The times., 1899-03-19
man followed suit. At least the caller
had shaken the hand that shook Cae-
=

Jovial Jerome Sykes was glancing at
New York newspaper in the lobby OF the
Regent one day last week when Times
man stepped up and spoke to him. II was
about to request an interview" he said.
but do not like TO interrupt your read
ing-even II the journal is not local
one
Mr.. Sykes smiled. "All dailies look alike
TO me. he remarked. laughingly. Il have
Just been scanning one OF those remarkable
articles. the writer's OF which accuse Regi-
maid de koven OF stealing his music. This
continual cry that the composers works
are reminiscent is almost laughable. II
has come TO be matter OF fashion. Some
one thought he caught a plagiarism in one
of Mr.. De Koven's melodies and Immediate
ly everyone else followed suit in order to
seem knowing on the subject. AS matter
of fact. there is nothing new under the
sun in an operate way. The only music
that is not familiar is the stuff played by
these symphony orchestras. ard that
couldn't be. or. IL 1t were. no one would
note it. The individual who could carry
away a bar from one OF those concerts
would have to be sort OF mental Old
Hoss' Hoey.
If any single person in this country
knows about Mr.. De Koven's offerings |
! should be that individual for / have been
appearing in them almost ever since
/ went on the stage. My histrionic start was
made with Western and Southern dra-
matte company in which | was the heavy
man-though not nearly so stout then as
now. We transformed for quite a time
and through dozens OF experiences. now
driving from one place to another in wag-
ons and then walking: once even striking
/ a plague in Louisiana and having to be
ticketsd by health commissions before
/ could go from town to town Our roper
/ toire was an extensive one and we could
always extend it further at a moments
notice. Once | got up on villains part
! in piece called "A Woman's Heart in
| twenty minutes. People said | played 1t
/ well. too. although We had been doing the
thing four nights before knew what IL
4 was about.
After this trip had two companies OF
my own in the West and took an operatic
organization through Mexico. There were
nine people in the troupe and our chorus
was painted on the drop curtain. Then |
made sort of hit in Said Pshaw,' and
came East. where worked under the man
/ agement of ]. NJ. Hill in a comedy entitled
| Ship Alloy. Next l was engaged for the
| light part in Marie Tempest's The Fenc-
| ing Master and was secured by the Bos-
tonIans to understudy Henry Clay Barna-
I bee in the role of the Sheriff of Noting
! ham in Robin Hood l also directed the
staging of Prince Ananias' and assumed
| small character in the piece. After this
became the fat boy with Lillian Russell in
| An American Beauty. was signed with the
| pathetic "A Round of Pleasure went with
| The Highwayman.' and am now with The
Three Dagoons.' That's all-except the
most important thing. | was born right
here in Washington, where the Congress
! sional Library now stands. So | am as
much a Washingtonian in reality as | am
in heart-isn't it nice of me to say that?'
The Times man said it was.
why is ii that so few women have deep
| voices?'
well" quoth Emma Carus, who has
been advertised as a phenomenal female
baritone, that question Is hard one TO
! answer. Primarily / suppose the reason Is
| In the fact that women are not generally
| gifted with low tones. A bass voice in a
girl is quite as unusual as Is a soprano in
| a man. Then il is undoubtedly true that
| music teachers ruin many possible con-
traltos. Most singing mistresses are anx-
ious that their pupils shall reach high
notes and thus train them completely out
of their ranges. My own voice Is sort
OF accident When quite young | had
very fair mezZo soprano, but l strained it
and now am at the other extreme. per-
former who can reach the bottom notes in
always useful. Some day / am going to
hae my throat cultiated and l shall then
attempt to get into operatic work. The
iieiu tuGIc 10 Nullc Oue
must labor harder for success than in
vaudeville, it pays in the end. Meanwhile
l am going to stick to the music halls ana
be very thankful that few women have
deep voices"
1t was during performance Of The
Three ORA agoons" the other night at the
Lafayette Square that a Times man met
the operas librettist Harry g. Smith, who
is also responsible for such successes as
Robin Hood. The Serenade, The Wiz
ard OF the Nile The IDOLS Eye, THE
Fortune Teller and THE Highwayman-"
Mr.. Smith has astonished the theatrical
world by the quantity no less than by the
quality of his output. and it was of this
that the interviewer spoke Well" said
the author. with smile, writing VOL
umes of stun every year Is not hard to one
who has been in the newspaper business. 1
toiled more continually and more arduous-
ly while | was turning out stuff for the
Chicago journals than / ever have since.
Experience has taught me that no labor
drains the brain and renders man useless
more quickly than that done on a daily
newspaper.
las it is. take my time with my compo-
sitions and care for my health as | never
have before. My only work is done in the
| morning for | have reduced my profession
| TO a perfect system. The preparing or
libretto is not so much a creative affair
as is generally believed. The author is
generally given a nucleus which to
commence by being told Of the people
whom he is to fit. In the case of this piece
knew that / was writing for Joseph
. O'Mara and Jerome Sykes, and the charac-
ters they formed in my mind were soon
supplied with story. The tale was CT
; necessity an Irish one. for Mr.. o'Slara is
; under contract with the Broadway company
for three years. and that brogue, you no.
: tice, is his own. My first plan was tc
! adapt Levers Charles OMaiiey to my
purpose but there wGs q great superiuity
of material there and so 1 merely borrowed
. his locality and two of his individuals.
r .''The Three Dragons has been great
success. To be sure, many OF the New
York critics did not like the offering be-
cause they claimed that something mors
legitimate was wanted, but the public
Y listen to a section OF 1t laughing now. Peo-
n | pie want to be amused and they take TO
the work that accomplishes that purpose.
And as my revenues come from pleasing
the public I intend to go on constructing
I this nonsensical matter. Am / not right?''
9 Says Isabelle Urquhart: This vaudeville
is a great thing. Ii affords people who
are weary of theatregoing opportunity TO
d enter a house and see just as much OF an
r entertainment as they please without miss
? ing anything. To the average person a
n play becomes tiresome after half CT the
v | second act has been finished and yet one
3 disikes to get up and go out with the
! fate of the heroine and of the villain un-
n | settled In the twenty minute work the
auditor may come in and leave when he
-, | nIeases The performers side of vaude-