The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-31
VIEWS OF STAGE AFFAIRS.
,,,r n rRr'S "LITTLE ITILY" 4
uHfEF BtT REiL TRtGEDH

",II.,lI. and Mr. rOwcr-Comments on
nub.rt's Humor in Librettos-A New
h,t Not Nu>rl Farce by Eininet h'ng'
,r,cot, in A single act scarce hall an hour
-. NJ unusual thing at the fifth Avenue
nIe, last night II was not remote in M
.n,,, nc such dramatic cOndcnSations are
' ho The urrtinrncy OF its title, Little
~ " ,ov In the fact that its occurrence had
w., .n ro,o,rd ly its author. Horace Is. Fry, in
~. I,oran quarter If our own east sue. IL
s,uJy o. lie In that rart Of New York to-
a., The scene was a POOR room III tenement
.-,o, The dwriIrrs there were a big and
h.,orv Italian baker, coarse ilhr"d and
s'I hr,,rrd. and his younger. brighter. yet
sanwprr'lro wife. They were dark anu
" .,r lie was A brute and she a %slattcrn.
a ma o,,ior began with his hunger for n meal
.rJ her craving for hrr former home IN Italy.
rh,s II was shown at once that he was not
.,nch more than an animal. While she was SEN
,rmsp,al in a crudo way. The voice and man
Az, ., a street minstrel were heard. Tho
.,no romirded the lonesome woman. OF her
ha~as 'hn' ufthe lover whom she had lrft. be-
Kind sir brought him ~ ny ths sueteriuge
o. to,orjto ballad. The hetooled husband bar
s,Ir""d " IN he lover for thel lessons. and unsus-
hh"Sntrircy lit tn" swccthrarts together. not TO
,, rr : the music. Int To fall into a rhapsodic
ssmGr,rr II passionate love. The minstrel
rrnrgel an eIopcm"nt, The wife made ready Tor
immferruptri them The wife got into an eleva-
~, -, w6'Ia tho musician descended To ,rejnin
her below. The husband N ,na i9 Ganr " IN hn r tbs
Vie toii him that she did not ,love him and
had gone away Unable &c, read, he called in
ant was }Ira,tcht in. 10y her rarapour and laid
On a bet Nhe had been MORALLY hurt by a talI
down the shaft. ThG gri"yipg ami enraEed
pnife' nut was lisarmcd. The curtain fell with
IN, hms't wnTan dead aud both men frantic with
, Sa0}s TTs Sfr 4Sr rt. I@'i frd TIay T" De fS'Iia IRis
and Tyrone Power. who DEPICTED typical 1tal-
ians q the e .2wyr ,I GrniG,, ,r Th"I w t M Tr1 Frr
c"nposiion. II WAS more than merely
szce lent BESIDE, its potent realism.
t i,,,i va m ma. easy 9, 1 '5 imsstn sons sSnt
an unsuitable a~uIiencc might rate it below its
artist worth. Bat the. discriminate people
ihc author, tut he would not come out. Prob
ally he was iuitn content with the, manifest
approval Of his work. aud so RETAINED from eN-
Noting his personality. \ performance OF the
familiar "niyOr;uns ensued.
The Mikado' seems 10 derive its enduring
popularity from the peculiar fact that its IL
bretto is less characteristic of its author than
any other Of his works. That may seem para
1oxical in view Of all that the Gilbert and Sulli-
van operas owe to Gilbert's wit and humor.
But those qualities have not endured in all
cases. When The Pieces came to lie sung
under the circumstances commonly described
As "?cuuia.." the romir cOnceits were not al
vavs m advantage. Their delicacy and
suhtlety have not been appreciated fully by
sone actors and some audiences. The former.
10 Judge from their delivery Of the lines. have
frequently seemed iuzzlei by them. Audi
ences ID not always GRASP the meanings. Pa
tience' was too special in subject to continue
amusing for as long as the others. The irony
of The Pirates OF IrnZauce' and of The Con
dolers. has proved intangible to PEOPLE in the
habit OF listening to these librettos lust as they
do to the translated Niennese uperettas. In
THE MiKndo' there is less irony and paradox
than in any Of the other Gilbert pieces. and for
that reason il seems 10 have survived best. At
the American Theatre this week tho revival is
attended by some features which must be &C:
cepted NOWADAYS. SinGularly. the reyivals OF
the Gilbert and sullivan uleras are not effected
with their original simplicity and directness.
but with the changes that are made in fire.
Mikad1' every eScrcscence OF ga aging" and
~horserInv that has grown into It Is carefully
Ikesthe extraneous inco1gruitie.; RAYMOND
Hitchcock. usually capable: is the chief Of
lender ,Gr in 1 this Parlicplar, Henry Eorm29 is
nichoI gets all the legitimate fun possible out
Of hdhS'd. Joseph Sheehan does we'll with
AanE,IIn. laura Millard as ll,nn. l,un sings
s'NNaS''. " Vli W NiiuN uEC
ness Is the characters charm. The chorus
not only sings with vigor. but acts with intalli-
gene The business u in which it nduIges Is
PRINCIPALS showed the result OF exaggerated
and quite gratuitous overacting.
The Industrious players at the Murray Hill
Theatre are evidently equal to more than tho
work made necessary by two daily perform
ances OF a play every week and the rehearsal
OF another for next week. One Of them has
written a one-act farce. and. with several OF
his companions. is acting it before the longer
comedy current there. Emmett King is the
author Of this piece. which he calls The Father
OF the Family The title suggests some
thing serious. possibly somsthinG with a
tendency. There are suggestions Of a stage
treatise on heredity. Mr.. King has done
nothing OF this kind in his pieces. which lasts
about half an hour. He has stuck to the mort
accustomed models Of short farce. A husband
goes 10 that familiar, resort OF the faithless
these husbands always do. that he has gone II
see a sick friend. He has other explanations
10 make, however: through the insistence Of
mat comes from this complication Is Of the
;Sesi xlnd, and there Is no more Of authorship
nations, Hannah Ingham. who arranged a
Fart EsnD, with I NJ. King in The Father Of His
~, NAA ~ wv olHCU1
Byron's Our Boys'.h has not lost its powers
10 entertain audiences like those at the Muir
ray ma. Its straiGhtforwn humor and the
nnnnest sentiment appeal to them strongly.
me Old play is well acted. A second London
revival Of this comedy failed to gain the sue
ress anticipated. Probably Broadway audi
noes would he too sophisticated for 1t. But 1t
fau'nes the less ~eNacting assemblages In
lexington avenue Henry V. Donnelly SCENE
10 nave estal lished there a cheap priced stock
.omphny, although that feat looked difficult
S msn, i not impossible. at the commence
h.s passed the line at which his enterprise
nesnhted between success and failure. Tho
s.Sk tompanies in some of the other cities are
aerAning; while others thrive. The stock sys-
iSe - obtains today in France and Germany.
10 owner method Of theatrical performance Ia
SnoTIn in those countries. But their theatres
wVu!d not attempt to survive without some
cc e = rays The Theatre Francais. with it's
GTa.e and Its practical mono poly OF the classic
rroenth drama. the HnfburR in Vienna and the
AIT 10 lerlin all give along with Iepetitions
Ian nue. staniard PLAYS. the newest works OF con-
'ompOraneOus writer's.