The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-25
WEEKLY THEATRICAL LETTER

New York, September 24-(Special)- At the present moment there seems to be a lull in the theatrical season. The man. agers are holding back to get an idea Of the way the public receives their early present productions which were put on in August and the first part of Septem- Der. Two new productions a week seem to be about the limit at the present time' but there are enough new plays to carry on the season into October when a flood of new plays will be presented
 While the warm weather has hit the box office receipts rather hard the man agers are nevertheless optimistic over the outlook for the present season and the public can have no complaint on the class of plays that are being presented
 Such musical shows as Madame Sher- ry' at the New Amsterdam theatre and the Echo at the Globe theatre are credit to the season. These two plays are products of the present season. and are undoubtedly due for long runs. Other excellent musical attractions are Our Miss Gibbs. at the Knickerbocker the- atre; ''The Arcadians," at the New York theatre and ''Tillie's Nightmare" at the Herald Square theatre. These two last named are hold-overs from last year. and are still very popular.
 In comedies the present season is ex- tremely wealthy. smith, at the Em- pire theatre, with John Drew in the title role, and Baby Mine' at Daly's theatre, and '"The Commuters at the Criterion theatre have settled down for long runs. The Brass Bottle" at the Lyceum thea tre and Love Among the Lions'' at the Carrick theatre also deserve favora- ble mention.
 A play which has attracted considera- ble attention and has proven very pop ular is 'The Country Boy" now being produced at the Liberty theatre, and de- spite the fact that the subject is worn threadbare Edgar Selwyn has handled 1t in an unique manner and made it in tensely interesting.
 The dramatic element among the pres ent productions is extremely limited. ''Mother," a new play at the Hackett theatre, which has been reviewed in these columns is the only now produc- ton of this kind. Alias Jimmy Valen- tine," at Wallack's theatre. "The Lily. at the Belasco theatre and Madame X.' at the Lyric are all last years suc- cesses.
 After slumbering peacefully for a de- cade. '.Diplomacy," that famous master piece by Sardop. has been removed from among the moth balls, thoroughly reno- vated and produced in new Broadway playhouse with a modern cast-and on this last phrase hangs a sad tale. With the play we are all acquainted Sardou, like many of the old time melo- dramatists. had his faults, and some are apparent in "Diplomacy,'' but notwith- standing these, the piece iss a powerful one.
 - We will. therefore, devote our comment to the cast. which may be termed a mis- cast without any danger of libel.
 The players in this revival have all earned a reputation. and their failure in Diplomacy is not due to any lack of histrionic ability. but more to a lack of rehearsals and the fact that they were not cast properly.
 Throughout the entire performance, when the only playterecently opened at Maxine Elliott's theatre. there was every evidence of haste in the rehearsals and of incomplete preparations. Notwith- standing these drawbacks, the whole