The sun., 1902-04-22
ACTORS EFFORTS TO PLEASE.
Az IMPORTANT OCCASION FOR
An ITALIAN COMPANY.
usIore Introduces Himself Ambitiously
10 some Appreciatiye Americans Shea
IN a New Meiodrama Amended
Version Of Ditrichstein's Play Used.

III
windsor Theatre on the Bowery has held
.,,ch an audience as assembled in il last
evening Men in evening clothes and
women in modish gowns made up quite
half OF the orchestra assemblage. An
Italian actor, unknown TO frequentors Of
Broadway playhouses, and not famous in
his native land was the magnet that at
tracted this unusual audience. Antonio
Naiore a tragedian and Pasquale Rapone,
a comedian manage and act In All obscure
Italian dramatic company In Spring street.
Some cultured Americans, artists and
writer's saw them there and devised and
carried out last nights scheme and gath
cred an audience of intellig people,
whose desire for novel discovo,. quickly
led them into indiscriminate cI.llusiasm.
The auditors who were not OF this set were
poor Italians. probably habitual visitors
to the Spring street hall. They listened
far more attentively than Americans Of the
same class do and speedily hushed with
Kisses the slightest sound, even forbidding
applause until the fall Of the curtain.
With all that care to maintain silence,
and to a great extent because OF It. there
was an almost continual noise So fire.
ouent were the lebored sounds, cries of
DdDleS, blutthb Vi Cuctp buOtS anu
coughs of the uuenthusiastic. that the
objective Kisses became like a low but
continual discharge Of steam. This sound
was added TO by the voice of the prompter.
who kept audibly line ahead of the actors
from the first TO the last words OF the drama
lie was placed in a box just back of the
iootlights such as only the Metropolitan
Opera House and The Irving Place Theatre
have.
The pl ay selected for this interesting
performance was -Benvenuto Cellini,'
Ii tragedy writ ten in French by Parlo Maui
rice and translated into admirable Italian
verse by l.. +. Tettone. To 1t was added
All epilogue by Ercole Cantelmo. The
tragedy was In the manner Of Schiller's
historical plays, carefully and precisely
excellent in verse, motionless and formal.
LIS story was sombre one of unhappily
placed love. CeiiHi and his favorite pupil,
Ascsnio love COLOMBIA. she returning the
affection Of the latter. Sisters adore the
men. as unrequitedly as Ceiini loves. One
Of them, the Duchesse D'Estampes, mis-
tress of King Francis l.. is turned to bitter
ness in her spurnei love for AsceRio. and
Graves revenge on him and his sweetheart
and his kindly friendly patron, But the
other sister, Scozzona, Is purified by her
love for Ceiiini, for whose 'Nynph Of Fon-
tainebeau, she has posed and she becomes
the sculptor ally in trying TO save Ascenio
from the revengeful Duchess. This mis-
cradle situation leads to a cruel plot of the
Duchess's to kill her rival by confining her
for days in a reiguary But when 1t is
opened in the Louvre before the venem-
ously gleeful Duchess the corpse that falls
from it is not that Of COLOMBIA but of Scos
soma, her own sister, who has preferred &c
die saving her rival than live unloved by
the man she worships
Through eight scenes Of literary heaviness
this plot slowly makes its way, complicatinG
an innumerable and unnecessarily numerous
lot OF characters The unfolding OF the
story by means Of so many persons is the
dramas chief fault, the rhetorical ponder
BUSINESS being regarded by its admirers as
a great aud exceptional merit and setting
It entirely out Of the consideration Of ad'
herents Of the natural or the more sprightly
drama The epilogue is in the same forma
style. In il Celni dies, aged and broken
grief-stricken at Scozzona's death, lonely
In his loss OF Colombia, beset by assassins
plotting for his life, but proud IN the ever
lasting triumph Of his art.
The actor who vitalized this drama truly
culture 10 the Bowery Some people who
don't care for pearls ordinarily become
ridiculous with JOY II they UNEXPECTEDLY
tnd one In an oyster shell. The discovery
Of so good an actor in squalid obscuritI
would interest some artistiCally pTetcn
tiou- people who would disdain TO con
slider him If he came usually heralded Il
Broadway. Other more conServatiy'
critics are apt 10 find IL difficult TO fairl,
measure talent in an unexpected place
~ V.1 NJ vat M
might be prejudiced against a man owe
whom some unbalanced enthusiasts ar
inclined TO be- ridiculous.
Antonio Maiore IL not allowed 10 returl
70 his native land because he ran away iron
Il 10 escape army duty. That fact ha
probably kept him from universal fame
EleanoTa Dul-e engaged him for her com
pany a year Or 10 ago when she expected q
travel in Germany and France, but ne
change 81 plan and retuTn TO ltay necehsl
'ated Maiore' dismissal He possesses an In
dividual and forceful personality, impres
1.-Two mentally, although hardly physical
attractive, and graudly poetic. fiher a
IUtrmlty ur nannsrlEiu M ms walk give
N,- pedal movements an eccentric app"hi
uIur hat b. almost comic. He voice
r.h and mn steal aud his elocution heautfu
People familiar with Engllsh- 'poAEin
actors only m Rtt get an idea ~ haiore u
If4uug u'ls skinner .rirher In the passion
H'' l'H.iau tenn "fan"ui hui poorer VA lef
gesture ami delivery, general lack 4
U.iIYrtut.y, trHhniqu" However, eve
r. -HgnlN qualified comparison 20 Nj
Skinner l- uui too great rrais'' ior MainI'
sH u BE- ".vilN Obvious ihai tho n"dlsh l
sfafy -,.t that vruiurrd into no rttaug'
r.ss O. fhr HuvrrY we're amply feSafd'
|u artist. tItctaun
urrsar.,, that broadway cauo 20 g',tin
n.s play Yesterday, although ~ -
MLda,. va au aiu'nded version - IN
t.-r Api.al' o., Walla"ks iL'a'fc A
u..sh tho COLLAPSE - DaGiol u HAIKU
il rr "I-aiug larfornauo" hai sir'i.'
I,.. -ru,s iu Nh,ch b. figured, u"' a.. I
.rhrr r4ruHn- ~srv ana't"i apd ~ 80
.-at u,aI aI t.,sta'iun afd f'ariaf F"iIs
r... 4ss.iaI., hurA rilanKrf wsir Hia,
b.. r.. b.turHstsiu. ilu au'HDr ahd ii
...Istsd roa vaF Hi,vu lasi nlghi ~i'
..u.aIYpilngJ l-itri Hsuit