The Washington herald., 1913-09-21

MARY ANDERSON.
dozen male and only two female char
acters in this work of Richard LawlOr
Shiel, the brilliant Irishman. The minor
one of the female characters was per-
formed at the Fifth Avenue Theater by
Miss Agnes Elliott. who had great per-
sonal beauty but very little stage eX-
perienCe, in fact, practically debutante,
since deceased. As is usual in standard
plays the star does not appear until
late in the evening. In anticipation of
a warm reception for Evadne. twenty
lusty shouters had been placed through
the theater with positive instructions to
salute with fervOr and COTdiality Miss
Anderson on her appearance. Eager to
unleash their pent up enthusiasm, they
| followed the proceedings Of the first act
| until Miss Elliott appeared, when she
was greeted with such a demonstration
| OF heartiness as TO completely disconcert
her and to bring action TO a stop. Such
a demonstration Of greeting naturally
made the lady nervous and she could
proceed no further with the lines she
! had to speak. Unconscious Of their
| error the ''greeters'' followed the rest
] Of the act with uncOncern, and when at
last Miss Anderson made her appear
| ance an occasional handicap was the
only testimony of recognition which she
| had. as the ''greeters'' failed to recOg-
nize her as the star At the close of
the first act. DR.. Griffin said curtly, Il
! think that the press agent had better
| contine himself to the newspaper busi-
/ ness in the future
| Following "Evadne" came "Ingomar."
in which Miss Anderson appeared as Par
| thenia and made her most genuine artis-
| tic success. Later on. Romeo and
Juliet" was performed Her original en-
| gagement in New York was for four
weeks, the Friday evening of the last
week a benefit was organized for Miss
! Anderson by some Kentucky people in
/ the City. General Castleman, and Henry
WattersOn and Samuel J. Tilden, with
wnom "MaTse' Henry was on terms Of
great personal as well as political in
| timacy, interested themselves consider
ably in this benefit. Miss Anderson Sc
leCting the old part-for a girl in her
teens-Of Meg -IerrilIes in SCotts Guy
Mannering." The sale Of seats was very
large. It proved a veritable benefit as
the terms were half of the receipts over
three hundred dollars. The receipts for
that night We're a thousand dollars, Miss
AndersOn's share being three hundred
and nifty dollars, which was the largest
sum she had received up to that time
from her New York engagement. The
novelty OF her performance of the Scotch
hag was so attractive that il was re-
peated with the same financial success
on the last night of her engagement So
closed the first New York engagement OF
Mary Anderson. II was not a financial
success: it was an artistic success in
part only, but the critical rubicon had
m hn Iir
at least, Miss Anderson had silenced once
and for all the comments of those sapient
local critics who had referred to her as
the prairie tragedienne," the stage
struck Juliet" and the Southern ac-
tress." She had established by her charm
her undeniable dramatic ability, her
youth. the power of her wonderful voice,
her enthusiasm, and by her personal
beauty her position as an actress on the
American stage in the future, even
though her selection of roles had been in
some cases the result of ineNperience and
little knowledge of the existing condi-
tions of public tastes in New York City
at that time. The critical standard of
the city was probably higher than it is
now-that is, the critics of that day,
LGffan Winter. Schwab Wheeler. Hows
Forman, De Fontaine, and others were
enabled to observe a larger measure of
independence than is generally thought
to be the case now. The theater-going
public knew who wrote the criticisms for
each paper and held the critic to ac-
count. The advertising patronage OF the
theaters was important, but it was not
controlling.
From New York Miss Anderson went
directly to Boston, making her first ap-
rearson at the old Boston Theater on
Washington Street: the people of that
city and the surrounding territory had
been furnish ID with full particulars of
her success and powers of attraction.
There existed at that time a literary
coterie in Boston which is now no more. |
first night was deemed unauthentic |
or orthodox, in a literary sense, unless |
James Russell Lowell. Thomas Went |
worth Higginson, or Henry W. Long |
fellow took some part in the proceedings, |
either from a front seat in the orchestra |
or a rear seat in the gallery. Unless the !
literary contingent was represented in |
some way, the prompter would not be |
justified in ringing up the curtain, a con- |
dition which recalls an almost historic |
episode in Booths Theater, when the |
distinguished American poet of fields and /
forests, glades and ravines, russet leaves |
and purling brooks, William Cullen |
Bryant who had recently passed his
eightieth birthday, presented a wreath of |
laurel leaves tied with white ribbon and |
resting upon a black cushion to Char
lotte Cushman on her retirement from
the stage. When Mr.. Bryant made his
appearance, a New Yorker in the au-
dience called out: "Cully's here: start
the show" The presentation was ac-
companied with appropriate remarks.
After the applause which had greeted his
address had subsided and quiet restored,
Miss Cushman. who exhibited signs of |
deep emotion. returned her thanks in a
very effective speech, Miss Cushman's
final words being greeted with cheer upon
cheer which rent the air; as she was
about to finally retire, several Of her
friends in the dramatic profession upon
the stage commenced singing, SHOULD
Aud Acquaintance be Forgot" and after
the second verse the curtain fell amid