Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-06

IN the presentation Of Augustus Thomas
IDEAL an,r southern play ,sds On the
Square Theater. The Dramatic Club Of the
Daniel Frawley of the Frawiey Stock Com
pany, has been diligently rehearsing for
some time past. and, judging from the char-
acter of the ability displayed in the re-
hearsals, the performance will surpass ali
previous efforts
4 new play. entitled Private John AL
len," will be presented at the Columbia
Theater during jubilee week. 1t is not
known whether it is founded on incidents III
the life of the witty representative from
Mississippi not, but it is said that the
story is southern in characteristics, loca-
ton and action. The play is owned by MI
Charles B. Hanford, who. 1t Is understood,
will play the title role, This will give Mr..
HanfordS many admirers an opportunity
of seeing him in a character different from
any that he has ever played in this city.
The rest of the cast will be made up from
the Frawley company, and a perfect per-
Torrance may be expected. Those who
have read the manuscript say that the
characters are all well drawn; that the
dialogue is bright, quaint and witty, and
that the situations are strong and effective.
If such is the fact the pay should be a go.
Charles Lever in his memoirs furnishes
this story himself about the effect Charles
O'Malley" had upon the youth of the time.
He says:
Il should like to own that this story was
the means of according me a more heart
felt glow of satisfaction, more gratifying
sense of pride than anything l ever have or
ever shall write, and in this wise: My
brother, at that time the rector of an Irish
parish, once forwarded to me letter from
q lady unknown to him, but who had heard
he was the brother of Harry Lorrequer.
and who addressed him, not knowing where
letter might be directed to myself. The
letter was the grateful expression of a
mother, who said: L am the widow of a
field officer, and with an only son, for whom
l obtained a presentation to Weoiwich; but
seeing in my boys nature certain traits of
nervousness and timidity, which induced me
10 hesitate on embarking him in the career
of a soldier, 1 became very unhappy and
uncertain which course to decide on.
While in this state of uncertainty, /
CHANGED to make him a birthday present of
Charles O'Malley,' the reading of which
seemed to act like a charm on his whole
character, inspiring him with a passion for
movement and adventure, and spiriting him
to an eager desire for military life. Seeing
that this was passing enthusiasm, but
a decided and determined bent, | accepted
the cadetship for him, and his career has
been not alone distinguished as a student,
but one which has marked him out for
an almost hair-brained courage, and for
dash and heroism that give high promise
for his future. Thank your brother for
me-, wrote she. a mothers thanks for the
L
that my best wishes for him and his could
recompense him for what / owe him!
humbly hope that it may not be i'm
puted to me as objectionable vanity-the re-
corning of this incident. 1t gave me an in
tense pleasure when L heard it; and now. as
L look back on 1t, it invests this story for
myself with an interest which nothing else
that nave written can afford me-
The atmosphere in which Charles lever
was living when he wrote Charles O'Mal-
ley, and which enabled him to impart such
buoyancy to his work, is best expressed as
tolloWs In his own words:
" men set to work to write Charles
- Malley l was, as l have ever been. very
10" with fortune, and the success of a
new venture was pretty much as eventful
10 me as the turn of the right color at
rouge eft noir. At the same time had then
an amount of spring in my temperament
ana power of enjoying life which [ can
honestly say l never found surpassed. The
word mad for me all the interest of an adj
mirable comedy, in which the part allotted
myself If not a high or a foreground one
was eminently suited to my taste, and
brought me, besides, sufficiently often on
the stage to enable me to follow all the
fortunes of the piece. Brussels where | was
then living, was adorned at the period by
most agreeable English society. Some
leaders of the fashionable world of London
mad come there to refit and recruit both
IN body and estate. There were several
pleasant and great number of pretty peo-
pie among them; and so far as | could
Judge the fashionable dramas of Beigrave
square and Its vicinity We're being perform
ed in the Rue ROyale and the Boulevard de
Waterloo with very considerable success
There were dinners, balls, dejeuners and
plcnlcs in the Bots de Cambre, excursions to
W Waterloo, and select little parties to Bois-
fort charming little resort in the forest
whose intense cockneyism became perfectly
lnonenSive as being in foreign land and
remote from the invasion of home-bred vul-
lTlT 0arotf oil,
the adjuncts by which I was aided and the
rattle of Saiety by which l was as it were.
accompanied when next tried my voice.
Harrington Reynolds, a new member of
the Frawley Company, who will make his
nrst Washington appearance next week in
ne VIE, is an actor of international
experience. Although comparatively
young man, and just in the prime of his
career there are few civilized countries on
the globe where h" has not acted Trained
IN the Drury Lane and Adelphi theaters.
the homes OF English melodrama, he has
prayed several seasons in Australia and
South Africa, and was member of one of
the first English-speakng companies to
make tour of China and Japan. He has
been three years in this country having
been brought over by A. NJ. Palmer for his
production of Madame" and afterward
playing in stock in Montreal and Pitts
burg During the past season he support
ed Henry Miller in "Heartsease" and
Hamlet He will continue with Mr.
Frawley in Milwaukee.
Harry Corson Clarke proposes to take
a few weeks rest for the purpose of seeing
Washington. Although a New Yorker horn
and bred, Mr.. Clarkes career for the past
half dozen years has been mostly in the
lar west, so although he was formerly A
frequent visitor to Washington with travel
ing companies, he declares that the caDitaI
city has grown quite out of his recollection.
therefore, instead of going abroad for