The Washington herald., 1908-01-05
The Survival of the Fittest.

been recorded. the Merry Christmas
and "A Happy New Year" have been said
over and over again; the mistletoe and
holly, the Christmas tree, and the thou
sand and one delightful reminders of the
old and the new are now IN a state of
decay; calendars have been pulled down
and new ones have replaced them. and
everywhere is the air OF fading and SUBJ
sequent blooming.
Not so with the theatrical manager.
True, hts makeup Is not foreign to these
seasons, but they in no way regulate
his activity, nor do they mean anything
with regard to his business. The the
atrical season is not measured the same.
It begins about the middle of June, and
when most mortals are celebrating the
end Of the calendar year. his Is but half
spent It is therefore but courtesy TO him
that we put aside our own celebrations
and cheer him on TO that period Of his
year, or season" when he. too. can eele-
brate
And what a celebration will be the
theatrical managers. Hard times have
struck pretty close to the heart of the
theater. Wall street may or may not
have had to do with the present theatri-
cal year. Rather, the dearth of plays
really worth while has been the sole
cause, While December was yet young
an alarming proportion OF plays-or near
plays-had gone down in failure, or TO
the storehouse, which is equally bad. for
IL they are ever resuTrected, Il must be
in different form and under new names.
The present season, TO judge according
to that portion of it already past. has
been the most discouraging and disas-
trous in at least six years.
The theatrical managers who are to-
day considering the half-spent year with
remorse are those who have failed 10
give the public what it wanted, have
failed TO provide plays that appeal to the
man of to-day. on the road. as in New
York. the productions that have not been
found wanting are playing to crowded
houses. Here in Washington the theatri-
cal situation is but a mirror of the sit
uation elsewhere. Taking our figures
from the plays and productions offered
by our representative theaters Offering
high-class entertainment-The New Ma
tional. the Belasco, and the Columbia
we have had fifty-five productions this
season. twenty-five OF which first saw
the light Of existence the present season.
The remaining thirty are Of former sea-
sons. Sixteen of the hfty-aye produc-
rsrTr1 Is w
thankful, however. that the surviving
ones are in the majority, The season
here has been one Of unusual interest,
for it has equally blended the serious
with the purely entertaining, the heavy
with the light. and withal has afforded
amusement and pastime-fOr, after all,
many consider this the mission of the
theater-and given local playgoers many
delightful hours OF mental relaxation.
The playgoers Of to-day know what they
want better than they did In former
years, and when managers give them the
amusement they seek the patronage 50
much desired by the producers is sure TO
be extended by an appreciative public
A glance toward the offerings scheduled
for the latter half of the present local
season is sufficiently promising to meet
with optimistic pTemonltions. The Belas-
co will offer the San Carlo Opera Com
pany Immediately after Julia MaTlowe's
engagement Then will come, III due
order, Henry Miller and Margaret Ang-
lin, and other players of equal worth in
the upbuildlng of the drama. The Co
lumbia viii again give us that rural
classic. THE Old Homestead" and later
on Rose Stahl In "The Chorus Lady"
Chauncey Olcott in his newest play, and
several productions new the present sea-
son. At the New National Theater the
last half Of the season will surpass the
first four months, months that, in them
selves, have given to Washington such
excellent bills as "The Lion and the
Mouse" Miss Maude Adams, Henrietta
Cr0sman, Blanche Walsh, Lulu GIaser.
Anna Held, Mabel Taliaferro, the Rogers
Brothers, William Faversham, and a half
dozen others Among the brilliant Of
ferings yet TO be seen at this famous
playhouse may be mentioned Robert
Edeson in Classmates" a new play this
season by William c. de Mile; "The
Red MIL" the Herbert Blossom light
opera that ran for an entire year on
Broadway; George Broadhursts power
ful play Of love and finance. This Man
Of the Hour" Lew DOckstaders Min
streis. Otis Skinner-that sterling actor
in The Honor of the Family" FRITZ
Scheff in Mile. Modiste," Olga Neither
sole in repertoire, Eleanor Robson In
''Salony Jane" John Drew and Billie
Burke in MY Wife,, Edna May, Marie
Doro in ''The Morals of Marcus, "The
Grand Mogul" and other plays and pro-
ductions Of equal merit.
With the future lighting such a path
before local theater patrons, It surely
should be with feeling Of qualification
that one is enabled to look back upon
the past with a feeling of content, for
If what has been provided did not meas
ure up to expectations. surely the shad-
Ows of the coming events are sufficiently
full of promise.
Tomorrow night, when Robert Edeson
is playing Classmates" at the National
Theater, thirty-one years ago at this
same famous playhouse Mary Anderson
was playing Macbeth" supported by
east that included Louis James, George
c. Bonifaee, John Marble, Robert Down
ing, John Sutherland. and others.
SIS HOPKINS SAYINGS.
BY ROSE MELVILLE.
Stage money Is also taint it money.
All plain, blunt men do not use stub pens.
well-bFed man doesn't brsg about his dough.
Many financial upset is the result Of a tip.
The man who writes with quill Is naturally
goose.
When man doesn't care wrsp he generally