Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-02

theatricals and made quite hit He once
| told a friend of his in this city that the
| first important part he ever attempted
| to play was Armand in Camille" Some
| woman, ambitious for stage life, rented the
| old Iron Hall. as it was then called, on
PENNSYLVANIA avenue, on the site of which
the music store of Droop Sons now
| stands. She engaged Mr.. Robson to play
Armand to her Camille. He studied the
| part faithfully and went through the re-
hearsal all right. but on the night of the
| performance he became so stricken with
| stage fright that at the end of the third
| act he left the house and could not be
persuaded to go back and finish the piece.
| He did not complete his engagement, for
| that one nights performance was all the
| experience he ever had with Camille" AS
has been stated in some accounts of his
| life, he formed a friendship with Edwin
| Booth and John Sleeper Clarke in Balti-
| more even before he came to Washington,
| and they used to give boyish theatrical
performances But it was John Owens
that gave him his first opportunity to APP
pear in leading part, and even then,
after his experience in Camille" he
| thought he was tragedian, but he discov-
| cred later that comedy was his forte, and
| every one knows the result of his life's
| work. He had a knowledge of the true
spirit of burlesque. That was Illustrated
| when he came here with Mrs. John Wood
| and played Capt Crosstree in the bur-
lesque of Black Eyed Susan, or the
| Little Bill That Was Took Up" Nothing
| funnier can be imagined than his imper
| sonation of the redoubtable captain and
| his singing of the song Captain Crosstree
is My Name" The peculiar characteristic
| of Mr.. Robson, which aided him very
| terially in his stage work, was his voice.
| No man with such voice could be any
| thing but a comedian. 1t was fatal to any
| tragic aspirations that he might have had.
| AT a club performance of Julius Caesar"
| in which De Wolf Hopper was Mark An
! tony and William H. Crane Brutus Mr..
| Robson was cast for Cassius. Hopper and
ly did very well. Mr.. Robson endeavored
| to play Cassius straight, and was made
up in classic style and had evidently i'm
| bibed the true spirit of Shakespeare be-
] fore he went on to the stage His first
| speech was Caesar o, Caesar" If it
| had not been for the 20" he would have
| gotten along all right but when he uttered
| that monosyllable in his peculiar manner
| all the tragic significance Immediately van
| ished. and there was an uproar of merri
| ment For the rest of the performance
| Cassius was simply a comedian. Mr.. Rob
| son was one of the most honest men who
| ever lived. There was no deceit in his
| nature. and he abhorred it in others. After
| Mr.. Robson and his company had left a
| certain city 1t was found that a charge
| of SIS which should have been paid the
! theater was accidentally omitted from the
| bill. The manager for Mr.. Robson was
| felicitating himself on having escaped it's
| payment Some time afterward the man
ager was telling the story of the omitted
l
| thrift. Mr.. Robson, who was present al
| lowed the story to be told and then said:
| Don't ever tell that story again. I sent
| my personal check for that amount, and
| so the theater lost nothing and now |
| want to say to you. don't ever do that
| again while you are looking out after my
| interests l would not willingly defraud a
| single soul of anything that was due him."
| Mr. Robson has left chara cterizations
| which cannot be duplicated, certainly by
| any actor now upon the stage. Who could
| play BERTHE in THE Henrietta?" Who
| could realize as he did the simplicity of
| Oliver Goldsmith? Who could be as de-
| lightful Tony Lumpkin as he was in
| She Stops to Conquer" to say nothing
| of his splendid impersonation of the Dro-
| milo of Syracuse in Shakespeare's "Comedy
| OF ErrorS. He was an honor to the stage
| both as an artist and as man.
| GOUNOD'S STRUGGLES who
| took Goethe's beautiful story of Faust and
| Marguerite and composed around it his i'm
| mortal opera, suffered at the outset of his
| career the same distressing conditions re-
| Bluffs and privations that have fallen to the
| lot of practically all the great composers
and dramatists Like Wagner, Gounod was
! poor musician who made his scant living
| by his skill with the violin in the orchestras
| of London and Paris. After Faust" was
written he went from city to city seeking
| work that his soul loved and which he
| knew concealed the divine spark of genius.
| Most all of those to whom he privately
| read and sung Faust declared that If
| possessed no merit whatever At length
| rich and influential patrons became inter-
eSted in the half-Staryed composer and the
opera was given meager presentation. II
| is strange, but true, that at the outset it
| was failure largely because it marked
n RI
methods of composition and prevailing op-
cratic presentations. But little by little
| the music grew upon the Parisans, and at
| length it dawned upon them that here was
| a work that would endure forever.
A NEW LEADING LADY.-Washington
theater-g oers will have opportunity of pass
| ing judgment on new candidate for stellar
honors next week, when Miss Fay Davis
will make her first appearance here in the
support of William Faversham, who will
present "Imprudence" at the National Mon
day night. Born in Boston, where she at
tanned some prominence through her read
ingS, she went to London to make her dra-
matte debut. Her abilities as an elocution-
list were speedily recognized in West End
drawing rooms in London and she attract.
ed the attention of Sir Charles Wyndham,
who offered her the role of Zoe Nuggetson
IN ne squire or DANES. Absolutely
known to London critics and theater-goers,
her success was pronounced, and in single
| night she came into n fame and a popu-
larity that has eventually established her
as one of the best-known leading women
| in London. At the conclusion of her en-
gagement at the Criterion Theater where
she created the role of Iris, Miss Davis
| was engaged by Mr. Charles Frohman as
leading woman with Mr.. FaverSham. Her
| debut in New York Immediately esta blished
her in enduring favor in the metropolis
and the next morning nearly every publi-
cation of note in New York sought inter-
views. Throughout her London engagement
Miss Davis steadfastly denied herself to
interviewers and she Immediately estab-
| lished this course of procedure in New
York and has held to it throughout her
| tour of this country.
| BERTHA GALLAND'S COSTUMES.-The
rehearsals of the Bertha Galland Company
now occupying the stage every day at the
Victoria Theater in New York are rapidly
assuming such shape to inspire the man
| agement with all confidence that the COM
| pany is splendidly cast. and will give
| thoroughly rounded and artistic perform
ances.
The entire company is to reach Washing
II