New-York tribune., 1900-12-22
STAGE ANNALS.
GOSSIP ABOUT THEATRICAL cELEBRI-
TIES PAST AND PRESENT


ELLEN TERRY By Clement Scott lemo' PIP W.
15O Frederick A Stokes Company
JOHN DREW. BY Edward A. Dithmar lemo' pp.
vi, Is7. Frederick A. Stokes Company
There is no lack of actors biographies and the
overfiowing volumes Of stage "reminiscences hi
many shelves. There is none the less piace
for these four books of stage biography, "heeher
81 be for Mr.. Robins's collection relating TO those
who have gone into history, or the two little
volumes describing two contemporaries es-
teered by present day theatre goers. Mr.. Robins
has given a series of brief and readable accounts
Of twenty-four of the chief representatives OF
dramatic art equally divided between men ana
women English all but three. There is a GER
tain sequence in the English line of actors ana
actresses with a clearly defined link that pihus
the dramatic art of England TO that OF America
Such a series Of biographies cannot well ran 10
show it. Mr.. Robins writes in style NOT al
ways distinguished or mature, but entertalhlnsr(
and he has drawn freely on the rich store OF
rerniniscence and anecdote that belongs TO the
English stage. Those who write on actors OK d
mast age are peculiarly dependent on the 1uus
ments OF past age; but there is much IN uSlis
them with tact and discrimination to form d
picture and an estimate for present day readers
Mr. Robins has not done anything in the least
original in the way Of constructive criticism put
he has produced an excellent review Of a great
A44SSN
them seem Ike real human beings. The time
and the atmosphere they lived in are well re-
nroduced. too. by the many touches Of personal
and historical value that are given Beginning
with Garrck among the men. and Anne Brace
girdle among the women, the author brings us
down 10 Lester Wallack and Adelaide Nellsoh
and Ristori.
We see in Garrick. as here depicted, the man
who first broke down the bombast and conVen-
tionality Of the dramatic methods OF his time
typifed in the acting of Quin-and put human
passion and realistic impressions into MS act
ing. Many have been the changes in theatrical
manners and customs in the time covered by
this series of biographies. The earliest days of
II were DAYS of freedom and turbulence among
the audiences at least, whatever may have been
the type of dramatic impersonation. The de-
corum and attention that we are used TO In the
theatre whether the audience is pleased or dis
pleased. are apparently quite modern develop
ment. There is almost continuous record OF
tumultuous interruptions of various kinds and
with various objects. Garrfcks spectacular
Chinese Festival was the occasion Of a five
nights patriotic uproar because of the French
ballet master:
Gentlemen fourishing their swords charged
the occupants of the pit, who were trying to
hoot the piece off the stage. while women or
quality leaning over their boxes, pointed out the
most active of the rioters TO their husbands.
beaus or brothers. At last the groundlings cut
the scenery, tore up the benches. broke the
lustres and girandoles, and, as jolly climax,
smashed the windows Of Garricks residence
Nowadays if the prices at a theatre are
sidered too high for the quality Of the entertain
ment offered the manager is generally sufh-
ciently punished by the public staying away.
Not so in the days of John Philip Kemble, who.
when in 1909 ne rebuilt the Covent Garden
NV fra fa1t So
raise his prices account of the increased ex-
pense he was put to. Then the audience came
and paid. but when he appeared made such an
uproar that magistrates had to come from Bow
Street to read the Riot act, and arrests were
made; but the excitement continued for sixty
six nights. The 20. P" rioter-the aggressive
agitator for the 'old prices"-would dress for the
theatre with as much care as did any of the
actors who tried to speak their lines above the
ain:
Armed with a watchman's rattle or a dust
mans bell, trombone or the horn of a post
boy, ne would take with him white nightcap,
a concealed placard Of protest and a bludgeon
Tor use against such persons in the pit as might
De disposed TO dispute his own particular views.
Kemble finally had to come to terms with
the 20 P" party by restoring the old prices
in the Pit. The same unruly London audience
seventeen years later showed that its stand for
f@ANNC Nds hIIuOSl as unSlakaDle as fOr lower
prices. when It showered its wrath on the for
mer favorite, Edmund Kean, on his return from
America, and his ENHANCEMENT in an unsavory
episode with the wife of city Alderman, so
that the case Of Cox agt. Kean reached almost
the proportions Of State issue
Disdaining to hear the mutterings of the COM
ing tempest, he boldly returned TO Drury Lane
only TO be the central figure of an exhibition
disgraceful alike TO himself and to his audiences
Misses and hOMlS from those In
missiles Of all sorts falling thick and fast upon
the stage; Kean running forward glaring at his
tormentors and yelling words of vengeance that
could not be heard above the frightful din-such
was the wretched programme.
No less wretched was the programme in Amer
lea. whittier he went in an attempt to escape
the public displeasure. Here, too, the unyielding
champions Of virtue made such an uproar that
he could not be heard on his opening I'm New
York; and in Boston they assafed him with
brass balls apples, gingerbread and bottles filed
with assafoetida. The quarrel between Forrest
ana Macready begun in Edinburgh and trans
ferred to the United States occupies an unen-
viahly large space in American theatrical an
nails and gives to New-York audiences the high
ly unsavory reputation Of outdoing in their dav
ano generation the turbulence of those In Lon
don
There is. perhaps. more OF charm in the records
OF actresses, beginning with the virtuous Anne
Bracegirole, whom so many OF the wits and poets
OF Charles IFS London toasted and wooed and
fought about She was the first feminine Portia
II seems. replacing those boy actors who were
stil hourishing during her infancy. Indeed II
was Charles III who was kept waiting ar
the play by Edward Kynaston, one of the last
OF these bearded ladies. "Oddshshr' cried His
Majesty, why must waltz when there came
humble explanation from behind the scenes
the heroine was shaving. In reading Of lively