The sun., 1916-09-16
CRITICAL REVIEWS
OF THE SEASONS
LATEST O
Biography Of Heinrich Conried Pictures Interesting
Stage Of the Theatre in New York.
Brilliant New Piece Of Work by Alsernon Blackwood
-Rolicking Tale Of a Dead Irish Town.

pacity as a stage manager and a di-
rector: this led Adolf Neuendorf to
engage him to come to the United
States.
His biographer has much TO say Of
his vanity. his mannerisms and his
impcriousnens. but the people who
chafed under his strictness recognized
his ability. He was impatient of au-
thority and passed through some years
Of trouble till he became master in his
" theatre. In those years he was
apparently AZ much concerned with
business as with the stage, and II was
as a play broker that he obtained his
first solid footing. The business drew
him into relations with Rudolf Aron
son and the American stage. and be-
tween them they succeeded IA making
light musical plays OF German origin
popular In New York.
Then Conried was able 10 take up the
enterprise that he had really at heart.
the raising OF the German theatre in
New York to the standard Of the best
theatres in Germany. and the record
OF the Irving Place Theatre under his
management is the work by which. in
the opinion Of his friends, he should be
Judged. He was enough Of n man OF
business to make concessions to popu-
lar taste. remembering the repeated
failures Of his predecessors. but he was
an idealist. he admired German litera-
ture. he knew the theatrical portion OF
II thoroughly. and he saw to II that his
German audiences should become ac-
Quainted with the classics and the
plays that stood for something as we'll
as the ephemeral stun they liked. He
was a fir actor himself. as he proved
when he chose to appear: he saw to
II that his company did him credit. and
he gave New York the opportunity to
see the celebrities of the day on the
herman stage In the stars he en-
aged. Mr.. Moses rather pessimistically
thinks that the audiences he drew to-
gether ran no longer be attracted be-
cause the new German generation does
not care for its language or its theatre.
In that he is pretty surely mistaken.
even II the war feeling is left out of
consideration 1t was as director OF
the Irving Place Theatre that Conried
was induced by Prof. Carpenter to en-
gage in the propaganda for German
culture. Of which every one approved
heartily till the a broke out. by lee
turing before the universities on the
German stage and letting them see the
classic plays performed by his COM
pany.
OF Conried's work as OF the
Metropolitan Opera House Mr.. Moses
has much more to say. as he has closer
knowledge Of 1t. This We shall not
touch upon. though ii was the nos
brilliant period OF Conried's life. his
apo'heosis as "A manager. The account
OF the 'Parsifal" production IL par
tlcularly entertaining. It is Conried
the artist. however. the man who
fought to establish his ideal of his ma
theatre. that will he remembered.
That ideal he held to in the advice he
gave to the enthusiasts who have been
striving To establish a national theatre
for the English drama such as the
Germans, French and Italians possess.
The book is Illustrated with photo
graphs.
julius LIE NALLON. az. p. Dutton
& CO.' b. AIxcrnon BIacLwood.
tSI.3O.p
As pure and brilliant English prose
az has appeared In this twentieth GEN.
fury will he found in the first half of
Algernon Blackwood's julius lie ValIon
tE. +. Dutton 4 Cos. in which he ex-
pounds with marvellous clearness and
precision the mystical and philosophy.