The Washington herald., 1907-04-14
PLAYNEWS OF NEW YORK
NOVELLF CLOSES HIS METROPOLITAN ENGAGEMENT.
NEW AMUSEMENT CENTER-NAZIMOVA, AMELIA
BINGHAM AND OTHER PERSONALS.

special TO Tho Washington Herald.
New York. April iS.-Ermete Noveili
closed his American engagement al the
Lyric Theater tonight and viii imn'eoi-
ately set sail for Genoa
Whether the Italian actor will return
next season has not been fully deter
mined-at least. no announcement to that
effect has been made-but it is probable
that an understanding has been reached
between himself and the Shuberts, agree
able 10 which he viii be seen in the IN
dependent theaters Of all the leading cities
next year in a selected repertoire.
a touching incident was connected with
| his engagement here for the last week.
Shortly before going on IN King Lear
on Tuesday evening. a cablegram was
placed in MS hands announcing the death
Of his son in italy.
The younger NovelH was thirty years
old, and was a well-known Italian car
toonist. Signoriaa Giannini, who in pri-
vate life is Mrs. Novelli, is the actors
| second wife. and not the mother of the
! deceased: but the news was not cOmmu-
nicated 10 her until after the perform
anee. Novelli is said to be almost pros
Jrated. but be played the remainder Of
the week without any visible distress
/ visible from before the footlghts.
I The only new offering during the last
week Of his engagement was Papa
Martin" q comedy Of French bourgeois
/ life, In which a gOod-hearted. old father
/ finds himself deceived by his son. He
! forces the boy TO leave home and 90 Oh a
f long voyage. during which nothing is
heard OF him, and his parents are almost
J heartbroken. At last ne turns up, how
ever. when his father is in dire financial
/ extremity. The trip has made a man OF
him, and he lives 70 shower blessings
/ upon those he loves and to make fGll
/ amends for his boyish pranks.
! "Oedipus Rex was cut out Of the bill
and the other characters presented by
/ Novelli were those in which he had pre-
I viously appeared. three Of them Shake
/ spearean.
/ He met with an enthusiastic reception
from the Friars during the latter's COM
pllmentary dinner to Henry Miller at the
I Cafe dos Beaux Arts a week ago. The
Friars is a sort Of local Gridiron Club,
/ composed Of newspaper men connected
with the theatrical profession. It's first
4 president was Charles Emerson Cook, its
! present official head being Wells Hawks,
formerly Of Washington and Baltimore.
The club gave its first dinner TO Clyde
Fitch and as last one TO Henry Miller.
Noveni was one Of the guests. He en-
tered late as he had TO dress for the
occasion after the performance. About
/ 20 guests greeted him. rising and with
He Te 4F4+ls-
onstration when he responded to the call
OF the tOastmaster, and another when hC
retired from the banquet hall everybody
singing Fer He's a jolly Good Fellow. '
Novelh, Il Will be observed. has made
not only a professional hit, bat a per
sonal one as wei.
F0rty-fourth street, between Broadway
and Sixth avenue, seems destined TO be
come the future center Of theatrical ac-
tivity. Those who can remember twenty
years back viii recall when Union Square
was the theatrical center and the Nor
ton House, at the corner Of Fourteenth
the pivot around which the amusement
events of the metropolis revolved. Wal
lacks. Days and the Bijou and thC
Broadway theaters were referred 10 a:
the uptown playhouses. Then Long
acre Square. or the present Time!
Square, between the center and Forty
] second street. began 10 form a brigh
tangent of the Great White Way. witt
the Victoria, Belasco. Liberty, New Am
sterdam. American. and Hackett. all com
passed between Seventh and Sixth ave
nues.
This is the situation to-day, and doubt
less will remain for some years TO eqne
In the meantime the Criterion ana Hud
son theaters were built on Forty-fourti
street. and now, within a few doors o.
the latter. David Belasco Is erecting hi'
splendid new playhouse. the Stuyvesant
which will be opened in September b!
David Warfeld in new comedy by th'
playWTight-manageT
The latest announcement is that WI
liam A. Brady has prepared plans for ;
new theater, 10 be built opposite 10 tn
Stuyvesant and almost next door to tn
Lambs Club building designed by Staa
ford Whitel, for which contracts may b.
closed i'm time TO insure the completion
of the new theater by next season, al
; though il seems doubtful, in view of tn
short time intervening.
Rida Johnson Young. the literary wifi
of James Young. well known as an excel
lent shakespearean juvenile and LEADING
man, seems to have made another hi
with a college play, in THE Boys of Com
, pauy B, which Arnold DAILY presented
the Lyceum last Monday evening. Tn
, piece deals with a lot of amusing young
sters in something of the wholesome
spirit of her highly successful comedy @
z college life, Brown OF Harvard j.
which Harry Woodruff met with such al
: extraordinary reception IN Boston at tn
hands of a riotous Harvard student audi
ence last week. 1t has good deal Of tn
touch-and-go spirit Of that piece, and III
p lively character OF boys and girls Low
and cross-purposes. IN which she manage
, to strike a wholesome human note tina
appeals TO old and young. Arnold Dali
inv ests his role of Tony Allen with
{ great deal of his own drolIery. The piec
lacks the depth and purpose OF the Shaf
I plays in which DAILY won renOwn, and
! written more for general public consump
, ton than the vehicles in which he ha
become best known; but the reception ac
corded the piece obviously stamps it a
a popular success.
r Another success is "The Orchid" a