The times., 1899-10-22

| Montgomery Phister of Cincinnati II. l..
| Knapp, OF Philadelphia; w. G.. Kaufman,
of Pittsburg; Edmund Day, OF Detroit;
| Lyman B. Glover, of Chicago; Homer Bass
| ford. of st. Louis; Hepburn Johns, Of Chi
cago; Henry B. Curry, of st. Paul; Ash
/ ton Stevens of San Francisco. and W. II.
| Williams. of New Orleans. Mr.. Richard
son need not make allowances" New
! York is almost the only city in the Union
| in which, when a certain manager makes
a production, one may perform Kellar,s 5
| trick Of reading the papers b-indfolded.
Over in Park Row they have been try
ing to decide whether or not "Zaza' is
| immoral and several phases OF the discus
sion are likely to contribute greatly TO the
gaiety of nations. For example, 4 week
ago Saturday. a prominent paper printed.
| under glaring headlines two columns Of
matter from the which is selected the fol-
lowing:
Co to one theatre and you find poor cough
ing, COnsumptive, rCd-haired creature displaying
perverted talent IN a nightmare called 'Zaza-'
l0 al abHminatIOns unworthy the intelligence OF
man or woman recommend US TO this. Every
night one may see at this demoraiiZing eXhibi-
ton women and even young girls OF apparent
sPeesAbiity. " What is the lesson taught these
American girls and women2 They permitted
to see in her dressingrOom the monstrosity cali
ed Zaza. She slips and eels it about, disgEacing
with word and gesture every seh-reSpecting fe-
male ape among her faTback ancestors. thorough
ly bad, thoroughly vile, thoroughly depTayed Is
this Zaza held up to the gaze OF thousands OF
decent women and asking their sympathy.
Nice stuff, is it not, to pack theatre with peo-
pie who call themselves decent, to take up the
time OF actress really talented, and 10 feed
the imaginations Of thousands of young men and
womenI Nice influence on this and the next gen
Grafton.
And on the following morning Oast Sun
day. another journal gave a deal Of space
TO an article Of which a portion follows
I remember once being taken severely to task by
n veteran editor for saying that the performance
OF an actor then unknown to fame was q great
one. He said to me: You should not use such
an expression as great or fine or magnificent
You could not say more Of an Edmund Kean OF
MaCready."
Wen, like the obstinate schoolboy, L don't
care, and | am going TO do it again. Ii is not
OF an actor this time but Of an actress and
well-kno"n one, that l am going deliberately TO
say that her performance. IN its variety, iu its
power, IN its humor. and its superb passion was
really and truly sftat-nay, MORE u was I'M
mense. ! went yesterday afternoon over TO Brook
Iyn 10 see Mrs. Leslie Carter play ''Zlza' and /
was influenced and moved and excited as have
seldom been by an English speaking artist
The long expected has come at last Sarah
Bernhardt has, Of course thrilled us all over and
over again; the Juliet OF Stella Coias can never
forget; Jane Hadlng, tavart Aimee, DcSclee,
scores cI them in France and Germany Nnd Itaiy
and elsewhere, have shown me the difference be
tween average and great acting, but as I watched
lara with intense earuestness-cvery wurd
every scene, every movement could scarcely
believe that the actress On the stage was Of my
own race.
You will all remember the story OF jules .yanin
and the French critics ON the night that the
Dame aux Camelias' first produced in
Paris, with Doche as Marguerite and Fechter as
Armand Duyll- They were all puzzled with the
play, and did not know what to make of IT,
whether to call it tawdry sentimental. or i'm
moral, abOminable. Jules JaIua summed I'D
the question very Heatly. You may cali it what
1t. All l know is that it made me cry like a
calf, and that test is quite good enough for me"
| fe.t in precisely the same position as Old
Jules Janin at Brooklyn yesterday. and was
with an enormous audience, into the street. /
dare say that very much the same thing VIII be
Lady Of the Camelias." They viii call it i'm
moral, because the scaruy side or an artistic
profession is shown Ii is nothing of the kind
Zaza is a very human document, indeed We all
know Zaza, the d5sOatiun OF her lie her yul-
sarIty, her want OF breeding, her keen sense OF
iEn, her furious impetuOuSty. and, best OF an,
her splendid nature and her very human heart
In TACT, watching the play very attentively and
closely. 1t seemed 90 me that, Judged theatrical
ly, "Zaza' is even a more effective and inter
esting work than that of the younger Dumas.
But | will not talk about the play over here;
it has no doubt been discussed to death. In
England it will be treated to sermons and rcams
of hypocrisy, but I hope in England that it Will
not BE- forgotten that the mere uusayury detail
absolutely unnecessary in the degenerate
plays" is as absolutely necessary in ''Zaza." She
tells a story Of a woman's and mans life
which we shall all be the better for hearing.
But whatever different minds may think OF
the play. there can be question Of the value
Of the acting OF Mrs. Leslie Carter. She has
what So few great emotional actresses possess, /
and that is humor. In fact, if there is one qua
ty which in this case should be kept in restraint
TX is that same keen sense Of humor which sets
the house in a roar when some OF US would beg
them to laugh more at what not in
tended for laughter, but for tears.
We talk OF French acting and have praised
it when It IS seen at its best But / will own
this, that | have never yet seen Eng. ish emo
tional actress who can pour out her passion with
such rapiCiity and stiN with such uniform dis
tinCtuess You never miss a word a SYLLABLE. |
and vet they pour out like a torrent or cataract
The scenes behind the curtain at the low French
music hall were treated with bOldness ana breadth
and stern reality, but with unnecessary (
coarsrness or vulgarity Squalid as was the pic I
ture, ZaZa never disgusted On the contrary, /
some OF rs must have wondered how any Bernard !
Dufrenc living could have resisted such allure /
ment But though We had dose here Of Guy de (
MaupasSint ard Van Beers combined in Htera-
Of it all relieved by the actress sense of |
humor.
Great actresses do not grow, as 7 said be-
fore, like blackbeTries 4 hedge. Every country |
gets one sooner OF later America at least has /
given ua two in later timeS-Ada Rchan and YLrs /
Leslie Carter, They at least possess the "feu