Evening star., 1918-02-10
ADJUSTMENTS
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oompanist works toward this end. The
whole little drama enacted on the con-
cert stage 10 concentrated In making
voioe production easy and happy.
'on the other hand. the operatie
singer must act while she Is singing
mersault she must acquiesoe. q the
orchestra thunders In brass, II the
wood winds whistle and the ptccolos do
their little pdzzicatos, it matters not
she must sing.
ITO a singer who has been trained
to take high c when she is sweeping
out the corner of a room this may,
perhapA not seem dfmcult; Dut most
singers arc not so trained. Very often
the habits Of early schooling make It
q part with song and action in unison.
Il am not finding fault with singers
am merely calling attention to the
fact that these things should Do taken
into account In the criticism OF an
opera singer"
George C. Tyler-The career of
George c. Tyler as the head OF
the Liebler organization covered
more than fifteen brilliant seasons In
1897 the late Charles Coghlan con-
vinced Tyler that his version Of Dumas
Kean, which he called THE Royal Box"
was worthy Of production. Even at that
carly stage Of his career Mr.. Tyler's
reputation as 4 Snowman OF bold
Imagination and consummate skill was
firmly established. SO the business
ability Of Theodore A. Liebler was soon
combined with his showmanship TO star
Mr.. Coshlan in that play. AT that time
the financial condition of the firm war
ranted nothing in the way OF extrava-
gance. Liebler's art printing estaolish-
ment had been wiped away by the park
place disaster and Tyler was just re-
covering from severe theatrical re-
verses.
BY the time "The Royal Box" had
spent one week among the one-night
stands the members of the company
of deserting, in the belief that "the
ghost would not walk" when pay time
arrived. It SO happened, however, that
foreign star who had contracted for
the Fifth Avenue Theater for six weeks
abruptly ended her season. and Mr..
Knowles. manager of the house. was
without anything to occupy 1t. Liebler.
1t Is said, was instrumental In inducing
Knowles to accept the frst product OF
the new firm. The result was the enor-
nous and immediate success which
greeted Mr.. Coghlan.
The second production of Liebler &
Co., by that time controlled on its ar
tistic side entirely by Mr.. Tyler. proved
the most profitable theatrical venture
in this or any other country. On the Sc
cure financial basis provided by the
success of THE Royal Box" Liebler q
Co. engaged Viola Allen, then leading
woman Of the Empire Theater Com
pany, as it's first star. For some time
the company was in doubt as to whether
Miss Allen should be presented IN q
dramatic version Of Longfellow's
"Courtship Of Miles Standish" or a
dramatixation of Hall Gaines The
Christian" After much cabling and the
payment of a large sum OF money ior
was found to be one of the gloomiest
Of Hall Caine's plays, weighed down In
addition with an unhappy ending. and
so constructed that the star part was
The difficulty was finally overcome by
Tyler in a Enthusiastically bold
method He sent Miss Allen to visit the
author. After several months she re-
turned with an entirely new play. 1t
was quite satisfactory in its new form.
but 1t underwent several changes at the
hands Of Tyler before it finally reached
the stage.
1t has been said that Hall Caine col
lected more than quarter of million
Of this play. One thing is certain, from
the time of the success of ''The Chris
tian" Liebler & Co. for more than four
ten years conducted their business on
a basis of the soundest prosperity.
Sometimes their faithfulness to their
ideals was costly. But financial losses
which would have discouraged. II they
did not bankrupt, any other concern.
were weathered by the commercial
sense Of Liebler- and the courageous
showmanship of Tyler without a
The third production of the firm was
Sydney Grundy's version Of The Mus
keteers." in which James O'Neill was
Wilton Lackaye, Athos; Margaret An
glin. Constance. and Henry Lee, Fran
els Carlyle. s. Miller Kent, Judith
Bero1de. Edmund Breese and jacques
Kruger took important parts. It was a
hne performance.
Liebler production-Israel Zangwilrs
The Children Of the Ghetto"-which
aroused storm of criticism in two
continents. William Lackage. Blanche
ferro. William Norris. Richard Garlic,
Ada Dwyer. Nine. Cottrelly and Adolphe
Lestina were In the cast, and the play
was staged by no less a parsonage than
James A. Herne. This was the first of
Mr.. zangwilrs plays produced by this
firm. which thereafter controlled his
entire output. In its fourth season a
number of important productions were
made. derne appeared in his own Sag
Harbor." in which also William Hodge
obtained his first prominence.
1t was not long before the Lieblers
imported for the first time such big for
eign stars as Mrs. Patrick Campbell
Eleanor Duse. Gabrielle Rejane and
Ellis Jeffreys.
In tho seasons Of 1s0s-1o the Lieblers
inaugurated policy which proved of
incalculable benefit to the American
tneater. with the exception of Zang-
willis 'The Melting Pot" a play Of
America and for Americans, but writ
ten by an European. this firm gave its
entire effort to the presentation of fne
American plays. of which Mrs. Bur
netts The Dawn of a Tomorrow" and
Cleveland Moffett's "The Battle" were
two examples. They produced also in
the next Few seasons THE Squaw Man"
The Bishops Carriage" "The Tene-
ment Tragedy" "Salomy Jane" "Alias
Jimmy Valentine" "The White sister,
and The Fourth Estate"
Negotiations are now under wav
which are likely to lead to the appear
ance OF William Gillette in London in
"A successful Calamity" Mr. Gillette
IS favorite in London and has prom
OF sherlock Holmes" in that city for
the benefit of the allied funds.
Marcelle Roussillon, who has been en-
gagged to play an important role in ''The
On Chance" with Ethel Barrymore In
New York. was for several years lead
ing woman at the Theater Palais Roy-
al, Paris.