The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-18
Plays on Gotham Stage
Notes Of theatrical Folks
Special to THE Globe

| Op0CldI TO Inc GLOBE.
NEW YORK,Jan. 17.-Tuesday even
I Ing at the Empire theater marked an
unusually festal occasion upon the re-.
turn of the regular stock company Of
this playhouse after an absence that
had continued since last spring. This
return signalizes also the opening Of
the fourteenth year of the organization
| and the eleventh year of the Empire
| theater itself, both under the mango
ment of Charles Frohman. The house
| on tuesday night was filed to over
flowing with stanch friends of members
of the company. individually and coll
| lectively, and the greetings accorded
/ the actors and actresses as each came
| into view were almost tumuItuous in
their fervor. AS for Mr. Richman and
Miss Anglin, the leading man and WON.
an, they were welcomed In a manner
that took the form of a real ovation.
The play serving as a vehicle for the
| homecoming of the ladies and gentle
men of the Empire stock is called 1.-THE
Unforeseen" and is from the pen or
Capt. Robert Marshall, the author of
such admirable comedies as His Ex-
cellency the Governor" 1.-The Second in
| Command" and "a Royal Family The
play opens in a Paris hotel. to which
Henry Traquair, a young Englishman,
| who is good deal of a cad.has brought
Margaret Fielding, the pair having
| eloped from England to be married.
| While Margaret is standing upon the
| balcony she is seen by two of her
4 countrymen, Capt Haynes and Rev.
Walter Maxwell. the last mentioned a
young country vicar who is in Paris
for the purpose of taking treatment for
| his failing eyesight. Maxwell greatly
/ admires the girl, and when he and his
companion call upon her betrothed in
| the hotel she is only saved from being
! placed in an embarrassing position bv
1 being introduced as Mrs Traauair. al
| though the ceremony has not as vet
| taken place. Indeed, before the young
| people are to be united, the prospective
| bridegroom learns that he is financially
| ruined through the failure of his bank,
/ and he abruptly breaks off the engage
ment, at the same time preparing to
commit suicide. Margaret manages TO
| get back to England without being de-
! tected, her former lover shoots himself
| according to programme, and her min
| isterial admirer becomes totally blind.
| He falls in love with her and she with
| him, and they are welded without the
formality of any reference to their
early meeting in Paris. They are very
! happy, and the husband, who has never
given up hope Of having his vision re-
| stored, makes another trip to the
French capital for medical aid, leaving
his wife behind. On his return, the
| specialists having been successful in
| their operation upon his eyes, he rec
| ognizes Margaret. and, believing HIM
fO how hoe
point of repudiating her entirely, when
his friend, Capt Haynes, comes along
with a letter written by Traquair Just
before his death, explaining the true
situation. This rather original plot is
clothed in lucid, sprightIy and often
brilliant English by Capt. Marshall,
| who, with the possible exception of Ar
thur Pinero, is quite the most superior
writer among the English dramatists
Of this time. 1.-THE Unforeseen" will
surely have an extended stay at the
Empire.
The failure Of Miss Elizabeth Tyree
to attract serious attention as star in
'Gretna Green" at the Madison Square
theater, Is viewed with considerable re-
greet, for the reason that the young
actress possesses many personal
friends, particularly among the feni-
ing. She is a leading spirit in the
Twelfth Night club, whose members
in body attended the first perform
ance of "Gretna Green" and applauded
with frantic energy which must have
left the palms Of their pretty hands
swollen and tingling. All their friendly
vigor, however, was insufficient to con-
vince the general public that Miss
Tyree possessed sufficient power or
prominence to carry strong dramatic
role, and so, 1 am sorry to say, the re-
ceipts at the Madison Square have not
been as large as the actress and her
associates anticipated. 1t appears to
be generally thought that Miss Tyree
is essentially a soubrette and has been
miscast as the heroine of "Gretna
Green"
One more Clyde Fitch play has been
placed on view in New York, in "The
Bird in the Cage" which came to the
Bijou theater on Monday evening to
remain for five weeks only. The stay
is limited to this space for the reason
that the Bijou, as we'll as every other
| frst-class playhouse in New York, has
its season completely filed and could
readily dispose of twice as much time
If some system of expansion could be
invented. 1.-THE Bird in the Cage" tells
the story of a young girl with whom
three different men are in love. Two Of
them are brothers, the owners Of q pa
per mandatory left to them by their
father. The third, Ernest Johnson, Is
foreman of the factory, and the girl,
Rosalie by NAME cherishes secret af-
lection for him. For the sake of her
| aged and invalid aunt, however, Rosa
| lie consents to become engaged to the
elder of the two brothers, who prom
ises to care for the old lady during the