Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-03
DRAMA

one dose cured me. then Joined Charles
IS PLAYING
The following season l assumed the part
of General Kenyon in The Girl Left Be
hind Me at the Empire Theater. New
York, and later on Sir Anthony Absolute in
The Rivals with Mrs. John Drew. l was
afterward engaged by Broadhurst Brothers
to create the part of Smith in Why Smith
Left Home Made long tour of the
United States and went to London for four
months. l have the greatest possible faith
in the success of The Sprightly Romance
of Marsac' and think it is destined for a
long run
Blanche Bates, the leading lady of the
Lafayette Square Stock Company, Is an en-
thusiast on Henrik Ibsen the literary sage
of Norway, whose dramas have exerted
| more influence on the stage of today than
the works of any recent dramatist. Miss
Bates is thinking of producing one of the
best of the Ibsen plays at special Friday
| afternoon matinee during her engagement
with the Lafayette company, in which case
she anticipates duplicating the success she
| scored in a similar venture in Los Angeles
last spring a year ago. On that occasion
| Miss Bates produced 'Hedda Gabler' en-
acting the principal role, managing the
stage and looking after the finances her
self. 1t was such a profitable venture that
she tried Ibsen in San Francisco several
self and the Norwegian appreciated by
| large audience.
! Washington has never had very much
| Ibsen, the two solitary occasions the dra-
| mas of the Norwegian were presented here
| having been A performance of 1.-The Dolls
| House" at the Grand Opera House five or
six years ago, with Beatrice Cameron (Mrs.
| Richard Mansheld) in the leading role; and
| then again last spring, when 1.-THE Master
Builder was produced. with Florence Kahn
in the leading feminine role. 'Hedda Cab
| ler' has therefore never been presented in
this city. and as it is one of the strongest
| Of the 1bsen plays it should make quite
impression. The play is essentially one for
a feminine star. and offers fine opportuni-
| ties for a leading woman. In this play
| Hedda Gabler is a young woman who has
| studied domestic economy with a young
man, before each of them married Their
| studies in domestic economy must have
| been of a peculiar character for Hedda
| describes an attempt she made to shoot
| him just before she married an enthusiastic
! but short-sighted scientist. What Isben
i meant when he wrote it has caused much
| discussion. as have all of his books. Wash
! ington will probably have chance to pass
| judgment upon the play at a special Friday
matinee in the next few weeks when the
| most prominent American interpreter of Ib
sen will assume the leading role.
At the Academy of Music there is a star
who deserves more than passing notice.
Just plain 'Dink" is the unpretentious
! name OF this performer. he Is q common
canine Of shaggy hair and without pride
of ancestry yet he is the greatest perform
| ing dog in this country. On the street he
| might be kicked aside as an ordinary, ugly
| good-for-nothing cur, yet this famous high
| diving dog has earned for the past two
| years $1,000 every twelvemonth, and will
probably keep earning this amount for
some time to come.
q first got my idea of teaching a dog
to dive about five years ago, said Mr..
| Herbert, the other evening. TT was at
a time when high diving and bridge jump
ing were at the height of popularity. l had
| been n trainer OF animals all my life. and
when this hgh-diving became a fad I had
the idea of teaching dog to do it. l tried
| all sorts of dogs, but failed. l decided the
idea impracticable, and 1 gave it up
| But meanwhile l had been teaching Dink
| all sorts of tricks for stage use, and, find
ing in him a faithful and affectionate ami
NAL l brought him home to have him
| around the house. This dog proved all
had expected of him, and we became great
| ly attached to each other L soon learned
| to know all his moods and characteristics
as he knew mine. One day he was sitting
at the third-story window of my house
| when | CHANGED to come along The win
dow was open and l called to him. With
out any hesitancy he jumped down and
landed squareiy in my arms. Immediately
my old idea of diving dog came back to
| me. and l resolved to teach Dink to do It,
l got ladder and showed him how to
climb it step by step. He seemed to take
| naturally to it, and in short while was
| able to perform the trick in public. This
was two years ago, and he has been doing
| il ever since.
| My collection now includes besides Dink
| thirty dogs, comprising English and Italian
| greyhounds, the beautiful Spanish poodles,
| Irish settlers and other breeds. They were
| greatly admired by the large feminine por-
ton OF Mr.. Hashim's patrons this week.
| who took advantage of the management
invitation to view them behind the scenes
after the matinees. The same invitation is
extended to ladies and children for the
coming week Furthermore if any owner
of dog wishes information to how to
train his pet. l will be only too pleased to
meet him after the matinees and give him
the necessary knowledge
Did you ever stop to think that success
sometimes may be won by not dong?'
asked Clarice Vance, the southern singer
at Chase's this week. Seems paradoxical
| doesn't it?" she continued And yet, per-
haps that is the explanation of whatever
of success people are kind enough to say
have attained. Stage business is a pecul-
| lar and often ephemeral thing at best
| 1t may be achieved by positive and direct
effort, by the antithesis of refraining from
| certain kind of effort and on the middle
ground of doing something in a different
| way from that adopted by others.
THE singing of coon songs before l took
| them Up in vaudeville had become estab-
| lished upon certain lines in which acrobatic
| pyrotechpicS, DUCK steps and cakewalkng,
! awkward gesticulation and shouting were
most conspicuous, and probably not one in
hundred who heard them sung in this
manner thought 1t possible to present them
differently. Although this style was not a
faithful reproduction of southern customs,
1t became for a time immensely popular
and when I announced to a few friends
that I purposed to sing coon songs with
out one of these accomplishments they
looked what they were too kind to say
that 1 was crazy. had an idea, however,
and with womanly obstinacy was deter
mined to test it. My career, my present
standing and reputation, may perhaps be
| permitted to tell if l right"
| COMING ATTRACTIONS.