rc,t,,r,encc. and II "Thc Cowboy and the
,,J,, hung in tho balance the same cannot be
,I -, Three / title ambs" That is tho sort
sTc,,,,,oirmcn, that can bc decided uron immtdi.
.,l There was an air Of doubt on tho opening
i.,, before tho curtain went up, but tho FIRST
80, had not pccn long under way before Marie
,,u Edmond Laurence and Raymond Hitch
.,.l .nnr the trio from which the piccc gets lis
rom, The bright verses by Mt. Barnet the
catchy tune by Mr totliss and tho dashing man
NJ, " the singing brought responsive applause
A, that r,nt tho audit nee changed It's nannr
md regarded the play as a success MISS anil,
#, Hitchcock and Nit Laurence were rnr'icu-
I,,ly fortunate IN all their songs Ono In Tho
.,r,,I net was an amusing bit OF Havcsty. IL
,hu,ril,d III. down IN thc farm sort OF ballad
rqtr " INC singers initiated some barnyard noise
,h.urdly SUCH a. barking to represent turkey
M heating "hnh nh ali for COW lhcn inc
,5ng settled into a sht on Way Down Fast
ro ,his each player stuffed his pockets with paper
snov md sprinklcd II over his head whenever
h.spokco, sang Alrss happy Nttrmp, was made
c.-,, s,,u, in "l}rcky SHARP" which was not con
.oport with The nthcrwt.r rrinrd character Of the
t.,rr Adele Ll,rhi' was fortunate in her songs.
,rl she I'D them justice Onc that is likely 10
,i,,l listen 10 n, Hard" In popularity is The
MAJ Behind the Gnu" II Is sung in the same
military manner Eight American sailors drag
OIL A cannon ami ~ l-th TO tho chorus, while Miss
Richie brings first the Stars and Stripes and then
an Admirsls flag. After repeated cncores she
finishes WITH verse about the Beer war and car
ri.s a U'..Sh naval flag Tho spectators sent.
rrrts ,-,n 10 h. with Gtca, Britain for its colors
arc greeted Enthusiastically Nellie Braggtns
gets APPROVAL fof n conventional negro song.
Shr Is assisted by n couple Of exceptionally clever
black children. II IL through the songs, both as
to words and music that Three Little amhs"
will gain especial popularity They are numerous
and excellent
There was little doubt on the frs, night OF MY
Iadys Lord" that Mr. Esmond had written
clever satire on the romantic drama but the qucs-
ton was whether Il would please general audi
snccs The Empire shares with the Lyccum
the honor II honor 1t is. ot being the matinee
gi.l's heaven Therefore what p'caScs the young
women aaI the nations, tot matinee girlishncsS
Is In maag cases never uutg'own. may h. counted
as prosperous on Wednesday and yesterday
afternoons tho Empir" was crowded BY female
ctsglers and guShcrs They were delighted
as ususl with Joseph Whccock, Jr. and with
Jessie MtliwarI. but the warmth 81 their caramel
affections was bestowed On "FAyvy. known
Otherwise as william Fnvetsham. They were
Just too pleased for anything with his cool wit
in IL, face 81 any danger the sort Of blufhng
bravery that admired IN Lester Wallack.
But when Mr. Fnvc'sham tanned Miss Miiward's
shrcsishncss not with the roughncSs Of Pctruchio
~ yri,h M, -. tsnisrngss AMI 'esa 10
thaa that with " hich work. irg'edrl subduesifiSs
Hobbs. the matinee giGls' Glcc became too much
Tor mere ggges and was expressed in applause
that brought the curtain up four or Ave times
after every act The really pretty love scenes
and the bcmhasuc hcro'cs caused pro-
longed applause The burlesquc OF the Lord
Chamberlain the Archdukc and the Cardinal
were regarded as rather silly The clever use
OF the -uh Eliza song was accepted as the urdi.
n.'y introduction Of Incidental music. as had
been done with Other dittcS in Lord and Lady
Algy' and The ConQucrors" All this was
funny to the few who knew that they were seeing
q burlesque. OF course. the sentimental women
knew that the play was something exceptional.
and that its peculiaTltcs meant something in
particular, but when they became interested in
the love affair Of Jdck Martin and the Lady Doura
they forgot all about the comicaiiurs
All Esrhouu mas Dcrn uOuDy clever or merely
lucky Which is it, He has burlesqued melo-
drama; yet his play is acceptable 10 many az an
ultra Romantic piece. one scene iustlcs the
latter view. Jack Mdriin wounds the villain
who has entered his own wiics bedroom at night
10 abtuci her II is desperate duel such ns was
popular In The Prisoner Of ZcudA" and An
Enemy 10 the King when the lords Of the
castle break in the door. Jack has hidden behind
curtain, and the Lady DourG is discovered,
with drawn sword in hand over the wounded body.
When asked who has done this deed. she strikes
heroic atutud" and says that she did. that
no one can defy the blood Of a royal VesunViGn.
Hero IL stirring climax. but instead of
bringing down the curtain upon IT, jack
Martin comes from his hiding place. and in a
mos, unfomantlc manner says "Oh, bosh, You
didn't do anything OF tho sort" The Lddu
DOvrG fants. and he continues. How much
better "a have escaped all this fuss and returned
to my fat In London when told you to-" That
reads like rude fall from poetry to prose. but
rs spoken by Nj Faversham II only serves 10
give him the climax in new but heroic manner
As said before, Mr.. Esmond has blended senu-
meni with satire in n manner to win both popu
lar and discriminate approval. His use Of "Oh.
Eliza helps the sentimental effect while IL IL
as eIeycrIy amusing. Jack Martin is continu-
ally humming the coster ditty. Lady DOurd
does no, know the words but in tho night when
she Is pInlng for him she plays tho tuno on her
harp Again when she thinks no is TO DO shot
she has the church singers chant 1t as a requiem.
Twill be remembered that the song has pretty
and painuve melody. which enhances tho love
scenes as we'll AS helps the authors scheme OF
MAJESTY 1t was Mr., Esmond who wrote tho
stage version Of "Phroso," a play 50 melodra
matte az TO be treated almost with ridiculo by
intelligent people In MY Ladys Lord" he
ouresques his own work
Clyde Fitch is not scant in original ideas, nor
docs he stick 10 any one set Of surroundings
IN five years he has given seven plays 10 tho New
York public Three Of these were adaptations
Of foreign compositions, made In collaborating
with Leo Ditrichstein. Bohemia" "A Super
Nous Husband and Tho Head Of the Family,
were far inferior to his original pieces Barbara
frIetchic," The Moth and tho Flame" Nathan
Hale and The Cowboy and the Lady" are works
That any dramGtist might be proud Of Tho
latest Of these il not hero carclessly cassed with
mo others although II is open to adverse crit
'''sm II shows a thorough and enviable knowl-
rNRe OF sthgeCThft, IL has much good comedy