The sun., 1908-05-12
JULIET VISITS IHE BRONX
4 PLAY BY ONE SHAKESPEARE
GIVES PLEASURE.

Miss kelm q Classical Heroine at the
Metropolis and Packs the HOuse-Gal'
Iory Gods Sic Romeo on Tybalt with
Cheers and weep when MsrcutlO Falls
When the poet remarked that art Ia long
he no doubt had in mind the trip up TO tho
Metropolis Theatre on the Third avenue
elevated. The Metropolis Theatre Is in the
I heart Of The Bronx, and the star at the
Metropolis Theatre just now II Miss Ade-
laids Keim, and the play this week is Romeo
and Juliet by one William Shakespeare,
who was generally supposed, up TO the time
when Shaw wrote Cesar and Cleopatra, >
! to have been something Of an artist.
That supposition still prevails in The
/ Bronx, owing, no doubt, 10 its distance
/ from the centre Of the universe at Broad
way and Forty-second street. And yester-
( day afternoon there was not a vacant seat
and precious little standing room at the
Metropolis Theatre
The sex Of this audience was 40 predoin-
! inantly female that one marveled why Miss
! Keim left out Juliets 'Gallop apace, you
| fiery footed steeds - which has
been known to fall even on the ears Of a
man without bringing the blush Of shame
10 the cheek Of immodesty. Perhaps the
orchestra leader Is supersensitive. Or are
The Bronx boys very, very wise' BE that
as il may. this speech Miss keim cut ont,
and a good bit more OF the play besides,
N>But she left enough to be tolerably coherent
and to take hold on the attention and In
terest Of the audience in a way that might
aStOnish a few Of those critics and man
ayers who are perpetually burying the
Bard Bury Shakespeare on Broadway
and he rises again in The Bronx
Miss Keim herself Of course Is enormously
popular In those regions Of our town lying
just south Of Albany, And apparently
there is good reason. She Is not free from
the bessetting faults Of the actress who
playa perpetually to the less discriminating
class Of theatregoers in numberless in
sufficiently rehearsed roles, She makes
her more obvious points in an obvious
manner and the less obvious she sometimes
does not make at all She has two manners
almost two voices, for comedy and tragedy
with no gradations. Her sweetness some
times is cloying, her emotional utterance,
full Of mes for my's.' bit hollow, with
the insincerity Of hasty preparation and
conventional performance.
But she has undoubted physical attrac-
tiveness; as Juliet. indeed, a convincing
youth, And she can command the con.
ratio note Of tragic love. Her Nov. by
st, Peters church and Peter too was
a fine, deep outburst in the large manner
Of poetic tragedy, 1t is easy to see where
she gets her hold over her audiences.
But Miss Keim's personal popularity is
far from accounting for the breathless
Of the play go for him, Romeoi' cried
a boy as Romeo drew his sword on Tybdh.
And when TybdH fell the whole house
burst into applause. Msrcutio, played by
Mr.. Jack Fitzsimmons. had but to open
his mouth and there was a wave OF laughter
before the pun came forth. IL did not
matter at all that he read blank verse with
the smoothness Of a biograph picture
juggling and jumping at full speed. 1t
was the character the audience loved, MAX
ing little wet wads Of their handkerohiefs
when he died, pun on his lips.
OF course the balcony scene. with its
wealth Of familiar quotations, was eagerly
watched. juliet spoke once more Of 9Th
inoonstant moon" which once more was
anything but inconstant shedding its
beams with noble persistence directly on
the balcony where juliet sat. and nowhere
else. Will somebody please play Romeo
and Juliet without a spotlight on the bal
cony? Fame and fortune awaits the woman
with the courage to do it, Here Miss keim
was traditionally sweet and girlish, but
she missed the breathless passion Of the
scene. Depth and tragedy should enter
early in this play, They are in the very
warp OF it.
Miss Keims performance Of the cham
ber scene was modelled neither on Miss
Marlowe's nor on that Of Miss Farrar Of
Melrose, Mass and the Metropolitan Opera
House. But why object 10 a little passion
in this scene2 There must be nuptials, even
in The Bronx. And the essence Of the scene !
is nuptial passion. Otherwise, why play II |
at all7 Why play it as II Romeo we're going |
downtown in the subway for the day TO |
help his employer lose money IN Wall Streety !
Why beggar the imagination by the spec
tacle Of a nuptisl couch feet by 2'l, a mere
spring on legs. covered with a couple Of
yards Of print cloth9 These immortal lovers
deserve four poster, at least. Let us be
honest and admit it. 1t wouldn't harm the
Bronx bit more than what they got
Each member Of Miss Keim's company,
according to her press agent has already
embedded himself warmly in the hearts
Of the metropolis patrons Thisinoludes,
doubtless, Mr. Thuston Hall. who was far
from an unattractive Romeo. He met
JpIis' TO the strains Of the minuet from
Don Giovanni the music throughout
was tactfully chosen and he persued her
with an ardent devotion and real desire
10 read blank verse as IL It we're something
more than prose set up wrong end foremost.
As much cannot be said for some Of the
Others. But what do you expect for quar-
terY II is enough to see Shakespeare as
popular. in the Bronx at least, as moving
pictures,
News Of Plays and Players.
The cast for -The Gay Musician the
=