The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-12-20

all his plays. THE Old Homestead"
never paid until he sold out his inter
est in it. and it was the same with Our
New Minister" in which the Clergyman
is enacted by Ernest Hastings, who
made an equally admirable reverend"
in Lovers Lane"
Our New Minister is written on
! strictly legitimate lines. That IS 60 say.
there are no features" in it-neither
/ chickens. pump. a quartet, nor
! snowstorTn. The nearest approach to
( this sort Of thing is the role of Skee-
zicl1s. a Billy Baxter lad from New
York. The part was written for John
p. Drawn, who has almost as odd
history as the play. He has been on the
stage fourteen years, and In that time
F, has played in only three productions.
He began as the whistling waiter in
"A Trip TO Chinatown" and then Gre
ated the whistIing bootblack in Denman
Thompson's Two Sisters" at Nfblo's
Garden.
Brawn's Good Work.
In "Our New Minister he is a source
of perennial delight to the audience. and
gets a reception each time he appears
that must delight his soul The part is
in sharp contrast TO all the others. Al
most Cv@ry word he speaks belongs in a
dictionary Of slang, and yet he takes
pain to keep the role out Of the tough
category, which gives it a distinction all
its own.
David Belasco has gone and done il
again-swept the town with another t-i-
umph. In Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' he has
what / should call a bigger winner than
either "zaza" or ''Du Barry" because
the play. being comedy, VIII appeal to a
wider class. The mounting. too, is more
picturesque throughout. although per-
haps lacking in one or two particular
effects that made "Du Barry" the mar
vel OF it's day.
In Henrietta Crosman Belasco has
found star who viii twinkle every bit
as brilliantly as any OF the three now
under his control. And for Miss Cros-
man herself. what a contras. in the two
rainy nights which must be marked
with white stones in her memory. one
OF them that October Tuesday in 1901
when she opened at the Bijou as stop
gap after failure and played Mistress
Nelr' TO box office receipts Of SEQ. and
| the ether that December Wednesday Of
two weeks ago when she was part and
parcel OF another BeIasco ten-strTke.
Henrietta Crosman's Role.
Aside from the success she has made
with Kitty Bellairs. Miss Crosman
should thoroughly enjoy the role. jostIed
as It is on all sides with reginentaI ac-
cessories. for she comes Of army people
herself. She was born at Wheeling, w
Va. where her father. Major George
II. Crosman. was stationed at the time.
Mai. Gen. George II. Crosman was her
/ grandfather, and her uncle, who grad
uated from Annapolis in the class with
Admiral Dewey. was a commander in
the navy. Another of her uncles gave
up his life I'm the civil war
She secured her first position on the
stage through John w. Ensler, who
died not long since. and it wasn't long
before she was playing leads with Rob
ert Downing's company. After that she
passed into the stock at Days and
acted Celia to the Rosalind OF Ada Re
han in las You Like It." She was also
a member OF that other famous stock
the one at the Lyceum-and played
second TO Georgia Cayvan in its first
play. THE WIFE" written by David
Belasco and Henry c. DeMHe.
One of Wilkinson's Widows.
After that she was one of the two
widows I'm Mr. WiIkinsons Widows. -
one OF Charles Frohman's early comedy
hits, Louise Thorndike Boucicault be-
ing the other. and then made big sue
cess as Gloriana, which she only played
a few nights, however. owing to illness.