The sun., 1902-12-29

Record Of Its Two Months Existenc,
-teavicst Loser IL Norma Munro
1t was nearly midnight on Saturda,
before the curtain fell on the last per
formance at Mrs Osborns Playhouse anc
ended theatrical enterprise unique In
the history Of New York amusements
, The audience. which was large, was friendly
All the audiences at the theatre have beer
friendly. from the outset. Indeed, they
were usually admitted because of that
characteristic.
On Saturday there was probably no more
money than usual in the box Office, but the
spectators were more friendly than usual
! The curtain fell later than usual and the
4 audience remained in the theatre and ap-
| plauded Blanche Ring and Harry Conor
until the latter thanked them on behalf of
| Mrs Osborn.
The spectators wanted to see Mrs. Osborn
| on the stage. She had been sitting In the
! last row throughout the performance. and
just before the curtain fell disappeared
behind the scenes. But she refused to come
before the curtain and speak
Il have come to the conclusion that my
business is making dresses" was all she
"SesN cAy w VIC INpoltVIs WHO drhtO HtI
for her views upon the financial failure of
her scheme. That the scheme did fail
completely may be understood by the
difference that was constantly maintained
between the receipts and the expenses
The weekly expenses Of the theatre during
the two months Of its existence never fell
below 5000 week, and the largest receipts
ever known there were 81 1884.
The heaviest lorer was Miss Norma
Munro, who was the financial hacker of the
scheme. Miss Munro. who is one OF the
few persons who know lust how much
Other losses are unimportant a. compared
with hers. Mrs. Osborn. who provided
the dresses, still has a lease of the theatre.
She pays only G5D week and will be able
to let it without difficulty for that sum. The
dresses and scenery are an asset Of little
value, as they would bring bat small
part OF their value sold at second hand.
Apparently, the only asset that remains
is the lease OF the house. Charles Frohman
had about decided To produce "Everyman'
there when the morality play Is brought
back here next month. but that plan was
abandoned because the house is too small
TO accommodate the audiences needed TO
make this performance profitable.
Mrs. Osborn opened her theatre with a
definite policy in view, and even some ex-
scheme might be carried through SUCCESS
| fully, even II there was no opportunity for
profit. She wanted to provide a slight
entert ainment for persons who wanted
some place in which TO spend the time be-
tween dinner and II o'clock. Evidently
there IL no public Of that kind which is not
suited by the regular theatres Its proxim-
ity to the fashionable restaurants made the
theatre accessible to the public she was
trying to interest. but ncxperience led to
mistakes that were not TO be rectified after
the theatre had once been opened.
Society" Ia very likely to shy at any
attempt TO catch It's favor. Mrs Osborn
announced that her theatre was meant
TO appeal to society, and maybe for that
reason its support of the enterprise was
uncommonly meagre. So soon as the
persons who want TO go where society
Is discovered that the theatre was not It's
resort they remained away. And the
general public exhibited not the least in
terest In the scheme.
Some OF the managers with whom Mrs
Osborn consulted told her that the play
house would not succeed unless she hit on
some extremely clever idea. And clever
idea Is 80 valuable in theatricals that it
cannot he wasted in theatre 40 small.
il II succeeds In interesting the public
its full value IL TO be made use Of only in a
1t will attract. Mrs Osborn developed
OF her company as Miss Ring and Miss
Aver. And in Drina de Wolfe she put
forward q new stage beauty. Those are
about the only rewards that will come to
her and Miss Munro for their outlay of
Thousands Of dollars