The Washington herald., 1913-09-14

vest Eighth Avenue corner stragglert
with the character and bearing of Roman
legionaries. No actor, however strong
his personality, can overcome the more
or less amount of ridicuIe that attends
| the successive appearance of his cohorts
With such drawback did Mr.. McCul-
Tough and the excellent company from
the Walnut Street Theater. Philadelphia
nave to contend on Monday night. Nor
We're Messrs- Poole and Donnelly wholly
olameless in the matter. For a Roman
procession We were given a various lot of
costumes, aggregating all the ages OF
Romans, Red Republicans &c. In other
words, Roman tunics. SUPPLIES and
censors OF altar boys and the Phyrygian
caps OF Liberty were mixed up in I'M
utterable' confusion. Very naturally.
therefore, what was Intended to be
grandiose and impressive became only
incongruous and absurd" On the other
side the press was stirred TO a great
amount Of enthusiasm about his per-
tormance. A production OF "Pizarro" for
a season at Boston theater was a great
event Magnificent scenery. brilliant
costumes. large male and female cho-
ruses and two hundred auxiliaries were
called into service. The play was heavy.
somewhat solemn, and would not be
suited 10 the present generation of thea
ter goers. 1t presented many opportu-
.Aities for spectacular display, which were
seized upon and made the most of. THE
Temple Of the Sum-" in the second act
was a magnificent. grand and imposing
specimen of the skill of the scenic artist
1t was a successful and remunerative
engagement Mccullough appeared as
Rolla, Louis James as Pizarro, Edward
Buckley as Alonzo. and Mrs. Thomas
Barry as Elvira-
Probably Romeo and Juliet has been
altered more than any Of Shakespeare's
plays. 1t was revised and altered by
T. Abbey in 174S; it was turned into a
tragic-comedy subsequently. by James
Howard, and it has been variously mall
treated by others. The greatest altera-
ton, however, is the one perpetrated
by Garrtck, who struck out all after V. Ill
lis, where Romeo drinks the poison; sub
shutting about sixty lines of his own
which represent the awaking OF Juliet,
the rapture of their meeting, the horror
of Romeo's death, and the fainting of
Juliet on the body of her husband. This
was done to make Romeo more promi-
nent; and the conscientious Shakespear-
can actor that John Mccullough was, used
the same barbarous change of the piece
John also had to use great care in per-
forming some OF the heroic love i'm
presentations. as his enormous physique
was often times forgotten for the mo-
ment, and the pathetic, ethereal love
scene was changed into the ludicrous
This class of representations were a
recreation for him. as ii gave a rest
from the more serious and heavy roles
that he so much delighted in presenting
A performance out OF the ordinary
given as a benefit rendered the veteran
John T Ford, when Mccullough appeared
as Ingomar and Mary Anderson as Parthe-
mia, packed the theater to overlooking
and extended the performance until
O'Clock a. m. answering calls and re-
calls, until both the audience and the
performers were tired out The Con-
gressional delegation from Kentucky
sent Miss Anderson several floral pieces
composed of violets, in the center OF each
the word Kentucky appeared. While
playing ''Virginius," in Macon Ga the
curtain had been rung down on the last
act. The entire audience remained
seated. evidently expecting more. 1t was
up to the stage manager to come before
the curtain and explain that ''virginius
being dead. Virginia dead. Dentatus
dead, nothing more could be done that
evening" again, it being near midnight,
it would be too much 10 ask Mr. Nc
to repeat the death scene. The
did not take to it readily. After
a few audible complaints and some
gTumbling, they arose and left the thea
ter, declaring they should have more for
their money.
After Charles B. Hanford had become
well known as an amateur actor he