The St. Louis Republic., 1900-11-04
~ TECE9
\ [5:E+s:.2s| E+s:.2 ~
= Z u NlAN~ %"- >
DLANS for the Seasons
L Opera at Music Hall
The Music Festival to
Open To-Morrow Evening
Some Personal Sides.

There Is ueat in she announcement tha!
Mr. Eierard Mansfield lS.re hr.E- lis hiG
production al Henry y To s. Louis early
in January.
Discriminating gentlemen who have seen
.'Hcnry " In New York say that it IS In
all respects surprising stage effort It ]"
rich IN rag.sutiy. accurately artistic and
adequate IN hoth acting and number -
actors.
The cities that niil have ali of ;he orig
inal production. from Mr.. Mansfield down
IN the last surcrnumerary. are. aside from
New York. Chicago. philadelphia =. Louis
and Pittshuyg.
Although IT Is not probable that any per-
son III the audiences which are tn greet
Anna Held during the coming week at the
Olympic VIII: have seen the piece before.
'Papa's Wife" the advertised adaptation
of Harry Il. Smith and Reginald dc Eoyon,
was done in this country more than twenty
years ago The name of the prolific iIenne-
quin occupied the authors pl.i.e ou the
programmes when Jufic presented IT in 1871
or 1873 at the Boston Thoarcg. The Song
CT the Colonel" u selection from Hery,lz
original score. has been retained in ''Papa's
Wife" \ second French vaudeville that
figures notably in Mc- Smiths plot is
Ma ',n'sele Nitouche." This comedy was
translated into English, and habitues of
the theaier will remember that for a con-
siderable period ii was part Of ,hc Lot,a
repertoire.
Miss Alice Nielsen is the hest boy now
singing in America She is as boyi4h IN h.r
knickerbockers as ever Helen f5ertram was
and a wee bit the better actress. Her nat
!onase at the Olympic Theater last week
was enormous.
The audience at yesterdays matinee flied
all three floors, which brings the su=grs-
fion that galleries Of shirt waists are quite
as common these days as galleries with
shirt sleeves
1t was announced some time ago that
Jorimer Stoddards dramatization Of T.
Marion Crawford's novel IN tho Palace
Of the King would be published as soon
as Misc Viola Allen presented il UpoT: the
stage This is mistake. and Miss Aliens
objections 10 its publication appear to rest
. on solid ground.
= 1t is a well-known fact that ii is rarely
If ever the case that a play escapes slight
revision after the first few performances.
When the play is published these changes
are readily detected and much unnecessary
ado made over them. Some people crrone-
ously imagine that a slight clipping of the
text or any addition to it in spots is an ad-
mission that the play was failure in its
original form. When the play is not pub
iished these amendments are not discover
able: nobody is the wiser.
In former times. however. the sale Of u
published play was one OF lne author ;
chief sources of income The reason for
this vas very likely, that in u:tar and
so-caled golden days dramas Were writ
ten in rhyme or blank verse. The play
then had an interest outside OF its value as
:: medium for sta@e use.
But there Is still another and more i'm
portant reason Tor the nonpub!ication of
q play. at least while it ia being used on
the stage. Ii is Il weli-knOwu fact that act
urs ar. thrown into a state OF panic when
il is known that somebody in the audience
has copy of the printed play and is fol-
lowing them in their lines. For the prompt
er to have the book i'll his hands gives the
performers assurance. hut the fd;t that an
auditor is doing mimic prompt duty and
keeping tab on the performers IS sure 10
result in the t?md being upset and dis
co:niited. Even the conscientious and
thoroughly prepared actor IS apt 10 be dis
concerted when he hears the ;iuttgr OF
leaves being turned over in the tneater
and discovers that his speeches are being
followed, line :or line and word for word
by critics armed with the authors text On
such occasions his memory IS much inclined
TO play him false. ana sudden nervous
ness VIII often mar his best efforts. To the
player Of ready wit. who is able TO supply
words when his memory fails him, the sense
that his sins and failings are liable to
strict note and discovery. is grievuUsly dis
tfeSSinc.
The approaching season OF twenty-one
weeks of opera at Music Hall gives promise
of being unusually good. The success which
the enterprise met last year has resulted IN
heavy expenditures being made with more
confidence by the management, and several
notable Improvements will he seen when the
doors are thrown ouen. Not only are The
popular favo,iteS of las: year retained as