The Washington herald., 1906-12-09

II any Washington theater-goer han
pens some evening. when witnessing a
performance. TO have steal over him a
vague heeting, haunting impression lie
mas somewhere. some time. seen the same
thing before. don't let him bark back tc
the theory Of the reincarnationists tina,
u was during former sojourn on earth
Ihere is an easier explanation of the
81 Aomenon. 1t is that he is watching
y s. performance Of what in race-tracb
pe-lanee IS known as a ringer" II is
Whispered in inner theatrical circles that
there are many such plays. musical com
edies. and operas on the road. and some
OF them are not so bad. either. in the
sulse in which they are being presented.
But when they were first produced in
New York or elsewhere they were very
Indifferent successes OF absolute failures
They wouldn't do at all in their original
form, either in New York or the
provinces. But great deal of money
had been spent on the productions IN
providing scenery and costumes, to say
nothing of the cash payments to the au-
thors on delivery Of the manuscript 10 tho
theatrical promoters.
How TO prevent a total loss of this
money was the problem In some in
stances, il is said by those who are IA
miliar with up-to-date theatrical meth
ods, the plays were rewritten. strength
ened in one way and another. the names
under which they had their unsuccessful
trying out dropped and new ones given
them
mn
Then they were sent out on the road
into sections where there was least like
hhood of the past Of the productions be-
ng known. In other cases. where the
pieces were of the light. farcicaI order.
music was provided for them. vaudeville
stunts were injected and they were sent
)ut, likewise under new names. as musi-
al comedies or operas. So If YOU happen
IT. find yourself some evening watching q
performance thar IS strangely reminis-
cent of something you have seen before.
and you can't for the life Of YOU recall
just where or when don't imagine it is
one Of those vague, subconsci0us reawak-
eHings of experiences had in a previous
existence that the occuItiSts tell us about
All there is 10 il is that you happened
10 be a constituent part of the dog" on
which the play or musical comedy was
-ried in its first time on earth. when il
bore "A different name and belonged IN a
different theatrical classification.
The latest reliable report regarding the
number Of theaters in Greater New York
put il at something like half a hundred.
The corner stones of two additional play
houses were laid the past week One was
the new Belasco house, where the cere-
mony OF laying the corner stone found Miss
Blanche Bates in the center of the plat
form welding the silver troweL Statis-
tics are not at hand showing how many
houses David Belasco now controls in the
metropolis.
Plainly. he hasn't enough 10 satisfy his
Napoleonic ambition. He wants more
stages To conquer numerous as are those
he already has under his dominion. David
is a theatrical imperialist. even if he has
made a gallant fight against the syndi-
cate. If he had d little more philosophy
and little less passion for action. glory.
and gold in his cosmos. he would be even
a greater success than he is at present.
and would not incur the risk of being
branded as inconsistent. A study of his
present ways leads to the very strong sus-
piciOn that he has mseusibly drifted into
the class which is engaged in the deplor-
able work of piliug up swollen fortunes.
The streams of gold flowing into the
Belasco treasury from The Music Mas
ter and The Rose of the Rancho
mines to say nothing of many other minor
sources of income must be almost prince
parently, 10 take things easy under these
happy conditions. He wants 10 open up
new leads and start new feeders for the
already fat streams of gold coming his
way
He wants more theaters to manage or
control more of his plays running CON
temporaueoUsly, more plays to write or to
adapt. more players TO engage and dis
miss, more things to do generally, and
more money come pouring in.
Probably he would be a far happier and.
I'm the end. more successful author and
manager if he would take lessons from
the career of the late Augustiu DAILY. who
used 10 content himself with making two
OF three productions a season, but all of
them as good and choice as painstaking
care, fine discrimination, and educated in
teIigeuce could render them.
The second Of the new playhouses whose
construction was initiated is TO be known
as the New Thester. Its building has been
undertaken by a company of wealthy and
enlightened men who don't say so for fear
of idicUle but who plainly have if in
mind 10 elevate the stage or at least
make move in that direction-and Lord
knows there has not been a time in
twenty years when the stage stood in
more need Of such a move. The New
Theater. it is said, viii be as near an
approach to the COmedie Franchise as it
is possible TO have under the conditions
that prevail i'm the United States. It
will in other words be a sort of en-
dowed theater, deriving its endowment
from private citizens instead of from
the state. II viii be a step in the di-
rccti0n Of removing some of the bonds
of commercialism which now bind the
stage At least. il will seek to substitute
enlightened and self-TespeCtinE CONNER
cialism for the stupid and sordid sort
which has as its motto I'VE give EN-
what they want" and which finds out
what they want by consulting its own
whim~ and tastes What the fate of the
highly elmmendable venture viii be is.
OF course, very pTGblematicaL IL Will all
depend on the character and intelligence
~ the men behind st. and the amount of
money they are willing to put cut before
getting any back in the form Of divi-
icnds.
The steady increase in theatrical con-
S.ruction in New York may be all right
while the present boom times continue.
But when hard times come again. as they
assme6ly Will how the unwise promoters