The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-12
IN THEATRICAL MATTERS.
sH1KF1SPEIRE, SHERIDAN, JAMES,
MIDDER AND HANFORD

Dramatic Legitimacy 10 having a week OF II at
the Grand Opera House. Shakespeare and
Sheridan are dividing the time OF the James
Kidder- Hanford company. The novelty OF
The Winters Tale" on Monday night was
followed by the familiarity Of Macbeth" on
Tuesday night. Mr.. James's Macbeth had been
noticed last year at this same theatre, and
% had Miss Kidder's Lady Macbeth. They are
good performances. but not nearly great. The
Macbeth Ia the better Of the two. Mr.. James
"a robust In figure and strong In voice. He
could rant in Forrest way II he wished
10. and perhaps q majority in an Eighth
avenue audience would like him better II
he did But he chooses to make the muir
dersr sometimes criDgng and never domi-
nant character. as Shakespeare wrote him and
Booth enacted him. That 10 to Mr.. James's
artistic credit. 1t is not 80 easy to deter
mine Miss Kiddsr's intention. Her Lady Mac
deM is not tragic In tho heavy man
per Of Charlotte Cushman. Neither is it
feminine in the way adopted by some
later actresses. 1t speaks like an eye well
trained. 1t looks like a picturesque figure
yyifed from an old picture. The audience
does not get strain or noise from Mr..
James or Miss Kidder. 1t is Mr.. Hanford who
recalls the palmy days. He is the gallerys
favorte When his NdcduG had knocked out
Macbeth in the final round OF their encounter
a voice at Ihe top of the theatre cried Joyously:
1.-THE fec I'm wins"
Yeaerday afternoon The School for Scan
da' was given with My Ann Eliza and other
"ryg-tme music between the acts.
It was merry affair and the good
feeling and gaiety between actors and
audiepce were remarkable. Louis James
As Charles Surface was truly
sovial beau OF the Sheridan period-a convivial.
good hearted fellow. whose free manner
and airy wit would make him popular with
sSie in eonnsciion With Mr. Jsmes's
words that Sheridan had given to him; He
frequently nut in explanations and repetitions,
WHICH helped rather than in marred his his
sud!encs. 1t is an impertWnenee to tamper
in this way with "2 ASH neVe 1h, the
Nstion Miss Kidder's Lazy 7raz'e was
ss sgpy sne was s Gnt
eere and !digniaet. 1t was in the
sfrec S ' Her sayety was too piai My assumed
and she lacked variety in speech aud move
mcnt Mr. Haniord was, the Joseph surface
81 subtety Harry Langdon's SIR Peter was
commendable. as was the performance Of the
The fact that JosepHs apartments were tho
same that hnrbeth occupied tho night before
10 not important.
New York audiences are accustomed to see
actors in burleslue laugh about as much
themselves as the audiences are expected to-
Marie Dressler never fails to impress the fact
that she thinks her stage com pa lions the most
irresistibly amusing persons she ever saw
She was always overcome with merrimsnt at
Sam Bernard's FRANKS. and they amused her
20 that she laughed every night at the
same time and in the same place with the
lority 81
outbursts as hers there may be some excuse
for she does her share OF fun max ing for the
rest OF the audience She causes enough
real diversion herself to earn the right to
laugh II she wants to- But is there the
same excuse for Julius SteRer. the melan-
choiy and gloomy. who plays Hamlet always
IN mien and manner: in whatever piece he may
harnen to be- Mr.. Steger nightly goes
laughter. which used to seize Miss DressIer
c Thnenever sam bernard approached her. Tho
you'd iI2oE surro grsh' b @ov ch sT1Ss
don this purpose at the New York and laugh
pproariousy when sam Bernard's dialect
Ssfies bis buzz in his he wants to
AID first look cheerful for several minutes in
succession. before he alternates despair and
MARTY Let him approach this debauch Of
merriment more slowly and sympatheticalv.
and Try to counteract his effect on the audi
m n
ner, instead OF enjoying all the pleasure him
sell, " 10 not lust that his hearers suffer
unuer ms gloomy aspect one moment and see
MIN roar with his private enjoyment the next
When Eugene Fougere came to thi, country
hrst. she was a careless hoyden on the stage.
with no beauty. outrageous indecsncy. very
little skill and unbounded vivacity. She made
clown OF herself in the attempt to
got laughter. and very offensive
hot
amusing in her boisterous manner and
some folks liked her rough way OF doing
Things On her present visit she is trans
formed Her dark hair. which used to be
careleSsIy brushed back from her face is I'M
oulAted until its waves are mechanically regu-
lar Her neck and shoulders are covered
with diamonds She moves slowly and
dangerously. 1t is evidently her appearance
on which she relies now. She even
dresses in Spanish costume. like Otero. and
stares dreamily out OF wide-opensd eyes like
.a'alleri Never was woman more misled
than Fougere when she decided to make her
appeal to New York this time as beauty Her
plebean face is port and her eyes are expires
sLye. but beauty she does not possess. Her
new songs are dull. The public never liked
One h ns ' %ss "ts'Sf are IL t dss
tbs on Of the few Paris songs besides
popular here. and another was the ditty about
the peacock feather. which she sang to tho
music q La Femme dc Narcsse" and called
o oL9 az File Ma Tante;" That was the, extent
known here. II was no better possibly
than what she is singing now. but the tunes
were at east familiar to tho audiences Moth
ing else is as amusing about Mile. Fougere y
return as her attempt at lanRuor and Rraces
mat even the beautiful Otero could not aSsum Q
with success.
Now that Mrs Augustln DAILY Is back from
Europe she and the other executors OF the
DAILY estate have set about u settlement 1t is
said that the debts are larger than they were
expected to be and that the bequests may not
lie realized. The will set apart certain outfits
iplays to Ada Rehan. and her projected tour
depends on the open question whether she
gets them.
Fourteen new plays intended for New York
have been produced within ton days In other
cities. The reports from them are contradictory
and in some cases dishonest Several are un
doubleday successful. Others that are partial
failures will no doubt be improved into accep-
liability. Still others are hopeless
Minnie Madden Fiske'S husband is assaillng