Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-28
SEN

Christmas week found the people ready
TO be amused. and for once at least the
managers hac something at the theaters to
amuse them. "Florodora," with the big
sest ana best company that ever sang the
words and music IN Omaha, did record bus
iness at the Boyd. and well deserved the
patronage It received. At the Orpheum the
bill was not notable for any especial feature,
but was OF a generally good sort, so that
all bad a chance to see something. and II,
too, had splendid patronage. At both
houses the spirit of Christmas prevailed.
and all hands enjoyed the holiday to the
utmost. o
This week will mark the turn in the
"half-time" in the Boyd season. II has
been notable in many respects already. but
as is usual. the better part Of the feast is
to come. Several companies have been COM
PEELED to give up their Omaha Engagements,
but none OF any particular moment. Mas
cagni was one Of these. and Mrs. Bruno
another. Grace Cameron would have APP
peared here II her company could have
been kept a1oat. Manager Burgess has
been able to I'll in these gaps In his book
lngs fairly we'll, and has had very few
open nights so far. Not a great many ap-
pear on the list for the rest Of the season.
With the exception Of Sothern and Robson,
the really important engagements are yet
to come The Mansfield engagement will
be for two nights, April 20 and 20. William
H. Crane will play David Harum" here
before that time. Mary Mannering is COM
Ing in The Stubbornness of Geraldine"
Kyrle BeIlew will be here with his great
sword play, "A Gentleman of France"
Blanche Walsh in "A Daughter Of Ham,
%ilcar." the new play written for her by
stanislaus STANCE, based on Flaubert's
"Salamm3o;" william Gillette is to pre-
sent Sherlock Holmes" here, and Mr.. and
Mrs. N. G. Goodwin are coming In Altar
OF Friendship" OF the comic opera variety,
some new ones are coming. On the list Is
"a Chinese Honeymoon" with Adele
Ritchio and a bunch Of others; then come
1.-THE Chaperones," "Fiddle-De-Dee, "San
Toy" Princess Chic and prince Of Pill
sen," only one Of them ever heard here.
Mr.. James O'Neil will be here in a new
play; Anna Held is coming in THE Little
Duchess" Gertrude Haynes and her choir
will be here with THE Fatal Wedding"
Williams and Walker have a new play, IN
Dahomey," which they will present, and
then there are others. Contracts have been
received and dates fixed for the appearance
OF the attractions named. Others, some OF
them Of much Importance, are down on the
list, but the time for their coming has not
been definitely fixed, and Manager Burgess
does not want TO make any announcements
until he is absolutely sure that the play or
player will be here. This partial list is a
most attractive one, however.
A letter from, Joseph Haworth to the
dramatic editor brings the that
he will not be with the revival of "Corian-
Ion - hat Mill dpIoh tho Naw Work anQaUp-
ment and probably the season with Mr..
Mansfield. Mr.. Haworth is playing the role
of Cassius in Julius Caesar" and has
made a remarkable hit in the part. 1t is
a little dificult to think OF 'Corianton"
with Corianton left out, but the attempt g
TO be made. Mr.. Haworth doubts the feast
bility Of offering the play in the east, for
the reasons set out in The Bee at the time
the original company was disbanded at
Kansas City. He has the utmost faith in
the play, and believes that with efficient
management 1t would have succeeded, but
as 1t has been so thoroughly identified with
the Mormon church, It seems doomed-at
any rate, doomed to the most bitter and
unrelenting opposition from the religious
bodies Of the country that are opposed TO
Mormonism. This is indeed unfortunate,
for, as a matter OF fact, the play no more
exalts Mormonism than Judaism, or Cal
vanism or Roman Catholicism. 1t is not
founded on any fact of history, the claim
OF the advance agent Notwithstanding, and
has in no sense a bearing on any especial
form or creed Of religion now taught. 1t
does convey a deep and wholesome moral
lesson in a much more palatable and &C
ceptable form than commonly set before
the public by the theater. 1t teaches that
1.-THE wages Of sin is DEATH" that to a good
man death has no terror; that there is a
reward for virtue, and that vice is surely
and sharply punished. And in its every
aspect It. exalts religion in the abstract,
not the concrete. Its original hackers
were illadvised in exploiting 1t as a product
of Mormonism and insisting that II Is based
on facts of Mormon history, and were I'M
fortunate in talking OF taking II to New
York Just at a time when there was an un-
usual cutlery against Mormonism and
everything that pertains thereto among the
people OF the east. Deplorable as these
circumstances are, they in no wise detract
from the real beauties OF the play, nor les
sen its dramatic value in any degree. With
a little pruning and rearrangment of its
scenes. "Corianton" ought to be one Of the
best plays OF recent years. For their own
sakes It is to be hoped that the eastern
people will overcome their prejudices long
H tuouBu % blNt ~ piSNO a hSaAihb ~ ONShN
OF it's being taken to them.
Ethyl Barrymore is the latest OF young
actresses to fall a victim to that mysteri-
Gus malady which has placed so many OF
them out OF commission recently. She was
playing two parts, one in Carrots" a one
act piece, and one in "a Country Mouse"
and was winning for herself much praise.
But nature gave out and Miss Barrymore
was forced to close In the middle OF the
week in New York and is now in the coun-
try for an indefinite stay. under a doctors
care. .Maude Adams will, II is announced.
be able to resume her work in February,
she having been an invalid since early last
summer. Julia Marlowe is just recovering
from her attack of nerves at Baltimore
carly In the season. Lulu CHASER is an
other. and Georgia Cayyan has been laid up
for months from the effect OF nervous
breakdown. Medical experts, looking for a
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