The Washington herald., 1907-12-22

Quiet" married sydney Armstrong. the
well-known actress, and is now on the
executive staf Of David Belasco and
manager OF the BelascO Theater.
Mrs. George Jay Gould. who. since she
was known as Edith Kingdom On the
stage of Augustin Daiy, has acted but
once, and then in strict privacy. in ''The
Twilight or the Gods" on an improvised
stage OF the coach house OF Georgian
Court December y, 1850, is 10 make her
second appearance on the stage January
2 next. az the Plaza Hotel IN this city
for the benefit Of charity. Only 400 Der
sons will be present. and there Will be
only one performance. Mrs. Gould viii
have a sprightly role, and will be assisted
by Kyrle Bellew. and. unless there Is a
change in the present programme, b.
Nine. Nordica, vino will play her maid
The comedy is by Edward Van Zile, and
Is called Mrs. Van Vechten's Divorce
Suit"
Paul Armstrong. the author Of The
Heir Of the Hurrah' and "Salomy Jane.
Is probably the only American playwright
who has ever induged IN the luxury Of
publicly stating his contempt for the
producing manager. On sundry occasions
has Mr.. Armstrong expressed his opin-
ions In sarcastic terms that ranked in
the breasts Of his enemies. No newspa-
per man ever came 70 him for anything
expressive about managers that Mr.. Arm
strong hesitated 70 let out the last link
in avowing his conviction that managers
were IN existence Tor no purpose other
than TO prevent playwrights from making
successful plays. He could point 10 .'Sa-
iomy Jane as an emergency play that
had been written IN six days. rehearsed.
and put on in Posthaste order just as he
(Mr Armstrong; had written it, and had
pulled Miss Eleanor Robson out Of a criti-
cal embarrassment for a triumph. To
his credit be II said that he stands By his
convictions There ale managers right
now IN New York who would jump at the
cnance 10 produce one OF Armstrong;
plays II ne would only cat humble pie and
surrender his independence But there's
the rub he claims 10 know better than
any one else how his PLAYS should be
staged. and until he IS ready 70 give I'D
this heresy, he viii have 10 be his own
producer
Now Mr.. Armstrong has just made a
trial with new play IN Baltimore. He
calls II by the expressive title Society
and the Bulldog" and in Il lie reincar-
mates sundry familiar Western types with
which his two notable successes have
been scored. The comedy was tried out
by the Fawcett Stock Company. with
William Farnum in the principal role.
and the piece is now IN its second week
Wen. Mr.. Armstrong IS meeting the
challenging party on his Own ground and
announces his second independent move
TO take place in Chicago. January IS. with
William Farnum and Cecilia Lotus in
Society and the Bulldog"
When five years ago Armstrong could
not prevail upon any manager TO produce
a play Of his. being then unknown 10
fame. he temporarily abandoned his news
paper career in New York and started
out TO shift for himself as q pIsv p-o-
ducer- With st. Ann" he oDened in
Washington, Laura Nelson Hall playing
the title role He expected 20 receive
hurry call TO display his goods at one Of
the Broadway houses. but instead was
given route in the coal region Of Penn
syivania during miners strike. st
Ann had been fioated. but Mr.. Armstrong
was not looking for a coaling station. and
MS enterprise succumbed 10 the adverse
gales az Norfolk. That was the founda-
tiOn Of his antipathy to managers He
tried again with a farce comedy. which
was produced in New York. and failed
He returned 20 his newspaper work and
tried again. 4 dozen managers read .aTbe
Heir Of the Hurrah." and declined II
The late Kirk La SheIe accepted if. made
certain alterations. and Armstrong leaned
into fame.
As rule. when a playwright has one
success 10 his credit, everything he has
ever written takes on an exaggerated
YaiIe' and lie does not lack for patrons.
But. although Armstrong has half a dozen
plays in his trunk, he has consistently
refused 70 let others tamper. with them
even on assured prospects Of securing
productions for them. and he is now
planning a second invasion Of tie mana
gerial field. with the confident expecta-
uon or reap.ng the fruit Of his labor, both
as a producer and a playwright.
William Farnum is under contract 10
him Tor term Of years When so
ciety and the Bulldog has exhausted i;s
popularity, ne VIII bring him out in an
american tragedy in which Farnum viii
probably play an Indian Cecilia I.oftus'
detection from Henry AIiIler's standard
means the failure of The Lancers' AZ
DaIy s and her acquisition by Armstrong
as leading woman Farnum thus aban-
dons the legitimate and semi-legitiuaste
IN which he has been conspicuous. and
theatrical circles Will be agog to learn how
ne ana the eccentric piaywright-manager
VIII make out together in their Joint de-
psrture from established lines.
FRED. F. SCHRADER
Musicians ReprOOs.
Even IN the days Of Couey CIbber. the
musical genius seems often to have been