New-York tribune., 1899-12-23

he has necessarily drawn upon 'he
cences and writings OF others. the ih'r
of copious quotations is well suited 'o 'ne
- character of his work. which is in the hne
- s.,err,o,tarv anecdotic and constantly dis
cursive gossip. For the preparation OF pureIS
.u,,,oal history of the Victorian stage he taciuy
oo,fassas that he has small taste. He has the
courage OF his opinions and these are peculiarly
,ts own witness this confession: i never
cared for Charles Kean's Hamlet or hs hihs
Lear a little bit: in fact. l never unoeIStoou 'no
supreme beauty OF the play OF Hamlet et-heIe'i-
cal as Il NAV be to say so-until sa" fech'ei
,,a, tho mart " But Mr. Scott only gives his
opinions for what they are worth He is noun
ing II not candid "Of course he says. i nave
not seen John Kemble Penruddock. or Charles
Kemble as Benedick, Faulconbridge or Mer-
QUITO: or Edmund Kean as Richard or Sir Giles
Overreach: or William Charles Macready IN any
character old modern; or Forrest or George
Frederic Cooke or the elder Booth" But he has
seen a great many other distinguished actors
and he makes the most Of them. as he does OF
all the things theatrical that have come under
his observation even in his tenderest years.
Here is an example:
should like TO give you some idea OF the
Theatre Royal. Drury Lane. when first saw
Il in 1919. Very little luxury; no loungng staIs;
the pit right up 10 the orchestra; the falthlul
pittites sitting hard benches. and constantly
disturbed between the acts by women with huse
and clumsy baskets filled with apples. oranges
nuts ginger beer. bottled stout and bills of the
play which they offered 10 the public in shrill.
discordant notes.-the very descendants of Nell
Gwynne herself The programmes-or bills
no fashiOnably Rimmel- scented or arts-
ticallv decorated things in those times, but long
sheets Of thnnish paper, vilely printed with bad
ink which n--er seemed 10 dry, and that soiled
the fingers and ruinatiOn TO- gloves. There
was a green baiZe curtain. and in the event or
n tragedy. such as for instance, THE Iron
Chest" green baize carpet, for 1t was con-
sidered unOrfhodoX and a theatrlcal crime 10
play tragedy without carpet Of green oaize
Nj Scott was a playgoer in his eighth year.
He was barely in his twenties when he became
dramatic critic. regularly attached TO The
Sunday Times" though Tom Hood had sought
10 laugh him out Of the ambition. asking him
what earth he knew about the stage. He
appears 10 have known little. but 10 have had
abundant enthusiasm for his new profession
He had, in fact. acted little himself, once in
"a roaring rattling farce" written by Cardinal
WiSeman. He observes that the Cardinal
"roared with laughter over his own farce" It
was written. he believes, for the amusement
Of the students at the English college in Rome
On the whole, he has been content to the
stage from the public side OF the foOtlights
Still he has penetrated 10 the other side often
enough TO CLEAN amusing bits Of information
about the ways of theatrical people. MY dear
old friend, John Sleeper Clarke" he says,
would strike any who dared address him
when he was lashing himself up for part be-
fore he made his entrance. Macready used to
angriy shake ladders and groan himself into
excitement. Lady Bancroft has often described
for my benefit in her inimitable style the way
in which Charles Dillon. of her first Lon
don managers danced and stamped about like
a wild Indian while waiting at the wings for his
i
fury Of passion" OF Samuel Phelps famous
for his acting and for his scholarly management
at "sadler's Wells" an interesting note is
quoted from Lewis Ball, who served in the com
pany:
often wondered il his admirers who used to
crowd the theatre on the first night of new
part would have enjoyed il much If they
could have guessed what he was suffering.
cannot call ii stage fright but he was the most
nervous first night man | ever met, much so
that on the production Of "A Midsummer
Nights Dream" | was really afraid that he
would never be able TO speak at all There
four Of us waiting TO enter with him.
/ happened TO stand his right side, and while
the cheers with which he greeted his
entrance were repeated again and again, he got
hold Of my wrist and gripped ii with such force
that / thought must both have fallen. and
glad when he pulled himself together and
let me go.
Phelps used to be known as a harsh, severe
and morose man. Mr. Balls recollection Of him
oontradicts this view. however He describes
his own gross carelessness in neglecting the
warning Of the callboy on one occasion. his be-
lated arrival on the stage and his chiefs subse-
quent demeanor. Phelps asked with some acer-
bity for an excuse, but when he was told that
there none he amiably smiled and re-
marked: well you the first actor l ever
met who. having kept the stage waiting, did not
blame the callboy" Some other celebrities COM
pleasing aspect notably Douglass Jerrold, about
whom two anecdotes are given both Old but
one Of them at least worth retelling. The tale is
OF Shirley Brooks complaining that dining at
the Duke Of Devonshres he had had no fish
"Of course not" snared Jerrold. they ate il all
upstairs" Another anecdote relates to Lady
Bancrofts brother-in-l law. Fletcher a calm. sar-
castle man, fond OF books. He was left practi-
caly alone in his apartment one day. the only
other occupant being one OF the maids who was
preparing for her Sunday out" The door bell
rang and rang again, and no one answered it
Fletcher finally went himself TO be confronted
by a dminutive Cockney gentleman, famboy-
antly attlred, who asked: His Miss Heliza
Spriggings at 'ome?" The question had TO be
repeated before Fletcher could recover from his
amazement. Then without word to "the &C.
centric atom" he proceeded 10 Eliza's room
knocked and on her presenting her scared face
in the doorway simply Jerked his thumb over
his shoulder in the direction of the hall door
solemnly Observing Eliza there's something
on the mat"
Some OF w. s. Gilberts jests in private are
quoted. He It who was asked by fellow
Government clerk, who knew that he had many
theatrical friends. If he could write him an order
for the play. OF course he could; and what
he write alle how
happy clerk thought he would like a box That
night he went 10 the theatre with his wife and
family only TO be told that his order was
worthless II sorry" said Gilbert. when his
colleague came 10 him in disgust the next day
but did precisely what you asked me to do
You asked-could l write an order l said
could and 1 did; but / did not say IT would