The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-24

4 - AIODS'oAi ellto SOIupduJ.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Nicholas Van Alstyne-
Mr.. Maclyn Arbuckle
Dr. Parke Wainwright. Mr.. Charles Lane
Nicholas Van Alsyne Jr.-
po.+,o w. Mr., Russ whytal
Lord Arthur Trelawney. an
The Rsn Rev Dr. Murray A Nit Clifford Leigh
Watson Flint. Mr.. Charles R. Gilbert
Mrs cornelia opdyke-
Rose Van Alstyne - Miss EstelIe. Garter
Agnes Lockwood. Miss Mary Realty
Lady Mary Trelawney-
Miss Laura Thompson
1t Is not always to an actors adj
vantage to make too pronounced hit
IN some one particular part Whenever
such thing happens, the public is quite
hkeiy to measure his future efforts by
! It's recollection of his success in the crea-
ton That appealed most strongly to It's
liking, and refuse to be satisfied with
ANYTHING but type of character cognate
| with the one that evoked it's admira-
/ ton. 1t may, indeed, go even further
and refuse to applaud any effort at Sc
| nous work. and make it's patronage con-
| ditiona1 either from it's revival of the old
-,
written into new play. The result of
! this is, necessarily, to dwarf the actor
| and to repress his talent
No one doubts, for instance that Jo-
seph Jefferson is one of the most thor
| oughly equipped comedians that has ever
tired the boards of an American theater.
! and that he is capable of giving a most
| delightful Interpretation to the best work
! of the best authors Unfortunately for
| himself, he made the name and character
| OF Rip Van Wrinkle famous and it is as
| the dissolute, good-natured, knd-heart-
| ed Dutchman that he win be remembered
Had he not scored so heavily he might
| nave attempted something more worthy
| OF his ability; for it will be admitted that
| the play which has been built upon r.
| Wings story is but poor thing, at the
| best, and lacking in all the elements that
| make for excellence in dramatic writing
| Sol Smith Russell, it will be remembered
| once essayed the production of me
| Old English comedy, and failed. He had
! been before the people too long as the
/ delineator of Yankee characters, and the
people would not allow him to disasso-
| ciate himself from the well known roles
/ IL was as the exponent of types that are
| indigenous to the American soil that he
Won his reputation and he will probably
be obliged to confine his work to this
| limited class so long as he continues to
appear Denlnd the f0OtllghtS.
! Some years ago-how many it might
| not be courteous to set down In cold
heartless figures-Mr. Stuart Robson, al
| most the only remaining member of that
! school of virile comedians of which Mr.
! Jefferson is still the dean, appeared in
| a four-act comedy written by Mr.. Bron-
son Howard and entitled '"rhe Henrfet-
ia His success in impersonating the
| gilded, good-natured scion of a house
l wa 6p of NolI
| was instantaneous and well deserved
Perhaps it is not too much to say that
i Mr.. Robson was then, and is today the
only man in the profession who could
have taken the character and breathed
| into it the breath of life. For several
seasons he used the play, but finally put
| it aside and gave his attention to other
parts. In all of these, too, he met with
| success in varying measure; but through
the years that have passed there has been
| a continuous and insistent call for 1.-THE
] Henrietta" and, yielding to the popular
! clamor, he has brought out the piece
| and given it sumptuous revival. The
| first production was witnessed at the
Metropolitan last night.
| If it were not that another generation
| Of theater goers has sprung up since Mr.
Robson first gave 1.-The Henrietta to
| the public, it would be a waste of time
| itself. When it was in the heyday of it's
| popularity there was none who pretended
to any knowledge of matters dramatic
! who was not cenyerSant with plot, story,
and situation. For the benefit of those
! to whom it will be new. it may be said
! that it is easily one of the very best
| comedies ever written. To a certain ex-
tent it mirrors the heartlessness of Wall
| street, the strivings for gain, the siren
that nd hat
! great artery of the commercial life Of
] the nation, whose every pulse beat is felt
| around the world. The situations are
| often strained ruins despair, treachery,
| even tragedy, 3urk in the background.
But just as theispeetafor has braced him
| self for the shock which seems inevitable,
! the scene changes, the action takes an
unexpected turn, and the tension disap-
pears before burst. of the purest COM
| edy. Light and shadow, pathos and
| laughter. are so deity woven into the
warp and wool of the drama that it is
almost impossible to say which pre-
! ponderates To crown all it's other excel
| lencies, there is not a suggestion of the
Topographic or prurient from beginning
| to end. 1t is as pure as the air that
floats around the peak of some snow
capped mountain, and as sparkling as a
| springfield rfvulet. No one after witness
Ing its performance will find it hard to
! understand why ever since it was writ
! ten, it has been the standard by which
| comedies are judged, or why, when it
| is said of new piece, ct is as good
| as The Henrietta superlative praise
his been bestowed.
| In reviving the play, Mr.. Robson has
| not been niggardly, and his production
! is most fifty characterized by the one
| word "sumptuous." The men and women
around whom it is built are the possess
| ors of millions, and the settings are those
| one might expect to find in the homes
where money and taste are to be found
| There was a quiet elegance and lack
| of ostentation that was pleasing to the
| eye. The color scheme was subdued, the
! costumes rich and handsome, and the
scenic environment everything that could
| be desired
| There is no need to write of Mr.. Rob
son. He is too welh known in ST. Paul
| to make any description Of his work
necessary. He is still the possessor of all
| those little peculiarities of voice and
| gesture that have established him so
| firmly in the popular favor. Perhaps as
| "Bertie, the Lamb these are accentu-
| ated to a. greater degree than in any of
the roles in which he has been seen re-
Gently, and this for the reason that the
! part allows them. The funny lisp, the
| half-stammer with which he reads, the
| break in the voice when he really be-
| GENES interested, the play of the emo
tIons across his mobile facial these
| Mr.. Robson retains in their integrity
| 1t was easy to see that he was nervous
last night, owing to the performance be-
| ing the first ofFthe season, but even this
| did not mar his work or lessen the eff
| fectivenesS of his acting. He has never
4 70 hot oHxrof Tor