The Washington herald., 1906-10-08

the hasty return OF the SOJOurneTS liz
pleasant places TO their haunts in the
CITY. and the theatrical world is again
governed by natural laws. If ever ex-
pressed any wonder why New York is
so peculiarly the center Of gravity in the
fate OF theatrical enterprises. / have
ceased TO marvel Nine-tenths Of the
population is crowded into five and six
room fats, half the space OF which is
pitch dark. and so cramped for room that
people rush TO the theaters to get away
from the depression OF their d0miciles.
After you have spent the day moving
about in narrow streets that resemble
the canyons Of Colorado and then go
home 10 a New York flat you viii feel an
irresistible longing for color and light.
And there you are
The notable events at the theaters this
week, and for several weeks more TO
come. are John Drew, in Pinero's play,
His House in Order. at the Empire;
Blanche Bates in "The Girl of the Golden
West" at the BeIasco; James K Hack
EFT, in ''The Walls OF Jericho at the
Hackett: Henry Arthur Jones interest
ing play. THE Hypocrites, at the Hud-
son; Montgomery and stone. in The
Red MIL at the KnickerbockeT; The
Lion and the Mouse" al the LyCeum;
Grace George. in Clothes" at the Man
haitian; Annie Russell as Puck in "A
Midsummer Nights Dream" at the New
Astor; H. 3. Irving, IN repertoire. at the
New Amsterdam; Rose StahI, in THE
Chorus Lady" at the Savoy, and Mar
garet AngIin and Henry Miller. i'm 'The
Great Divide. at the Princess.
Out Of fOrty-siN theaters now open, this
sums up the aggregate Of the productions
which are more or less new OF combine
artistic qualities with the magic word
success. The remainder are either sec
ond-year attractions or Of an inferior or
der of merit
Sir Henry Irving's son IS to be credited
with a personal triumph in the tragic
pathos of "Paola and Francesca. by
stephen Phillips, while the play. which
Is in blank verse Of course. is hailed
with rapture by those critics on The New
York press who are easily touched by
serious efforts. and with the usual levity
OF spirit by those OF the criticaster fra
ternity whose early education was neg
lected. and who have no respect for age
and no veneratiOn for literary dignity.
This young Mr.. Irving. however. prom
lSeS real things, and as we see him I'm
other characters we shall probably make
mp our minds that we are dealing with
another desirable factor iii our theatrical
experience
Poor old Nat Goodwin is still laboriue
under that depressing hoOd00 which has
chung TO his footsteps for some year
now, and which seems % follow him
Ike his shadow; for after the triumpns
of David Warfield in 1.-THE Music Mas
ter. which completed its run Of JOS
weeks last Saturday evening with q per
feet CTesccndO of enthusiasm and
speeches by the star and his manager.
the Biiou Theater has lapsed into a nor
mai condition Of apathy GoOdWiu-s work
in The Genius is excellent. He even eN-
celled himself in some scenes and was as
magnetic as ever; but the piece is wooden
and loosely jointed and his company is
as wooden as the play, The whole pro-
dUctiOn gives you the impression of a
moderately well-played amateur perform
ance when the star is not in his zenith
The real substantial hit is made by
Montgomery and Stone. in "The Red
MIL This is the only brand-uew Of
fering that promises To last the season
on Broadway in the broad comedy line
/ was amazed al the transformation Of
the Tin WoOdman and the Scarecrow. of
Wizard of or memory. In this piece
into dashing young New Workers. and
with the pigments removed and the straw
Stuffing Of the SCareCr0w sent back to
the stable, the revelation is something to
wonder at. These boys have been play
ing in mask all these years. 7 would
have bet something pretty year ago
that they had reached the acme of their
artistic sweep IN "The Wizard of o."
Now 1 am persuaded that they made
The Wizard Of o." famous instead Of
the reverse. There is something sub
stantial n their efforts. and I believe
they are only entering on their career. /
The piece is a rolIicking comedy by
Blossom, and the music has the charac-
teristic snappiness and tuneful charm
that we expect Of Victor Herbert.
Ny sympathy goes out to Bertha Kalich. /
whose career this season has been beset /
by a series Of discouraging vicissitudes /
First, there was the legal contest over 4
Gordin's 'KreUtzer Sonata" with the 1
management OF Blanche Walsh. who
claimed the right TO the piece from the 4
author, while Madame KaHch's manager
showed the written conveyance of ali /
right tits and SO on from Spachner and /
kersler, tf3 managers of the Yiddish /
theater. who claimed that I'm acquiring
the English-speakng stage rights.
Blanche Walsh anticipated the KaIIcb
opening by several weeks and skinned
of the cream In satisfying public curios-
1ty as 10 the merits of the piece. She was
enjoined by the Kalich management. but
the injunction was dissolved. and then II
was Kalichs turn 10 be enioined bv the
Walsh management The court decided
that both had the right TO play "Tbe
Kreutzer Sonata
There was really no comparison to he
accurately drawn between the two per
fOrmanCes. Blanche Walsh made a meIo-
drama of it. Kalich a tragedy. One can
take his choice, but the traditional dig
nifty rests with the latter. The critics
said the play was greWsome and morbid
They always say that about play in
which the conventional happy ending is
absent but Maud Mullers memory would
never have survived in our literature If
after that mellow summers day. she and +
the judge had been married. And / al
ways think OF that quatrain Of Bret
Harte's parody:
If Of al sad words Of tongue or pen
The saddest are these 1t might have been,
sun sadder far it seems TO ne
Are these; 1t Is, but hadn't ought to be-
or something 10 that effect.
! adored Kalich in the role Of the IN
happy wife, and she had my sympathy up II
TO my gorge,
And now I read they have had to close
the Lyric Theater because the actress had
to undergo an operation for appendicitis.
and the large. clamorous audiences which i
applied for admission Saturday afternoon
and evening-it was Jewish holiday aud
The whole East Side had saved up 10 see
s7rT Mo in diet
missed. There was almost riot on that
1av although during the hetfar r,art Of