Arizona republican., 1899-12-05
"BEN-HUR'
 DRAMATIZED

for the first time on the stage at the
 Broadway theater in New York last week. Preparations have been in pro-
 gress for nearly a year. Those famil-
 far with it's elaborate details say that | it completely eclipses anything ever
 seen in a theater, either in this country
 or abroad.
 For several years unusual induce
 ments were held out to General Wal lace to influence him to permit his book to be dramatiZed, but he steadfastly refused. He could not see how justic= could be done to the story without in troducing the sacred personality of the Nazarene in the dramatic version, to which he was most unalterably op- posed, and unless the chariot race
 were presented as a practical reality. It remained for Klaw & Erlanger to submit to him for consideration a
 scenario which included all the princi- pal features of the tale, emitting the
 Messiah except by suggestion, and a mechanical solution of the difficulties of presenting the chariot race with ab- solutely realistic fidelity All the ob- jections he had raisad Were overcome,
 he signed a contract permitting the
 use of the story for stage purposes, and today the projectors. of this enterprise are not more enthusiastic than he over
 the prospects of a most extraordinary success.
 The Washington Post, in telling of
 this theatrical event, describes the de-
 tails of the dramatization of General
 Wallace's wonderful book in the fo.-
 lowing manner:
 That the eight race horses used in
 the chariot race may properly play
 their parts they have been in training for the past two months, being given a run daily on the stage of the Broad
 way theater, which, in the open air, would be the equivalent of a mile. To provide against sickness of any of the
 horses, three extra ones are in train- ing. The mechanical contrivance on which the horses run at full speed and yet remain on the same spot from start to finish IS worked on the prin- cipal of treadmill. The development of this effect alone cost $15.OOO, and ne- cessitated the construction of an en- tirely new stage in the Broadway thea ter.
 The dramatic version of the story ot
 'Ben-Hur" is by William Young. The drama will hold to the original story as closely as stage requirements per init. The book reader will experience the delight of seeing all the characters followed with untir.ng interest in the story, translated to the more realistic atmosphere of dramatic portrayal, pre- sented in an environment which, even though created by the devices of stage mimicry. will in effect most truthfully mirror the period and locale of which it treats.
 Mir. Young has arranged the story in fifteen tableaux. The first scene shows the meeting of the wise men in the desert. As the curtain rises. Balthazar the Egyptian. and Melcho.r. the Hin doc, have already come. They await Gaspar, the Greek. He enters on his great white camel. The three go through their salutations and relate in pantomime, the divine inspiration which drew them together The Star of Bethlehem appears, and, guided by its wOndrously brilliant rays, they go to see Him who is to be torn in the City of David. In this scene three real camels, fitting the description of the story, are used.
 The dramatic action of the play be- gins in the scene which represents the roof terrace of the Palace of Ithamar. the dead Prince of Hur, the home of Ben-Hur. his mother. and his sister Tirzah. This scene commands a view of the housetops of Jerusalem. Ben Hur, taunted by Messala, the Roman youth, once his friend, brt whom he now desDises. has determined to be- come a soldier. He would learn of Rome the science of war to aid h.m to bring about her downfall. Ben-Hur and Tirzah are on the palace roof watching the procession pass in the street below, through which Nalerius Gratus, the new procurator Of Judea, is making his entry into the city. Ben Hur leans over the terrace wall and ac- cidentally dislodges a tile, which falls on the head of the powerful Roman. Guided by Messala, who is an officer of Gratus the palace of Hur is at tackled. Ben-Hur and his mother and sister are arrested, the former to be condemned to the galleys for life, and the latter incarcerated in a leprosy- infected dungeon, where all trace of them is lost for years.
 Ben-Hur is next seen as a slave at an oar on the Roman trireme of Quin- tas Arrius. the tribune, who commands an expedition sent to eXterminate the Aegean pirates. Ben-Hur attracs the attention of the tribune by his willing ness and marvellous strength. Arrius learns from him the story of the Hurs. and that Ben-Hur is the son of an old friend, the Prince of Hur. The battle between the triremes and the pirates takes place at night. Arrius' ship is boarded and sunk. Ben-Hur saves the life of the tribune in the fight, the sinking galley leaving them afloat on a spar in the open sea. They are res cued by Roman galley on the rising of the sun.
 The scenes described make up the first two acts. The third act opens in the house of Simonides, the steward of the father of Ben-Hur, in Antioch. Ben-Hur. now an adopted Roman, the foster-son of Arrius. meets Esther. the daughter of Simonides. They are mu- tually attracted. He fails to hear any thing of the fate of his mother and sis ter from Simonides, but learns that Messala, his enemy, is to be contest