The Washington herald., 1907-01-27

an excessive modernity TO the operate
stage in presenting such characters as
Pinkerton, The composer seems to have
had this brought home to him only after
coming to the United States, and see
ing his operas on an American stage
These experiences made him realize. no
doubt that for American audiences. per
hapS for audiences in all the English
speaking countries, he was getting un-
pleasantly near the absolutely common
place i'm introducing the Pinkerton type
10 grand opera. Puccini who appears TO
be a man Of singular good sense and free
dom from the egotism Of so-Called genius.
says he realizes he has made n mistake.
and in his future works he will avoid the
disturbing and notwithstanding effect of
modernity in theme. To opera far more
than to any form OF the drama the pc
culiar something almost inseparable from
romance found in the remote in time or
space seems essential. opera is the most
artificial of all forms Of stage make be-
heve, and hence il has peculiar limita-
tons. It's highest success must be looked
for when il deals with the legendary, the
heroic. the supernatural with the things
that appeal 10 the Imagination. that are
yelled in the haze Of the past and touched
with its mystery and glamoT.
over in England the theatrical press
and the managers are once moro
thrashing out the old question. From
what part Of the house does most ap-
plause come? The weight of evidence
seems To be that English audiences
differ radically from America in the
matter of applauding and laughing.
What is called the middle class over
there, according TO the managers,
seems 10 regard a laugh as a sin
against pTOpTiety. while if it is capable
of being moved by emotion, fear Of
being considered noisy holds il back
from showing it by applause or other
manifestations. On the other hand.
the English managers say the people
who occupy the stall. the real "swells. %
largely made up Of the nobility with
an occasional dash Of royalty. express
all their emotions with freedom, laugh
ing and applauding as the mood and
the actors move them. Il have seen
members OF the royal family outlaugh
every one else" one manager said. The
people in the stalls come to the theater
TO be amused. and when they are
amused they don't suppress the out
ward manifestations Of their pleas
ure being both physiologicauy wise
and unafraid OF the silly cOnven-
tions which bind the middle class peo-
pie like invisible chains The gallery
like the stalls. is entirely uncoustrained
IN letting the actors and the world
forward on the stage-also how it dis
likes it, If the performance happens to
be markedly inferior or goes against
the gallery projudices. The English
gallery is far more noisy and especially
more violent in showing its displCasure
than the American. In fact, in the
best class Of American theaters the
gallery of late years has become very
We'll behaved, though highly apprcci-
alive of emotionalism and the broader
comedy. II Is among our "swells'
and the middle class. If IL Will be adj
mitted we have such a class in this
country that the most striking diff
ferences from the English audiences
are found Our .swells.' mostly of
very recent formation, have much the
same manners at the theater as the
English middle class They appear TO
think it beneath their dignity as
leaders of society 10 be liberal with
their applause or laughter. Audiences
IN which there is a heavy percentage
OF this class give the poor people on
the stage as well as the manager
anxious for success, many bad quarters
Of hours by their apparent stolid in
difference TO both comedy and pathos.
But usually in our theaters the So
called "swells' are unable 70 separate
themselves To any considerable extent
from what NAV be called the middle
class-that is. the ordinary citizens OF
good standing and educatiOn-with the
mer is swallowed up in the applause
and laughter of their heartier and less
pretentious neighbors. The contrast
between the American and English
middle class as the latter are reported
on by the English managers is very
striking. 1t is almost a measure of the
distance between the English and
American character MAURICE SPLAGN.
"The Spoilers" in Dramatic Form.
Daniel Frohman's production Of The
Spoilers" in Baltimore tomorrow night.
is Of special interest to Washington, be-
cause il will be seen at the Columbia
Theater next week. The play IS made
from Rex Beach's stirring story Of the
Alaskan gold fields. which has been very
widely read. The novel includes "a strenu-