The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-05
SIR HESRr IRrIve AND THE LrcEUM.
His Retirement from the Control of the
Theatre He Has Mnhe Fnmona-His Playa.

His RetirenIent from the Control of the
Theatre He Has Made Famous-His Plays.
LONDON. Feb. 10 1T is twenty years since Hem
~ Irving assumedc control OF the theatre from
the MANAGEMENT Of which he has iuet retired.
With q reputation acquired by twenty years
OF hard work in the 'Drovinces,' Irving had
accepted an engagement at the Lyceum Thea
ire. then under the management OF Mr.. II. l..
Bateman and opened there on Sent. IL. 1871.
as Landry in "Fanchette." Rather more
than seven years later. with his reputation es-
tablished more firmly than ever. he took the
management OF. the theatre into his own
hands, succeeding. Mrs. Bateman. the widow
OF his original manager. During:those sever
years he had been much more to his managers
than merely leading man. He had assumed
Tho unique position he has held since. Of man
aging actor. No other actor on the English
speaking stage. though there have been
and are many actor.mnnagers. has held
quite the same position that Irving held. AS
leading man at the Lyceum. he directed the
productions there so completely that even ~
carly as 1873 the London papers spoke OF
them as Mr.. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS."
What a fam ouslist. Of plays:he put on that
stage. while yet only the leading mani In
November. 1871, lie PLAYED "The Bells" for the
first time: in April. 1872. he produced Wills's
"Churics l." aud IA year later presented the
same authors Eugene Aram." Between
whites he played jeremy Diddler in Raising
the Wind" and Jingle in a version Of Pick
wick" In September, 1873. he put Richie
leu on the Lyceum stage. and In February.
1874. he; produced Hamilton AIDES Philip"
thus producing three new plays inside Of two
years. besides revlving several older plays.
In the .autumn OF the same year. 1874. be-
gan the second famous'run OF Hamlet" the
first. being that OF Edwin Booth at the Win
ter Garden Theatre in this city In 1864.65.
The play ran for 200 nights at the Lyceum.
In June. 1876. Mr.. Irving put on Macbeth"
and in February. 1876. "Othello." and In
April Of the same year produced Alfred Ten
nyson's historical play. Queen Mary" and
Willss "Vanderdecken." a version OF the story
OF THE Flying Dutchman."
In January. 1877. Irving piayod "R.cha-d
ILL.," and then played two OF his most sue
eesstul partsm,the, dual:rales Of D!5osc. and
the King in Louis XII"
Irving's time had come. however. and on
the management Of the theatre whose for
tunes he had directed practically, for SO many
In the house. He cleaned it. he made Il
brighter. He freed himself from the Infant
phenomena which the houae Of ,Bateman had
supplied AS leading actresses. Isabella. Kate
and Virginia Bateman, with all Of whom IT.
wing had acted while he was an employee Of
ZIG phtl lS sIdRt, Uuu IN
their place appeared the most charming ac-
tress on the EnGlish stage. Ellen Terry. whose
irving: to her. almost as much. as to him. is
due the artistic success and influence en-
joyed. by. the Lyceum Theatre.
duclnG Hamlet', and during his first Year "a
confined himself to ~reyiyals .9t his successful
Charles t." and, The Lady Of lyons him
self acting .5G!aude for the first time. He re-
yiTea e1s9 nThe a aFSn !GThSs s Ms p!sgSinE s. S'r v Ed.
Ice" A revival at the Lyceum meant TO Try
Ing as much work as the production OF an en-;
with as much care as II it were now first pre-
sented." When The comparatively worthless
UNI 3off in sep aeGaPsFs 1885 EsS p nay ever az t than Ly is5
stage hands:were needed back OF the curtain.
and the cost Of the ,tableau curtain; used in
that play and In no other. was said to be nearly
$4,000, With such completeness did Irving
On May 20. 1880: IEyIng produced his first
Ren6's Daughter" called ''ISlant6e." and on
s II G iS' his n" second s5Diu Original e"P Prssenta pion:
In the next four years, two of which he spent
n this e9 aunt 1nI he Tey %Mndb aR R9o A 9sher S IlaEs
he produced Mt; WIlIs's adaptation:, Faust
new and attained. after long. scientific and ar
tis1ie stGdy; o. 1890 .ns nroduo., for ,,o sr0.
time on a'S any 1T stage asSY Herman re Pr0S Meri1a ls 5 ' 1ers aFs1
q the Bride q Lammermoor.' entitled
'Ravenswood." Then came his wonderful
a pn9aq In Feb Sl nen 1888 ST en anu ninT Si asaF Of
story of Waterloo" and on Jan. II. 1855
King Arthur" by .Tennyson.. Later in tho
year on May, T.. Mr. Irving produced a version
day. MAY "a. he was knighted. becoming Sir
he On ,f t5pthE 10. 1896. Sir Henry produced
...Gymbeline." and on April 1Gi 1897. sardou':
what has proved 70 be the last year Of his
Lawrencs's play. Peter the Great" and on
May 4 he put on the. stage The Medicine
Man" by Il; ?; Trail and R.. D. Hichens.
management to other hands.
Probably Macready and Lawrence Barrett
alone among modern actors can be compared
with Irving in the matter Of aiding English
three stands first in the assistance he gave,
and when one compares the list of those who
wrote for him with the lists OF writer's who
provided plays for Irving and Barrett. 1t really
Yet IryinR's knighthood was due to him his
work as actor and as manager. whether he
produced a new play or revived an old play,
was'distinctly artistic. For twenty years he has
maintained open house for all that was best in
the English drama. and at his Lyceum Theatre
was kept burning the fire OF the drama. so
successfully that London has always had a
theatre which maintained the reputation of the
stage. at which the stranger could be certain
Of seeing the best productions Of British
going to rest. after n term as actor and man
aRer longer and more continuously success
full than any other player has had. Only good
wishes can 20 with him.
METALS PRECIOUS " RARE.