New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-01
STAGE AND SPECTATOR
ReCoIlections of a ChroniCIer of
Plays and Players.
Copyright 10y Arthur Warren.


I have not seen Caste at the Empire
Theatre Some hundreds Of miles of seacoast
stretch between Broadway and me. But 1
would have liked to see the o,d play and
The new players because have seen the
old players IN tiff not the original cast,
then the best part OF the original cast, as
ell as one OF its first performances in
this country. How many times 1 have
seen this play Of Tom Roberfson's, and
how many players have seen in it, I do
Bor remember. nor IS there any use in at
tempting 70 reconect all the productions
tut my interest in Caste has. for myself
- al events. 3 certain special feature:
''Cesjs' was the first play ] ever saw, and
ss chile ! was taken TO its first perform
#ace at the Boston Museum in 1867.
Whether o. not the New York perform
arce. at the old Broadway Theatre in Al
gust Of that year. annotated the Boston
production 1 have never taken the trouble
10 inquire In any ease there could not
have been many weeks between the dates,
and although i remember nothing what
ever OF tie performance, during which. At
7he age o. seven, doubtless slept L have
.lsauv times imagined that il could not
Lave heen inferior 20 the New York at
fempt in which Billy Florence, of all
sen pira1ed by himself
Al the now long vanished Prince Of
Hales's Theatre. IN Tottenham street, just
out Of the Tottenham Court Road, in Lon
don. Caste" had its first performance
The date was April 6. 1885,, and the original
players were:
Hon George d Alroy. ..--.....-... Fred Tourge
captain Hawtree -.-----...-.--.--s Is. Bancrott
1ccles OeuIer 49, 49,
Sam do
Narquise de 81. Maur---...-. Miss Sophie I1arktn
T7oIv F,ccles. -HAiss Marie Wilton
Esther Eccles. Miss Lydia Foote
swho in December, 1867. became Mrs. Ban
croft
In January. 1872. at the same house and
under the same management. the play was
revived with Mr.. and Mrs Bancroft and
George Honey in their original parts; John
CLAYTON as DAlroy. Arthur Cecil Ger
ridge. Miss r. G. lie There as the Mar
quise. and Miss Amy Roselie as Esther.
This was probably the best cast the play
ever had; and as il i'll company with
the man through whose guidance first
came TO know something Of London and
tho London stage, / have a good reason |
for remembering the playhouse-a dainty |
peacock blue bandbox Of place-the play |
and the players. The Prince Of Wales's !
was the smallest and the most fashionable |
DO~-N
expensive the first to charge half a guinea |
for an orchestra stall For fourteen years /
fortune had remained with this house. /
Tom Robertson had brought It. He
had begun to be successful five or six
sears before he died His plays enriched
The Bancrofts and gave TO London a new
school Of comedy and of acting. His first
real success was David Garrick,' which,
with Sothern in the title part, had been
rroduced at the Haymarket Theatre on
Aprll 30. 1854. His second was Society"
produced at the Princes Theatre, Man
chester. In the following year. and brought
TO the Prince OF Waless, London, on Satur- 1
dav November IL 1855. "Ours,' first per- |
formed in Liverpool in the summer OF 1867, |
was brought TO the little house in Totem |
ham street on September 15- After that |
The Bancrofts gave in London the first per- |
for-ngnces Of their new plays. Caste be- |
ing put forward April 6. 1857: Play"
on February Is. 1858: School on Janu- |
. erv IS 1863, and IN p on April q, 1870 |
Robertson died on February 4. ISL 1t was /
during the run Of caste" December. 1boO /
rhst Miss Marie Wilton became Mrs Ban |
croft
IL YVES during the Bancrofts last season |
K+ TIE Prince of waIes's Theatre that ar
rived In London My companion in the pit /
On the opening night OF the caste" re-
.-xzal for 81 was to the pit one went In |
those days, was a man to whom owe not
only many happy hours, but also much |
useful knowledge OF the theatre and affairs. /
He must have been thirty years my senior,
hut as through boyhood had always been
interested much more IN my elders than In
Y,e-sons of my own aga We had become
great friends, and We had subject Ii
common on which we could at ell times
NV friends name was Henry Murray. He
zs q ron Of William Murray, who with
,,;s .tster. Mrs Henry Siddons, had made
che Theatre Royal Edinburgh. famous as
rct1oof Of acting for many years. Charles
Murray, Henry's grandfather, had been
.avorfte- comedian at Covent Garden
srst met Henry Murray on the Anchor
liner Alsatia- in October, 1878. on my first
,,ovspe from New York TO London He
,,sd lived twenty years or more In China
having some connection there with the ,
great English house OF Jaroine, Matthison ,
e, Co. he had now retired from business
life and returned to England to 1--we on
small competence; not however. in retire
,,.nt for he undertook 20 give course ,
NJ r1,tlIc readings from Shakespeare Z
sssss+ea him in preparing a reading yer !
.,o- Of ssOthello" and still have the copy Z
which he used at his public appearances ,
AS O. matter OF fact he recited all the I
ra-ts. and I would sit behind q screen on I
che platYor1n ready TO prompt him IL neces- 7
.a-v II was never necessary. BE had an I
sxcellent memory. He recited al the parts ]
On .sOtheIIo.- THE Merchant OF Venice, Z
Of king Henry w. q and I'D ana I
an that now forgotten old play. The Man I
G. the World" Mr.. Samuel Brandrarn and c
one or two others had been success- {
-,I IN this kind Of entertainment for many ]
years, and Murray thought that the puohc 6
would readily support him In the advent G
s,re. He had far more dramatic power :
than his competitors, clearer conceptions /
nd a better knowledge Of dramatic effect s
than they, but they were the fashion ana {
he was not; they were persons OF engag-
sng, even imposing, presence. and he was c
not he was fat, very fat; about the build e
OF Mr.. P1ckwick- c
lie inherited without doubt the Murray 1
talent for acting. Had he not run TO flesh /
In middle age he must have made fair v
success even then as a public reader. Had n
he taken 20 the stage IN his youth he must 8
have become q celebrated player. But his y
actor father forbade, actor fathers often a
DO. and the consequence was that Henry r
Murray became end remained a capable ]