The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-11-20

is tremendous. Renowned actors
are introducing new plays and
Ireshenlng old ones in eight Broadway
houses. Minnie Madden Fiske. BRAIN
lest CT famed American dramatic ar
tists. is vitalizing Ibsen again IN He'd
GA Gdbler. also popularizing him.
which was once thought an impossible
thing to do. Gabriel Rejano. most
versatile Of French stage celebrities,
passes from nasty farce and comedy
into clean drama with La Robe
Rouge which we have had in Eng
lsh, with its peasant heroine wrong
fuliy convicted Of murder by prosecu-
tors who become prosecutors Amelia
Bingham takes so small theatre for
a revival of The Climbers and puts
so costly a company into IL, that an
evening houseful won't pay the DAYS
wages. Julia Marlowe is a new
Ophelia in Hamlet with Edward II.
Sothern, and she infuses much men,
tally into the lunacy Of the loveIorn
maiden For an original innovation in
the mad scene she carries the leaves
or white roses in a scarf, instead of
whole flowers in a basket. and when
she tells the significance of each token
she lets a handful of the petals fall
through her fingers at the recipient S
feet. Thus the ina gination of the poor
creature that the cOlorless leaves are
flowers of different forms and hues is
pitifuliy indicated. 1t isn't easy TO vary
the action Of Opheiia. This oddly is
pretty and very eloquent.
People who believe that this country
suffers from Anglomonia in its theat-
rieal taste should see New York re-
ception of famous London player |
have no doubt ii is the same I'm Salt
Lake. Certainly here on Broadway we
are all from Missouri; but when they
DO show u.s. we are as willing TO ap-
piaud as at first we are loath 70 seem
provincial. This attitrde was visible at
the temperance of Sir charles Wind
ham, who came as a stranger 10 the
younger generation. ana on q new ar
tistic plane 10 the old-timers. He had,
since his earlier tours in farce, adj
vaueed to an eminent position as Lon
don's first actor of high comsdy-pro-
claimed even as the first comedian Of
all Great Britain and royalty COM
mended by knighthOod. That didn't
awe us. and when he stepped forth in
the garb OF David Garriek, as portrayed
in Tom RObertson's adaptation from
the French, the applause was nowhere
nigh hXsterical; indeed. it was so cool
as 10 be barely cordial. That the feel
ing warmed TO something like enthusi-
assn as the performance progressed was
credit alike to the actor and his audi
ence. You have probably read about
Wyndham's acting in general, and this
PRESERVATION In particular, that / need
not celebrate the control of resources,
the native elegance of manner and the
brilliancy of mind and the sure tech
nique that are the conspicuous attri-
butes of this artistic whole. All l care
to add in praise is an assurance to
those who are frightened away because
a play is a classic, and the performs
ance is appraised as great, that the
art of it all can be disregarded and a
delightful evening of frclic, underlaid
with true sentiment may be enjoyed.
Wyndham has brought not only his
admired self for us TO be thankful for.
but company which. barring a single
conspicuous incompetent, is as good as
the best 10 be found in any part of our
land. That has not always been so
With visiting Londoners. This organ
iZation. / think I am safe in saying,
gives a performance Of the Old-style
comedy of manners which has not
been equalled here since the best days
VI k4AC w ctlAcANA dSoNiiADAei 60 IL - oAAA-
gular but true that the exception have
noted is that of Wyndhams leading ac-
tress. You know what an easy role
Ada IngOtt is to play, Probably you
never saw it badly done. But Mary
Moore makes the gentle girl such a
deciamatoTy, strident, trayesty of a
tragedy queen that the frst-nighters
laughed at her. Yet Miss Moore has
been a faYorite in Wyndham's London
company these many years.
Fay Davis, who comes forward in one
of the weeks new plays, is an English
actress In so much as she began in
London. and became conspicuous there
before she was brought to the Amer
lean stage; but she was born aud bred
i'm New England. and tried in vain to
get a theatrical start in Boston and
New York. Her charm is personal and
peculiar; so Frohman, with all his
command of the worlds output, hasn't
found it easy 20 get roles TO keep her
starring in. / think that one written
for a totally different kind of actress
now satisfies the demand. The par
ticulsrs may interest you. The author
of this piece. The Rich Mrs. Repton,"
is r.. G. Carton, whose wife is the Miss
Compton of the London theatres. Now,
a considerable part of Cartons PEN
work is to make plays with amiably
hearty and physically heavy heroines
for Mrs Compton TO embody. For that
purpose he created the rich Mrs. Rep
ton. a clear-headed, warm-hearted, but
coarse-mannered diwod, generously
good to her friends in their various
cases of need. Fay Davis is the anti
thesis of Mrs. Compton, Carton, corpo-
really and temperamentally. for she is
slender nf1iaF and the of UQntil-
ity. Therefore the widow who was ro-
bustious i'm the London production. is
deliciously feminine in the different
performance here. And l guess that
Carton will take in ten times the
amount of royalty for his play in
America that he has in England. be-
cause his wife didn't do we'll with it..
and Miss Davis does.
Mrs. Repton is a Lady Bountiful with
a big wad OF wit as well as of money.
Her house Isl a kind of club for the
troubled. One Of the members is an
author who can't get his play produced.
She forms a syndicate 70 exploit It..
Another is a lawyer without clients
and with an invalid sister to support
She roots for him among the profita BILE
litigants. A third is a sportive fellow
who may pay his debts three months
hence IL his horse wins a. race. She
permits him to tell mis- creditors that
he is engaged to marry her and so will
be able 10 square his accounts Thee,
cases involve her and her beneficiaries
In ludicrous scrapes. especially the
third one. for her bogus fiance has a
real sweetheart 10 become jealous. and
the widow has critics who think her
silly 10 betroth hereeif to a chap hardly
more than half her age.
The new big theatrical show Of the
week is "Humpty Dumpty." The name
of 1t makes the old fellows with fond
memories-those optimists Of the past