The times., 1901-04-21


farce comedy exploited by Frank Mckee.
The Star and Garter" in which were
Introduced Otis Harlan, Joseph Coyne,
Marie Cahiii, and large number of 9TH
or capable entertainers, proved a fiasco
as laughter provoker, although 1t serv-
cd admirably for its chief purpose, which
was to present the August family of
jugglerS Matthews and BuIger in THE
Night of the Fourth" and Marie Dress
Ter ia Miss Print" did not get as far
as Washington on their travels, so local
theatre patrons had no chance to pass
judgment on their offerings.
Mrs. Fiske continued her crusade
against the theatrical syndicate, and on
this account was not seen in Washington
during the year. She has been appearing
principally in the smaller cities of the
country, where she has att.ined a great
popularity Stuart Robson, Otis Skinner.
James X. Hackett, N. =. Goodwin, and
olga Nethersole retained their last sea
sons plays for their use this year and
the local appearance of each star was
noteworthy by reason of good financial
results. The year saw OTIS Skinner. one
OF the best of the native actors, firmly
established as a favorite here. Ben
Hur, the stage version of the Lew Wal
lace story, was seen in New York, Ptlila-
delphia. and Boston during the season
and is still crowding the Colonial Thea
tire in the last named city. 1t is expect
ed that the big spectacle will be sent on
the road next season, in which event
Washingtonians will undoubtedly enjoy
engagement in 'L'Aiglon," "Cyrano de
Bergerac," and Camille was not par
ticularly successful, pecuniarIy, on ac-
count of the 81 charged for seats. The
visit of these two eminent players served
TO demonstrate that the native stage pro-
ducers have but little to learn from the
French, while the art OF Rernhardt shows
no evidence of diminishing with adVanc-
ing years. Coquelin. in the name part in
'Cyrano,' was a revelation and a con-
slant delight and his acting was one of
the chief pleasures of the engagement.
Some OF the more prominent stars pre-
sented new offerings during the season,
the one most worthy of recollection
being Mr. Mansfield whose Henry W.
high development of American stage man
agement that has ever been displayed in
this city Ada Rehan, the former favorite
OF the Daily organization, showed her con-
ception of Nell Gwyn in Paul kester s
play, Sweet Nell of Old Drury" with not
a little success. Blanche Walsh, who was
last seen locally in some of the late Fanny
Davenport plays tried a romantic piece
'Marcelle," in New York. but it proved
to be one of the most pronounced failures
OF recent times, and was quickly taken off
and Miss Walsh revived Julia Arthur's s
play More Than Queen" The KeIcey-
Shannon company presented a weepy sort
of play by Mrs. Madeline Lucette Ryley
and called My Lady Dainty" but it fall
ed to attract sufficiently large audiences 10
snow balance on the right side of the
ledger, and it was withdrawn in favor of
dramatic version of "Manon Lescaut," A"
which likewise was denied a vogue. r. II.
SOthern's production of Hamlet was one
of the most pleasant events of the year
and in the name part the former matinee
idol demonstrated that he is without any
exception the best Danish prince that has
been seen since Edwin Booth.
Willie Collier, the comedian, was well
fitted in "On the Quiet" by Augustus
Thomas, and in New York this spring the
quaint comedian" repeated the success ne
scored In this city. May Irwin made her
first failure in New York since she became
a star when she tried THE Belle Of
bridgeport, but she readily realized its
deficiencies and substituted "Madge Smith,
Attorney which was not a great deal
better, although il served to bring large
audiences to the theatres in which she
played.
Locally, the introduction of a stock
company at the Lafayette Opera House
has been one of the peasurable incidents
of the year Mr.. f. G.. Berger secured a
good company and while the perfor-
manceS were excellent. for a time Wash
ingtonians fought shy of them, and after
some months trial, Mr.. Berger turned
the company over to the stage director
Walter Clarke Bellows. and Thomas d.
Long, and from the first week of the
change big business prevailed During
the season many admirable presentations
have been made at this theatre and the
members of the organization have become
great local faVoriteS. This week will mark
the farewell of the Bellows company. al
though Mr.. Berger will once more take
up the reinS of management and conduct
his own company during the heated term.
review Of the year would be fncom-
plete without a mention of the season of
musical comedy that Manager Luckett
VIII give at the Columbia Most of the
pieces that will enlist the services of
what promises to be a very strong COM
pany Of singers and comedians, have
been previously presented at Daly's Thea
tre, New York. and will include The
Runaway Girl The Circus Girl" THE
Geisha, etc The season will be inaugu-
rated May 6, and it is expected will con-
tinue for six or eight weeks
One Of the most refined. intellectual.
and highly interesting offerings of the
vaudeville season is the condensed version
of Nell Gwyn' which was presented by
Fanny Rice last week al the Grand The
sketch is the work of Robert Griffin Nor
ris and aside from the interest which the
character is exciting consequent upon the
London craze and the rivalry between
Henrietta Crosman and Ada Rehan over
here. Miss Rces sketch is notable for it's
excellent Interpretation and careful and
artistic mounting. Fine tapestries, an
tique furniture, and costly ornaments
have been provided at no small expense
and the little play may be reck0ned
among the best offerings Of the year at
the Chase house. Fanny Rice has al
ways been favorite with the American
public, which is quick to recognize and
to acknowledge ability, and she has been
responsible for a number of bright sketch
es and clever portrayalS. She has indi-
Viduality and a certain piquanCy that
lend charm and fascination to her work.
Her dramatic ability has long since been
determined and in her recent playlet she
has added another characterization which
certainly merits approval and cOmmenda-
ton. A Times representative found
Miss Rice in her dressing room one night
last week and Nell Gwyn formed the
chief topic of a very pleasant chat.
There is no end of Nell Gwyns, said
the actress, but in one particular my
Nell is all by herself l am the only
actress who is making her lame l
sprained my ankle week ago in jumping
from the improVised throne and so have
discovered defect in Nell's gait which
historians failed to mention. But Seri-
ouSy, four years ago a Nell GWyn play
was submitted to me by a Chicago dram
atist That was long before the London
craze. / considered it for a long time,
but ultimately refused il. The author.
however declared that ! was the ideal of
the character in point of complexion, hair,
and figure. Yet one of the papers here
said that 1 am too large for the part"
Miss Rice deicately refrained from men,
tioning the name of the paper, which, as
a matter of fact, happened TO be the one
for which she was talking.
However, she resumed, 4 have read
every book relative to Nell GWyn that |
could get hold of, and everything de-
of her time, environment, or in
any way pertaining to her. l have studied
IL all that l might more closely portray
the actress. Nell is an interesting char
acter, with bouudless possibilities, and
1t is strange that she has not been made
the subject of play before now. NV
it embodieS almost as much as a long
play. Nells character, disposition, and