Evening star., 1902-03-15


] deceptive. Mr.. Hall Is playwright who
| appreciates the value of well arranged ell
| makes and who knows how to portray
| character as well as to invent 1t. He mas
| utilized the lions quite consistently and the
| public responded to his efforts with every
/ mark of appreciation at the box office. He
| Is a graceful and good looking hero, ana
| some Of the matinee young women were
! rudely shocked to observe when he took OH
| his coat that he wore necktie that buckieu
| in the back. No real society hero, such as
| Mr.. Hall portrayed SO capabiy in other re-
] spects. wears necktie that buckles In the
| back.
| In all the stories Of Billy Emerson, the
| first of the quartet of old-time Ministries
who have recently died, no mention mas
! been made Of the fact that he was Wash
| ingtonian. His birthplace has been attri-
| buted to San Francisco, and to several
| other cities in this country, and some &C
| counts have given his origin as In Belfast
| Ireland AS matter of fact Billy Emer-
| son, or as his real name was, William Red
| mond was born in this city. His mother
| kept a little photograph establishment on
| Market space. and Billy, as boy, USED 10
! go down to the wharves. where he learned
| to dance from the darkies who were on the
| various river boats. He was quick at
| catching the steps Of the old-time shuttle
1 ana DTedhuD"H, anu do iiC "eo AosAAS-
small in size he struck the attention Of the
! masters of the boats that came up loaded
| with "watermelons' and they frequently
| got him to dance for them, promising MIN
| a watermelon in payment for his work
/ Billy had boys fondness for watermelons
| and he very readily danced III OTueF lHdt
| he might get one.
| The first public appearance OF Emerson
! was when he was about fifteen years OF
| age at Coombs' Hall on Pennsylvania ave
| nue. between 9th and 10th streets, Whlcn Is
| now occupied by the Salvation Army. Ihe
| building was owned by the late Michael
! Coombs, and to him was Emerson indebted
| for his debut. Coombs kept a grocery store
/ on the ground floor of the building and the
| hall was in the second floor as now
| Coombs had seen young Emerson dance at
! the wharves and there was to be benefit
| performance for some local performer and
| said he would give the boy chance. He
| rugged him up in suit and Billy went on
| and did his turn. He made an instahtane-
! Gus success and that gave him an entrance
| into the profession.
| At first he went with minstrel troupe,
doing dancing and singing, for he had a
| nice singing voice as boy and as he ma
! tured his voice became a good clear tenor,
which. If it had been cultivated. would have
drought him absolute fame Of different
| character.
| Emerson was the first to go out Of the
! beaten track of old-time minstrelsy, and he
| invented the neat and graceful song and
/
| Feel Just Happy a Big Sunfiower,
and this was followed with Love Among
| the Roses" Are You There Mo-ri-ar-i-ty,
| and others Of that character. When he
| first returned to this city, professionally, he
| appeared at the old Canterbury Hall on
Louisiana avenue between Az and 9th
| streets, and his friends hocked to see him
| and gave him great ovation. He travelled
/ over the entire country and was a great
| favorte in San Francisco. where he mar
| ried. At one time he received the highest
| salary of any man in the minstrel profess
sion. He was prodigal with his money and
saved but little and two or three times in
his career he was completely stranded. The
| late Jack Haverly put him on his feet once,
| and started him at the head of a. minstrel
company of his own, but his prosperity
| was short-lived and again he went broke.
, In his last days he was in very INDECENT
| circumstances and death came as a relief
! to long siege of suffering.
! 1t is rather pathetic to think that within
| a very brief time Billy Emerson, Billy Rice,
John Queen and Mel Bryant. all minstrels,
| who had furnished amusement for two
| generations have died in absolute poverty.
| Billy West, who also has died recently. was
| of more thrifty habits and has left his
| widow in very comfortable circumstances.
| x x
| Mrs. CampbellS views the problem
play. expressed recently in an interview,
are Of interest
"You are playing only problem playsT'
said the interviewer.
Yes. What can you do If one wants big
plays? The big modern plays are all what
you can call problem plays. Sometimes my
| friends and critics say they would like to
see me in plays of different kind Well.
| l will play other plays for them but it viii
| probably mean going back to Shakespeare.
| I can't go in for the claptrap, swashbuckler
school. 1t doesn't interest me. l don't find
1t worth while"
But one hears that the public Is tired of
problem plays. Isn't 1t SO in London?'
Mrs. Campbell shook her head.
| No; decidedly, no. There are dlnerent
publics There Is the public that goes to
the theater merely for amusement but
there Is another public that asks play to
of the second class to fill the theater If the
problem play Is a good one and well
played"
And is that class of theater-goers in
| creasing?'
Increasing constantly in London"
"But do the plays go In the provinces?'
Il have never seen provincial STAND
where they did not &C. Thas Is reaiy true
class is tired Of problem plays. was always
tired OF them: but the problem play has its
public, and will have its public. One thing
I'll admit-a problem play poorly inter-
preted is the most intolerable thing in dra-
matte possibility. romance play with q
thrilling plot may carry on mediocre acting.
but a problem play bungied-!
Morgan Sherwood, stage manager OF the
National Theater. and George Denham. the
well known actor. who makes his home In
this city. are making elaborate preparations
for their forthcoming production at the
Academy of Music in this city or Joan OF
Arc" a four-act comedy drama by Will A.
Page at present business manager for Miss
Percy Haswell and her Baltimore stock
company. Mr.. Page was In Washington
last week and turned over the completed
manuscript of the new play to Messrs.
Sherwood and Denham, who have engaged
| Frank Wise. veteran stage manager Of
| ability, to superintend the rehearsals of the
| piece which will shortly be commenced In
this city. Mr.. Denham spent part of last
week In New York engaging players for the
| production. He has SO far engaged Miss
Virginia Johnson, at present leading lady
of a Pittsburg stock company, to play the
title role. Miss Johnson was formerly q
resident Of Washington and has many
friends here. She created the same part OF
loan of Arc last summer In the briefer
version of the same play produced by
Messrs Sherwood and Denham at the Ma
tional Theeter for a trial performance. She
is an expert swordswoman. and will there
& - N