Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-11
ABOUT PLAYS PLAYERS AND P%LAYHOusES

More than 10000 Omaha people paid a
total Of a little more than $4,000
Tor seeing the wheels go around in Ben
Hur" last week. This is a local record for
nine performances at the prices, and is also
q record for a single weeks business for
the show anywhere. One can no longer deny
the drawing power Of a spectacle. People
who rarely go to the theater, and in not a
few instances som who were never there
before, paid their money to see the per-
Torrance. Originally eight performances
we're scheduled. but the demand for tickets
was so great that the management decided
to give an extra matinee on Friday. For
this the seats were sold in a very short
time after the announcement was made on
Wednesday morning. Many people were
disappointed even then, and It is believed
that the play could have been kept here at
a profit for another week at least. One
week stands are the rule on the tour.
though, and down at Kansas City the crowds
we're waiting, to the extent that on Friday
the advance sale amounted to $40, 450. So
today Ben Hur" is approaching the mouth
OF the Kaw by easy stages, and on tomorrow
night the chariot race will be pulled of
as usual on the stage at the Willis Wood.
In this condition there is some food for
reflection. 1t is we'll known to theatrical
men that people who never attend any
other form Of entertainment at the thea
ter, turn out when Uncle Toms Cabin" Is
given. About this old piece cluster asso-
Citations that hallow It. II is inseparably
connected with one OF the greatest strug-
giles a nation ever had for existence. Much
the same sentiment attaches to Ben Hur."
About 1t clings an "odor Of sancity," such
probably as no other story possesses. 1t
Is "a tale Of the Christ" and whether It
was written for its religious effect does not
matter. 1t is associated with what ali
Christian people hold to be the greatest
tragedy OF the worlds history. While the
Nazarene hgures only incidentally In both
book and play, the great central facts de-
pend so entirely upon his implied IL not
actual presence that without him the story
Is nothing. In a broader sense, too. the
story teaches a deep lesson. that Of the
substitution OF hope for a heavenly king
dom and divine dominion for a dream Of
earthly power and temporal vengeance. In
both the book and the play this phase Of
the action is kept subdued. although
plainly limited at. until after the chariot
race. Then, when Ben Hur has wreaked
mo RAiNhhN itNtibt OH MS MUTUAL enemy,
and the sense of human justice has been
appeased, the higher element of the tale
develops rapidly. eliminating in the miracle
that restores the mother and sister OF tho
hero to health. Already Ben Hur has
fought with himself the fight, and has re-
signed himself to the disappointment that
comes from knowledge that Jesus of Naza-
reth does not intend to occupy the throne
OF David and Solomon, and that his Cali
leean legions have been raised and trained
in vain. II is not a battle against Romans
that the prince of Hur is called upon to
wage. but a fight against his racial notions
or right and wrong, against his desire to
aid his people to again assume an indie
pendent position among the nations OF the
earth, and to gain for himself high place
among the rulers of a nation. II needs A
miracle to decide the struggle going on in
the young mans mind. and a miracle is
wrought. That it comes with cataclysmal
audiences is In no sense against the dra-
matte force OF the situation. Ben Hur
resigns ito Caesar the things that are
Caesars" and in his new view OF life
finds ample reward for his sacrifice in the
society Of his loved ones and the glorious
hope of a life beyond this one.
This Is the lesson OF "Ben Hur.' II
may be necessary that 1t should be trIcked
out In the tawdry ~trappings OF the stage
to secure a hearing, but It nevertheless
gets a hearing, and 1t is not at all un-
reasonable to suppose that long after the
roar Of the wheels in the chariot race have
died away. long after the shouts that well
coined the victor are hushed, long after
the scene on the galley has been forgotten,
the scene in the vale OF Hinnom will be
remembered, and the minds eye can clearly
see Judah, mother. sister and promised
wife. bowed in humble acknowledgement
OF Gods goodness and greatness as made
manifest through Jesus Christ.
-
When any one is doing all he can-and
angels can do no more"-the charitable
part is TO give credit for the endeavor
and to accept the result not so much with
an eye to what has been accomplished as
TO the spirit in which the undertaking was
assumed. Reasoning this way. it may seem
hypercritical to point out specifically any
OF the spots in which the Der Hur'' per-
tormance falls short OF realizing the
natural. owIpg TO the limitations of me-
chanical appliances and the unwiIlingness
of the actors to carry the parts to the
extreme conclusions laid down in the novel.
For example. in the chariot race, not a
little OF the realism OF the affair is lost
through the very fact that the managers
cannot afford to break the back of a new
Messiah each night. Accordingly, the
spectator who watches closely is treated
to a denouement of the chariot race that
10 about as tame and stacy as can we'll be
imagined. In the story. just before the
racers entered the home stretch. Ben Hur
skillfully guided his chariot so that the
hook on the near end OF his axle engaged
in the spokes Of the on wheel of Messala's
car, neatly stripping the ivory spokes
from between rim and hub, and allowed the
noble young Roman to come a terrific
eropper. not only in full view OF the multi
tude. but where he would be directly in line