Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-08-21
Merry Widow Draws
A Million IL London

She is distinctly anxious to be given
q chance to show what she can do,
herelbut so far no acceptable; Offer has
been Forthcoming from any London
manager. L hear further, that Maxine
Elliott has lately purchased a splendid
estate In Worcestershire for 100000.
What With theater in America and
Il country mansion in England She
ought to be equally at home on both
sides of the Atlantic.
Miss Katharine kaelred, who recent
~ attracted a lot of attention in
AlneiicIin4 the part of the vampire wa-6
mahin "a Fool There Was. has been
spending q few weeks in London see
3ing plays ana also motoring in Scot
land Miss Kaelred is In search OF u
play suited to her peculiar powers, but.
SO far has been unable to find nything,
as good plays here she says arc as rare
as lnS.the states Miss kaelred sails
for New York on the 14th to be under
Mr.. Frederic ,Fhompson's management.
for Il long season in "a Fool There
Was,31f opening in New York. RumorI
has 1t that we may see Miss Kaelred
here as a star next season with a pro-
minent{manager. Il
AS his wife, Violet Nanbrugh, cannot
leave the cast of"The Woman in the
Case" which is &c, be transferred a fort
night hence to Sir Charles WyndhaIiis
theater, the New, and which seems des-.
tined to see the year out, Arthur Bour-.
CHER has engaged Ethel Irving to play
the principal female character in his
next production at the Garrick,iig n
strong, four-act piece by Alfred Sutro,
called Making a Gentleman 1t is
almost superiluous to recall Ethel lrN-
ing memorable success in Somerset
| Maugham's Lady Frederick" although
the good Impression then made has
scarcely been deepened, If even main
| tained, by subsequent performances. At
the end of her engagement with Bour-
! CHR she will probably start in manage
| ment on her own account with the pro-
| duction of an English version Of a
French piece named La Femme Nue.,
which. on perusa, does not, i am con-
strained to confess, strike me as a
particularly happy choice
| The other day had the privilege
of d long chat with Harrison Grey
| E'isko, who had been In this country
| for some weeks, most of which he spent
| in the provinces. He sails for New
York today A good deal of water has
| run under the bridges since he visited
London and naturally he. is deeply in
| terested in the changes that have taken
] place during the interval in things
| theatrical. 1t Is rather unfortunate
| that he comes at a moment when most
4 of the theatcrs, at which serious plays
1 arc the staple attraction. are closed.
Consequently he has had to content
l himself with musical pieces or With
1 plays of the lighter order.
IN the circumstances" he observed.
IT am hardly qualified to pass an opin-
ion on the present condition Of the Lon
don stage. 1t seems to me, however,
/ that English dramatists have got into
/ a groove, that their ideas are lacking
in freshness and novelty. on.the other
i hand, so far as technique is concerned.
j they still remain far in advance of
ours Who in point of craftsmanship.
i cannot be compared to them for an in
/ slant.
.sNeyertheless, we are advancing by
1 leaps and bounds; more and more we
/ are beginning to rely on the native
i playwright to supply US with material
for our stage. Our public, too, shows
| a growing interest in pictures of ma
i tional life and n,anifestly it is the Ans
\ erican dramatist who is best qualified
i to furnish these. TO a. large extent the
4 endeavors of American writer's are still
! distinguished by crudeness. But there
is strength, there is vital force, there is
4 rugged power in their work. London
i has had but few opportunities of jndg-
I! ing of the quality of the best Of our
J rlaywrights. yet the number of men
1 who can turn out SO fnasterful a play
i as--to give only one example-tPaid in
| F'nllt-is rapidly increasing.
. There is q certain distinction about
| most of Your leading actors which |
! greatly admire and which is to, be
4 found only too rarely in America. But
against this we are particularly strong
/ in character-actors. My brief exper-
/ fence Of the London stage leads mo to
/ think that your public places a higher
value on entertainment pure and sim
| pie, than ON artistic achievement 1t
4 strikes me that something In the
nature Of a complete upheaval would
i do US good; If only we could make a
4 sweeping interchange of dramatists
i and of artists the result would be bene-
fetal for everybody. You English
Il would benefit by the acquisition of
i fresh. ideas and q wider outlook, while
! we would gain materially In technical
Il finish and In ,delcacy of treatment.
/ 1t is rather curious how of late years
France has dropped out OF the run
/ ming. Time was when we looked to
/ that country to supply us with the
1 greater part of our dramatic material
1 Today we have almost entirely ceased
i to draw on It. il
I F7iske. / need hardly say that she is
i as anxious as that she should visit
l London professionally. As a matter
of fact. I am laying my plans for hel
1 appearance here early next spring
4 and n the play which ! have just
commissioned from a well known Eng
fish dramatist realizes expectations
lSshe will do so in that 1t is essential
to my mind that She should make he1
4 debut before a London audience not ii
4 any of her American successes, but ii
q new piece, rejecting English life ans
4 character. There Is no reason, how.
ever. that, before the season ends, WI
i should not give some rnatinees of plays
4 ike .ledda Gabler,' Rosinersholnl,
4 and Dolls. House which have won fol-
Il her the favor of American audiences
y In my last letter / referred to the
emphatic success Amelia Bingham 1las
z made In Glasgow Last Monday sh,
appeared at the London Palace theate