The Washington herald., 1908-04-19

two hours and hail. seeing the scenes
Of the play and hearing the isnes spoken
without anybody being on the stage but
/ the man who turns the crank ard bis
assistants who manage the lights and
handle the scenery.
This innovation has already been made
al the Union Square Theater and tie
/ lTwenty-third Street Theater, where IL IS
crowdiHg out vaudeville acts. Other
! houses where vaudeville is given are
planning 10 follow the example. Here the
machine is only presenting scenes from
plays and musical pieces. but soon, IL is
asserted. the thestoFium VIII usurp the
place CT actors and playwrights at the
larger theateFs and become a regular
/ feature of dramatic entertainment The
ne@ invention combines the biograph
with the phOnOgraph. so synchronized as
i to constitute perfect performance OF
any drama and guaranteed 10 render
actors a drug on the market.
/ According to Mr. Perry, the main pro-
moter of the enterprise. he can offer his
/ reproductions with music, words. and
actions all hsrmonized as fast as ne can
/ get them into form. It is not considered
I as belonging 70 the same class as the
/ lcameraphones or other living and talking
picture contrivances. I'VE give an entire
evenings entertainment Of two and a
! half hours. he declared, instead OF
merely showing brief scenes and dances
1 from operas and plays"
An immense gramOphOne Is placed be-
hind the curtain on which the moving
pictures appear. and is so contrived that
I the machine shifts automatically TO three
discs. Discs not in use may always he
replaced with fresh ones. and thus the
flow OF sound may continue without inter
ruption for an indefinite period The
gramophone IS necessarily synchronizeo
with the m0ving-picture apparatus in
/ front OF the curtain. At the end OF each
act the curtain OF the theater is dropped
for the intermission, exactly as during
a regular performance.
/ ! had a talk with a prominent produc-
ling manager about the new machine and
asked him what he thought of s in1u-
ence on the future of the theater. In his
opinion it viii always remain a novelty
and viii never take the place of actors
and regular theatrical productions or
plays, no matter how perfect the coop
operation of the talking machine with
the biograph II VIII lack the human
element, and will only be maehine-made
drama. he thought. However, It's infiu-
ence on vaudeville is likely 20 be serious.
( this manager opined ant II win tend 20
destroy the popularity Of the cheap melo-
drama, long popular and already on the
Wane. as IL VIII provide a better grade
or entertainment and insure the eleYa-
tion OF the minor stage by giving the
/ people Well-made plays heretofore on
view only at the better theaters, where
the price of admission has been Der 20
/ their patronage.
Blanche Bates has gone to Europe, but
no light has yet been thrown upon the
I mystery Of her future movements. While
! IL is generally believed that she has been
eoquetting with rival management il
/ is held that her contract with Belasco IS
Of such a texture as TO compel her TO
I play under him and under no other man.
| lagement next season
I Il is probable that the Joe Weber bur
lesque on "rhe Merry Widow" viii be
/ taken TO Chicago for the summer about
the middle of May.
William Farnum is now playing the
I leading part opposite TO Mabel TaliafeTrC
+ IN Polly OF the Circus
Maude Adams has accepted invitations
Z
/ appear I'm a Shakespearean performance
/ before the undergraduates and faculties
Of these institutions during the summer
/ The Harvard performance viii be giveT
/ in Cambridge on the evenings Of June
and 4. possibly with a matinee June
/ The single performance at Yale viii tak'
j place June s and weather permitting
viii be offered in the open air on th'
1 campus OF the university. This VIII b'
+ Miss Adams first appearance ia Shakes
/ peare since she was seen as Juliet Th'
play has not yet been announced.
/ Cohan & Harris have secured the leas,
/ of the Grand opera House from the ia!
( Gould estate. but they viii not be able 4
! take possession for two years from mex
] September The same firm is completing
new theater on Forty-fifth street an,
/ Broadway. where the Cohan musica
/ pieces are To be at home.
David Warfeld closes his eight months
/ engagement at the Stuyvesant May ant
goes 10 Europe on the 1fth On the fol.
lowing Monday, May (, THE Warrens ol
Virginia" viii be moved from the BelascC
I to the Stuyvesant. 10 play there until the
warm weather sets in.
Julia NARROW will follow E. H Sotherr
at the Lyric April 2 in repertoire OF
plays in which she has been seen on tour
/ The announcement which appeared in
/ these letters some time ago that Carl0tta
! Nflsou would become Frohman star
was confirmed this week when It was
made public that she would be seen next
season in New York as q Frohman star
I'm the London success, Diana OF the
/ Dobsons. by Cecily Hamilton.
f Billy Burke. the Washington girl who
came over. heralded as a London favorite,
/ and proved that she richly deserved her
fame during her appearance with John
( Drew in His Wife" at the Empire here
viii open the Lyceum in the autumn in
Love Watches a comedy from the
/ French.
/ Gertrude Hoffman the vaudeville star,
| last week won a temporary legal victory
over Col II. w. Savage a local court
refused 90 grant the eoloneTs application
for an order restraining her from In
fringing on THE Merry Widow" She
pleaded that any one had a right to use
the material on the ground as her law
yer showed. that "The Merry Widow
book was adapted from Henry Meilhac
old comedy, THE Attaehe Of the En-
bassy."
This scribe took pardonable interest in
the proceedings because it was on the
strength of note written by him 70