The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-04
PLAYS THAT HAVE PASSED.
NONE or me TOTR wAS ETHicALLf
Either man OR Low.
They Had No Better Nor Worse rurpo''
Than Polite Amusemrnt-The Least sue.
,r,.fni Among Them win BE Remembered
l,ur..t-rhe Demand for Comic opera.

rhn, ia unusual. One deduction IL that a gre"'
deaf OF acceptable diversion is now on cur snse'
on the four pieces that passed on with Ihs' nigh''
rsp%. ,itions, the least successful was not a nasoo,
and two were positively prosperous None Oh
them was ethiCally either high OF low ihey
pro'essod no better nor worse purpose non P"'
IA, amusement. They were clever compositions
by practical authors. they contained nothing
p,rniciop, and they gave pleasure to most OF
the quarter Of a million people comprised IN 'heif
nudienca rwo u these PLAYS, The MahrhVfes
of Jane and "Ths~ls Within Wheels wet' es'
nmples Of the bes, work that is now being zone
by London playwriShts Henry Arthuf 'oheS
in the one and II, {. Carton IN the DINER "to'e
in the satiricsl spirit which has OF lee feS'r'
u,o, ENGLISH authors Of theatrical ~ictions, They
ycr. realistic In d'lineating the average men
aud rono, of fsshionab,, society. They made
no one altogether vlrtdoHs ~ vI,lous Inc per
so,,pes were such as We NEE, in everyday life
They did nothing unreasonable" Being mus
barred from extraordinary conduct, they could
40, ali, us pro.oundly. We could neither ad-
mir. or despise them unquali6edly. But they
amused us very much Great dramas are not
a possible produc, under such conditions ou'
,hesc we're merely com edies OF the modern London
tyte. and they appealed TO the tasteful and the
molish horizons ot the public, Their heroines
were no, too circumspect 10 elope with their lovers
hut they did no, go so far aStray that they couId
no, "a s,ly return 10 thotr homes, nor do anything
shoc,inc to see while going as far As they went
They were a girl Disconnected with raidpnhood
and a 20 ing wife dissatisfied with ma,finlony'
Their traits, motives and behavior were interest,"
ing through uneNagSer,ted natnralness f"r
ths sam, reason these two casual young wom'I'
agreeable acuuaintauCes though they Werc' '"
soor be forgotten. They were no NOR" n"
cu,iar than the average Of femitinity In actual
,is ~. suent evenings VI pleasant rast,me
with them and thei, families, but the occasions
v.,s mot memorable. ito yry-r, as achievements
In nsa, and nc, siagecrait, from the Writing
OF the first line by the author TO the speaking
@, the last one hv the actor, these two English
comedies were deserving q fall the favor accorded
TO them.
Iess ncu,nrious and therefore less liked was
The Cowboy and the Lady NevertheltsS'
Cowboy Goodwin and lady Elliott will he remeri'
bered for what they Did IN that pay at the hncAer'
booker long after We Hre unable 10 rrcoVect who
enacted the lovers lately at llaiy sand the Madison
S1uaT, The big Burr Mcintosh rarchman ana
,hr little Minnie purrr wait, with thtIr flannel
and calico, will stay IN our hearts when the IRA
,nr room swee,hcarts IN lruaG,loth and saun
hive faded from our minds. clyde fiichs
taul, in this play was not weakness Of
characterization III. creations were clear
And strong lie SGT them IN motion effect
u,lly IN the first act That portion Of the piece
h.d As much OF border hreeGinrss and free human
nature ns Bret ilartc ever put into a story, To
be sure. they were a familiar set the brave and
strong cowboy with the culture OF a collegian
and the manners of a dude, the Indy with trans
cendcnt boauty and a brutal husband, the orphan
girl adopted by y lot Il rough fronlictsmcn ard
suitors for her hand, the hLlEing Hercules with
tho hear, Of a CUPID the dance house mistress,
the half breed Indian and other Western types.
Nor was Il original 10 have the hero. as yet de-
spised and derided by the heroine, save her from
being thrown down n precipiCe by a runaway
horse. and then modrs,lv conceal his bravery
from her But the old IDEAS were put forward
with yivacioua humor, hearty senumen and
new details. The setting NJ The stage, with o
rocky foreground, n deep rav'ne back Of that, and
high mountains in the distance, wassuch u rugged
environment that the incidents of the spoiled
cocktails and the penalty for profanity were
not unseemly when the fine lady kissed every
coarse man except the right one, IN her endcavor
TO give a thank you token TO the saver of her
life. it did not look at all forward IN her and the
OILY regret felt was that her grateful lips did
not find the cheek Of the fellow who had earned
them. Nor did the climax ot the act have q the
atric aspect, 50 fitting wers the circumstances,
when the cowboy submitted his broken arm
n the torturine Kindness NJ amateur surgery
and the vaif girl sang His pet ballad to divert
him in his pain. The curtain never fell without
spontaneous applause on that picture n rude
life. with It's tender touch Of feminine sympathy.
But. alas, that was Tn, last Of the hearty approval
some laughter ensued, but no tenrs, ard several
things seriously meant were merrly reoived.
The audiences were not much depressed when,
At the end Of the second oct, the cowboy falsely
accused himself NJ numbering the lndy's husband
in order to save her from arrest. Neither were
they greatly ela,cd when, ns tho result of the
,rial in the third act, he was proved innocent.
II this drama could ho changed end for end in
interest, So ~ n substitute cres-endo for dimin.
uendo. il would not have disappeared from the
stage last night Why not try it a. n special
matinee with the last act first and the first act
LAST That would h" as interesting an expert.
mprt as The Master Builder" WAS at the hide
pendent Thratro. and quite rs Ineligible.
The fourth play TO derart from oar stage was
"'rhree Little Lambs thcmusic, farce by r \.
Barnet and others, the unnamed ones being ths
various contributors ofturcs. The London Gairty
method was applied to the making Of this enter
,Ainment That IS To say, no single musician
wasdopendedo on for the score. Noneof our Amer
can composers seems versatile enough to supply
oil the f~rCetious and sentimental, light ard heavy,
required for such pieces. That has been the most
gricvous lack in our native comic or.ras cur
extrayaganzas, taking their tunes lum Tom,
Dick and Harry by purcl aSe OF purluininc. have
had the needed diversity Of notes. Sou.a's
marches will not answer the purpose alone, nor
will Herherts ensembles. hut either ~, them.
supplemented by three or four simple air. as
haunting as those hat the rsC,imc hnllndists
put out for the %populnce, would be tremendously
successful, The theatrical public is hungry for
light, trivial, but tune!ul muse. II is true, also.
that our comic opera hbrett0s are unoririnnl in
themes, low In humor, seldow witty at all, And
contemplate generally But the lack Of really
diyerting music is still more grevous Such
merits As the scores contain are usually technical.
and for musically expert ears alone tn appreciate
We haven't \ Sullivan, able to attune any verse
suitably nor M OfenhHch ur n Strauss. carsb'
Of pulunE atleast one ca puvAunG melody irtorach
work h. takes In hand, but II seems az though
a manager, with n good hhwio On an Amer-
can subject 10 start with. might obtain from here
md there among such ballad makers and band
masters aS We have a set II suitably di y-rs. tunes.
There would b. n fortune IN = slriklrgly original