The Washington herald., 1908-04-05
NEW YORK THEATERS.

NEW YORK THEATERS.
Special Correspondence The Washington Herald.
New York. April 1.-Two farees Of re-
rent birth. regeneration. reIncarnation, OF
whatever you choose TO call it, breathed
their last after 3 short career bluffs
did not go at the Bijou, and added one
more to the list OF failures at that fateful
house since Nazimova went on tour, while.
''Toddles." IN which Jack Barrymore was
featured. expired in infancy at tbs Gar
rick. Both were withdrawn last Satur-
day night 1t is the fashion to speak
Of TIE Bi1ou and the Gartick as unlucky
houses. Both can point TO a formidable
list Of failures to substantiate the argu-
ment that a hoodoo Is interviewer with
their history But just what a flimsy
thing is theatrical superstition is shown
by a moments reflection Il was az the
Bijou that Henrietta Crosman scored her
triumph In Mistress Nell" that Warfield
played The Music Master for more than
a year, and Nazlmova laid the foundation
of her remarkable success, while the
Garrick was the home OF Mrs. Carter in
Du Barry for upward CT year. The
Princess, which seems 90 have been final
" abandoned. was considered hope
less proposition until Margaret Anglin
produced 'Zira" there, after which came
Brown OF Harvard" and THE Great
Divide, both of them notable metro
DOlitan successes.
As n result OF the withdrawal Of
Bluffs" the Bi3ou remained closed this
week, and nothing so far is scheduled
But l hear from inside sources that it is
shortly 70 be reopened, and ] expect any
day the announcement that Henry F.
DIxey viii appear there In Papa Te-
bonnard." This will show the comedian
in a radical departure from line Of
with which he has
been long identified. Papa Lebonnard''
was the play in which NoveIIi. the Italian
actor, made his American debut and hyp-
Noticed a large portion Of our playgoers.
II is from the French and sketches the
life OF a retired old watch
maker who is married to a social climber.
The wife objects TO the marriage of their
daughter to a young man Of illegitimate
birth but Of fine character. and is sup
ported in her attitude BY the SON From
that moment it is father and daughter
against mother and sen, and a big scene
is the result, in which Lebonnard, driven
TO the last degree OF endurance by the
superior airs and insults Of his family,
reveals his knowledge that the wife has
had a iiaison with a nobleman in her
younger days. and that the son is him
self an illegtimate child
Lulu Glaser's retirement from burlesque
and re-entree into comic opera is set for
next September. Consequently she will
not be seen in the travesty of ''The Merry
Widow at Joe Weber's playhouse after
This season. THE Girl Who Dared is
Sydney Rosenfelds translation Of ''Ein
Toiles Madel." a comic opera by Ziehrer,
which is one OF the hits IN Vienna. with
The Waltz Dream and "The Merry
Widow" Miss Glaser Is to have the prin-
cipal role and the Shuberts are mention
ed as her new managers. The music Is
said to be seductive. which Is probably
true, since ziehrer is named as the COM
ENlHt- 4&tltAt +ntliIi ais " ilu NlElkIi4 L.lE
Chicago Worlds Fair will remember
Ziehrer, who was the conductor of the
big Vienna orchestra there. and whose
waltz. Vienna Darlings." was whistled
all over the United States.
Granville Barker the English setor and
manager. who arrived here last week, is
believed TO be slated for the directorship
of the New Theater, now building oppo-
site Central Park IN one Of the most
fashionable Reighborhoods in the city
Tie was given a banquet by the associa-
tion CT theatrical managers and has been
monOpolizing considerable space in the
daily papers. lie is accompanied 10y Will
lam Archer. the critic and editor Of the
English edition OF Ibsens works. Mr.
Barker deplores the policy of producing
plays with no other object in view than
pleasing the multitude and securing runs
of from 100 to 800 nights. without regard
to the intellectual quality OF the plays Sc
lected.
IF PLAYS were judged simply from their
value as dramatic literature. and were
produced without the idea Of pleasing the
multitude" he says, ''or Of a long run.
the result would he a wonderful improve
ment of the drama"
Perhaps he viii find it ready 10 hand in
the efforts Of the socialists, who are fre-
ly using the theater to make propaganda
for their IDEAS and to hold up TO the null
titude. as well as to all others who care
TO see. pictures OF life as it appears to
them. Last week reference was made TO
a performance in Italian dealing with a
strike of the New York tailors This
week the first steps were taken toward
the permanent establishment Of a social
Isl theater in English The object IS to
begin a propaganda for the cause through
the medium Of the stage. The playhouse
Is a little low ceiling hall in Third street.
between Second and Third avenues. The
stage settings were crude and the actors
amateurs, but they knew their lines and
they held the large audience as under
"A spell. Three playlets were given. each
OF which depicted some phase Of life that
showed the contrast between wealth and
poverty, the oppression OF the rich and
the suaerings of the poor. Vivid pictures
of the contrasted lives Of the daughter
of a rich doll manufactured and that Of
q starving woman who is employed by
the rich childs father were unfOlded in
the first of three little plays. You can
Judge of the seriousness Of this entire
undertaking when you learn that Il was
written especially for the socialist sun
day school OF one OF the assembly dis
tricts. Two little girls in the cast notably
ditinguished themselves. The second play
was satire on modern society by Andre