The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-12

tive New York audience is in the lead
such dialogue as that OF Mr., Jones in
The Liars is written for an aristo-
cratic London audience, ana the class
OF people attracted by such a play in
New York is more like the London as
sefnplage. The witty dialogue of Mr..
HoWard's Aristocracy' was appreci-
ated only in large cities, and most of
all in New York.
L nave tried to make the point that
the best New York tehaters have two
distinct kinds of audiences; the one
composed of refined, cultivated men
and women, who go to the theater to
pc entertained, the other the Sports
FOUNDERS, old young men, loW-browed
cluomen; the bored and blase of all
sorts. These and their womenkind go
10 the theater to find fault There is
nothing like them in any of the other
american cities; that Is, no large class
Nor is there anything like them in
London. A London first might audience
goes TO the theater to be amused. Even
the gallery gods are willing to be con-
WINGED; while the people in the stalls
and boxes and balcony-well, it is a Joy
to watch them. They are there to have
a good time; they hope for success.
They are like fair minded American
audience, but they are the opposite of
that band Of ghouls whom have call
Gu I4lS QSdUH WATCH.
Suiting Special Public.
Another factor which differentiates
the theatrical situation in New York
from that in other cities, and goes to
explain the success of a piece in one
place and it's failure in another, was
mentioned by j. Cheever Goodwin, the
llbrettist of many operettas. "Evange-
line and Wang" among them 1.-THE
specialization of the theatrical bust
ness" he said, lis more perfect here
than 1t is in any other city Each
theater has its own clientele, and ev-
cry one knows just what sort of a play
to expect when he goes, for instance,
to the Lyceum, the Casino, or the
Fourteenth Street Theater. When a
dramatlst gets an order for a play,
one of his first questions is, What
theater will it be played in?' and he
writes to suit the public that he knows
he will find there. But just as soon as
the piece leaves New York, any further
fitting or adaptation to the audiences
is impossible. Suppose it is musical
comedy In Chicago, it may be sand
wiched in between Hamlet and a min
strel show. Even when it does sue
coed, there cannot be the perfect I'M
derstanding between actors and audi
ence that there sometimes is here.
When piece starts in some other city
than New York, just the same thing is
true, and it explains the failures which
follow original successes.
THE difference between theaters
here is much greater than the differ
ence between cities. I do not follow
| my plays around the country, and
dc not recall just how individual lines
have been received, but / do know
that the two I rave produced in Lon
don, The Belle of Bohemia and Lost,
Strayed, or Stolen,' amused the audi
enceS in the same way and at. the
same points as they did here Some
people pretend to know a great deal
about the susceptibility of audiences.
In Lost, Strayed, or Stolen there was
line, There will be a massacre that
will discount ST. Bartholomew After
one of the rehearsals a gentleman
came to me and advised me to cut
out that line, on the ground that it
might offend descendants of the HUI
guenots who were killed in that mas
sacre three centuries before!"
Marshal p. wilder on the Absurd.
1T is hard to compare the sense of
humor of different cities,'' said Mar
shall P. Wilder, the humorist, unless
you consider theaters that cater to
the same class of people in the diff
ferent places, as do those belonging
to the same circuit In general
might say that a Chicago audience
is more hearty, sympathetic and kind
ly than one here. The people are more
disposed to laugh when they come
to the theater. A Boston audience,
on the other hand, seems always more
or less on the defensive. If you've
got anything good, let's have it, ex-