The Washington times., 1901-10-20
week. rewriting and rearranging the

week. rewriting and rearranglng the
different scenes of the piece
The last act. az originally PLAYED. left
the audience in doubt as to the success
of Croyden's candidacy for Governor of
New York. but on Wednesday night Croy-
den was elected by a rousing majority
| Other scenes were considerably changed.
and the chances are that By the time the
play is ready for its metropolitan opening
1t will be in much better shape than on
the night of the premiere.
Miss de WoIfes ;trst performance was
marred a great deal by her nervousness
ana she was not able to do anything
like the work she was capable OF Never
possessed OF a great amount Of magnet
ism. she displayed less of this vitally
requisite quality Tuesday night than on
any ether LEGAL appearance. but before
the play was many days old she gave a
dScldeoly improved performance. and
Whlle many persons with undoubted abil-
itlcs in the critical line deemed THE Way
of the World" as given Tuesday night a
failure, after Playwright Fitch had taken
ltw WhackS at the production with his
! liue pencil there was vast change for
the better. and as presented last night II
was IN many respects a new piece.
Inc theatreSoers of the metropolis will
NE gwen an opportunity to see Miss de
! Wolfe in the new Fitch play sc7ne time
in November, at Wallack's Theat,e. after
James X. Hackett concludes his engage
ment.
Peter F. Daley closed his season in Au-
gustus Thomas farce champagne
Charlie" last night in Philadelphia II
Weber & Fields do not take him back
into their music han company the
chances are that the rotund comedian
VIII soon be headlner in the vaudeville
business.
Manager Kernans patrons are being
ffVr- l,s.I
burlesque shows this season. With the
exception of few attractions the per-
| formances at the Lyceum have been a
great deal more meritorious than ever be-
fore, and as the management claims that
I a number of uncommonly excellent or
ganizations are yet to appear at this pop
ular s.ouse the chances are good for the
} Lyceum clientele witnessing the very best
burlesque entertainments that have been
brought to Washington for some time
| 1t is a well-known fact that a oonjurers
| effort that is apparently mysterious and
difficult of accomplishment is In reality
the simplest thing in the world-when un-
derstood.
The audiences that attended Chase's
last week and enjoyed the performances
I of Horace Goldin, the magician, marveled
at the trick by which he produced a fish
at the end of pole and line, and in full
view of the audience. Mr.. Goldin took
advantage of the credulity of the public
and announced the trick as a most diff
cult one. when. as a matter of fact, While
the results were quite astonishing, there
was not a small boy in any of the au-
diences during the week that could not
have performei the act as wei as Goldlh
himself.
All that was REQUIRED was a rod. in the
lI. Of Irfs 81 gr-ar
in which live fish were kept for space
of five or ten minutes-until the trick was
reached in the programme-a piece OF
stout twine and the magical bait Whlch,
in this instance. was small brass tube
which enclosed fish made of fine silk,
with the tail weighted with a small piece
After attaching the bait 10 the line.
all the magician had to do was to give
the pole sharp jerk. releasing the sIlken
fish from the shell and causing II TO
wriggle in the air though 1t were alive.
1t was then d comparatively easy mat
ter to give the idea of the fish slipping
through the hands while being unlocked,
while at the Sar1e time the conJurer was
very busy indeed opening one of the COM
Dartments in the handle of the rod, secur-
ing live fish, which he threw into
bowl of water and repeated the trick, 10
the intense wonder and delight of his
audience
Mr. Vincent Crummles, the portly and
pompous theatrical manager of Dickens
creation, prided himself even more upon
the surprising realism of his tubs of real
water than upon the marvellous precocity
of his infant Phenomenon. Thus ever
has the purely speculative and sordid dra-
matte producer subordinated the artistic /
to the material.
5ut the up-to-date manager has learned |
a thing or two. He realizes that the day |
has gone by when mere pictorial splen- |
dors will carry a play to enduring sue |
cess, any more than clever acting Will /
atone for tawdrv embellishments or SLOW !
emily. slipshod scenic effects. The play |
goers of the period demand great deal |
for their money, and they get it. In fact, |
they have received So much that they are |
disposed to view with increased apathy |
and indifference the me st finished pro- /
ducts of the brain and prodigal eXpendi-
ture. of all the arts employed in modern
sta gecraft-and il seems to have closely /
approached its limit of perfcction-nOne is
so difficult as the art of initiating nature.
1t has, however been reduced to an eX-
act science and requires an immense
amount Of study and practical develop
ment.
William A. Brady is one of tne most
adroit and generous stage producers in the
country, and although quite young, has
come into national prominence. 1t was
he who first revealed in Way Down
when the stage snowstorm consisted OF !
a sitting of cut paper from a perforated
revolving cylinder in the flies. 1t settled |
down with unnatural partiality upon the !
distr6 ssed heroine in the black dress with
white collar and cuffs-the honored stage
trappings of woeful and outraged woman
hood-Gnd left her surroundings as bare
as Mother Hubbards tabled cupboard.
Brady changed all that. He substituted
salt. resembling fine. dry snow, blown
Though huge cyli iIders by means of cleo
tric fans 1t went driving and whirling
pass the windows of the old farmhouse |
as if borne on the wings of a bowling gale.
A dozen men, four of them electricians, |
We're needed to produce this effect. The |
audience shivered and settled down in
It's furs and upturned coat collars when |
the Way Down East snowstorm inaug- |
lrated "a spell of weather"
In Lovers Lane there are no in |
'olved mechanical or sensational devices. !
There are no sinking ships, boiler eXplo- |
ions or buzZ-saw disasters. But there
re three outdoor effects, in as many sue
essive acts, which have been pronounced |
'ery beautiful and uncOmmonly faithful |
n their realism. one of these represents |
he main street in the quiet, humdrum lit
le village of EddYSVille. typical of scores |
II quaint New England hamlets. There
S the dingy little general store, with the ,
eaSy-Soing, loquacious gos-
ip of proprietor. Flankiug 1t upon the
me side is the district school, from {
which the children troop at recess time
o engage in childish chickering's and |
ports. Opposite is the billboard. upon
Which the local "opery house manager.
Who also combines the functions of bill
oster and orchestra leader, displays the
lictorial wonders that are to intlame
popular interest in his coming attrac-
ions. The artist who painted this scene
must in his younger days have become |
thoroughly imbued with the sluggish at
noSphcre of the rural town, for he has
zen singularly happy in reproducing the