The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-04-16

the doors sol that it is hard to get by on
the pavement At the Thalia, the plays
are written by a Jew in the employ OF
the managers; he writes to order ON
subjects suggested by current events
the more horrible the better), and can
have a new play ready for rehearsal III
single day. The greatest success at
this theater under Yiddish management
was the play drawn from the Gulden-
suppe murder. 1t takes two or more
nights to present some of the plays.
The Windsor is conducted on the same
plan. The success of both, no DOUBT
has made the project of turning the
Peoples into a Yiddish theater attract
i've
/ Melodrama has been given at the Peo-
pies for many years; and OF the kind
that appeals most to audiences of prlm-
tive emotions-now know as "BoWery
melodrama." The Bowery boys are
| thoroughly familiar with the gallery
ticket office, where the tickets sell Tor
fifteen cents; with two flights of stairs
that lead to this niger heaven" Gas 1t
who takes tickets at the door; with the
written rules about whistling and clap
ping, and the hundred and one unwrit-
ten ones about taking off hats when the
lights go down. and the rights to seats
left vacant between acts. To the bal
cony the young men take their sweet
hearts; to the orchestra chairs the pros
porous married men take their wives
and children; but most Of the people, it
has been observed again and again, are
in the gallery-three-q quarters of them
gamins who! would not miss being there
once a week if the money were within
stealing distance.
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe in the April
Atlantic: 1t was in the days now spok-
en- of that I first saw Edwin Booth. DR..
Howe and I betook ourselves to the
Boston Theater one rainy evening, ex-
pecting to see nothing more than an or
binary performance. The play was
"Richelieu," and We had seen but little
of Mr.. Booths part in it before we
turned to each other and said, This is
the real thing" In every word, in every
gesture, the touch of genius made itself
felt. A little later I saw him in Ham
let" and was even more astonished and
delighted. While he was still COM
pleting this his first engagement in Bos-
/ ton, | received a letter from his mana
ger, proposing that / should write a
play for Mr.. Booth. My first drama,
though not a success, had made me
somewhat known to theatrical people.
Mr.. Booth himself called upon me in
pursuance of his request The favor
able impression which he had made up
on me was not lessened by a nearer
view. I found him modest, intelligent,
and above all genuine-the man as
worthy of admiration as the artist. AL
though l had seen Mr.. Booth in a vari-
ETY. of characters, could only think Of
representing him as Hippolytus. A
beautiful youth, of heroic type, enam-
ored of high ideal. This was the
part which I desired to create for him
AT last there came a time in
which the production of the play
seemed possible. Charlotte Cushman
and Edwin Booth We're both in Boston
! performing, as 1 remember, but not at
the same theater. They agreed to act
in my play. e. L. Davenport, manager
of the Howard Athenaeum, undertook
to produce it, and my dream was very
near becoming a reality. But 10, on
sudden, the manager bethought him that
the time was rather late in the season;
that the play would require new seen
cry; and, more than all, that his wife,
who was also an actress, was not
pleased with a secondary part assigned
to her. A polite note informed me of
his change of mind. This was, I think,
the greatest '-let down that 1 ever ex-
perienced. 1t affected me seriously for
some days, after which I determined to
attempt nothing more for the stage.
In truth, there appeared to be little
reason for this action on the part of the
manager Miss Cushman, speaking of
it, said to me- MY dear if Edwin
Booth and / had done nothing more
than to stand upon the stage and say
good evening to each other, the house
would have been filled"
John Oliver Hobbies CMrs. Craigie)
does not appear to have repeated her
success with The ambassador" in her
"A Repentance" the one-act tragedy
which George Alexander has just pro-
duced in the London ST. James Thea
ter 1t seems that she has crowded
! altogether too much incident into
very brief space of time, the resultant
effect being one of confusion. One writer
says: The repentance is that of a
spanish Count, originally a Carlist, who
has turned Christinist (the date it Will
be seen, is set good many years back).
HE Is known to have been wounded in
aNlrmish, and is supposed to have been
dead Tor two years But a liking for
lie has kept him safe and sound at the
cost or his allegiance to Don Carlos, and
at the end of the two years he sud
denly appears in the guise of a friar
at his Wife's palace. Here, after a good
deal of needless mystificati ton, he de-
clares himself The Countess joy at
his return is clouded when he explains
now he saved his life. He is touched by
her grief at his lack of devotion to the
cause, and suddenly determines to lie
as the Carlist, and dies accordingly by
the hand of Christinist officer. The
authors idea seems to have been to
show that a man who cares little or
nothing for causes themselves will yet
Willingly die for one at the bidding or
even the wish of a woman. But this Is
not very clearly brought out, and al
though the audience were very hearty
in applauding and calling for the an
thor. they We're probably in a good deal
of doubt as to the real meaning of the
piece
Mccoy Sisters and Minnie McFvov
sail from San E,rapoicoo for A,,-.,.