The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-13
HAT has haDDened?" said a


81 feel like her" replied Mrs. Lang
cry, and the audience was inclined to
laugh You see, it was a gathering of
typical Broadway first nightefs. the
wise guys and nine out OF ten re-
memoered when the Jersey Lily played
Lady Macbeth in all seriousness and
whom she may have felt like, but GER
tainly didn't look it, The point Of the
Macbeth reference may be lost on
other than first night, but people
Who keep up with the times viii hardly
KAN to see WOmans last word N an
ensuing slap at the Earl of Rosslyu.
1t would seem that her triumph in that
quarrel last season left no need for a
Naturalization of the controversy. In
deed, no critic of plays has been so
hnaily answered as was Lord ROsslya
when, writing under the name OF
'Junius," he denounced Mrs. Langtry's
comedy o. The Cross ways" as being
an impossible representation of the
British aristOcracy- The Lilys sole
and smiling reply. was that If IL was
Impossible the earl was himself TO
blame. as she. had founded her plot on
an incident acted i'm true life by him.
As Mrs Deering she defends her fall
ure in gambling, her great losses at
Monte Carlo, by telling her husband
she would have come out all right il
she had had more capital You know.
systeml"
There may have been a few in the
first audience at the new comedy VINO
tried TO forget that it was Mrs. Lily
Langtry (past tense Lily LeBreton,
present tense Mrs. Hugo de Battle, fu-
ture tense Lady de Bathe). and believe
the author when he said that she was
Mrs. Jane Deering. disclosing her mat
rimOnial state I'm her extremely smart
little drawing room in London. But
the man who writes for Mrs. Langtry
must accept The situation that, though
gaining almost the most beautiful in
terpreter on the stage all illusion IS
tables. as did Mr.. Grundy in THE De-
generates and say that the part is
Mrs. Langtry herself in which case
she is convincing.
tt is worth dropping the ever-engTOss-
ing subject Of the Langtry personality
IN consider Percy FendalTs play. II
showed a divorced woman who wore
mourning. refused the proposals of de-
sirable suitors. and, in depOrting her
self rs a widow. believed she was liv-
ing up to a principle. when, as a mat
ter or fact. she was following the sor-
rowing dictates Of a heart that still
loved her erriug and cast-off husband.
Fhe meets this husband and passes
from emotions of love. hate. jealousy
amusement. regret and couUetry IN
sudden well defined and reasonable fits
and starts He is to marry again and
has come for q character" They are
Interrupted by a wealthy woman. who
is to be the second Mrs. Deering. She
jOts down in a note book such points
about their mutual husband as the first
Mrs u. win give her. So enraged is
Mrs. Deering that she accepts the
most frivolous invitations. regarded be-
u & n a
eventually remarries Mr. Deering.
Mrs. Langtry's reasons for using this
play are an odd and clever plot, gem
orally witty and sometimes brilliant
dialogue, distinct and original charac-
ter drawing and. above all. a central
part admirably fitted to herself, il any
role may be said 90 particularly suit
an art unsubtle and unvarying, ana
which, after all. amounts TO little more
than the power to project a fascinat-
ing and much-dressed personality
across the fOOtlights. In the last act /
she changes q street gown for bail 1
dress in view of the audience, talking 4
rapid French the while to the filters 7.
a man hidden behind screen. the gay I
old husband with q bill for lingerie not /
intended for his wife. pad out an act 1
that is none too strong. There is moth /
ing sensational in the disrobing incl !
dent, which Is matJer-Ot-fact eN- /
change from one gown 10 another. en- /
failing no indecOrOus disclosure Of the |
Langtry person.
Paris has its Coincide Franchise to I
be held up to the world as a model by (
those numerous literary folk who think 1
the stage should guide i'm the correct /
use Of language. A French word newly I
born. or a foreign authOTitatively Z
into the French language, is /
given to France, endorsed by the high /
est masters of speech, by being point [
eddy used in a new drama at the House /
of MOliere Well. we have George AIDE [
and Lily Langtryl In a few nights we 4
shall hear in AIDES Peggy From 4
Paris" the newest thing in the Ameri- 4
can language for the Americans. But
those of us who crave an EPSON finish \
20 our racy conversation await the .
coming Of the MI. Jersey Of the Brit
ish Turf" When she came in The [
Benegadcs" she quite reVOlutiOnized
our smart conversation, assuring us
that the princes set affected abbrevia-
lions. preferring comfy" 10 the com
Portable" of old, and, If they ever did
think a thing immoral. pronounciug il
simply Jimmy" In Mrs. behring's
Divorce" Mrs. Langtry varies the
speech but little, merely emphasizing
the bad form of using g's at the ends L
lf words. But the really smart English
actors have omitted g's for some years.
So have some others.
Memories Of that arrant humbug and
dramatic genius, Dion Boucicault. are
revived with "Arrah-na-POgue." which
Andrew Mack has brought forward this
week. 1t is so long since Boucicault
was i'm his prime at the top Of the lad
Ter that the younger generation recalls
MIN as an old man clinging helplessly
10 the lower rung. What a bold plagiar-
st he was! And with what skill in
.reased the value Of the stolen matter
Tor stage purposesi OF course, his
'tagecraft was of a kind which, as OBJ
served in 'Arrah- na-Pogue," is now
,ld-fashioned in some respects, but his
ways Of getting matter across the foot
lights are not obsolete, and none Of
lur playwrights eNcels him in con-
rivauce and formulation of telling sit
nations. II haven't a doubt that if he
we're alive today. and as young as ne
cit up 20 his final birthday. he would
.mend his methods and equal II not
'utd0 the best of our active dramatists. ]
n his last years he tried to catch up
With the theatrical advance. He had
AIKEN a new young wife, an actress Of
he new school. and why couldn't he I
cquire the new process in play-mak- , I
ng? He made the last effort with "The 6
Tale Of "A Coat which he wrote for
'ol Smith Russell
The failure of that piece" the late
dr. Russell once said TO me. was Sc
ere on me. for had hired Days the I
tire outright: but declare TO YOU that {
felt Boucicaults ili-fOrtune vet more /
.eonly. The poor old man had written Z
ne play 50 confidently. and was so {
'uoyantly hopeful during the rehear- I