The times., 1899-07-09
LOCAL MANAGERS Active
Scramble for Early Bookings Prom
ises Well for PlaygOers.
Some Big Attractions to BE Seen
Here in October and Novcmbcr-A
Rumor Concerning Richard Mans-
field and Ada Rchan-Eugeni
Blair Submits to an Interview.

Those who keep posted regarding things
theatric-l and whose opinions on such
subjects are to be had for the asking are
quite confident that the calm at present
apparent in amusement circles is only q
surface condition. They say. and seem tC
say wisely, that in many moons no such ac-
| tivity has been shown by the managers OF
local houses as is being exhibited at the
present time. And in support Of their
theory they point to a long line of book
ings that have not yet been announced
but which are known to have been pre-
pared for the early portion of the coming
season.
/ In Washington nothing can be more in
dicative of the height attained by direc-
torial expectations than the fullness of the
conventional date books. On paper the term
| for the amusement caterer in this city lasts
from the first of September until the last
of May, but literally no such stretch is
covered. Excepting for the rush of the en-
tertainment-hungry that usually follows
the opening of the resorts after a period
| OF darkness and which seldom lasts over
a fortnight, little business is done here TN
| I'll after Thanksgiving and that little be-
comes less with the arrival of Easter. This
| fact has come to be so thoroughly appre-
ciated among the proprietors OF road COM
| blnations that it is only with the great
| est difficulty that notable productions may
! be procured before the first snowfall.
That all Of the four legitimate houses to
| be in the field within two months have
| successfully been dated up to the pros
| porous period of the year and that at least
| two OF them have been equipped with a
dozen or more notable engagements to be
! played before December is ample proof
| that during the hot weather their owners
| have not been content TO rest on their
laurels and a particularly soft spot on
each of their respective doorsteps.
AS will be seen from the advance roster
which The Times is shortly to publish,
| the coming season will be in many re-
spects the most important ever known in
| this country. 1t will be a term of great
| productions by great casts; of great plays
| by great writers; OF great dramatizations
| OF great novels. Fully half of those pre-
sentations which are staged before Octo-
| ber will reach Washington early, a con-
| siderable number of them receiving their
premieres in this cosmopolitan town. Tie
prosperity OF several of the works origi-
nally done here last year-of The Christ
ian" and ''On and on and 'tZaza"-has
local t-nighters and will aid in throw
ing upon the National or the Columbia
| half score of notable presentations.
| Many prominent stars are also known 10
have signed for nearby weeks here, fre-
| quently with the manifest intention of Sc
| curing return dates, and consequently II
may be safely prophesied that the begin
| ming of the coming season will be any
| thing but the dreary affair 1t SO often is.
Though neither joe Luckett nor
''Bill" Dwyer is inclined to speak much OF
the Columbia's prospects it is learned On
| good authority that the first weeks of
their open term will be brilliant ones.
Otis Skinner, who has already proven
| himself cleverer man than John Drew
| by outdoing that, toast-and-tea actor in
several of his most popular vehicles, will
| be the first attraction offered, the piece to
| be used being Henry Arthur Jones pleas
ant comedy, "The Liars" in which Mr..
Drew was seen some time ago at the La
| fayette. Soon after w. S. Penley, the
original "Charley's Aunt" who is now at
the Royalty Theatre in London, will hold
the stage in his English hit "a Little
Ray of Sunshine" Frank Daniels. whose
financial record here is well known. is also
scheduled to appear in Victor Herbert's
latest, The Ameer," while Roland Reed
Kellar, Ward and Vokes, the Rogers
Brothers and others of like worth will
| fill in until time to begin fattening the
Thanksgiving turkey.
At the National there will also be q
number of really important engagements
early in the season. Among these too
much prominence cannot be given to the
coming of Sir Henry Irving and to the
initial offering of Israel Zangwill and
James Hearne's we'll advertised Children
of the Ghetto" Ben Hur' will also be
an early visitor, while the list of those
who arrive soon after will probably in
clude Henry Miller, Julia Marlowe. Viola
Allen, May Irwin, and q dozen people OF
sufficient ability to pave the way well for
the magnificent series of engagements to
follow. The Academy will also be provid-
ed for amply. several combinations which
play elsewhere in the best houses being
down for time at the popular-priced thea
tire.
| Its new position as an Independent fac
tor in the amusement field makes the fu-
| ture of the Lafayette rather uncertain, but
it is said on good authority that Cornelius
| Gardner who is now attending to Manager
| Painters affairs in New York. has sue
| ceeded in signing such a number of combi-
nations as will fill the first five months at
that handsome building. AS has been an
nounced variable scale of prices will be
the public Will pay for what it gets in
stead of for what the prestige of the house
| should lead it to expect. The fact that
| Mrs. Fiske will be seen at Manager
| Painters in her version of VANITY Fair
shows that every effort has been made to
secure the best OF the stars uncontrolled
by the syndicate-however few they may
| be.
The forecast made for the four resorts is
hQ F6 fFta 1aH fn
the players and plays TO be seen here
shortly, but 1t does indicate that local
managers have not been idle and that the
first part OF the coming season will be un-
| like those that have preceded it in that
| 1t Will not be given over TO poor perform
ances Of old pieces or to musical farce OF
the lower type. Coupled with the fact that
Managers Burke & Chase, Herman, and
Grieves are also busy preparing for sue
! cessful terms OF vaudeville at the Grand
| the Lyceum and the Bijou the skeletons
given make the outlook seem most prom
ising. There will be something better than
new gilt and electric lights at which TO
stare during the first weeks of the coming
season at Washington's theatres.
Speaking of the announced premiere o.
Children of the Ghetto at the National
Theatre causes one to ponder for a mo-
ment upon the manner In which the He
brew has come to the front on the stage
recently. Five years ago he was almost an
unknown quantity in the drama and equal
ly strange to the variety houses. In which
the absolutely unoriginal comedians to be
seen in such places were mimicking Walter
Jones. tramp in biissful ignorance of John
Keefe's "Yiddisher." Just when the revo-
luton began 1t is hardly possible to say
nor would 1t be wise TO name the mono
loguist who was perhaps the initiator OF
the movement. Certainly, however. the
Jew became more and more identified with
vaudeville and burlesque until 1t is now
/