The Washington herald., 1911-12-24


means for the theater manager glow
ing contrast from the wan and dun spec
tacIe Of empty seats and cold incandes-
cents which were staged" during the
past seven DAYS This is the week when
the chronic and the casual playgOers file
to the box Office hand in hand, and are
iumbled together in one weird heap Oh
taste and opinion in the parQuet and dress
circle The astute manager is forever
attempting to StandardiZe and CLASSIFY
the public taste. If theater seats could
he provided with dictagraphs during Yule-
tide week he would learn the appalling
nature of his task.
At the Columbia, Mutt and jeff at
the Belasco "Jacinta." Cartoon comedy
VS.. Latin-Amerlcan operetta. At Chase's.
vaudeville of the standard which the
exactIng clientele of this temple of vaude-
VILE has been trained to expect during
the holidays. 1t is certainly not week
10 desert the land of make-believe If one
is en- rapport with the spirit Of the sea-
son.
II is altogether too early to write the
tale of The Passing Of the New Thea
ter" although many erudite persons have
essayed the task. The New Theater. as
SUCH is cold and dead for the present,
but the idea remains. Even il gold re-
tires baffed from the top-heavy burden
of artistic uplft," the normal and logi-
cal improvement of drama in New York
will not be disturbed.
The New Theater-as it fiCkered un-
certainly out of popular favor in its mag
nifcent marble temple on Central Park
west-produCed a wide variety and a
high average Of drama. 1t was Osten-
sibly founded to encourage American
playwrights and to develop American
actors. The great majority Of the plays
presented on its boards were successes
successes in the artistic sense. at least;
and one Of its more significant failures,
Shcldon's The Niger" was splendid
even in its failure. In its two years of
activity, the New Theater made no rec
ord to be ashamed Of That fact is
acknowledged even by the professional
cyncs Of Broadway.
Consider the following plays presented
at this theator in two seasons: Sister
Beatrice" The Bluebird." The Piper,
The Thunder3olt, The School for
Scandal Don. The Winters Tale,
Strife" and "Ant0ny and Cleopatra.
il is only fair to say the management
suffered self-impCsed humiliatiOns, such
as attended the production of The
Witch. the desultOry revival of "Old
Heidelberg" and the summoning of Miss
Marie Tempest in "Nanity Fair to tide
over a hiatus Of activity.
But the successes of the New Theater
company. as Washington remembers that
excellent organization, in sister Beat
rice" and The School for Scandal will
create wide regret that the project Is
now temporarily abandoned. Wild an
IiCpatons that the mere inauguration of
the theatCr would cause the Towering OF
entire new school of playwrights and
actors worc bound to be disappointed
from the first. 1t was not to he hoped
that a rival Of the COmedie Francois
would spring rull-panOplied into exist
enCe in the super sophisticated and un-
creative. impersonaI atmosphere of New
York. In a period Of artistic depression
and barrenneSS the mere foundation of
an art theater should have been sufficient
cause for COnGratulation for the public
and the critics of New York. But sup
port from either the critics or the public
was not forthcoming. probably because
both were anita EOniZNd needlessly by an
amazing lack OF tact by certain elements
OF the management, and because the huge
and beautiful temple never developed an
atmosphere OF warmth and welcome to-
ward the public.
II the New Theator project is dead. its
blood is on the head of the theatrical
profession and the reviewers of New
York. AS already stated there was an
amazing lack of tact in dealing with
these elements by the management. but
this should not have caused them to
adopt a CouTs" which ultimately meant
the collapse Of a splendid and altruistic
project.
The irony Of fate surely is here given
mOrdant illustration. The former temple
Of the New Theater. now the Century.
Is to-day filled to OVerfOwing with an
unequaled spectacle which in artistic
value does not remotely approach sev-
eral OF the achievements Of the New
Theater management. Surely the keenest
kind OF vengeance for the practical mind
over the idcalistiC.
In the age of Samuel Johnson says
Macaulay. literature had ceased to flour
ish under the patronage Of the rich and
great. and had not yet begun TO flourish
under the patronage Of the public. The
New Tneater represented. in certain
sense. a species of artistic atavism. The
theater in America. declared the
prophets, had fourished not wisely. but
too well under the patronage of the pub
lie: now was the time for il to flourish
under the patronage OF the plutoCracy.
But drama can never be made an aristo-
cratic or pIutocratic art. II is essentially
popular, and it can only progress as the
public progresses. Water cannot flow
above its source.
Ry and large, it is a cheerless Yule-
tide for manager and actor alike. The
season has been poor and meager; Broad
way and Clark street are crowded with
the jobless. Let US hope the New Year
will bring a new condition Of affairs
more good plays and more audiences to
witness them. A ". J.
Actor and Reviewer.
Tyrone Power. in the Chicago Record Herald
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