The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-21
LONG THEA TRICAL RUNS.

some FAMOUS tecOruh IN England ana IN
This Countrywide Run of =" Pique.''
This is said to have been a remarkably good
theatrical season in this city. There have
been many good and profitable plays on our
stage, and many others that were profitable
without being good. There have also been
some plays that were good without being
profitable. Four plays at least have passed
the century mark" and others have ap-
preached mighty near to it. and two famous
plays have been reproduced the past week.
"Erminie"a and "Adonis.' Nowadays it really
is q short-lived play that does not run fifty or a
hundred nights in this city. The managers
are busy most Of the time in evolving
souvenirs Of the tiftieth or the one
hundredth performance. some CHASTITY bar
gain-counter catchpenny to attract the
women; for the ladies are the great patrons
OF souvenir occasions. So common are these
occasions that it might seem that We have had
them always: but, as Il matter OF fact. long
runs are comparatively a modern improve
ment in theatrical matters. and date from only
about the time OF the civil war.
There 10 no record Of the length OF the runs
OF Master w. Shakespeare's plays when they
were produced for the first time on any
stage" We do not know how long Master
Richard Burbage played Hamlet or 0thel!o. or
II Master W.. Shakespeare himself played Old
Adam more than once or twice running. We
do know. however. that BurbaRe made such a
hit in RICHARD III; that the host at Bosworth.
in describing the battle:
When he would have said :" King Richard died.
And cried A horse! a horse!' he "Burbage" cried.
That is pretty good evidence that Burbage
played the part quite a mum Der Of times.
sense nssS Of t tbs V word fu was u sh hSfS & 'Ss w. f Sy Mr'
for tRirt Adasso nig II s1 appl az fnm a Sy D thu f aans
because Tits lines In favor OF popular liberty,
and By = the wh pig f dIGwHT h the ToT RI "a, Then en-.
SBsfsars opsra;% itran for sixty:twe nis6ss:
season. the most profitable known to that the
atre: II Was near the end 81 this tremendous
F fines .h one " nisSt a ana fS %as tai sllp te tax aR L 81 his a
s sa,sas css lG?Bfs !" yoS t$ ! my my as lHa@y Will viii
The Provoked Husband" was a slayer for
those DAYS. toe; il was played At prury for q
and IGdv fowniev. and Ciibber as Sir Francis
.Wronghead. Long runs were not the thing in
those days, or for years after. however; Lttook
to t9i Be beaten Il Was not until i775 that Richard Ncfta
shertdan's "Dusnna" was produced. when it
the play was taken Of fer a few nights, and it
vas never acted on Friday evenings. because
Afterthe "DqennS.," bheridan's ~"school for
Scandal" was played for an unnamed number
OF nights, its first performance being on Mays.
runs: in fact. II wasn't until knowles's Wiz
fflhH II WAS s9 prod q SSSaf III Rli is3 sHrP &c p SR /" En { isn7t
strange that the, runs were 50 short, Ma
to March u. ISL A''''
lo ThsreaIt9br ub taS r nISbt. became %Ss not longer \ sGts and
etfepted, for ma manX years; some OF The "d9mes;
at the London Haymarket ran for many nights;
they, were SHORT plays, however. II was not
Wit nitteFF G Gsrde sR i@ thlSs ' sity Tor ih6G o peIform as !es
that Shak espeare began to be revived and to
dd at. from IL B asSti fes HRsS%a fiFp;;'S OF s Ege SseR Ri,s tG
s Az; 4 S@ Ss sSS.; E; SssgSf ;$!%F '$F9 Psss$ / Il! ss?? Si.s; "f$F$ : $$ +
1t S&s f Mi NY s%d SsS Ss% |diS sPis, I" *IdfSS%iSsSs e.
Like It." and other Shakespearean plays for
more times at n stretch than we have oyer here.
The longest american runs have been for
. "EE14si4hi !" lRsdTSIi%i S MSi HRiaas ssal XIX XIX 5dl%Rs sid
s@a 5R for Seand isffS'T ran '2 FOR i 46i p EIShnts; In Lon,
don; but but has never re, reached d,hd! a9Eything. lite that
didn't tickle the BRrIitiShers Tor some reason.
But all runs sink into insignincance beside
5 HS,t run Ras Of p1 aSn n j. at Byron iRs ittI %o R5us sOysl"
real name was B%elascol and Thomas Thorns
on 4 until DFFffidsny".' April il, 1875, having 6sssR
Il were two short plays. "a Fearful Fog" and
one whose name i writ in water; anyway, they
lasted as long as Byron,s play though no share
matter OF course. the next play that James and
Thorne produced. called Our Girls was a
failure.
The run of "Cyrano de Dergerac" is the
longest ON record in trance. They have long
runs there but the visitors In London carry
on the plays III that city better than the visitors
TO Paris and II Is the visitors who support the
theatres as a general thing,