Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-15
The Foreign Stage
By Malcolm Watson.

Special Correspondence of The star
LONDON, August I, 1909.
Two important events, already fofeshaa-
owed by me- but still officially uhahhouie-
ed. are now accomplished facts. H. 3. ltV-
ing has taken the Waldorf and L. H. WORK
man secured a lease of the savoy. botii
nropose to begin operations early IN the
coming fall. although after very different
fashions. Irving. soon as the theater has
been overhauled and generally frightened
M. will make start with Justin Huntly
McCarthys play Caesar BorSia. which
has enjoyed considerable favor in the
provinces ii is | understand, an in
ecRious and interesting bit of stagecraft,
less a play, perhaps. rnan an effective
series Of thrilling and picturesque Incl
dents strung together more or less loosely.
Harry Irvinss devotion to his dis
tincUisued father is not the least striking
feature OF his character, and IT is nat
sural that he should wish to perpetuate
the memory of the man who did so much
to elevate the English stage by naming
his theater after him. Consequently the
Waldorf, when il reopens. Will do so as the
Irving No one. certainly. will quarrel
with such a measure. nevertheless l
could have wished that more fitting
house than this, where SO many thousands
been selected for the honor. Still. should
III b. as we all hope Will be the case,
bring back prosperity TO the theater there
Will be no serious grounds for complaint
NpFopos Of Sir Henry and his son Harry
] recall a conversation | had with the
former not very long before his death
lie bad been to see H. BIS performance
Of Hamlet, at the Adelphi and he
asked what | thought of 1T. re-
Piled in suitable terms. The revival had
been i matter of ten weeks thought and
deIiberation and il suddenly occurred to
me TO pat the question, How long, Sir
Henry, did YOU give to the study of the
character before YOU played it? HIM, "
he replied in his driest manner. "a mat
ter Of ten years. Bul the pace has been
quickeaed since those days, eh, my boy
~ the savoy Workman is 10 carry on
the old policy adopted by Gilbert. Sullivan
and - oyly Carte. He has three musical
pieces in his mana gerial knapsack-an
opera written by Marshall. a brother Of
capt. Robert Marshall, with music by
Reginald SomerVllle. favorably known as
the composer OF a number of popular
drawing ballads. He has further
secured new piece, hbretto by Gilbert
and score b< Edward German whose
Merle England and Princess of Ken
Sln9tou You may remember | apply
tire adjective new To it. although jas q
matter Of fact the book dates back, |
believe. some twenty-five years. The idea
took form II GIlbertS brain about the
time hc completed "Iolanthe," but as
the story. like the plot of that opera. was
Largely concerned with the doinss of
fairies. Carte ana Sullivan decided that liz
Would bc wiser TO give the subject a
rest Germans music Is. of course. quite
fresh and said To be in his liveliest vein.
The composer of Workman's third Ven
ture Is Michael Faraday, who earned a
good deal at hudos for himself by his
mt steal work in ''Amasis. produced here
10y Louis Calvert. Faraday is by profess
sion. arch-a~,t and surveyor and. as
such, he contriVcS To make very tidy
income But. naturally. his ambition is
To conquer the world a popular COM
poser.
In a former letter | frankly confessed
ignorance as to the amount which The
Merry Widow had made for its fortu-
late poSsessor in this country. Since then
George Edwardes has favored me with
some interesting statistics on the subject
The number of performances given at
DAYS. was, il seems. as, while 800 rep
resents the average attendance at each,
the total thus reaching the goodly num-
: her If i61 900 The receipts on the
other hand. aggregate Sl.o>-,. tsW. approx
matelv. This Is much Information as
Edwardes cares 10 give. one cannot. how
ever resist the temptation of trying to
arrive al computation OF what he him
self nas Noted ny the rim. The expenses
Al Dass are. manifestly. exceptionally
heavy. still do not think they can pos
sibiA exceed d weekly 5000. composer :