The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-24
NEW THINGS AT THE THEATRE,
! HI@DORE KREuER'S "a DESPER.
!ji Hi\CE" ONE or THEN.
hrCn,cr Is stranger Than Fiction His
hiid Angel Who Walks In Hcr S,ccp
New Wilder Joke-Somcthlny About
Nlrlc Misunderstanding Place Farce.

H.. IA" worl ";r,ltl.' that is ALWAYS ,nnIoyad
IN that very ,Hclninelcss bit cf anti,Gesls
After sceing a Desperate Chance" a, the
Grand Opera House this week one icaliycs
nc utility OF either truth or fiction in con-
lniioh with the ntage. In full view of
arg and interested auditory Mr. Kremer
"Nln.'d N" woes aud wicheGr.ss of the
"a tiles. I'd and JCck. with the result that
ell NC had read OF the er,re-onlo tragedy
rir iorEotter thousandfold; which
proves our contention: Theodore kremcr
= stranger than fic;inn.
In private life no is the mot u,niablo
tiand and Teutonic appearing gentleman
Hut ia his capacity EEL a melodramatist.
what blocdthirsty artist j. he! Think
OF the end OF that first act II VIE not alone
tn" revolver shots--thcy were n mere noisy
reminder Of Mi. krcmcr's cxcitah!e nerves
Z was that child, thu. poor little noctam-
!ui-t who wandered into the groc AIRY store
With arms o,.:stretchcd. eyes vacant Of
regard and 81 head covered with curls,
Isl any wondar that the audience whis,led,
little girl l.: more ingeniously varied: she
!, supposed to be blind. A blind child
gets on ones nerves quicker than SOM
nainbulistic one--she is as absinthc COM
pared TO hard cider. However, the sleep
walker did the business nj the Grand
the other night she was the chief attraction
Of the show
Y does not always follow because life
originates some startling melodramaiic
situations that they will prove as equally
diverting and As thrilling when trsnsrosed
20 the boards. The Biddlc story has all
the elements Of stunning tragedy II
seemed dull and unreal when put within
dramatic frame. simply because ii. original
foot, &
greater the truth the greater the unrealty-
in art; and the converse OF This proposition
il also true. As to the performance--we
the least said the sooner sore heads are
inended. Little Leota Sinclair carried the
entire production on her brave shoulders.
And how the Editha burglar motive re-
ours in plays of this sort, But why should
Mr.. Kremer repinop His box-orice re-
turns are eloquent reminders Of his skill
IN fabricating what the public wants.
A street arab looked MS+shall P Wilder
over patronizingy the other day. say"
he exclaimed to his companion dat guy
oughter go to DR.. Lorenz." Marshall,
who Is not vain man. simply shuddered.
In the cemetery at Montmartre there is
marble slab bearing these words: Thou
Knowest.' No name or date indicates the
fact that a woman Of rare genius. a versa
tile creature, compounded of fantasy and
caprice, a maker OF Passionate subjective
verse, an actress Of power lies in that bleak,
anonymous tomb. Her name was Adah
lsaacs Menken and booklovers to-day pay
high prices for that slim, green volume
entitled -lnfelice" Some say that Algernon
Charles Swinburne had his fingers in her
inkpot. There are some very character
stic Swinburnean alterations and assoc
nances in the verse On East Twenty-third
street Ave years ago there were displayed
and for sale in q certain old book store pict-
ures Of Adah Isaacs Menken. In one she
is represented as sitting on the lap Of the
elder Dumas-always an easy old gentle
man. we have heard. In another she coyly
regarded the youthful Swinburne, who, all
hair and genius, wore his usual chin, a
chin as diffident a. a soft-poached egg
We do not know If these pictures are any
longer for sale. There was big scandal
At the time Of their appearance in Europe
Young fools and old fools are alike in one
capital trait they will pose before a camera
deur.
Now, the Menken woman was no fool
She had brains and because of her ardent,
restless temperament she did not accom-
plish anything more than a book of verse
and various marriages, wit h the przefghter
John e. Heenan and with the humoris;
Orpheus &. Kerr among others; she
married a half dozen times or Whereabouts.
-
fire to the eyes Of sept va yenarans and back
II her extraordinary life there lurked still
Stranger enigma, one not ia he lightly
propounded
IL was therefore extremely interesting TO
find in the Christmas Mirror communica-
ton from the veteran actor. Owen Fawcett,
n which is printed "A programme showing
the versa tility OF the woman-who is said
to have been rich, despite her name. She
played In 1862 in piece with the alurng
title Of The Three Fast Women; or The
Female Robinson Crusoe, These were her
parts-how she did il all one wonders in these
days Of the solitary role Florence SQuires,
Loreiy Nancy, with song, Bully Lager
Beer;' Montague Eitshsrbert fop young
Moses, with song, On the Cliff House Road"
Tom Bowiine, a sailor, with hornpipe; Rose
bud. a minstrel; Harry Scarlet, u sporting
duck, Opposite this array Of characters
was aligned the name OF Miss Adah."
In the same cast with her were Frank
Mayo, {. X. Thorne, Jr., r. Clifton, +. B.
White, W Stephenson, Junius Brutus Booth,
r b Woodhall. Louis Aldrch, H. Maclyn.
". English. Nile: Hortense. Sophie Edwin
and Mrs. II \. Perry. And MIR, Fawcett
member alive Of tho extensive list--Mrs
d. A. Perry, bcttcr known rs 10 us Mrs
Agnc. Booth Schefrel
Mt9Etv ~ inc CONVENIENT 200" IN"
farce writer. III tho stage of the Irving
Place Theatre had dozen more doors than
IL seemed to DO provided with last nighf
they could have been easily utilized. Such
busy time! Such lodging of fuil-grown
humans in and GU; Of doors. back Of screens.
down practicable staircascs! The piccc
was Denno Jacobson "Srin Trick" known
To thu Gallo stage as lie True dc Sera-
phin." and still better known in IFS English
garb-if W. mistake rot Of "Never Again"
which MIR. Charles Frohman produced here
some hvc Or six years ago.
Tho story is rrcrc silhouette OF life
that mover could exist OF the boards or
within tho walls Of n luilatic asylum. Yet
II il 30 conical that fat men ro1rcd last
night and tho voice OF the girl was heard
in tho land. Best of all, Nh Conricd's
clever company played Tie nonsense In the
proper tempo and with the proper vivacity.
and this meane volumes for an orcaniza-
tion that was engaged until Monday night
lar, in such a purely German play as Ait
Noi,,elherg." Genrgne Ncundorf az the
dumb mother-in-law was in her most de
lightf.l moods, whio Hedwg Won Oster-
mann, the winning Kaifie Of All Heidel-