The times., 1899-11-05

Russell DOns TiEhts-Ofher start
ling News From the Rinito.
NEW YORK. Nov. Not since that
memorable evening on which Maude Adams,
with the passive assistance Of the gentle
man who wrote Romeo and Juliet had
our four hundred" standing back of the
orchestra chairs at the Empire have Goth
antics baheId such a scene as was vouch-
safed them on Monday at the Knicker-
booker. The occasion was Sir Henry lr-
vings-kindly note that I haven't jokingly
said Sir 'Enery-frst American present2-
ton of Victorien sardou's "Robesp!erre =
which was heralded as the success of the
year at the London Lyceum. All OF the
local fashionables turned out for the event,
and were so substantially Te-enforced by
critics and laymen that seats were not
obtainable at any price when the curtain
rose. That this audience literally forgot
its manners and cheered itself boarse over
play and players is proof positive that the
French author and the English actor are
Offering something a bit out of the ordi-
nary.
''Robespierre" really is not great
drama. 1t is more Of DaDorama-of d
painting-of a spectacle. After all has
been finished and the drop has fallen fol
the night one thinks less of.the story than
of the disconnected and yet coherent in
cidents that are a part Of ii. One does not
remember that the plot tells of the manner
in which Robespierre deserts his mistress
when common man, and of his efforts at
saving her despite herself and their son.
after he has become powerful. One only
sees this same Robespisrre. the lauded Of
the people. addressing the throng in the
Place du Revolution; sees Robaspierre, the
conscience convicted, accused by countless
spectres in the prison he has constructed
and filled; sees Robespierre, the punished
striving to make himself heard above the
cries OF a mob eager for MS death. And
then one finds that even a panorama may
possess human interest and that he has
become profoundly absorbed in this hero of
NJ. SarGou.
Henry read his role as he has not read a
role in many years, and, as they say in
London, the stalls rose to him" Fully
a dozen times he was obliged to come be-
fore the curtain and only by making a
speech did he finally quiet his admirers.
Ellen Terry was a pronounced fayorite
too, her work eliciting the heartiest ap-
plause. In a supporting cast Of over fifty
persons the most notable portrayals are
those OF Harry B. Stanford, who succeeds
KyrIe BelIeW as the son; F. d. Dayiss,
Clifford Brown, and Maud Milton. The
piece. however, is emphatically one-part
play, and in it none but the star has much
to do. Today Miss Terry is being seen in
Nance Oldfield'' and The Amber Heart, q"
while Sir Henry viii give The Bells" and
Waterloo" this evening, Seats for the
entire engagement have been sold and there
is no doubt that the visitors local ap-
pearances viii profit him greatly.
In contrast with Sir Henry's hit is the
dismal failure of w. H. Crane in another
new venture. Michael Morton's "a Rich
Mans Son." which was done on Tuesday
at Wallacks. Mr.. Crane certainly is most
unlucky in the selection OF his vehicles.
Last season he began his New York run
with Worth a Million" and ended it with
j
the Family" This year he opened in
Bronson Howard and Brander Matthews
Peter Stuyvesant" and was compelled to
remove the piece for his present comedy.
All this is too bad. for Mr.. Crane is a
very good actor and has made every effort
to procure suitable material. l fear that
"A Rich Mans Son. is hopeless. The
offering contains number of bright lines
and one or two notable situations, but the
love story revOlves around an undCubted
cad and this dooms the whole affair. There
is little chance Of making much out of
the structure, even by the most adroit
manipulation. "A Rich Mans Son" is well
staged while the stars support includes
such folk as William Courtleigh, Percy
Haswell. Selene Johnson, William Inger-
soil, Evelyn Carter, Charles jackson. VIII
liam Sampson, George +. Devere, SandoI
Milliken. and ". Dupont
This week the Castle Square Opera Com
pany is singing III Trovatore" at the
American, and singing it eXcellently On
Monday Carmen" will be given by a great
cast, though probably not by one great
enough TO cause forgetfulness Of Lizzie
Macnichol, whose portrayal and rendering
Of the title role were the features of the
last performance Of Bizet's work at the
Eighth Avenue house. Miss Macnichol was
an ideal Carmen, and always Will he best
remembered locally for her assumption of
that part
Nearly all of the attractions being ex-
plotted here now are drawing well. This
is notably true of Mrs Fiske, who con-
tinues to play Becky Sharp" at the Fifth
Avenue; of Henry Miller, who is doing
THE Only Way" at the Garden; of Alice
Nielsen, who presents THE Singing Girp
at the Casino; Of Julia MarIowe, who is
Offering Barbara Frietchie" at the Cri-
terion; of May Irwin, whose Sister Mary"
is crowding the little BijOu, and of Thomas
E. Shea, who is scoring heavily al the
Metropolis. Z. II. SOthern remains at
Daly's, Julia Arthur at the Broadway. John
Drew at the Empire, Children OF the
Ghetto" at the Herald Square, The Man
in the Moon, Jr" at the New York, Why
Smith Left Home" at the Madison Square.
The Dairy Farm" at the Fourteenth
Street The Old Homestead" at the
Academy. A Stranger in a Strange Land"
at the Manhattan, The Girl From
MaXim's" at the Grand, The White
Heather" at the Star, The Girl in the
Barracks" at the Garrick and Annie Rus
sell at the Lyceum And then, of course
we still have the vaudeville theatres
The novelties Of next week are to come
in the form of Sherlock Holmes" which
William Gillette brings to the Garrick and
Around New York in Eighty Minutes, q"
which w A. Brady is to do at Roster &
Bials. Mr. Gillettes adaptation of A.
Conan Doyle's stories has made a hit on
the road and much is expected of it here
AT Weber & Fields little hole in the
wall" Lillian Russell is still appearing
only more so. For the fair, fat, and forty
Miss Russell has donned tights. at last.
The sight is not one that would appeal
to a lover of beauty and the probabilities
are that the diva will 90 back TO skirts at
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