Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-03-19
sfro,v..rht. 1891

18-toO big for a youth, loo oAldiA
grown man. An inexperienced eye
might have taken him tor a farmers
son upon q journey had IT not been for
the long sword which, dangling from
: leather baldrick, hit against the
calves of its owner as ne walked
Alexandra Dumas description OF the
youth Of D'Artaenan.
It is nearly always poor judgment
tor any man, be he actor, soldier or
lawyer. to voluntarily place himself ON
the defensive. But that is exactly
what Mr.. e. H. Sothern has done by
printing the above notice on his pro-
erammes at the K"nickerbocker thea
ire in this city, where "The Kings
Muskateers," one of the numerous
dramatizations of Dumas THE Three
Guardsmen," is the current attraction.
1t would have been much better 1or
Mr.. Sothern to have gone on as Raoul
d'Artagnan without any explanation or
excuse whatever. No matter what Mr..
Dumas may have said n no matter
how much justification may be given,
the inference is unavoidable that
Eothern in personal appearance does
not fulfill the requirements as they
are generally understood to-day. Du-
mas hero in the popular mind was a
FOSTERING, clustering, good natured
fellow. who fought simply because
lighting happened to be going ON and
who loves as impulsively and as fer
yently and as p~romiscuously as the no.
blest Gascon of them all.
Mr.. Sothern, on the contrary, gives
us a refined, gentle young man, the
violence of whose nature is only indi-
Gated spasmodically. His exploits, es-
pecially when narrated by himself,
seem almost incredible in view of his
slight physique AMI almost feminine
eyes. His performance, with these
limitations, which it would seem he
was wise enough to appreciate in ad-
vance, is really excellent. He does not
adopt the tempeStuous, explosive,
methods employed'b by the younger Sal
vini, whose greatest reputation was
made In 1.-THE Three Guardsmen," but
the impression of reserve force which
he gives instead is exceedingly strong
and in some spots positively great.
I have seen "The Three Guardsmen"
several times, but | never realized the
dramatic possibilities of the play until
] saw Sothern'S presentation.
With Salvini the production was al
ways rather poor, whereas Mr.. Sothern
has mounted his play sumptuously.
Salyim was supported by a uni
formly strong cast, where as Sothern
has about him all the members of his
we'll known company and some new
people, most of whom are adequate for
the roles intrusted to them.
-
From the box office standpoint "The
Kings Muskateers" lthis drama, by
the way, being the medium by which
Mr.. Sothern has. made his Broadway
debut is extremely satisfactory. The
business at the Knickerbocker since
Mr.. Sothern's advent there has been
literally enormous, and even the We'd
nesday matinees have been largely at
tended, with the galleries as well filled
as the more expensive portions OF the
auditorium.
1.-The Kings Muskateer' as a play is
q decided improvement upon the old
stage version of THE Three Guards
men, 1t remains to be seen whether
the Sydney Grundy version, which is
to be a rival attraction at the Broad
way theatre, will still further improve
the dramatic quality of the parent
work, from which the numerous YER
sions now before the public have been
taken. In the latter dramatlZatlon,
which is the work of Sydney Grundy,
who wrote it for Beerbohm Tree, the
principal roles will be assigned to such
distinguished players as James ONell,
William Lackaye, Blanche Bates, Mar
garet Anglin and Judith Berolde. II
Mr.. Grundy's work has been well done,
and Beerbohm Trees enormous success
in England would seem to indicate that
1t has been, the jolly D'Artagnan and
his cOmpatriots ought to hold sway at
the Broadway for many moons to come.
Now that the papers are full OF the
gossip concerning the alleged definite
separation of Robert Taber and his
charming wife, Julia Marlowe, any
thing concerning the doing and plans
of these two talented young people is
Naturally of great interest.
Miss Marlowe recently produced a
new play entitled ~"Colinette," which
met with some success on the other
side of the water, though, according to
most persons who have seen it, she
Is not particularly we'll fitted to the
title role. As the play is a strong one,
however, and as it is always possible
to build up the character to meet the
requirements of an actress of great
emotional power, it is very likely that
"Colinette" may develop into n of
Miss Marlowe's most potent vehicles.
In fact, l am told that this is now the
opinion, as it always has been, of her
manager, Mr.. Charles Frohman.
Robert Taber, her husband, whose
greatest hit in this country was made
in the character of a very old man in
"Bonnie Prince Charlie" produced by
Miss Ma-lowe in this city, joined If
Wings company after he had left that
of his wife. In London he made a
strong impression upon the critics by
his excellent work in the i'll fated
fPeter the Great" written by Lawrence
Irving and produced by Sir AIRY.
Little more was heard of his achieve
ments until Forbes Robertson's produc-
ton of Macbeth" when Robert Taber
vas specially engaged for the role of