Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-27

eIS' Inns was given two performances,
and on the third evening Sydney Grundy
Sowing the Wind" was offered. At the
matinee Liberty Hali' was the bill In
the company were Henry Miller, William
Faversham, John Dodson, Robert Edeson,
Mr.. Crompton, Viola Allen. Ida Conquest,
Isabel Irving and Eleanor Robson. II
such a company were sent out now it would
be heralded as "all star" and a most ire
mendous fuss would be made over it It
was simply a stock" company In those
good old ante-trust days Manager Burgess
was almost as excited and well pleased on
Tuesday night last as he was on that hot
August night away back In 1895, when he
was making his hrst real step to success
In life.
A new crop of thrillers has already been
harvested In New York, with bran new
bunch OF absurdities introduced to adduce
the thrill essential to success. Instead Of
progressing this type of play appears to be
going the other way. The old-fashioned
melodrama Is now voted to be entirely too
slow, and the How" the why" the
slave" and the Sake dramas must have
something out OF the ordinary on which to
base their slight fabrics. Bascule bridges
operated in full view Of the audience, In
mache and painted canvass and similar
transparent articles are resorted to in or
Der to enlist the interest that used to be
worked up by means of the actual unfold
ng Of the incidents involved in the plot.
piece Just produced in New York. in
which Howard Hall, the man who used to
inter the den of fierce" lions at every
performance, plays three separate and dis
inct roles all at once, has for its central
point of interest the operation of an cleo
trio 'resuscitator." In one Of his numerous
roles he is poisoned by the she-devil, and
Tor some occult reason her assistant puts
him on the machine and brings him back
10 life. This is a tremendous climax, and
Il surely ought TO be. Nothing is impos-
hble now. with the Hall electro resus-
sitator" the dead parent, the missing pa
pers, the drowned witness; in fact, any
hing that may be needed, can be easily re-
stored to life and usefulness at the psyche
logical moment, and the whole nefarious
rcheme Of the villain be upset just as he
Is about to triumph.
Try TO conceive how embarrassing IL
would be IL you had worked and plotted
and murdered to secure control of the mill
lions involved, not to speak of the beaute-
ous maiden, and then just as you were
about to sit down to sip the sweets of your
persistent enterprise some meddlng de-
tective or assistant, or something of that
sort, would happen along with one of Mr.
Halls machines and revive the whole flock
Of individuals who had stood between you
md the goal. Wouldn't that tend to dis
courage even a melodrama villain? What
Ihow does a real gent stand, anyhow?
Something ought to be done, but until some
inventive cuss can devise a machine that
vi ,f H.
Halls 1t is apparently all off with the
Hllain in the thriller.
When Mr.. Hall was last in Omaha he
Vas using a cage OF old and toothless lions
as the main feature OF his play, The Man
Who Dared" Each time he entered the
age lie was exposed 10 about as much
serious risk as II he had gone into the
midst of as many frolicsome kittens. on
the majority Of occasions the lions didn't
even blink when they saw him coming.
and the people understood this condition
as we'll as did the stage hands. Result:
THE Man Who Dared" fell several para
sangs short of being sensation. At that
time Mr. Hall announced his intention Of
going in for something better He has
surely made good on his promise II his
electro resuscitator" isn't a distinct i'm
provement on his lions den, then ordinary
judgment is at fault Moreover. he has set
"A new mark for Theodore Kremer, Hal
Reid. Joe LeBrandt and all that bunch to
shoot at. They'll be busy for some time
before they improve on this plan for kill
Ing the hero and reviving MIN in full view
OF the audience.
All Of this is done In the name OF Nov
city People who go to the theaters de-
voted to the thriller want something new.
Plays with real substance In them and
presented by real actors might be given
tho countenance OF this class OF theater
patrons for a performance, but not as a
steady diet Fragments from The Ticket
Of Leave Man" or others OF it's day are
hurled oss the footlghts by the hero
Or the .l1in OF almost every one Of the
"moderns, but any effort TO give the old
play in its entirety would surely result in
failure simply because IL has none OF the
latter day accessories. What the gallery
wants now Is a bit OF mechanism, more or
less realistic. and couple OF comedians
who can do a song and dance in the sec
ond and third act. and It doesn't make
much difference what the play is about or
whether the company can act. It's the
machinery and. the specialtles that carry
the thriller through.
Mr. Marc Klaw has allowed himself 10
be interviewed on the subject OF the syn
dictate" He is hopeless at the very outset
The people will never understand the syn
dioate," he said. Whether wilfully or not
the newspapers have steadily misrepre-
scented II until doubt II it is worth while
TO try TO get fair hearing before the pub
lie" Then Mr. Klaw details how he once
proceeded 10 get a fair hearing in New
York. He didn't like the way the critics
were treating the pieces put on under the
guidance OF the syndicate (Mr. Klaw ex-
pressly denies that the syndicate is a trusO
The syndicate went 70 the publishers OF the
papers and represented TO each that his
journal was carrying advertising TO the
amount OF about 500 per week. which
would be cut on II the critic did not change
his tune, with one or two exceptions d
says Mr.. Klaw, ''the newspapers recognized
the justice OF our protest. In the case OF
the one OF two that sustained their critics
the syndicate has been compelled 70 protect
itself by Withdrawing It's patronage and
denying the critics admission to the house Of
That shows you the easy terms on which
one may be a critic IN New York. Write
stun that will pass muster IN the inner
sanctum OF the head once OF the syndicate