Evening journal., 1911-09-16
new NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Old Coat That Made a
HiStrisniC Success
By Holland.

When Lester Wallack knew that lis
day had passed as a great actor and
theatrical manager, he and the late A.
M. Plmer, then coming into promi-
nence as a successful theatrical man
ager, and later the successor of Les
ter Wallack in the management OF
Wallacks Theatre, in New York, used
TO make the trip together between the
metropolis and Stamford, Conn, where
each had his summer home. IL was
during one of those trips that Wal
lack told to Palmer the story of the
old coat that made a great histrionic
hit.
1T was in 1858 that Laura Keene
produced Our American Cousin, with
Joseph Jefferson as Asa Trenchard
and Ned Sothern as Lord Dundreary,
said Mr.. Wallack. Il know that in a
general way It has passed into tradi-
tion that Sothern at first refused TO
play the part of Lord Dundreary, be-
cause he thought the part was beneath
him, and that he only consented 20
play IL when Miss Keene told him
that she was in despair and after she
had consented that Sothern should
gag the part. But while all this is
true up to a certain point, / have no
doubt that from the moment Sothern
read the part of Lord Dundreary he
saw the possibilities that we're in il
for delicate, humorous satire of cer-
tain Of the nobility of England, and
felt sure that this satire would not
Offend but would amuse, the upper
classes in Great Britain If ever he
we're permitted to play the part as he
would like to play 1t before English
audiences.
well, Sothern made up his mind
that it would be necessary to dress
the part with elongated black side
whiskers, which we're, in the late
fifties and early sixties, the fashion
able way, at least in France, Of wear
ing the beard. He also decided that
it was essential in the first act, which
was a drawing room scene, for him 20
wear a long-tailed frock coat with
very voluminous tails. But it slip
ped his mind that he should obtain a
coat Of that sort from the costumer.
or have one made, and because of this
slip he was in despair at the time of
the dress rehearsal Of the play
John Brougham, the playwright,
was upon the stage at the time aud
he told Sothern that he had in his
dressing room long-tailed coat, very
full in its folds, which had been
used by me in a play in which l had
appeared some months earlier. It's
Just the frock for you, Ned said
Brougham.
Produce it, John replied Sothern.
"A moment later Brougham brought
the long-tailed coat TO Sothern S
dressing room. It didn't At very we'll
upon the shoulders. but the tails were
long enough and expansive enough TO
suit Sothern perfectly, and he said ne
would wear it until he could have a
coat made. And so in a coat which l
had worn in an earlier play and had
lent to John Brougham-for what use
don't remember-an emergency
coat Sothern appeared for the first
time upon any stage as Lord Dun
dundreary. And the coat was a sue
cess"
by the way" said Mr.. Palmer, oval
lack also told me that Sothern pre-
dicted that the play would greatly
amuse the British aristocracy. Il did.
II ran for an entire season with fash
ionable audiences, and the manager
made nearly two hundred thousand
dollars out Of it in that single sea-
SON"
Copyright, 1911, by z. ]. Edwards.
All Rights Reserved)