The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-01-06
KYLE MOZART
IS OUT OF TUNE
A Good Play Receives Hard
Usage at Actors
Hands.
EXCELLENT MISS kINsELLA
Mansficld's Special Train Arrives
This Morning-G Great Sale
Of Seats.

The much heralded mozart a play In
four acts, by Miss Ivy Ashton Root, niece
b to Secretary Root. was seen at the Acad-
envy last night. with Mr.. Howard Kyle in
the name part.
It was not a success, in spite of the
undoubted clevcrness Of the construction.
the charm OF sympathetic situations and
the beauty of the lines
The parts were not in the hands OF
capable actors. and this is especially true
OF Mozart" which was simply tortured
to slow death by Mr.. Kyle who did not
even honor the play with knowledge Of
his lines.
In worther hands the play may have a
future but as 1t is now acted 1t recalls
to the charitable mind the sadd3;t words
OF tongue or pen: ut might have been"
1t has been said that a half a loaf Is bet
ter than no bread. but this fs not true OF
stage famine in the way OF scenery. To
be but half right is but to nccentuatc the
wrong without profiting by the right.
Last night Mozart's ancient harpsichord
seemed to be out of place amid the mod
ern furniture, modish chairs, Waterbury,
Conn, clock and Grand Rapids tables that
furnished his lodgings. Then. too, the
charming possibilities Of the fireside scene
in the third act. when Constaze confesses
her love- was utterly spoiled. because. for
sooth. modern gas-log was used-an
excellent and useful device, but not de-
vi.ed for histrionic poetry or stage ro-.
nance.
AS Constance Weber Miss Kathleen
Kinsela was far and away the best in
tile company. Her acting reminds one
OF Miss Eleanor Robson. Miss Paula
Gloy was pretty and painstaking. In the
language OF the track. the Others "also
ran
Mansfield's Special Train.
Mr. Mansfield and his company will
reach Richmond this morning at o'clock
from Norfolk on a special train. COM
posed OF eleven cars. Mr.. Mansfield
travels in his private car. upon which
he will live while he is In Richmond. His
entire company travel in Pulimans, while
seven cars contain scenery and baggage.
Mr. Mansfield gave particular instruc-
lions to the officials OF the Norfolk and
Western Railroad that the speed of his
special train should not exceed twenty
FIVE miles an hour. He is not a believer
in the flying trains of these modern
days.
Don Carlos Great.
According to the Chicago papers and
other critics who have seen Richard
.iansficld's massive production of Schll-
ler's Don Carlos this is his master
work. Il realization OF the great play In
acting and producing worthy of the, great
est living actor. Mansfield inauguratcd
his Chicago season with Don Carlos"
and this is the production with which he
will dedicate his New York season next
month. AT first IL was not deemed pos
sible TO get this production on the Acad-
emy stage, but accurate measurements
being sent to the managers for Mr. Nuns
field and the promise of abundant stage
help. II was decided to give Don Carlos
when he appears at the Academy of
Music tonight.
The Chicago Record-Herald said OF the
first night:
mfr Mansfield could, we firmly believe.
and SO could any actor, afford to stake
his whole artistic reputation on the long
sustained flight of contradictory play of
voice. feature. bearing and soul-expres-
sion which he exhibits In the second
scene of the fourth act of Don Carlos
and IL he does not by It wiring tremen-
dous demonstrations from his audiences
Ii will be because he faces images of
stone. not men and women with hearts
10 respond TO great things. Here in this
trouble and hurt dignity of fundamen-
tally weak prince, who believed himself
betrayed by his only friend: he had list
ened with passionate eagerness to that
friends justification of himself: he had
then burst into a lyric song of loyalty
and love upon the conclusion of the JUS
tification: he had then seen that friend
whom the prince now loved with re-
doubted ardor, drop dead at his feet
shot by hidden marksman; he had bent
In grief and weeping over the body. and.
still kneeling. he had dashed the walls
of scorn, reproach and invective in the
faces of those who, he knew. We're Posa's
murderers. Then he defied them. all
until they quailed before him. and as the
curtain descends he stood before, the,
shamed and amazed gaze of great Philip
and his court, an insolent and princely
figure of wrath, despair and outraged
affection. The astonished audience united
in prolonged demonstration In recog-
milton of what. the present writer be-
lieves, was the most thoroughly legiti-
mate the most difficult and the longest
sustained achievement In heroic acting
Mr.. Mansfield ever has risen to. He hsS
been compelled to stand forth and be
Judged without the aids of a startling
disguise, without assistance from the
other players grouped around him He
had to leap into the center of the stage
and fill 1t alone. He had to dare any
man to come near the crown prince and
to make his spoken utterance literally
beat back the whole courtly throng. This
he accomplished, and he not only stunned
Philip and his followers. but he for many
moment cowed the spectators beyond
the footlights. There are a thousand
other beautiful and inspiring things in
this representation, as to it's scenery. as
to the grave. careful acting of manylof
the subsidiary players and as to the rich
ness and vastness Of the ensemble, that
one would like to touch upon. but spuce