The record-union., 1899-03-19

Raconteur" tells this good story Ill
the Musical Courier: Mime. Mod
jeska and her company were playing
one winter in the extreme North, much
to the discomfort of Count Bozenta, the
Polish stars husband, who hates the
chilly northern climate. But at thal
time the show business was at very
low ebb in the south. One particu-
larly cold day Nine. Modjeska founa
the Count shivering from head 10 lool'
in spite of the steam heat IN the MOTEL
.'Oh, my dear, my dearl' he implored'
''let us go south for the rest of the sea-
son. This climate will kill u.s." But,
my dear" replied Madame, the south
is dead YES" said the Count, but
she is such a beautiful corpse
London. according to an exchange. IS
to have a startling dramatic novelty
from Austra-Hungary, work OF sucn
amazing breadth and audacity OF vision
that it has only to be seen to set the
gossip world agog. 1t is a dramatic
poem in six acts and fifteen scenes, by
Imre Madach, with music by Jnilus
Erkel. Nothing less than presenta-
tion of the strivings and aspirations OF
man throughout the ages is its purpose.
worlds history is its scene. 1t is en-
titled THE Human Tragedy. Three
chief personages sustain it's dramatic
burden-man and woman in the char
acter Of Adam and Eve, and the Spirit
of Negation, Lucifer These reappear
in every tableau, which in itself is a
brief but poignant and conclusive
drama But with each glimpse of the
,ria n
and spirit are revealed under novel
conditions. and in some new shape,
though at heart eternally the same
There are scenes in Eden, for the poet
dramatist is dauntless to the uttermost;
in the Egypt of the Pharoahs and the
Pyramids, in ancient Greece and Rome
in Paris of the Terror in London of to-
day. and in Utopia, ironbound and util-
itarian. where Michael Angelo is set TO
do no more than turn the legs of chairs.
And in each the cry of man is toward
the infinite. his efforts toward piercing
the mystery of existence, while the
en1eayor of Lucifer is to strew doubts
in his way and wither hope and love to
arid wastes Epic as it sounds, 1t is
designed. measured, fitted for the prac-
tical stage.
The stage career of Viscount Hinton
forms an interesting chapter in the his
tory of an ex-organ grinder who now
claims to be Earl Poulett. This Viscount
in his earlier years, made a good many
theatrical ventures, in which he WnS
backed by some fashionable danes who
even provided a claque for him. In Mo-
verlber. 1872, the Dowager raised MIN
a capital sum of f100, with which he got
together a troupe named Lord Hinton
Burlesque and Comedy Company 1t
consisted of eight players, himself and
wife included with an orchestra of three
"a cornet pianist and fiddler. With
strange audacity. he opened. at Bishop
stortford of all places in the world with
the Haunted House. and the burlesque
Beauty and the Beast" In Bishop
Stortford the Quakers are numerous,
and Ouakers do not encourage theatri-
Gals even when the leading role is
PLAYED by a Viscount. On the first night
the curtain rose to an audience of seven,
and SO it went on night after night
once they had a full house. Sanger's
circus was at Bishop -Stortford, and on
the Friday night a storm rose that blew
down the tent. George Sanger asked
Lord Hinton if his troupe might have
orders for. the pIay. The house was
full but it was all paper and the box
office took 3s 3d. At the end of the
vee4s the gross receipts amounted to
His. And Lord Hinton paid fort
nights salary all round sold his sec
ond-hand scenery for f5, and came
back to town minus his f1O0 After
this some grand dame gave him an in
gagged him at 35s week to play the
mart of Maurice in "All For Her. at
the st. James. His stage name then
was Harry Dormer. The piece only
PLAYED four nights, but was subse-
ouently put on at the Princess, and
Lord Hinton appeared every night for
over three months.
In NJ. Sardou's play .'Robespierre, y
which Sir Henry Irving will produce
on April 10Th in the Lyceum Theater.
Ellen Terry will play the part of Clar-
ice, mistress of Robesplerfe. The ac-
tion introduces to us son born OF thls
laison who has been kept ignorant Of
his parentage.
One night e. E. Rice. was observed
running frantically along Broadway
looking for somebody who would buy
a share in s'The Girl From Paris" and
thereby insure its production, writes
Hilary Bell At o'clock on the first
night he had to raise 50, 500, else the
curtain could not go up. At the last
moment our impresario found a man
who believed in Rice rather than in
1.-The Girl''-and the piece ran two years
to phenomenal receipts "Adonis, >
which excited the contemptuouS wrath
Of the newspapers on its first night, ran
for three years. paid Dixey $500 a week
and earned fortune for it's managers.
Shenandoah" a failure as an emo
tional play, was changed into melo-
drama and paid over 500 900 to Bron-
son Howard. Anna O'Keefe, a chorus
Girl at the Casino, but thrifty to a de-
gree invested her earnings in a share
of Wang and cleared $4,000. John
Drew. receiving $3.50 a week at Days.
hesitated long and anxiously before he
accepted the offer of Charles Frohman,
then an unknown quantity. and now
Mr.. Daily earns $500 a week and per-
centage and has $250.C00 in the bank.
Marie Prescott came to New York with
a modest young actor who stood in the
back row at $40 week, ard now E.
H. Sothern makes 100000 a year. The
stage is a gamble, in which the cards
are men, women and talent.
Miss Fanny Ward is to blossom out
as q satellite at the Avenue Theater,
London. One is doubtful of her success
in the venture. She certainly has not