The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-02-28
ACTOR so YEARS.
That is the Record of Stuart
Robson.
Talks About Failure Of EEThe
Gadfly.''
MUST BE VERY FUNNY.
Audiences Refuse to Take Him
Seriously.
Says Sol Smith Russell is
Preacher of the Stage.
BE VERY FUNNY.

mark
The veteran entertainer mentioned
his progress toward the golden jubilee
stage with an evident sense of pride in
his dressing room at the Crawford the
tier last night. And the sense of pride
was even more evident when he follow
ed it up with the remark that during
the % years he has been before the pub
lie as a star he has been identified
with but one distinct failure.
This was his sumptuous production of
The Gadfy" which he put on in New
York at the opening of the season. New
York refused to accept the comedian
seriously, and his attempt cost him $lS,-
900.
THE American public is peculiar be-
cause it doOms every man to special
ty,' he said last night. 1T has time and
again thwarted many heroic attempts
to demonstrate versatility. Take Joe
Jefferson, for instance; because Joe JET
ferson can give the public the best per-
Torrance Of rip Van Wrinkle" the
public decides he must forever remain
the sleeper of the CatskfllS. The public
killed Frank Mayo because it refused
for years to see him as anything else
but "Davy Crockett" Because had
succeeded in comedy, the American
public or at least that part of it repre-
scented by the theater-goers of New
York. wouldn't have me in a serious
part.
But I am like the proverbial burnt
child" continued Mr.. Robson. I have
had enough of it and don't propose to
try a serious part again. Some Of my
friends blamed me for not trying the
"Gadhy' on audiences of other cities,
but a New York audience is easier to
please than an audience in almost any
other city in the country. People who
think New York theater- gOerS know
any more than theater- gOers of any
other city are wrong This is only rea-
sonable when one stops to think that
big portion of every audience represents
people who are in New York expressly
for the purpose of being entertained
Actors want the approval of New York
simply because New York is the great
advertising center of the country. If
a piece succeeds in New York it's sue
cess is heard of throughout the country.
In this way advertising that could un-
der no circumstances be purchased is
received free. An actor doesn't take
a play into New York for the purpose
of artistic criticism, because artistic
criticism is not there any more than it
is in the majority Of other cities. But
he takes a play in there knowing that
if New York likes it the whole country
will hear of it being a success.
Il believe the 'Gadhy' was one of the
strongest plays ever produced" he
went on, much stronger than the book.
But that didn't matter with the theater-
goers, simply because they had always
seen me in comedy up to that time. The
English public is unlike the American
public in this particular NOW Sir
Henry Irving can play anything he
wants to; BeerbOhm Tree and other
prominent English actors can do the
same thing. But here you are a 'Spe-
cialist' and failure to remember it
proves costly. Mr.. Dixey, Of my COM
pany, is one of the best actors in Amer
lea, but 'Adonis' killed him. He put on
'AdoniS' in New York City for 637 per-
formances, the longest consecutive run
on record, and OUTSIDE of New York
played It for years. And what was the
result? The American public still sees
Mr. DiXey as 'Adonis' but as nothing
else"
MT. Robson says that Sol Smith Rus
sell Is to him the most remarkable
comedian of the American stage be-
cause of the hold he has upon the peo-
pie who are not theater-gOerS in any
sense of the word.
SOL Smith Russell started entertain
ing people, who had never seen foot
lights, in churches and today he has a
following of that same class of people
that is remarkable. He is a preacher
of the stage. People who never think
of looking at the INSIDE of a theater on
any other occasion viii turn out to see
Russell. And when they see him they
see a most accomplished entertainer"
Mr.. Robson says that he met Mr..
Russell in Washington a short time ago
and while he was still i'll at that time,
he was feeling much better than the
time he gave up the stage in Chicago.
Mr. Russell stated that he expected to
be able to take up his work next sea-
son.
In two weeks Mr. Robson will be in
New York with oliver Goldsmith,
and Will play an engagement of four
weeks there. The play was written at
his suggestion by Augustus Thomas,
and the comedian says he asked the
(RobsOn) could play the character.
Il don't think you can play it, re-
piled Thomas. but I believe you can
make the people think you can"
SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING.
Stuart Robson must be credited with
remarkab bic interpretation OF the charae-
comedy by that name from the pen of
Augustus Thomas. The author of Ala
barna" must in turn be credited with hav
about incidents in the life of the Irish
must likewise deserve credit for sue
cessiOn of artistic stage pictures. But
tnlng disappointing about the production
OF oliver Goldsmith, as seen at the
Crawford theater last night.
Possibly the disappointment is due in
part to the fact that the costume COM
pany Of Augustus Thomas reminds one
OF the costume comedies OF Sheridan suf-
nelently to provoke comparison Had
G}yer {4oldsmifh but 1T part Of the
Scandal, it would be a great success. 1t
Is true that the author cieverly injected
nunpeF OF the hlSloflcaiiy DrlghJ say
mss of Goldsmith and his associates into
me play. but they are 50 set as to form
beacon lights rather than result in con-
"Oliver Goldsmith" is simply stage re-
eltal Of INCIDENTS in the life of the author
Of The Deserted Village" based on his
love for Mary HOfneck and the finally
successful efforts of him and his friends
to put She Stops to Conquer on the
stage; Augustus Thomas has been noted
for his naturalness in constructing plays
preceding the Robson order, and it may
be that his devotion to the natural is
largely responsible for the disappointment
in the new comedy.
The brtlliancy of Garrick and Burke and
Dr. Jonson, and the laundering wit of
Oliver Goldsmith may have been no more
evident in their daily associations than
Mr.. Thomas makes it in the play. but
LnGaIGr-EOeTS OF the nineteenth century
undoubtedly believe it TO have been. The
players are made to move in a decidedly
natural atmosphere, but it is one that is
but sparsely illuminated by witty dia-
logue. The comedy situations are practic-
ally confined to the second act, which