Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-03-17

Americans OF these Mr.. DAILY has one,
Mr. George w. Lederer one, Mr.. Charles
Frohman two and Mr. Broadhurst one.
Not a bad showing for 'people who know
| nothing of the dramatic art, /" is its
! 1t is generally understood that the old
| Star theatcr, which is the property Of
! those very poor people, the Astors, is
| doomed. A mammoth skyscraping office
building, it is rumored, will take its place.
! To those familiar with New York theat,
| ricals the name recalls host of memories.
| The house was built in 1861 and was
| opened at atime when the country was in
| a ferment over the civil war. The open
| ing bill was "The New President" in
which Lester Wallack and company COM
posed of men and women, nearly every
one of whom became more or less famous
within the ensuing decade, appeared with
considerable success Wallack had the
theater for good many years, and it
finally became combination house. For
long time Joseph Jefferson, William II.
Crane and other prominent players made
their annual New York appearances at
the Star, and several of them refused to
play elsewhere because of their affection
for the old house.
The upward tendency of everything in
New York was the Nemesis of the Star.
1t pursued the once popular place remose-
lessly, and finally the house degcneratcd
into Il cheap place.
At the time of its erection the Star was
regarded as IL model of theatrical excel
lencc, but it has long been regarded rs /.
sort of back number INTELLECTUALLY. Neil
R1rpNCc 1nyiSblv IN lIpnpONl,
the house in that respect, and he did it to
great extent, too, although the star real
ly ruined him. He was o wealthy man at
the time he took hold of the place, but
after he had found it necessary to abandon
it and ''The Year One" the play which
he produced there, he had little or nothing
left, and the other day in this city he en-
tered a petition for voluntary bankruptcy
| The press agent OF the Iieblers, who
own the production of 1.-THE Musketeers, :"
now current at the Broadway theater, is
excited by the confusion which in his
| imagination exists with reference to the
two rival demonstrations of Dumas 1.-The
, Three Guartlsmen. As most of his state
| ments are accurate his explanation is here
| with given:
1.-The confusion of The Musketcers' is
| apt at any moment to become the chief
| humor of the hour This confusion, sad
| to say, is due more to the inaccuracies of
| the press than to any overwhelming per-
plexity in the subject itself. To clarity
this proposition, then, for the public we
will commence all over again.
"Onc Alexandra Dumas wrote n novel
which he titled Les Trois Mousquetaires.
Its vogue was great, and it was soon An
| glicized under the title of Tho Three
Guardsmen.' Demonstrations soon grew
| upon this most successful romance, some
| 80 or more having been presented to the
| public in the English tongue alone from
the date of original publication of the
book up to about ten years ago. AT this
| time Dumas and the romantic school of
writer's which he represented were pushed
ruthlessly to the rear, and lbsen, Suder-
mann, Hauptmann, AIaeterlinck and the
other realists became the fashion of dra-
matte taste. The opening gun of the pres
| ent return to romanticism it would be
quite difficult to name at the present time.
| AS far as England is concerned theresis
little question but that Stanley Weyman's
| books..'A Gentleman of France and tho
rest, with Anthony Hopes "A Prisoner
| of Zcnda, were most important factors,
! while in France the brilliant work Of Ed
mond Rostand was undoubtedly effective.
| These works, however, We're really little
more than added kindlings to the fire of
renewed interest which had at point fur
| ther back and now indistinguishab BILE been
created for the healthier and happier tend
encies of romantic and idealistic fiction
| and drama.
Last year Sydney Grundy and Henry
| Hamilton both commenced in London the
work of dramatizing Dumas most famous
! romance The Three Mlsketeers Oiteral
translation of Les Trois Mousquetaires) }.
Hamilton S version was produced at the
Globe theater London, with Lewis Waller
as D'Artagnan, while sydney Grundy 5
version was produced at Her Majesty $
theater in the same city, with Beerbolin
| Tree in the leading role Shortly after his
opening Lewis Waller went into Mr.. Tree ;
cast at Her Majesty's, and the company
which he left went to the Garrick theater.
Mr. Tree is still playing at Her Majesty 5
and is now in the sixth month of a success
quite unparalleled i'll the theatrical annals
! of London. The version which Mr. Grundy
wrote for Mr.. Tree was and is still named
! Tho Musketcers;' that which Mr.. Hamil-
ton wrote for Mr.. Waller was called The
Kings Musketeers.' In America Mr.. i.
H. Sothern is playing the Hamilton Waller
yersion--i. e., The Kings Musketeer
and Mr.. James O'Neill, at the Broadway
theater, New York is presenting the sgd
ney Grundy- Bcerbohm Tree Her Majesty ;
theater production, entitled The Mus
! ketcers.
The successor to "That Man" at the
Bijou is to be The Purple Lady, IL
dramatization by sydney Rosenfeld OF a
| German farce which is said to have met
with great success on the other side OF the
water. 1t is, l believe, the purpose of the
management of the Bjou to keep 1.-The
Purple Lady" on for the remainder of the
regular season, provided it should develop
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