The times., 1899-05-14
MAUDE ADAMS LEAVES
BABBIE FOR JULIET
The Stars Shakespeirean Pro-
ductiOn a Great Event.
Her Impersonation Real and Tn
qualified Success.
''We'uns of Tennessee" Done Mt the
the GOVERNOR nt the Lyccum.

New York. May 13-Just why 1t is, no
one here pretends to say or seems anxious
to know. but nothing which has been done
in New York during the past decade has
aroused half the interest that was stirred
up over Maude Adams production of Ro-
meo and Juliet last Monday night at the
Empire. The skillful manipulation of
Charles Frohmans press agent and the
ready manner in which local dramatic
writers assisted him probably had some
thing to do with the matter. but even the
newspapers could not have provoked the
sensation that was caused by the presen-
tation. Miss Adams. who is no more i'm
portant than Julia Arthur or many of the
other players who have been dosing us
with the Bard of Avon recently, became of
sudden the centre of attention and the
box Office of the house at which she ap-
peared was so effectually besieged that it
is now said that not seat may be had
for the remaining week of her engagement.
The wonderful popularity of the little wo-
man and notable curiosity concerning Eer
performance were probably the strongest
factors of her triumph.
Miss Adams success in The difficult role
given her has been real and unqualified
On the evening of her first Interpretation
the Empire was packed with the most ex-
elusive of Gotham's social set and with
the brightest OF intellectual lights. The
greeting bestowed upon the star was so
hearty that modest Miss Adams came Sc
riously near fainting from sheer joy and
remained nervous until all was over.
Mary Anderson occupied box and led
in the applause. while kilograms of f.
licitation came from such people as Will
lam Gillette, Mrs. Leslie Carter, Odette
Tyler. Isabel Irving May Robson, Viola
Allen. Julia Marlowe, Annie Irish. Mrs.
Fernandez, John Drew. Arthur Byron.
Ethel Barrymore and Olive May. So many
OF these are in Miss Adams line of work
that one cannot help suspecting the purity
of their motives, but-Mis5 Adams recsiy-
ed the messages. In the columns OF drivel
and the paragraphs of criticism printed
Tuesday morning nothing was said against
the Interpretation. save by the Dramatic
Mirror and by William Winter. who be-
lieves that all good actors. like all Good
Indians, are dead ones, and who expressed
the idea that Juliet should be played with
a burst of passion that would have done
| credit to Olga Nethersole.
To the average person Miss Adams was
delightful She forebore to draw her i'm
personation upon old traditions. and read
the stilted blank verse of the tragedy with
| naturalness and gracefulness that was re-
markable. In the lighter portions of the
piece she was so naive and giriish that she
fairly seemed to be. instead of TO imper-
senate. Shakespeare's fourteen-year -old
| heroine. her scene on the balcony and her
pantcmime at the dance of the Capulcts
being charming. And. later on, in the
portions preceding those in which Juliet
drinks the potion and finally kills herself,
| her acting was so far removed from the
usual emotionalism put into the role. and
her terror of the tomb so evidently thar of
a child, that the pathos of the play was
| doubled and its consistency made under
standable. William Faversham's Romeo
| was a good, but not a great. portrait and
James X. Hacketts Mercutio was passa-
| Bile. save for the rendering of the Queen
Nab speech.
On last Saturday night the long season
of the Castle Square Opera Company at
the American came to an end gloriously
with speeches from Manager Savage, Jo-
seph Sheehan and Lizzie Macnichol, and
| last Tuesday the stage was given over to
production of Lee Arthur's .'We'uns of
Tennessee" The piece is described as "a
new American play though its extraction
| is quite as dubious as its name. Most Of
| the people who attended the performance
expected to be treated to Southern come
| dy like Alabama" and trained their ears
| for drawls and other features of the dia-
lect as ''she is spoke in New York thea
| tres. Instead the offering turned out to be a
melodrama written around the events of
| the Spanish American war. There is some
strength in the vehicle. but the most bla-
tant patriots have come to feel drowsy
when the incidents of ''the late unpleasant
ness are thrust before them. and Mr.. Ar
| thurs work will not be likely to run long.
Robert Drouet, Theodore Roberts and Vic
| tory Bateman are in the presenting cast.
His Excellency, the Governor" which
was done on the same evening at the Ly-
ceum, promises somewhat better. The
| piece is a comedy and in parts it is ex-
| ceedingly enjoyable. The story is inter-
esting throughout and the acting is quite
up to the average of the Lyceum. Though
| hardly a monster success, His ExceIlency
| the Governor" which is not related to W.
H. Cranes His Honor the Mayor" will
probably do
Henry E. Dixey. who has been existing
| for several years on a diet consisting
mainly of laurels of the past. appeared on
Tuesday at the Bijou in rejuyenated
''Adonis." He was assisted by Amelia
Summerville. who is less merry and noun
famous than of yore. Mr.. Dixey is still
good looking, however. and manages TO
get along very we'll. Though '-Adonis" is
rapidly passing into the sere and yellow
and has been done in this city over 900
| times it has not lost freshness and its sue
cess gives abundant support to Darwin S
theory concerning the revival of the fit
| test
Down at the Fifth Avenue Theatre the
altitudinous De Wolf Hopper is being seen
again in The Charlatan." The opera was
presented earlier in the season at the
| Knickerbocker and was a deep and dismal
| failure. Mr.. Hopper took il away from
| the Rialto and surprised all his friends by
scoring a tremendous hit in the piece on
the road Having accomplished this and
made some money in SO doing. he changed
his original cast for less excellent one
| and entered town with what was claimed
to be new version of Sousa's work. Now
he is packing the house at which he is ap-
pearing. Candidly, the material that has
been put into THE Charlatan' since it
quit Broadway could be engraved on one
side of dime. but the announcement gives
local critics a loophole through which to
crawl and so everyone is industriousiy
praising the new version" Charming Al
ice Judson is cut of the cast and the part
of Katrnka Is being we'll played By Jessie
Mackey. who was the small boy of The
Little Minister" Snitz Edwards does not
succeed as the successor of Alfred Klein.
and Hiida Clark sings worse than Nella
Bergen without acting any better Jeanne
fowler. Harry p Stone. Edmund Stanley,
Arthur Cunningham. Mark Price. and
Adine Bouvier make up the remainder OF
the company.
THE King OF the Opium Ring" is q
new melodrama which Is being done at the
| Academy The piece is really about tho
poorest thing of its kind ever seel here.
Ii ic said that the plot Is interesting but
| three visits 10 the house have not enabled
me to make that portion OF the lay cut.
,har 20 to the Academy again to'norrcw "