New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-23

woman, az the Standard Theatre, bus
it broke down in the second week. SO
also THE Drum Major" had 10 give
way 20 revival Of "Erminie" at the
Casino. "Can Gilbert and Sullivan find
no more themes" walled The Tribune.
Does the fault of their barrenness Ito
with them, or has the taste Of the pub
lie degenerated so that horse-play Is
wanted In place OF humor, farce In
stead OF fancy, and gaudy mummery
instead Of music? In the hands
of these masters OF satiric6l paradox
we may safely leave all the elements
of our social, political and artistic life:
They know a satirists privilege and
will not abuse H." Finally the longed-
for new operetta came, on January -,
1890. at the New Park Theatre, under
the management of A. NJ. Palmer. le
was "The Gondoliers," which had been
produced in London just a month be-
fore. IL had been eagerly waited
for, yet il was the first Of the Gil
bert and Sullivan operettas which made
an unqualified fiasco, chiefly because OF
the poor performance at the hands OF
the English company which D'Oyly
Carte sent over with IL. The incapacity
of the actors was so obvious that re-
organization Of the company was un-
dcrtaken at once. Mr.. Ellington and
Mr.. Temple, identified with earlier pro-
ductons Of Mr.. D'Oyly Carte, were
brought from London 10 replace two OF
the inetficients, and the operetta was
removed 20 Palmer's Theatre How long
il held the boards there we do not re-
call, but there was story that John
Stetson, who had backed the American
season of the operetta, expressed his
opinion OF il in a Characteristic speech,
ending with: 'GondoNers-huh.
Gone Dollars call it." An amiable
incident of its career was a perform
ance at a special matinee given by
Francis Wilson and his company, play
ing at the time in Philadelphia. Mr.
Palmer invited them 20 give a perform
ance at his theatre, which they DID, a.
Mr.. Wilson said IN q curtain speech to
show the people Of New York what
Americans could do with the opera.
"The Gondol.ers" was sttl enjoying
popularity In England whom Gilbert
and sullivan fell out because Of Q
quarrel between Mr.. D'0yly Carte and
one OF them touching the management
Of the Savoy Theatre. For nearly three
wears the partnership between the
mer. financially profitable 10 them,
artistically profitable 10 all English
speaking peoples, remained sundered.
Meanwhile both turned 20 other col
laborators. With Alfred Collier Gill
bet wrote Tho Mountebanks," and
Sullivan elaborated with Dir. Grundy
in writing "Haddon Hall" New York
heard THE Mountebanks" At the Gar
den Theatre for the first time on jan
nary 10, 1898, but "Haddon Hall" had
no production In the metropolis. There
was general rejoicing when tho men,
whose experiences with other partners
had plainly demonstrated how neces-
sary each was TO the other, were recon
ciled and created utopia (Limited)."
Over four months elapsed after tho
London production before the opcretta
had its first American performance AZ
the Broadway Theatre, on March rs,
1894 1t provided the most grievous
disappointment ever given by . crea-
ton Of the men. The book was la
bored and the score the weakest Of any
written by the composer. IL was tho
last Of the Gilbert and Sullivan pro-
ductions; dramatist and musician both
seemed 10 realize that they had ex-
hausted the vein which had yielded .
glorious treasure.