Evening star., 1900-01-20

q iiS" anu SulCtSSIH COneuy- II Will De d
triangular fight for>eupremacy. each COM
batant being valorous and trusted figure
in the lists. The positions of Robson and
crane considering their old partnership
Wtlcn causes people not so very old TO Stl1l
1nvoluntarlly associate their names, Is
especially peculiar. Their appearance as
friendly rivals has zest that tempts the
sportsman instinct, as well as the play
goer's interest Mr.. Cranes new play pre-
sents him in congenial role. and it is
well-recognized fact that in scholarly re-
spect 1or MS art he yields to none.
Authors whose heroes or heroines do not
deflnltely come to some good or bad end. or
who do not, as it is so often assured. Live
htPply ever AFTER are peStered by the
scntimental to supplement their stories with
exact information about their characters
lhackeray was importuned to explain the
future OF Becky Sharp, after the many
unique adventures in which he placed her
Rebecca, Lady Crawley.'' he wrote on the
last page of Vanity Fair, chiefly hangs
about Bath and Cheltenham, where a very
strong party Of excellent people consider
her to be a most Injured woman, She has
her enemies. Who has not? Her life is her
answer to them. She buscs herself in
works OF piety. She goes to church. and
never without footman. Her name is in
ali the charity lists. The destitute orange
girl. the neglected washerwoman, the dis
tressed muffin man, find in her fast and
generous friend She is always having
stalls at fancy fairs for the benefit of these
hapless beings. Emmy, her children, and
the colonel, coming to London some time
back, found themselves suddenly before her
a one of these fairs. She cast down her eyes
demurely and smiled as they started away
from her, Emmy scurrying off on the arm
of George now grown dashlng young
gentieman). and the colonel selling up his
little Haney, of whom he is fonder than
anything in the world-fonder even than of
his History of the Punjaub.'
and man in his time plays many
parts" remarked Comedian w. H. Crane
the other day. do you know, l think
Shakespeare must have been thinking of
his early days on the stage when he wrote
that truism, when in all likelihood he had
the same experience that nearly every
actor has gone through that ever served
an apprenticeship III a provincial stock
company in the so-called palmy days of the
drama. When ] attempt to recall the num-
be" of parts l have played it seems in
credible. and, mind you, most OF these
played during the first three or four years
of my dramatic career. l think l can VEN
ture to assert that have played more parts
in one night than has any other actor since
and without change of costume. The occa-
sion was when the bill of Macbeth WAS
put on. l of the utility men of the
company, and was cast for one of the ofii-
GERS, and for the appartion in the caldron
or incarnation scene. This latter demanded
only that l appear through the trap above
the caldron. that, as | was eager to get
off to some other play at another tnea-
ter 1 was dressed for the street, merely
pulling on d iOHS "Hllt IDDe ONti oNii
garments. But fate would have it the
super captain had neglected to engage men
to make the other eight apparitions who
appear to Macbeth at short intervals
through large opening on the stage. In
the stage managers dilemma L was hur-
riedly pressed intQ service for the eight ap-
partitions. Now. the business of the play
required that the apparitions each should
stalk very stiffly across the stage. The first
entrance was all right but in order to get
back for the second apparition one cue l
had to make a double run back of the scene
and make my entrance as before. This had
to be done eight times. Well, by the time
1 had made my fifth appearance the house
was convulsed with laughter. and the Mac
beth of the occasion most dead from sup
pressed mirth Hr in my nervous excite
ment and hurry'to get around to the other
side of the stage in time for the next ap-
partition. would clutch at my gown to pre-
vent my tripping, so that | was making a
very generous display of legs incased in
the nineteenth century garb. while the up
per part of my body was enveloped in the
regulation ghostly raiment To accentuate
the righteousness of the situation, Macbeth
refers to each apparition being 50 much
Ike the former l am pretty sure hod
the record for the greatest number OF
doubles made in a legitimate perform
ance"
1t would be strange. indeed. if so accom-
plished a gentleman as Mr.. Augustus Ihohi-
as had neglected to throw some lnterestlnS
sidelights on the celebrities who crwod the
stage in such profusion in his new play,
"OIiver Goldsmith" Dear Goldsmith-there
is almost a temptation to disregard his
genius and think of his personal career
and call him poor Goldsmith
for shortness called 'NoH," who wrote like
an angel and talked like poor poll. was sur
rounded by many jealousieS, and was the
subject Of abuse from his contemporaries,
which. absurd it may seem in the light
of modern literary opinion. must have
ranked deeply. Mr.. Thomas has pictured
Boswell as a man with motives for disliking
Goldsmith. and confesses to some imagina-
tive invention on this point. kenrick, too,
appears in the play. and the dramatist has
denicted him as he really was. one of the
most determined enemies that poor Noll
had in his short life, for it was he that de-
clared THE Deserted Village" and THE
Traveller to be trash: found The Vicar of
Wakefield" artificial and dull, and did all
in his power to stop the production of She
Stoops to Conquer But. Notwithstanding
the distractions which "Goldie'' met with,
he had. nevertheless, nothing but kindness
for every one. And now there is none who
has aught but kindness for him.
An important arrangement has just been
effected by Manager Chase of the New
Grand, which will greatly increase the at
tractiveness of his already popular bills
He has made a contract with II. H. Feiber
the European representative of B. F. Keith
the originator of continuous vaudeville per-
formances and the owner of the celebrated
Keith circuit of vaudeville theaters. By
its terms he is to share with Mr. Keith in
playing all the European novelties which
heretofore have played the Keith houses
only and then been returned to Europe.
From now on the New Grand will be the
only theater in America enabled to produce
these importations after they have ap-
peared on the Keith circuit. Immediately
after their Washington engagements they
will return to Europe, as their contracts
prohibit other performances here 1t will
be remembered that it was Mr. Keith who
brought Ching Ling Foo and 1.-THE Girl
With the Auburn Hair to the front
THE MASTER BUILDER."-The third
performance in the course of modern pIays
occurred yesterday afternoon at the Ney
National Theater. The play is not so good
either of the other two. 1t is so lacking
in theatric quality that the company yes
terday seemed to! be feciting rather than
acting it. The didactic intention of the
play is obscured by trivial plot detail, and
the characters often seem more whimsical
than profound. While II was interesting as
a specimen of lbs ems handicraft it was not
strong enough as play nor sufficiently
plausible as a demonstration in human ma
ture to hold the interestNclosely. Miss Kahn
acted with spirit and occupied position of
lonely emnence in the cast. There was
nothing in her performance to change the