The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-23
An English Actors Rrmin isccnccs.

An Introduction to II. l.. Bateman
manager OF the London Iyceum. in
1871. was the straw in the balanced
scales that settled for J. II. BARNES,
who tells Of the incident in Forfy
Years on the stage Dutton). the
choice between business and dramatic
art. on the night of November 25
in that year Irving played in The
Bells" on the Iyceum stage. II was
a momentnus performance. The Ameri-
can Batcman had, on the strength Of
his daughters ,kato. Mrs. Crowe)
success in England in Leah. the For
saken." taken the Lyceum, which had
long been closed after a failure. with
the hope Of making a star If his
ether daughter, Isabel. He put on
"Fanchette." and il failed. This was
followed 10y Jams Albery's dramati-
cation Of The Pickwick Papers" in
which George Belmore made "a mod
crate success" aS sam weller. Irving
was liked as iUrCd Jin0lc. The man
ager followed this with The Bells"
Leopold Lewis's adaptation of lie
Iuif Io,onaIs," as a last and forlorn
hope. Had It failed the theatre
would have had To- shut down again.
hut lit succeeded from the very first
line" and Irving scored veritahle
triumph from which he never looked
back" while the Lyccum started on
tide Of prosperity the like of which
II had scarcely ever known before"
And Mr.. Barnes was irrevocably
launched upon his forty years"
The reminiscent quotes, "as showing
how one man destined To rise seems
u smell ont another Of similar char
acter," lrvings remark made at this
time: An | fancy We shall hear a
good deal more Of this chap Joe Cham
berlain from Birmingham before we
have {, ne with him" BrImmn gem
Joe was then Il popular Mayor and
successful politician and not by any
means signed and sealed n the popu-
lar expectation for the great career in
Statesmanship to which he was fore
ordained
In 1872 Andrew Hallday's version
of SCOTS Lady of the Lake" was
at Drury Lane, our forefathers not
very remote were bold dramatizers.
The manager Of the theatre at that
time was T. Il. chattertou, and a ia
Shakespeare spelled ruin and Byron
bankruptcy; Ahhotsford before Avon.
This Byron was II. G., that incom.
parable humorisl." He was a hard
ened jokester His drama The Lam
cashirc Lass" was being shown at the
old Queens. Al the end of the tn I'd
set an opprcssively long wait oc-
CURED. The orchestra lahored to
bridge the gap, But the audience was
hdgeting. Byron sat in a box with
f.. l.. blanchard, the critic. "A strong
saw ng" was heard behind the curtain.
Blanchard, sympathetically excited.
exclaimed; whats that. Byrono
What's that" The PLAYWRIGHT
probably the calmest person in the
house, replied dryly: Upon my soul
] don't know, old man-unlcss they're
cutting out the fourth act"
word for the old time stock com
panies:
The stock companies Of the last genera
tion were the finest schools of the drama
that ever existed. In them work was con-
tinued varied and earnest. and nearly
always under the guidance Of an expert.
enccd stage manager who could, and did
F'r" the asplrant the benefit Of his knowi-
edge; and, he II remembered, the COM
panleS were, generally speaking. made up
of artists Of considerable attainment AS
Wen as almost unlimited practice When
] have sometimes had occasion to sneak
OF the work we used to get through. young
ladies' and gentlemen Of to-day have sheer.
ingly said Yes. hut how was II done?"
' have always replied. and I state here
without the slightest reservation. that II