Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-07

even more elaborate than last year. Con-
elusive rights for Washington are guaran-
teed to Mr.. Chase for the Bostonians' proa
auctions of The Serenade'' and Rob Roy"
the Lillian Russell. Della Fox and JEFF De
Angels production of 1.-The. Wedding
Day the De Angels production of THE
Jolly Musketeer.' the Broadway Theater
Company's production of 1.-THE Highway
man." the Frank Daniels productions of
THE Wizard of the Nile "The Idols Eye"
and Wang" Negotiations are progressing
for the rights to at least four more popular
ard grand operas that have never been
heard here except at the regular prices of
the legitimate theaters.
The performers under contract to appear
In the various operas are William Brod-
erick, Albert Maher. Bowman Rawlston,
Lena Waters. Hermann Hirschberg, ]. *.
Murray, Clara Lane Eugenia Barker, Bes-
sic Fairbairn. Hubert Wilkie, Laura DEMO-
c. Harry Warren, Hattie Arnold, Hattie
Belle Ladd. James w. Nickolds, John Duns-
muir, Harry Brown, Frank Wooley, Ben
Lodge. Villa Knox, Agnes Paul, Laura
Clement. Douglass Flint, Charles Allison,
Edna Thornton. Berenice Holmes. Fred
Knights, William Schuster, George W. Cal
lahan, E. Hoyt Albertson. William Riley
Hatch. Phil Branson. William Corliss, Wal
ter Lawrence Olive Thorne, John Mayor,
George Shields, John Read. Bonnie Goodall,
John E. Dewey, Joseph w. Smith, Frank
Deshon, Clarence Robinson. Milton Smith,
Joseph Nicholl, Carl Berton, Laura Willard,
and Norma Kopp
The chorus and principals for each opera
will number about sixty people. Only the
chorus will preserve a stock organization
The principals, following the very salts
factory plan adopted last year, will be en-
gagged because Of their familiarity with the
roles for which they are wanted and they
will be changed from time to time as the
exigencies of the productions may demand.
=
Arthur Wing Pinero, the author of Iris
the play in which Virginia Harmed will be
seen at the National Theater next week, is
noted for the brilliancy OF his plays. This
particular play, it is said, fairly sparkles
with epigrams. The following are few
lines taken at random
Kane-"If she married a rich man, her In
terest in her late husbands estate would
be no longer indispensable to her.
Miss Pinset-'Rich men generally nave
some odious quality to counterbalance their
wealth. The men who would marry are as
poor as MICE
Iris-"You were riding In the park this
morning.
Mrs Wynning-"Jack was; I have lum-
bago."
,Iris-"That is very painful. is it not?'
Jack-"When 1 was a boy only servants
had it. By Jove, these are leveling days
with vengeance"
Fanny-'I hate you. You didn't come to
the bazaar yesterday"
Croker-'I did better. I told the richest
man 1 know to go there
Aurea-"Poor little man! Still he is so
exceedingly ugly
Fanny-"The most sensible men in the
world, my dear
Aurea-"The ugly ones?"
Fanny" The vainest of them confide the
truth to themselves at least once a day
while shaving"
Fanny-"He's great financier, my dear"
Aurea-"What is a financier, eXactly?"
Fanny-"A financier? Oh, a pawnbroker
with imagination
Laurence-''Man and wife! Married! No
one in the world to look askance at u.s.
Iris-"Yes, we should have hurried off to
church and begged a clergyman to turn
rich woman into a pauper Aid you would
have been saddled with helpless DOLL
Extraordinarily you wonder why
am continually catechising you about your
self"
Iris-"You enjoy diving down into the
depths of my character-is that 1t? Cruel.
when they are such shallow little depths!
The process disturbs the surface of me-
makes ripples, as 1t WERE"
Iris Ito Maldonado in the last act)-"There
would be a revival of interest in me as your
wife. Heaps of those who have dropped
me, half forgotten me-who wouldn't touch
me as J. am, with gloves on-would rally
around me because of your wealth. 1
couldn't suffer that. II we do marry, you
must promise not to insist upon my contin-
uing to live in England
Maldonado-"Au right. So be 1t. After
all, England is paradise only for the Purt-
tan and hypocrite. Ha, ha! Farewell.
England Land of lean women and snug
men, Of the dropping eyelid and the sancti-
monious drawl! Land of money worship, Of
cant and pharisaism of false sentiment and
namby pamby ideals-in every department
nf 20 hn rh IF he univ 10 ho
ha! England, farewell! PARISH"
Iris-"The women there are so terrible
the women who would claim equality with
me-"
Mathematician yet why reside any
where? Who SO at home everywhere as the
homeless rich? Wen be cosmopolitans Of
the first order, shall we?'
Besides being a generous patron Of the
stage Washington has contributed talent
far beyond it's pro rata of population, and |
only in minor cases has 1t happened that
at one time or another local aspirants for
histrionic honors have not made good" In
the realm of musical comedy or opera
bouffe this has been particularly marked of
late. The coy little Empire Theater for-
merly the Bijou) has been a veritable kin
dergarten for this line of work. Did not
Ellie Fay elbow her way from the back
line of the Grieves chorus some seasons
ago and lay strong hold on the affections
of her audience? Her sensational and in
artistic antics have since brought her
larger financial return. Reta knight had
no. been out of the Empire forces. long
before the cry was raised in the western
papers that some villainous person had en-
deavored to surreptitiously administer poi
soned candy to her, and there have been
other instances wherein through energetic
endeavor the Empire stock merry merry
has given a good account of itself in the
quest of fame. One of the young women
Of the Bijou chorus a few years ago was
Flora Parker. When Mr.. Blue Beard"
the big spectacular production, was pro-
duced at the Knickerbocker Theater. New
York, Miss Parker made one Of the hits
Of the piece. Almost without exception
the newspapers complimented her.
There are some surface indications that
deal OF some magnitude Is contemplated,
which will affect Washington theaters. The
sale Of the Empire Theater lease leaves the
Kernan-Stair forces practically in control of
the burlesque and melodrama field holding
as they do Kernans Lyceum, the Empire,
the Lafayette and the Academy Of Music