Evening star., 1901-12-07

| many seasons that an engagement mas
| opened so late Wednesday night.
| x y
| Last August there was a report to the
effect that David Belasco had purchased the
chateau which Nine. Du Barry once occu-
pied at Versailles. and which she built, to
spite his son. from funds bequeathed to her
by her royal adorer. This report not
| entirely correct, although with some
| foundation. When Mr.. Be!asco learned that
this famous chateau was for sale he Won
dered if it were not possible to procure for
the new play he was then writing for Mrs.
Leslie Carter many valuable relics and bits
of furniture which he had seen and ad-
mired during a visit to the chateau the
summer before. He wired his agent in New
| York to make an offer. and was given the
option OF purchasing such of the actual Du
| Barry furniture still remained, and such
architectural fixtures locks. hinges,
doors, windows. chandeliers, candelabra,
ETC.. as he felt could be utilized in Mrs.
| Leslie Carters new play.
| 1t is interesting to note that many arti-
c.es Of real historic interest will be used
in making and furnishing some of the
scenes. Mr.. Belasco exercised his option
! with good results There was, among
other things a famous old chandelier but
this proved too fragile for stage uses. and
| Mrs. Leslie Carter has hung it in ner
drawing room in New York. There were
an enormous set of brass locks ard hinges,
| which will be used in the play, and three
dHtleUt anu especially valuable specimens
| of Louis XIV furniture, a fireplace, a glazed
white commode, eIaborately decorated. and
a mahogany tea table ornamented with
chiseled bronze.
| Evidently that astute manager of operatic
! productions, Frank l.. Perley, has con-
| cluded that a single star attraction is no
| longer the shining beacon of success it for
merly was. Mr.. Perley's annoying expe-
| rience last season with the caprcious Alice
| Nielsen has caused him to change his meth
| DDS. Instead of a solitary but variable
| star. Mr.. Perley this season presents a con-
| stellation. Manager Perley, by methods
| known only to himself. has enticed from
| the operate concert and vaudeville stage
| list of principals that might be depended on
| to entertain with quip and song if libret-
! lists and playwrights had never been heard
| Of
| Walter Jones, always one of the most pop
| ular of stage good fellows, may not head
| the bills, but he has a unique record that
any actor might envy for he it was that
gave the stage a distinct and living char
| acter known as the stage tramp" This
| ncndescript creation of Jones fancy first
| saw the light in 1872" wherein he painted
| the Indigenous Americon hobo" in such
| vivid colors that the play-going world ap-
| plauded and Jones became famous in a
! night. Since that time countless imitators
have paid him the sincerest fiattery Mr.
| Jones should be willing to rest with his
/ ldurelS, as II Is given 10 1eW TO originate q
living character either in fiction or the
| drama. yet all reports agree that he has
| created another in THE Chaperons," equally
| as entertaining if not so original. in Alger-
non O'ShaunneSSE, d jolly-natured Celtic
figure studying rapid transit problems in
| Paris.
Another star in the Perley company is
the ever-popular singing comedian, Digby
| Bell, the mention of whose name recalls
the comic opera triumphs of the McCaull
and Duff opera companies, the varying
vicissitudes of the Dgby Bell opera com
| pany, the comedy dramas of "A Hoosier
Doctor" and Mrs. Burnett's 10 Hurst Cen
| ueman, and later successful season or
two in vaudeville. Mr.. Bell is now once
more In the style of part that won him
fame in opera. yet THE Chaperons' Is not
| represented to be an opera, but the frothiest
| of musical comedies.
Their there is the buffo-basso JOS c.
Miron. perhaps the only real basso buffo
| America has produced. Mirons singing
| voice causes the rafters to vibrate, and his
| comedy talent is so pronounced that he has
! been much-sought-after player for the
| blithe musical affairs on Broadway which
| George w. Lederer and Francis Wilson have
put on in recent years.
| Little Ed Redway, of whom much is
promised, Is known to be grotesque dancer
and tangle-tongued comedian of the Weber,
field type. He Is not so we'll known here
foc the reason that he has been playing
in George Edwardes' London company the
past five years.
| Templer SAKE, the English ba ritone to be
seen here for the first time, has been well
known in London theaters for ten years.
He has the unique distinction of being the
oniy male singer to serve underStudy for
a female star in the history of the stage
When the famous American contralto. Ag-
neI huntington, was scoring her English
success in Paul Jones' Mr.. SAKE under
| studied her so well that he was afterward
| starred in the provinces in Paul Jones'"
Nor should the women in Mr. Perley's
company be forgotten. At the head stands
ulted in her popular success in "A Run
away Girl and Three Little Lambs"
/ Miss Cahill's admirers declare her one of
the most "dressy' as we'll as artistic come
| diennes on the American stage
Little Eva Tanguay, a vivacious singer
and dancer. facetiously referred to as the
| emotional sOubrette,' by reason of her
extreme magnetism and buoyant PERSONAL
ity. is another Perley find and one that set
Broadway talking with her first appear
ance in New York last season. In Miss
Ianguay. Walter Jones and Ed Redway
The Chaperons" has a trio of grotesaue
funmakers that would puzzle any manager
| to duplicate.
The nearest approach to a prima donna in
Inc Cnaperons is found in dainty auburn
haired Louise Cunning, whose beautiful
| singing of Scotch ballads in high-class yau-
deviiie has made her known from coast to
| coast.
In the third act of Mistress Ner." the
play in which Miss Henrietta Crosman will
appear next week at Chase's Theater, that
actress in the title role appears unbidden
| at ball given by her rival in the affection
OF the king, the Duchess of Portsmouth
She comes in the disguise of staggering,
registering. love-making Irish gallant Beau
Adair, dressed in picturesque costume.
To thoroughly simulate the character and
| represent the country of her, or his, sup
| posititious birth. Miss Crosman speaks with
| a rich Irish "brogue," and this is so per-
feet ana so redolent of the "old sod that
1t has caused astonishment and not little
curiosity. Those who initiate Irishmen on
the stage often give ofYense to representa-
tives of the race by merely vocaIly carl
caturing an accent which is nearly al
ways pleasing to the ear. Not so with
Miss Crosman Her "brogue'' is soft and
sweet. and satisfying to those who speak
| it naturally.
MISS Crosman was never in Ireland but
she studied the Irish brogue at the feet of
master. as 1t were. She is the daughter
| OF Major George H. Crosman who won
fame for his work in the winning of the
west. Hef childhood was spent with her