The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-01
THEATRICAL ADJUSTMENTS.
WILLIAM III. CRANE PRODUCES \ NEW
PLAT, "a RICH MANS SOW"


william H. Crane offered a new comedy at
Nallack's Theatre last night. and 1t was
accepted without hesitation az good entertain
ment "A Rich Mans Son" was American in
persons and scenes. like all the many modern
pieces In the Crane repsrtory: but like some
OF the others. II had been transferred from the
German. II. Ksrlweiss had written It origin
ally. Michael Morton had rewritten IL In Eng
lish, making alterations to nt II to the require
mspts OF Mr.. Crane and his pablo. Mr.. Crane
appeared a. the rich man mentioned In the
title. He was q millionaire Of the sslf-made
and unpublished kind. with no learning from
books. but good amount OF common sense
gained BY experience. He was rather ashamed
OF himself and inclined to be proud OF his son
until the young fellow came homo foom Europe
. Socialist In theory. though knowing practice
ally nothing OF the subject that had taken pos
session OF his visionary mind. Although he had
never worked manually q day In his life. nor
earned q dollar. he would not be persuaded
out OF his foolish ideas by his father. who had
been a common woodchopper. and had ac-
oumulated q great fortune by personal opera
tons. Now. the father dotted fondly on the
son. and resolved to chastisc him even
es he loved him. Tho parental plan was
to pretend that he had lost all his wealth.
% that the son might learn some
Of the truths OF poverty. 1t will be
sesn at once that here was action for Mr.. Crane
to figure In at his best. Tho character OF the
man who had begun roughly In the Northwest.
and who lacked the SIN oothness OF his aflluent
New York surroundings. but was not scant In
kindness or good humor. was one for this actor
"a deinea,o successfully. That was what he
did with It, making 1t hearty with fun and win
some with sentiment The play will not
bear analysis. The motive OF the father was
logical. but his conduct. though melted by the
motive. seemed improbabls to any one who
stopped to think about II. Few did that last
night, however. aside from the critics. profess
sional aud amateur. The majority were
willing to tako without cayil the amuss-
ment that was provided. The laugh
ter was hearty and abundant. and the
farclch element. with Mr.. Crane once more
engaged In comicality. developed much anus
ing value. The admixturs OF serious senti-
ment was no more than barely sufficient to
Justify rating for the piece as comedy. and to
enable Mr.. Crane to sustain mis- reputs sion as
areasonably dignifsd comedian.
The first act placed the characters 10 lux
uriOus mansion on Madison square and car
red them along to the point where the father
falsely pretended To become impoverished.
The second sent them into poor tenement on
Tompkins Square where the kindly meant de-
eepton was carried on. and the famys expe-
risnces in cheap living were serio- comic. The
third was In the studio OF the sou. who had
bsen cured OF his socialism. and the play ended
with the confession OF the father that he was
as rich as ever. Mr.. Crane was In Hrst.rats
spirits. and he PLAYED his part as though uhs
enjoyed It He had ten stage compan-
SS:A %ns.ns V, Prs.bFT.yn p S had i 70;
selsne johnson was his sweetheart. Another
pair OF lovers were William Ingersoll and
wers Charles Jackson and Evelyn carter,
There was com 10 parasite by William !samr-
:sp and se1s fs. sne s S s eYsS g. .a R
Miliksn. II vas a smooth. brisk and clever
Performance. Tn. applause when Il was over
the author OF the American adaptation.
Once again summary OF weeks plays IN
New York Is an answer to those slanderers who
say that the general condition Of our stage Is
bad in art and morals. In recently rebuklng
. reckless writer. The SuS cited the new
pieces acted here in September as proof that
degradation 10 an exception TO the rule In
our theatres. Only two out OF seventeen were
immoral and two others were object. onab,s
only in the matter Of eostumng. The showing
for October is still more crsdltabie. Only one
OF tho twelve new plays produced last month
was In any way reprsheusible. and that was the
i,ros, ,Ths Girl In the Barracks" now given IN
tIyieg Place III, week bill. include Barbara
WV Ms MfEnwif 'is f ysdun
pa sG Tha. 2aes.nn with Mss Ar,hyr a, ihi
Mile, at tho Garden. The fyranhy Of TeaTs"
With Mr. Drew at the Emp!Ie., a Rich Mans
tTh. song Of Tho swofd with Nth HT setSsTn At
&ea& a n Ns.a H mr. Ta o Sc
Ghetto at the Herald square aud The dairy
list oplsys ana psysrsto BE- proud OF '" AnG
N. NJ. III: a, in t,,h Axspss. IGi. admir-:
"a fs ,.ys;S;;. 81, It ,rs".'ss i;s%
W. to III. ser oas S az .r ati
themes IN tho theatre III. merry and frivo.
reflect upon the taste d managers or Audiences s,
Sister MARY" with Miss Irwin az the BlIou.
SQUARE ANN ami ST sranssa in s fss sfG ss%
are entirely respectable farces. There /, moth
s The ya.or EST Sns n ssG m.s
blame but the undres.ng i4 "wn!rl;i.gig" a!
WsS.r Esa' Ts: Ma IL ihs
and Madame Sans Gene" at the Murray Hill
nS XIV 4s me s9Ts sa Hal.m
,9nnsre lioH.e by the c9mEany from The ETgiTe
H. h2s1 =, n. pssiodrsma Ths White
THE OH from Max!m's." at the Grand Gp.ra
House, to represent Partisan lndrcency There
IL no neod 70 worry about the condition Of the
stage, 1t Is not all right. but 1t is not much
wrong.
The continuous shows are prQsperInG with
perfectly clean shows. each theatres daily
visitors being enough 10 AL the house from
Two TO three times. CurTent "headlinels ore
Fisher Tor Proctor's; Edward HnrrIgan. Lizzie
Evans, Harry Mills and less Dandy, at the
Pieasure Palace Ching Ling Foo, tho Bruet.
Keth's and the EsmOnds ut Pastors Hourly
views OF motion pictures AMI concerts attend
the wax show at the Eden Must" The music
halls are lively Roster \ Bats has an al
tractlye and inorensve nll-sp"caty bill much
Of which will be replaced next Monday hy
Round tn" World In Eighty Minutns"' Al
the Dewey tho Ssnnetts are ths leading spe-
clallsts. and musical review and a buretta
are played In the well known reckless style Of
that theatre.
May Irwin Is quoted as saying that she dis
likes coon songs" and wishes to stop singing
them. " Is undenlable that the public Ia be-
ginning to trio Of rag time" but Miss Irwin
excels in tho negro dialect and her audiences
demand II. In Slater Mary" she has three
songs Of this sort, But she has others. Ono ia
\ g,,I.