The San Francisco call., 1904-04-20
.4nlerican Plays Wanted.
Special Correspondence.

HENRIETTA STREET. GOV En- L
GARDEN, LONDON, April S.-Play-
goers here welcomed the announce
ment. made the other day, that the
Shaftesbury Theater, where THE
Belle of New York" ran for 700 nights,
is about TO become the permanent
London home of American musical
/ comedy. but probably few who heard
Of the scheme were without misgiv-
ings as TO its result. Theatrical para
graphists, of course, pretend to see in
the plan another step toward the
! '.Americanization" of the London
stage. but the 'Americanization of the
London stage has been promised
many times and nothing has come of
il. And the unfortunate part of il
/ is that the stage here can be Amer
I icanize0'' to a rather large extent if
only the thing were gone about in the
right way. Ii is a fact that Londoners
are, in the vernacular, dead anxious"
to patronize good American attrac-
tions, but they have had no end of
( disappointments. Heretofore Amer
lean managers almost invariably have
4 invited failure-when a piece from
across the water has scored over here
by following it with one or more in
different productions. Never was there
a better chance for continuous money
I making by Americans than that which
/ offered itself after the run of THE
Belle of New York" London was
eager for more of the same"-and
got An American Beauty" which had
been a frost at home. The Casino
/ Girl" which followed the old Lillian
| Russell play at the Shaftesbury, made
partial amends but The Belle of Bo-
hemia," next in order, proved a feeble
thing enough. Then came the open
ing of the new Adelphi, with. it was
/ announced, another delightful Amer
lean musical comedy" and The Whirl
of the Town" was given, bored a first
night audience and lived about a fort
night Result. American plays at a
discount. Dolly Warden" failed in
London and its author went back and
told American interviewers that the
metropolis would have none of trans
Atlantic musical comedies. But the
company which gave Dolly Warden"
here was not an adequate one, and
/ Americans who saw the piece at the
Avenue foresaw its failure. AS for
Julian Edwards statement that Lon
don audiences don't want American
plays. it need only be pointed out
that In Dahomey'' ran at the Shaftes-
bury for 25O nights after Dolly Var
den'' had collapsed. sherlock
Holmes ran ten or eleven months.
The Darling of the Gods has passed
its hundredth performance at His
Majesty's.
AFra-c W 4l7.o fr40. of
the Shaftesbury, says he will begin his
new experiment by producing The
Prince of Pilsen," and that he intends
TO give only plays that have been real
successes at home. He promises, too,
that these shall be given by capable
American actors, and if Mr.. Musgrave
lives UP tg this programme the chances
for success are all in his favor. As
a matter of fact, there seems no limit
to the business that can be done by
American plays, especially musical
ones. here in London, if only the pieces
have merit and are Wen done. Half
the song hits in the London musical
plays at present are lifted from
American successes. Sammy is the
piece de resistance of both THE Love
Birds" and The Earl and the Girl"
ner Girl and another American song
also are sung. William Jerome's BE
delia"-with new words by George
Grosmith-is given in THE Orchid"
(without credit. and American "busi-
ness is worked into several other
plays.
II. V. Esmond. actor and playwright,
who wrote When We Were Twenty
1 Il
in London since he was seen in Henry
Arthur Jones play "Chance. the Idol %
but he is to reappear in The House of
Burnside when Edward Terry produces
that play early in April. Esmond was
J hailed as the coming Pinero a while
ago, but thus far has not made good
When We Were Twenty-One" seems
TO have been a success at home, but
ii failed in London. Esmond's "Senti-
; mentaiist" had a similar fate, and his
comedy. "Billys Little Love Affair.""
soon petered out at the Criterion, what
ever William Faversham and Fay Da-
Wis may have made of it in the United
States.
BY getting itself played for the one
: thousandth time at the Strand last
night "A Chinese Honeymoon broke
al ASSOioS AOf tohS AuiAo III AolooH Oll
; the part of musical plays. A touch
of pathos was given TO the occasion.
however, by the death of Ernest Boyd
Jones, who was the original Lord Chan
cellor of the piece. The comedy was
produced first on October 4, 1901, and
Boyd Jones played in it nightly up to
the nine hundred and eighty-eighth
performance. when he was taken ill
with pleurisy. Il shall not live TO see
the thousandth performance, he re-
, marked pathetically a few days before
his death.
Z Just for an Instant-.'Weren't you