Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-27
London Theater Gossip.
Special Correspondence OF The Star

Special Correspondence OF The Star
LONDON. August IL. 1905
While theatrical managers generally arc
complaining that the season has been a had
one, and that the excessive salaries demand
ed by stars renders some form OF theatrical
trust inevitable, the long runs achieved by
certain good plays in London show that
there Is small foundation for the freouen.
complaint that the public taste is deterior-
ating. Among the plays that still hold the
boards "Veronique" has just been given for
the four hundred and fiftieth time. The
Catch of the Season has reached its three
hundred and ninety-fourth performance.
THE Walls of Jericho" has been presented
3oi times, with no sign Of diminution In It's
popularity; Lady Madcap' has 248 con-
secutive performances to its credit and
Leah Kleschna' has been seen los times
and is still running strong
Doubtless some of these plays will be con-
tinued through next season. and their runs
may approach those of notable earlier ia
Vorites. Among these "Charley's Aunt
still leads, with ,i66 consecutive perform
ances in London, and "Our Boys Is a close
second, with a run of 1,362 performances
The Private Secretary" and THE Chinese
Honeymoon both ran for over thousand
nights in the metropolis. The following are
the figures for consecutive performances of
some other striking successes: Dorothy"
S31; San Toy over 500; La Poupee" rs:
The CESSNA 7G0; "A Country Girl" over
700; Sweet Lavender" 100; Patience"
200; THE Toreador," go; The Aikado"
612, and Our Flat" G45
These figures relate only To consecutive
performances in London of the plays men
TONED. 1t would be difficult matter TO tell
how many times some of them have been
seen here and in America with several COM
panies playing them simultaneously In both
countries. The record for that Derenpial ia
mt -
several thousands. The figures for some OF
the Older melodramas would be found to ex-
coed these. The Silver King and The
Lights of London have been played On
some stage or other practically every night
for a quarter of a century The record for
individual achievements is probably held by
Miss Jennie Lee, who has acted 10 In Bleak
House nearly 5000 times. The other day
Fred Powell stated that he had PLAYED
Jagon In "A Grip of Iron" over 5000 times,
and Van Biene has registered his :, 055th
Melody"
One never knows whether Bernard Shaw
is talking seriously or just foong, but his
declaration that the establishment of a the
atrical trust here would be enormously
better, both for the morals of the nation
and the private affairs of the theatrical pro-
fesslon,' seems to meet with no support
from other playwrights. Among others. G.
r. Sims. who has been journalist and
playwright for the Last thirty years, has
been interviewed on the subject.
IF once a theatrical trust becomes firmly
established in this country" he says, lit
will be bad thing for the author. a bad
thing for the actor and bad thing for the
public. Take our railways If these were
a monopoly what IL would be for the
people. We should have the same old sta
tons and the same old trains, and If We
grumbled We should be told that If we didn't
tha flrz-ay
trust Knowing full well that in the end you
would have to come to them. 1t would be
just the same with the theatrical trust, for
the theat rfcal passenger would have to sub
nit in just the, same way and take what
was offered
But he fears that the monopoly has al
ready gained such Roadway here that IL will
be difficult to check its further progress.
THE trust" he says, rs already here. eat
ing into the heart of London and when it
has gripped the vitals of metropolitan the
aterdom 1t Will away into the provinces.
There seems, and always has seemed, a
lack of cohesion between authors and man.
ayers, and 1t is here the octopus has come
in. In France they do things differently
and have benefited considerably by the in
PRODUCTION Of the Authors Association.
That Is the only way out of the difficulty.
Continuation must be met by combination,
and while dramatic authors association
would not be panacea for all the ills that
theatrical enterprise is heir to, II would go
long way toward solving the difficulties"
1.-The Magic Circle of Great Britain" which
has just been formed. is not, many per-
sons have supposed. a league for the culti-
walton of occult mysteries and black arts,
but just business organization of conjur-
ers to guard against the giving away of the
tricks of the trade. At its first meeting the
circle decided that amy member OF the So
ciety willfully exposing the magical tricks
or illusions, either public platforms, in
places of amusement, in newspap ers and
periodicals other than magical be expelled"
Many walls are heard over the dullness Of
the concert season which has just closed.
Some of the smaller concert agents talk or
from business. There have been far
fewer engagements for society than former
ly and at swell private functions all but
the stars of the first magnitude are expect
ed TO give their services gratuitously for the
sake of the advertisement they are sup
posed to derive from their appearance be-
fore such distinguished assemblages. Schulz
Curtius a well-known impressario here. at
tributes the causes to a general scarcity of
money and the overcrowding of the musical
profession.
SAYS "others almost as good spring up, Of
fer their services at much lower rates and
kill the market Vecsey was something new
as a violin prodigy last spring. Nobody had
ever heard anything like II before. Before
many months over prodigfes were
coming out every day. Vecsey made enough