davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

body who knows music. The only musico,
instruments I really know are these" And
Mr.. Evans pointed to his ears.
Inc song publishers are wise and learned
gentlemen" continued Evans, but some
times they make mistakes. I'VE took the
GOOD Old Summertime to three publishers.
VINO refused it. Then we found one will
ing to take chances and 1t became a great
success. oh, WELL said the first three,
the songs all right enough, but that isn't
what the public wants just now And then
they would give their ideas of what the
public really did want.
And the funny thing about It is that
when somebody does bring out a song that
pleases the public fancy all the others look
for songs Just like 1t. All this learned talk
about Analysing the public taste doesn't
amount to a row of pins. The public wants
what 1t wants, and you can never tell what
1t does want until you try"
The song itself-that's what counts. One
class Of songs may include a few that the
public wants. Then some people say that
that class is the only class, but a good
song Of a different class may come along
and upset all calculations. The idea is
that each song is popular on it's own ac-
count, whether it belongs to a class or not"
-
Committing lines to memory becomes a
sort Of mechanical process with a stock
leading mar after some experience said a
well known stock actor, as he was
porting over the part of Peyton in THE
Prince Chap" which the Forepaugh Stock
company gives this week. "But sometimes
the task seems beyond human capabilities,
considering the time allotted"
Take the present case as an-example
This part consists of no less than 116 sides,
when the average role is somewhat around
80. And then the principal part of my
scenes, making 1t necessary for me to be
letter perfect, since 1 can expect no helm
from them.
How do I do It Oh, just tackle page
after page until it sticks. Somehow. when
Sunday comes along 1 find the words in
my mouth, and with each succeeding per
Torrance they come more readily.
This role, however, is not the longest ]
ever assumed. That distinction belongs "a
Sherlock Holmes which we gave a few
seasons back. That part had lis sides. Blu
a great deal Of II was conversation with
other players, who asked me questions tc
which the answers were natural and log.
ical' thereby considerably tightening tn,
task.
Il remember about the time we wer,
getting ready to play Sherlock Holmes
l called on Mr.. Gillette, the author anC
who created the part. He was playing IL
Ciarice' here at>the time. He told me /
look him fourteen weeks to write the pla!
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

- GORGE EVANS, the minstrel
man, explained in the course OF
conversation one day how he
- came to the title Honey Boy"
FSS In a burst of confidence he said:
g. 1T all happened In st. Joe.
Mo. We were playing there one night and
all of us were staying at the hotel near the
railroad. We had to get up and move at
an unearthly hour-that is, unearthly for
us, but not too early to suit a large crowd
OF darkies who were leaving on the same
train with us.
Just as the train pulled out a big
darby stuck his head out of the window
and began waving his hand to a girl. Good
by, honey he cried. will yo' be true to
me?'
"I h will cried the girl. TN be true
to my honey boy; you're the only one 1
love-
That is how I happened to write I'll Be
True to Ny Honey Boy"
And Mr.. Evans has now worn the title Of
Honey Boy for nearly fifteen years, all
because OF the little incident giving him
words to fit a tuneful refrain.
That is how 1 write songs" continued
Mr.. Evans. But song writing, you know,
Soh DV d DushleSsi JuS ike any Otner,
Then the composer works out his song Just
as he would a business problem. Somebody
wants a song and goes to a writer and
orders 1t by specifications, just as he
would order a boat"
"oh, yes, we've written songs that way.
One here in this show, Down Where the
Watermelons Grow was written for Eddie
Foy."
Have you got a good song that I can
use at the Lambs Gambol?' Foy asked me
one day. I'D rather have a coon song
Already I had the general idea Of the
watermelon song, but didn't try to finish it
till 1 saw Foy."
And the music how is that worked
out?"
1T isn't worked out. 1 try 1t on the piano
or something. Then 1 think about 1t, then
change it, and they maybe 1 consult some
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

We struggled through the terribly long acts
II seemed to me that almost every word he
spoke had a personal meaning. His acting
in the death scene was terribly realistic,
and when he fell l thought he would
never rise. All that week the stage hands
had been obliged to lift him after the death
II Beckett. so that he could respond 10
the enthusiastic applause at the end of
the play. They would put him on his feet
while the curtain was down, and when IL
rose he would be standing there waiting
to bow his Acknowledgement OF the nightly
ovatiOns. That night when they lifted
him to his feet he seemed dazed. Turning
to the stage manager; What nowY' You
take the curtain. sir was the reply.
IL stepped forward to the footllghts
and bowed to the audience, but the cheer
ing would not cease. He finally realized
that he must speak. Although he was
dying at the time he managed to say a
few words. But IL was evident that his
mind was wandering. for he spoke as
though IL had been a Shakespeare play we
had just given.
Il h never forget the funeral at
Westminster Abbey. Only vice in my life
have 1 been so impressed. The emotions Il
arounsed in me recalled my first view Of
Niagara falls. We had CROPPED our way
through the inky darkness one morning
Just before the dawn. Standing on the
Canadian side WI saw the first flush OF the
new day reflected in the Horseshoe falls.
The mighty torrent rushing through peaks
and crags OF ice gave me my first real
knowledge OF the -tremendousness Of ma
ture. That winter morning at Niagara and
Sir Henry Irving's funeral at Westminster
are two events in my life that l can never
forget,
III you had known him ultimately" said
Miss Matthison. "you would appreciate the
emotion we felt that night when we saw
him dying on the stage. while a deeply
stirred audience applauded reality in the
belief that they were paying tribute to
realism"
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

been popular stars for years, and yet LETT
estates fer less than might nave been ex-
pected.
That this is not a popularity Of the
American theater was shown at the death
OF Sir Henry Irving, who left little or no
fortune. Ellen Terry, who had stood for
so many years at his side as the head OF
the English theater, needed a benefit only
a few years ago, and Sarah Bernhard,
who must have received as much money ir
her long career as any woman on the
stage, is rarely able to keep her Jewels
out OF pawn for more than a few months
at a time. Her improvidence was shown
by one OF her American trips when she
took her diamonds out OF pledge to come
over here apd sent back by cable all her
earnings, even il she were in some small
western town. The day after she landed
In Paris she went TO a broker and put her
iewelry back IN pawn. Her earnings went
for years to the support OF her son and
the theater In Paris that bears her name
has not often been profitable for any
length Of time.
Fanny Davenport's production that was
supposed to have exhausted all her finan-
cial means came after a series OF rather
poor seasons. so there had already been a
considerable drain on The fortune that
began with Fedora" and grew less as
the ensuing sardou plays became less and
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

Frederic Thompson's production, Polly
Of the Circus" will be seen at the Boyd
for four nights. beginning this evening. with
a matinee on Wednesday. The story tell
ing of a pretty circus rider, by profession
and heredity. compelled by an injury to re-
main in the home OF a young country
preached until the pruderly-ridden yokels
making up his congregation are aflame with
narrow rage against the pair. and her sub
sequent flight back to the tents to make
his lot easier, is one which grasps and re-
tains the interest. The second scene in the
play, which finds Polly in the Parsons
home. telling him of her circus life. and
later when he reads TO her from the Bible
OF Ruth's devotion OF Naomi, the little girls
first glimpse OF what the book contains.
reaches a point apart from the ordinary
things OF the stage. And then there is a
happy and logical ending 10 IL, all Of which
the audience finds agreeable.
In addition TO her concert work under
Loudon Charlton's direction. Mime. Johanna
Gadski, who Is to be heard here October
Il. is now one OF the leading prima donnas
Of the Metropolitan Opera company. When
In New York. Nine. Gadsk lives at an
uptown hotel, for with constant rehearsing
she has little time for domesticity, But In
Berlin she has her own charming hOms
with its man spacious rooms, all layishly
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

- ISIS EDITH WHNNE MATTHI-
AL SON. wife of cbarles Ram
lVH Kennedy, the author Of THE
- Servant in the House." once
AkSS34 witnessed a real tragedy behind
- the footlights-the death OF Sir
Henry Irving. She played opposite To him
that memorable n~ight-Friday, October IS.
l9Os-and saw him fight death for three
long hours. while an enthusiastic Bradford
CEngland) audience cheered his Beckett. "
Overcome by emotion, she confused her
last line-'I will put pass 70 vespers;' she
should have said, and breathe one prayer
for my liege lord. the king. his child, and
mine own soul, and so return" For once
she lost her lines. and ended the speech.
g." and so farewell" That was her
last word to the famous English acton
1T was not superstition" she said-'hot
because II was Friday, the 18th. But
/ knew he would die that night. 1 saw
death in his face from the beginning Of the
first act. He did not die on the stage in
my arms, as some writer's have declared,
lie was able to leave the theater and reach
his hotel. When they helped him TO his
room he said to his secretary. Give me
that chair sat down. tainted, and died In
twenty minutes l had just retired when
the knock came to my door and the saw
news was told to me. Then l remembered
that last farewell and realized the sig
niflcance created by my momentary lapse
OF memory.
I'm as he was. Sir Henry noticed the
mistake 1 made an that last line. and
paused almost i-mperoeptibly before giving
the reply. Farewell. farewell. Pray for
me. too: much need Of prayer have L. You
see. my change marred his line, which
began with the word l enormously used
70 end miEs, Yet l am glad ! spoke that
last farewell"
lie was standing in the shadow Of death
all week. and we knew that night that the
end was near. III and weak as he was. he
went through his lines better than l. As
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

provided with beautiful furniture and
hangings. There are many rare works of
art, while plants and flowers are every
where. The results of Gadskis summer
study are shown in her concert programs,
which invariably show a number of novel
ties in addition to the great arias and
Lieder for whose rendition she is famed.
o
The score of "The Red Mill is by Victor
Herbert, who has long been accepted as
the foremost American composer. He has
written nineteen light operas, among them
THE Prima Donna" Mile. Modiste, .
Babes in Toyland," TT Happened ir
Nordland," 9TH Tattooed Man." 18th Ser.
enade," THE Fortune Teller" "Babette,'
THE Wizard of the Nile" THE Idols Eye
Wonderland" Dream CITY," THE Magic
Knight" THE Singing Girl Dolly Dol
lars" etc, all of which have been bis
successes. THE Red Mill' will be pre-.
scented at the Boyd for a matinee ant
evening performance on Sunday, October
II, with a very pretentious cast, including
Bert o. Swor as Con Kidder, Frankel
Woods as Kid Conner, Otto Koerner, Alvir
Laughlin. Carl Hartberg, s. w. Stott
Harry r. McClain, Cecil Summers and
the Misses Agnes Major. Vernice Martyr,
Adeline Stern, Georgia Harvey and a
chorus OF fifty, including the six little
Dutch Riddles and an augmented orches-
ira.
-
George Sidney busy Izzy), will be at
the Krug Theater, four days starting Sun
day, October 10, to give THE Joy Rider, -
his new vehicle. This season he has a com
plete new play. No limit was placed upon
| hFs oduant,,rag apa tho haet rnatrunag md
scenic artists we're given carte blanche
Instructions to produce the best effects in
| colors and surroundings, the result OF
which is better seen than described, for
over a half hundred clever and merry
companions accompany him to enliven the
affair with frolic, fun and song. A
big beauty chorus will be present and
mingle with others In making The Joy
Rider an incident Of Importance, with al
old notions discarded and replaced only
by the latest and up-to-date article In
fun, ingenuity and spectacular effects.
%
"a Workingman's Wife" will be seen
here for the first time at Krug theater
three days, commencing Thursday, october
H.. The play is a story of New York life
built upon facts, handled in such a manner
that, in the more intense situations, the
suspense becomes almost breathless. OF
course, the tension is relieved by character
studies which the playwright, Walter Law
renee, seems to be able to call to his aid
more readily than any other author OF
melodrama, and by humorous and witty
dialogue, in which he Is unexcelled. TIL
company engaged for the various roles is
said to be one OF the strongest ever Sc
cured for the presentation of melodrama.
.
The program of the Orpheum theater
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

ORTUNES of players rarely ma
t~erlalize when there is an actual
test of their value. Recent in
stances that may be mentioned
are Fanny Davenport and
Richard Mansfield, who had
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10
Irvlng's Last Scene

Edith Wynne Matthison Describes the Final Appearance of the
Celebrated Actor the Night He ~Died-Memorable Scene on the
Stage of the Bradford Theater on the Night of October Is, 1905.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10


"Glrls' was one of the latest OF Mr..
Fitch's productions. and was staged under
his personal direction. It affords an ex-
cellent example of the attention he Law
ished on the microscopic details Of a play.
1t was on this, more than on anything
else, he rested his reputation. To create
the atmosphere" he put in all the little
things, even to the exclusion Of some big
things. He lacked the perception that has
marked David Belasco in this regard. Mr.
Belasco knows when the little things should
get out Of the way of the greater, and
Mr.. Fitch, apparently, did not; so in the
Fitch comedies the little things not infre-
quently take up so much time that no
room is left for the big things. But
Girls scarcely offered a place for any
thing big; It is a comedy of little things
from the very beginning, and finishes as
It starts. dealing with nothing In particu-
lar. It's comedy is of a sort hat tickles
the first time, and falls mighty flat the
second. especially II one has paid much
attention to the first view, The produc-
ton at the Burwood during the first half
of the week proved this; the comedy that
pleased so well when the piece was seen
at the Boyd last season had lost It's SAVIOR.
The same things, done in the same place,
at the same time, the same words spoken
in the same way, and the same situations
produced with Photographic fidelity, served
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

luxury TO managers.
The actors Of several generations ago
when they made money usually got II all.
They hired their own actors, took all the
risk and had a much better chance 70
succeed than their colleagues today. Then
there were not nearly 50 many actors, the
competition was prOpOrtionately much lsaa
and there was a less eHaotinE publioL
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10
Actors Fortunes Are Few

Rarely Do They Grow Rich in Their Profesion-Faiures that
Mean a Season of No Income and Eat up the Profits of the
Past-Examples of Fanny Davenport and Richard Mansfield.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10
Three Good Stories

How a Popular Song Was Written and a Favorite Got His Name
-Feats of Memory Accomplished by Actors in Stock Companies
Concert Promoter Who Wanted Beethoven for His Orchestra.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10
AT the Omaha Theaters

Augustus Thomas Drama of Teepathy Booked for the BurwoOd-
Polly Of the Circus" and Gadski at the Boyd-George Sidney Will
Make EN- Laugh at the Krug-vaudevile Bill at the Orpheum.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10
Clyde Fitch Comedies on Second View

Comedy of Ceveness thatL Loses SITS avOA After Once Having Been Tasted Little Things
Predominant to the Exclusion of Bg-supe CRITICAL Views an IncOns@unta Results
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

only to confirm the belief already fixed
that the second view OF a Clyde Fitch
comedy Is not calculated TO excite any
undue merriment.
Minstrels and minstrelsy have improved
in more ways thar one. The pictorial at
tractiveness is far advanced. the tam
BOURNE and the bones have been tossed
into the theatrical discard and some at
least Of the jokes Of yesteryear have been
replaced by jests of a newer vintage.
Likewise the tone Of minstrelsy has been
raised somewhat. The jest Of sslacious
nature has largely been abandoned and
in respect to decency modern minstrelsy
will at least hold its own with the general
average Of musical comedy. All of this
applies TO the offering of Lew Dockstader
and his associates. It should be noted.
however. that while the entertainment was
clean as a whole. at least one Joke and
one song were Objectionable to some people
present. The song was worse than the
joke, for the latter had some Of the sting
taken out of II because 1t was clever. The
song, while given by one Of the ablest of
the company, was not warmly received:
in fact, fell the --LATEST Of any item Of
the evening. II is hardly likely to be the
case that this experience is unique here
and the management of the company ought
to have iscriminated this and eluded the
song II for no other reason than enhancing
the popularity of the whole entertainment.
1t was not that the song was greatly Of
~fenslve, for it was common and vulgar in
tone rather than extremely gross. No one
would have felt compelled to remove femi-
nine members Of his party from the theater
on account of 1t, but nearly all would dis
tinctly dislike it. 1t was simply an>un-
fortunate and unnecessary blemlsh on a
rather pleasing entertainment.
Carnival week proved a good thing for
the Omaha theaters. The ending of the
street car strike, with It's disturbance Of
traffic and general business, released a
pressure on the people, and the great
crowds Of visitors who came to Omaha
swelled the nightly attendance at the thea
ters. The Boyd and the Burwood each
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

offered two attractions. and the patronage
In each case was liberal. Richard earle
did a big business at the Boyd. and the
Dockstader minstrels were rewarded at the
Burwood by a succession OF audiences that
filled the Jheater. At the Krug Checkers
proved strong enough to bring out the best
weeks business OF the season. while the
orpheum went along its accustomed path.
Down there they have gotten so used to
selling out fourteen times a week that II
occasions no comment to send on to head
quarters a report with a blank column
where unsold tickets are supposed to be
set down.
And here comes William Morris, with a
desire to share, with Martin Beck the
prosperity that has attended on vaudeville
in recent days in Omaha. Mr.. Morris as
seciate and vice president Of the company,
Mr.. William Hoff Seeley, spent several days
in Omaha during the week, concluding the
purchase Of a lot on which to erect a
theater and taking care Of the prellminaries
to letting a contract for its construction.
It is Mr.. Seeley's expressed desire that
work begin at once, so that the new thea
ter may be opened as soon as possible. He
talks OF April 1 as the day for its opening,
and II the Omaha climate doesn't go back
on him entirely, no good reason exists why
this should not be accomplished. In the
meantime, the White Rats and the Vaude-
VILE Comedy club and some others are TAX
ing notice. Morris is making good on his
talk, and the blacklist Of the United and
the Orheum circuits is losing its terror.
For Omaha IL means that the best in
vaudeville will be seen here. The Orpheum
will be put on its mettle, as the Morris
competition is Of the keenest sort. And
with the vaudeville houses bidding against
each other for public favor, the '1egiti-
mate houses will have to come along with
the best they have in order to keep alive.
This means that Omaha is finally coming
out into the full light of theatrical i'm
portance and that Shubert and K. & E.
will have to compete with the Orpheum and
Morris circuits, and each of these will rave
to compete will the other, and that the
public will gain, If any gain is possible.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

--LYDE FITCH Is dead, which fact
reminds US OF what Colonel
Marc Antony said I'm the course
~ OF his eulogy over the body Of
Ip3BI Caesar: THE evil which men
60 do lives after them" Clyde
Fitch builded for himself a monument
that may not be enduring, for no one can
see very far into the future, but which
Will last long enough. He was a dramatist
Of manners. giving his attention 20 the
superficiallties Of a phase Of life that is
superficial itself. II not artificial. Instead
Of holding, as 'twere, the mirror up to
nature" he was content to hold the mirror
up TO New Workers. and let them see them
selves as the smartest and most popular
dramatist OF his time saw them. Whether
Mr.. Fitch's mirror gave back a true re-
Election Of the people OF Gotham may only
be judged by what we know of the pictures
II gave OF some types from outside the
pale OF Manhattan. When he did occa-
sionally undertake to portray someone not
70 the island born, and untinctured by the
ways Of its people, he usually produced a
caricature. the more laughable because he
applied the same careful, painstaking eff
fort TO depicting a character he knew moth
ing Of as to those with which he was
most familiar.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

Sometimes he almost touched the mark,
but often he was content to just skim
easily over the surface, avoiding with much
pretense OF wisdom anything that might
be concealed in the depths. He did under
stand ramat values, for he produced
some OF the most anna situations with
which the modern stage is familiar. One
Of his really good things, than which he
did little finer, is the close Of the first act
Of THE Moth and the Flame" and moth
ing could be more melodramatic than what
follows in the succeeding acts. So, also,
In the opening act Of THE Climbers" and
to some extent this inspiration Of the true
dramatic instinct flashes out at other points
in the progress Of the play, only to be
smothered under a great dust cloud of in
consequential things. In The Girl With
the Green Eyes" he had an inspiration that
in more devoted hands might have been
worked into a drama of strength. He sat
isfied himself by limiting at it's possibilities,
and then occupying himself with develop
ing the minor themes incidental to the
main plot, to the almost entire obllteration
of what had been his central idea. Then
comes the great climax at the close of the
third act, probably the finest thing he Gre
ated, where Jimmy sinks to her knees be-
fore the closed doors and beats in I'M
potent despair on their solid panels. But
Mr.. Fitch lacked the courage to rest his
case on this logical summing up of the
character Of jimmy, and provided an anti
climactic fourth act that almost totally
destroyed the artistic achievement Of the
third. Similar comparisons might be made
all along the line. II was Mr.. Fitch's mis-
fortune that he fell on a day when folks
were looking f~or>just such light and mean
ingless pabulum at the theater. He might
have grown in artistic stature had he not
been clrcumscribed by environment. But
the rocco appealed to his clientele, and he
furnished them with 1t. Peace be to his
ashes; and may another soon arise who
will be able to displace by newer offerings
some OF the Clyde Fitch comedies we are
sure to have thrust upon us till the sub
stitute comes.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

SIS EDITH WYNNE MATTHI-
SON, wife of charles Ram
Kennedy, the author of The
Servant in the House." once
witnessed a real tragedy behind
A. -
Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-10

GORGE EVANS, the minstrel
man, explained in the course Of
conversation one day how he
came to the title Honey Boy"
In a burst Of confidence he said:
tsTA III - l. Ga