Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-08-12

III brilliant Charlotte CushMnn
Were Not Equal "a the T~usk-Aans
Dickinson In the Fart,
Although many Of the clcyerest ac'
the world has known have es'
sayed the part, they have, with few
exceptions. failed In II.
Even Sarah Siddons. probably the
greatest tragic actress of all time, was
u failure as Hamlet. largely owing 10
the nondescript nature OF her garments,
which were neither masculine nor femi-
nine and when made II almo~ impos'
sible to forget that her Hamlet was a
woman and not u man, says London
Tit. Bits.
Charlotte Cushman was perhaps the
most brilliant player Of male parts OF
her or, indeed, Of any other generation.
She was equally brilliant aud convinc-
ing as Romeo. Cardinal Wolsey or
Claude Melnotte. but when she made
the crucial experiment OF playing the
melancholy Dane even she proved
unequal to the task. In fact, her Ham
let was so badly received in Dublin
that she there and then made up her
mind never to play 1t again.
And yet her Romeo was such a tri.
umpn Of acting that James Sheridan
Knowles, the great dramatist and crit
ic, was completely carried away by 1t.
OF her acting Of the passage where Ro-
meo filings himself upon the ground,
taking the measure Of an unmade
grave" he says: ut was a scene Of top
most passion, not simulated passion;
no such %thing-real, palpably real. The
genuine heart storm was on In Its wild
est fullness Of fury, and l listened and
gazed and held my breath. while my
blood ran hot and cold. am sure II
must have been the case with every
one in the house, but l was all alb
sorbed In Romeo till n thunder Of ap-
plause recalled me to myself"
And Of her assumption Of the difficult
part Of Claude Melnotte in 1.-The Lady
Of Lyons" Justin Mccarthy says: 81
have seen Claude Melnotte played by
many great actors, from Macready to
Irving, but Miss Cushman eclipsed
them all. She created for mi the only
human, the only possible and the only
endurable Claude Melnotte l have eve
seen"
Miss Julia Seaman. a nee popular
| actress, was so severely criticised wheI
! she played Hamlet some years ago tina
she turned round on her critics and as
sailed them in a very vigorous manner
The late Miss Marriott, who had one Of
the most beautiful voices ever heard OF
any stage, was more fortunate. al
| though it was one of her least success
full assumptions, and in the fifties al
| American actress, Miss Percy Knowles
made such an unfortunate exhibition
of herself as the melancholy n that
country manager actually issued a no
tice warning his patrons against goin'
to see her.
Ellen Tree Mrs. Charles Kean) wa
the first to put on Hamlets double
| uilu IOSC, Wis AloNSi Noh ohio
Kean's approval by her playing Of tn
part, and Nine. Sarah Bernhardt CAV
a picturesque and clever rendering 0
Hamlet, although it was not to be CON
pared with many of her brilliant as
sumptions.
Charlotte Champion was noted 70
her clever acting of masculine parts
which would have been ever more col
vincing if she had not been such a tin
woman. There Is a woman MAJ
ready once said, referring to her. "wh
would startle the world IL she were bu
two inches taller" She was such
magnificent swordswoman that fey
men cared to try their skill against he
on the stage, and she was undoubtedl
a genius In her way, with a courag
commensurate with her skill.
She was one Of the finest personator
Of Richard III. ever seen on the stag
her Shylock was among the most bri
liant pieces Of acting in her day, an
she was almost equally clever as lag
1AOllICO uIlu IJOiI SQNSdA 0O 1AAAnt oAs
yet when Charlotte Champion cha
lenged criticism with Hamlet she fai
ed as signally as her rival, Chariot
Cushman, had done.
Probably the most successful OF a
lady Hamlets was Anna Dickinson
who made considerable reputation
Macbeth and Claude Melnotte. "
number Of women have tried Hamlet
she said. None, I believe, with an
success. Yet, in my opinion, the cha
acter of Hamlet is eminently suited Il
a woman's capabilities. Hamlet WI
very young-a mere college boy,
fact. Besides, a fine actress is moi
likely to bring out the wonderful W
manlike delicacy OF Hamlet's chara
ter than a very young actor" And 81
supported her views by giving an q
tracNve and clever rendering OF Il