The sun., 1899-12-10
THEATRICAL OBSERVATION.
TWO NEW PLAYS ron PEOPLE WHo
DON'T DEMAND ORfGfS<LITF.
A Comic Opera which Takes No Risk OF
Failure Through Oddity-A Melodrnma
safely Cony entional with n Stolen Child
N..,.. ..., MIA. staUa ProdutIons.

A Comic Opera which Takes No Risk OF
Failure Through Oddity-A Me1odrnma
safely Conventional with n Stolen Child
Notes on other stage Produtions.
Originality IN the most prsiseworthy and peril
GUS thing that the author Of q play can aim at
The success will he good az the oddty is enter
tanning, and the failure as bad as the new idea
can miscarry. Cunycntonality sometimes means
safety brtween those extremes Of victory and de-
feat There was such a case last week with Tho
Ameer" II made use Of materials a. old as our
American form Of comic opera There was an
instant rejection Of the familiar stun by tho
contingent in the Grst audience at Wallsck's
Theatre whose cloyod theatrical appcttcs wero
hungeTng for an untastod flavor To that ex-
eynt the piece was disaster 20 Mr.. La Shello
and Mr.. Rankin, its authors But II served Its
purpose sufficiently well 10 outlvc critical and
lust condemnation. That purpose was the enable
vnent Of Frank Daniels 70 make other than q frst
night audience laugh. The means 10 that end
were u monarch with an empty treasury a lord
high chamberlain to msltreat q pursuing old
maid Ia clude. an heiress to WOO III vain bandit
Ia he bullied by. a fem ale chorus OF soldiers 10
lead and a male chorus Of robbers TO take him
prisoner How many times have those things
been put together for Mir Hopper, Mr. Seabrooke,
Mr. Wilson. Mr.. De Angelis Mr. Daniels and other
comic opera comedians? One thing is certain.
They will he used as long most people can bo
made To laugh AT them. no matter how much the
few may disdan or bctate.
II Is not alone tho famous dramhtists who arc
kept busy. One not known even BY name TO
large number Of his profession has seen three
Of his plays acted this winter In New York. not
amhitiously but successfully in proportion 10
their pretensons. All were niclodramas-one Ma
Jnlcnc, and the latest local and fresh enough TO
be founded on crime OF last August. IL Is not
40 accurate in its observation of metropolitan
life rs such eagernoss TO DO apacc with the times
might indicate Indeed. Mr Hall seems salts
fed tha, he has done enough by making pre-
tense at novelty of subiec, in the kidnapping OF
little Marion Clarke. Playwrights in England
arc touching up ,heir unacted mclodramas with
scenes in the Transvaal, instead Of the Soudan,
and making villainous sheiks and pashas into
plotting Bocrs and their savage allies Of darker
skin. The supply Of Cuban war plays was ready
for the American stage with q promptness that
made Il hard 70 believe the writer's had waited
for their inspiration In the war The same
phenomenon was observed in the early days Of
the Klondiko findings Howard Hall, author
OF kidnapped in New York has made the stolen
child essential part OF his story but IL Is posi-
bic TO believe that the hero might have foilcd other
kinds OF Villains lust he docs the child steales
Dy appearing DclOrc Nlcfn III bcdm lhunCn,
wearing tho yachting suit 50 dear to the heart
OF tho vaudeville actor. even II little Marion
Clarke had never existed. Bernard Gilmore Is
trying in new way 70 take place in the list
OF sentimental serio-comio Irish herooa He
has melodrama on his side, and songs as we'll
but they arc not Irish in the sense tho others are
They are local Irish American and they put tho
emphasis rather on the wit and repartee than the
sentiment Mr.. Gilmore is equal 10 these phases
Of an Irish hero and his fate would seem 10 depend
on whether or no, they arc sufficient That they
are based like the fun OF The Amer safe
conventionali,y and an avoidance Of originality
Is point pertinent TO this article.
An illustration of tht persistent value OF things
that seem 10 b worn to worthlessness tho
stage was given in tho new burleaqu. al Weber
& Fields Theatre. The two Smiths loked and
Hbcd at barbara Frietchie- with original in.
grnuty They invented ways to mako fun OF
the Criterion drama But for principal eSpe-
dirnt OF mirth they put in something that had
doubtless been used in hundreds OF farces prior
20 A Slippery Day" In negro minstrelsy, and
has hardly ever since been out OF sight IL is
not likely that the Smiths hcsitated a minute
10 mako It serve again The meiodrama,ic nc,
in Clyde Ftch's piece IL performed above. below
and on q stairway Very thcatric ascen,s and
descrnts arc made on this structure. which is out
W h' oiN"'ct'uIli pIOIJIuOHb WIN lhe rest Of
the house, ~ shown in previous view Of
the exterior These stairs were repro
duc-d with seeming fidelity in Barbara FIdgety.-
They looked solid and honest But they turned
their steps into a fiat incline when the disabled
hero had been lugerd by two equally limp soldier,
20 tho TOP. snd the three slid down on The broads
o: their backs TO a heap al the bottom Most
visitors At Weber q Fields arc habitual and alert,
not 70 say FOUNDERS and very fly But the stair.
wav took them by surprise on thursday night
fhoy had not suspected that II Was a transfer
from "A Slippery Day But It's oldness did no,
count against Its fun. II was as comic ~ eyru.
and nothing elso In the uavesty was laughed at
half - much
We are soon TO so old but unfamiliar niece
OF fun Pupils Of the American Academy Of
Dramatic Arts are 10 enact st Patrick, Day-
one o! Richard Brinsl-y Sheridans obscure works
II has not been played In this country within
many years II Is a short piece in two acts and
has an interesting history. Tho complete failure
OF The Rivals when first played at Covent arden
in ITS Is said to have boen much tho fau, Of
the poor acting OF Mr.. Ice 81, L,lrius O'Triooe.
When tho comedy was produced ten days later
with Mr. Clinch as the Irshman tho prior opinion
o. Sheridan's play reversed and il was cl ass-d
a. II Is said hat the young dramatis,
wns ~ grateful to the actor that he wrote st.
Pntick's Day" for him. Tho opportunity 70 SO
This unfamiliar composition will bo welcome IA
Is rarely that any OF Sheridan'- plays other than
The Rivals" and "rhe School for Scandal in
seen Charles Mathews gave Tho Cri,,c" Al
Daly's in 1871 with Clara Morris and William
Davidgei in tho cast Seventeen years later Au-
gustin DAILY used a onoact version. He called
II "RehearSing Tragedy" and It's actors were
John Drew, Ada RehAn, James Lewis and George
Clarke Mr., DAILY gave US another compressed
and renamed Sheridan play year or 50 later
In A Trip 10 Scarborough. renamed Miss Hoy
den Husband"
Behind the Scenes" which Felix Morris played
al Keiths, and az to which THE SUN asked wher.
did he get il? was founded an old farce called
-TEe First Night" which was from a still olJ.,
French piece. ia Dobutante" An English
version was acted first at tho Princess's Theatre.
London in lS4S. II was played variously In
old times by Frank Drew. Charles Whcatleirb.
b. ). Chanfrau and S. W. Glenn. Tho latter
called II "lhe Dutch Actor" when he used II at the
Old bowery II was called also my Daughters
Debut" and "rhe Old French Actor" As Felix
Norris Tearranged II, the nal four sceuas .,o