The times., 1901-03-31

Just want to see the way he looks az her
YOU know he was awfully I'm love with
her
When the next theatrical season opens
It is very probable that "a new star will
be flashing in the armament of shakes
pearean tragedy star OF magnitude.
| whose scintilations viii cause other bO-
dies in the theatrical haavens to pale into
the iusiguifcance OF nebulous desuctude-
May Irwin threatens TO play Juliet.
The making of this announcement Is
authorized by the hefty comedienne, who
has been scaling the attitudes of comedy
! for several years and who now poses on
| so lofty Il pinnacle of success that she
requires q spyglass to discern competitors
struggling below heF-sO her press agent
! states in a burst of confidence unusual
/ tdr one engaged in an occupation OF which
! the chief requisites are reticence and
! modesty.
But comedy has begun to pau on Miss
| Irwin. She is so funny at al times
! another betrayal Of the press agents con-
! hdence-thJt she has coptracted insomnia
! from sir IiuE up nights 10 laugh at the
| comiCal things that suggest themselves To
| her. This sort of thing. OF course. dis
! tresses her. for in this era Of snug hitting
/ garments il is impossible for one to laugh
silently in ones sleeve, ana her explosions
| of mirth are prone TO disturb other pa
while triumphantly In transit. therefore,
| Miss Irwin has about concluded to aban-
| don the merry gag, the footlght chortle;
! the gay quip. the festive comeback, ana
! other wiles of the Comedienne and nave
| herself warped into the balcony with other
why shouldn't play Juliet?" demands
| Miss Irwin. The public seems TO
want Juliets. Now. it has the bantam
weight in Miss ADAMS, the lightweight
| Juliet in Miss Arthur and the middle
| weight in Miss Marlowe. Why not a
| heavyweight Juliet? / could go on at the
| weight with less than three weeks tram
| ing and put up Juliet that would make
/ lot OF them quit. You know IL mas
| long been my ambition 10 close my stage
| career in the legitimate, and l think
| Juliet is a part that is just fitted To me
| / have given the character much study.
| and, although the part is heavier than
| my past work. so am i.
| Il think Juliet acted with consldera7
| BILE lack of judgment TO cut herself All
! up in the tomb when she found tnat Ro-
! meO had killed himself. Now. II l put
| the show on, l shall change the end OF
| the last act. / can't stand for that sui
| eide business. III have Juliet collect Ro-
| meo's life insurance and have a good
| time with the money.
Il have thought at times that other
| lines could be improved and some OF the
! situations and business could be better
| ed Now you know that show was hrSt
| put on long time ago. away back be
| fore Maurice Barrymore got into 'voad-
| veeI,' and they weren't quite the goodS,
| don't you understand They had lot
| to learn. For instance, when Juliet locks
| the door of her room and drinks UP
| LOT of done that the druggist fixed up for
| her, nobody knows what 1t is. II put
| on Juliet I'll have light Manhattan
| cocktail served for that potion scene.
| I'm looking over the cast of charac-
| ters / see they have one named Samp-
| son. Now. when / put on Juliet II give
| Schlcy and Dewey a show. too. / don't
| know that Sampson is so very many II
| he'd Just count himself. He's not the
| only admiral on the bridge. AND. speak
| ing of the cast. L think 1t would be bet
| ter from all standDoints. including the
| balcony. TO cast IgnacciO MaTtiuetu for
| Romeo, and Joseph Sparks for Mercutio.
| As fer the other characters II might be
| a good idea To work the Uncle Tom
! Cabin idea and have double company
| two nurses and fouE CaDulets. and all
| that Certainly if Maude Adams is en-
| titleO to one nurse ! ought TO have two
one TO guard each side of me. or they
| could take turns. four hours on watch
! that I have also been thinking that il
! might he feasible to get up an aH-star
| company and have Mabel FentOn, Marie
| Dressler. and myself cast for the Merry
| Wives of Windsor although. | suppose,
| there would be difficulty in finding some
| one to play the part of Mr.. Windsor.
| Il have an ambition to play repertoire
| too. ! had some thoughts of DeSdemona.
! You see if | play Juliet | couldn't intro
| duce my coon songs because Juliet had
! no voice. But as DesdemOna | could cut
| loose In that show | could have coon
| husband. OtheilO and when l start IN
| making dates with IagO l could give
! OthellO the laugh and sing All COons
! .0ok Alike 70 Me Then. later on. when
! he gets wrathy and starts TO hunt UP a
| new fiat l would sing, We'll. You May
1 Go. But This VIII Bring You Beck. and
] he'd have a chance to sing 1 Guess That
| VIII Hold You for a While when ne
| plants that pillow on my face After all.
| m beginning to think the DesGemona
| character would be the better of the two.
| don't want to drop my coon songs and
| that would give me chance to use
| them. I could sing ny new one to lago,
| I've Got Troubles of My own. and
[ OtheIlO and | could work IN q cake~dik
! and buck dances just before he hands me
| the feather bed and after the smotherinG
| scene Othello could ring in another new
| sing I've Laid Her on de Shell. Ihe
! more I think OF that DesdemOna Char5C-
| ter the more I like it,
The Rentz- -sautley is about the only
trademark left Of the multiplicity of
| attractions which NJ. B. Leayitt at one
| time owned and directed, and its survival
| ard popularity may in a large measure
| he attributed to the shrewdness of Abe
| Leavitt one of his brothers. who for
/ years was its advance agent. and who,
| when the crash came that sent his broth
| tr to the wall, practically assumed con
! troll Of the organization, and has tena-
| ciously cluug 10 it until today he enjoys
| something more tangible than Il reputa-
ton while his brother gets nothing but .
small royalty from the success ne found
| I'd a quarter of a century ago. Another
! 1rOther-Ben-Wh managed the ltcnJZ-
! Sint}eV company when Abe Was In dd-
vance died recently. but not before he
/ had established two theatres at PateF-
| son and acquired other interests when
| promised much more than h could have
| ever hoped for in NJ. Is. Leavitts service,
| from which he Withdrew, it might be
| stid. Just IN time
| Ii might he impossible to trace the
| cause of NJ 3. Leavitt's revsrses at this
| late day. although il has been scarcely
| sisht vourS since he was one of the lead
| ing and most responsible burleSque mana
| GERS. but his failure is no more reInaTkl-
| IIc than the success of men who were at
/ one time or another in hi5 service nota-
| the New York Casino and London ShafteS-
! pllry. vino was one of his manas gers.
| and the Kate sam T. Jack. who was one oT
! MS tr,gSurerS II may ne interesting To-
/ recall i'm this connection especially when
| the Rtntz-Santley is AN that survives,
| when he boldly booked the Lily Gay
| Company i'm his own name and turned 10
| advantage an attraction which NJ T.
| Ltdyitt had abandoned. but which ne
! eventually claimed. and for which ne de
| r1audcd rFcOmDeusc when he saw another
! succeed where he had failed
| The public often hears strange stories
| about he fabulous salaries paid oprrauc
| stars for appearing before Inc footliShts
| for about thirty minutes, the time ocCu-
| uied in dressing. etc. being. or course.
| irrowu in These amounts are often uu-
| doiibtediy exaggerated. but il Is a IaCt
| that the services of musicians ANA singers
| We're never valued as highly rs they are
| at present it seems 20 make 10 uiIter-
| rurt. whether "a man is "a singer or q play
| er: # he is at the top he can command his
rv,n sll3ry The star pianist can make