The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 15, 1899, Page 29

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 1899. 29 CRb00000000000000000000000000000000000000C000C0CC00000 P ° : d MANAGER @ND @ CRITIC. 3 LX) o o o © o £ © g Charles Frohman's Emperorship, and Cle- g R ment Scott's Retirement. © g 5 By Ashton Stevens. g Q 00000000600000000000OOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOO0000000000000 (4] 24l audiences within, but large ; Liar.” “Trelawny of the Wells,” grudge me that delightful pause by the smiles without, have been | “Phroso” and other new plays of more | Wayside. »f the rainy week at the | OF less importance. These are all Froh- | pa’f;gloie::ra Wrfif:e :?;i}';rbefl:::?h s man loves the immediate | » shining dollar more than | but even he would not he- whole summer's harvest for midwinter sunshine; so he has | ved-the storm with something of | iculturist's enthusiasm, and | indly at the few customers who | N ger, to his shop. Theatrical | are not such bad fellows Reaiv, they are not. Their | businéss is a perpetual gamble in which they take' it that they can play any | old game-so long as it will win. But at | best they can’t fool the public more than half the time—the rest of the timel the public is fooling them. The theat- rical trust merely applies to the the- ater business principles that long have been in 12 in other commercial en- hsationalism, vulgar and the stage is not a “h(t‘ is in the newspapers— nerally play into one | Have you never | risky show prospers only icily abused by the | nember when we all ices about Anna Held? She d that she had had no Francisco press was so on it ther's that s they Poor Anna The theater has business institution, and ent of claims associa- t drama; the r is a nble and its managers are settling into a type as pronounced $ which is to-day repre- ntry only by Augus- Mansfield (and fied survivors have strange things). Give , especially Charles ) is going to send us lots vear. Mr. Froh- | powerful manager in | rings to bear on his 3 the wifte spirit of alism, but I 1l knowledge of audiences and Mr rohman has said of he is as good a dramatic | the land; and from S ip which reckons r\ecuni-‘ y ess above everything—he is every man in the | Charles Froh- | great that he prac- the entire American ness. ther managers throughout the | ¢ e, you might say, only his | . or else buyers of the | has finished with. * Ask | of Anm ca, England, or France, to what American man- would prefer to give their d they will ant ;er “Frohman.” | f he his is not entirely a matter o M rohman pays well, but | insures the author as good a | as can be given in Americ rohman has the same fas- | or actors that he has for play Most of the popular stars her play under the direction | s Frohman than risk it alone, any of them have become stars rough him. The ambition of young | 0 become members of Froh- | ympani Frohmanward lie est chances for distinction, op- advertisement. This is a to be in the hands of one e who sometimes take the iously are lucky that it is| well as it Mr. Frohman | ve in art for art's sake, a rap about the development a that fine, literate and | t even in his most Philistine | knows that it is oftenest | playwriter who turns out | st attractive play and the first | t ho makes himself a favorite crowd—and so we get our | peri.anent and the best, | f the transient and trivial. n Francisco this season we ! rospect of Maude Adams in | tle Minister” and the certainty ter in “Zaza ' Olga Neth- | big repertory, and last but ng stock company season f the usual Frawley engage- | vill introduce us to “The | nd v is. is | Grand. man attractions. . The stock company will be made up of picked players from i the Frohman companies, and Henry | Miller will be the leadin® man. This | is considerable that Mr. Frohman will | send, but it is not the Columhia’s entire | season. What is proudly hyphenated as the Louis James-Katherine Kidder- Frederick Ward triumvirate is coming soon; so is Wilson Barrett’s Neronian nightmare, “The Sign of the Cross”; and Melbourne MacDowell and Blanche (=4 Walsh in the Sardou repertory of the late Fanny Davenport; and the good old Bostonians, and the ditto Modjeska. And then there is the big opera at the Altogether the outlook is the best in several years. Let the rain fall and the crops grow, and everybody will have a good time, managers and all. s vleile Clement Scott, the London dramatic critic, has kept his word and retired from active work on thé Daily Tele- graph. In view of the recent tempest in this country and in England caused by Mr. Scott’s plain talk about the morality and immorality of player folk, and following so soon the announce- ment that Mr. Scott will lecture in America, this formal farewell of his will, I think, be of some general in- terest. This is it: At the close of this, to me, eventful year of 188 I have been advised by those whose counsel is to me a law, and whose affection has been my an- chor in many a storm, to retire per- manently from the active and inces- sant' duties of dally journalism. In these days of pulsating advance, with theaters starting up as if by magic on every side, in the midst of a world throbbing with new ideas, startling theories, old orthodoxies and new heterodoxies clashing and clanging to- gether, the duties of a dramatic re- viewer to the most influential of all daily newspapers requires a giant's strength. The incessant strain of thirty years' continuous work reminds me that the best strength, the most undaunted courage and the wildest en- thusiasm must have its breaking point. It is that inevitable dilemma that I de- sire to anticipate by a rest somewhere near the last milestone. No one who has followed me up and down hill will THE D temperament with which I have been blessed or cursed—some think one and some another—an impossibility. When new authors of brilliant importance, young actors of dawning promise, and bright actresses of commanding intel- ligence appear on the scene, I shall be near them, believe me, as long as I live, to help them with my encourage- ment and haply to guide them with my experience. Like the retired soap boiler, I shall be found “hovering round on melting day.” Meanwhile, in the en- oo EYES d oruMBIA So £ CRAWFORD 155 i RPHELM A [=] joyment of a brief leisure, I trust net undeserved, I have, while strength lasts, romances of the stage to write, reminiscences to recall and lectures to deliver at home and in distant coun- tries in the direct Interests of an art that T have conscientiously studled on and off for fifty, and Incessantly for thirty, years. Recognizing the many faults and grave shortcomings of a long and eventful career, I still yield to none in my undying love for the dramatic art and its best gifted pro- fessors, and, in claiming a pardon in rest, I leave the record of the drama of the day to the bright lexicon of youth. This farewell is thoroughly Scott- like, affable and ingenuous, written in the same old style that for years has made capital fun for Mr. Scott’s Lon- don colleagues and at the same time endeared him to the great masses, whose ideal newspaper is realized in the Daily Telegraph. And, as you can see, it leaves little to be written in eulogy of Mr. Scott by other pens. For thirty years Clement Scott has been the butt of the clever and the god of the mob. His notice could make or break a production in London, I have been told by managers of experience. And after an interviewer had lured from him perhaps the only vital re- marks of his life—though heaven knows | the same thing has been said in all CHARLES E SHILLING,. -COMEDY . ages by all men!—he up and quits. And London loses the Mr. Marie Corelli of dramatic criticism. ASHTON STEVENS. G The Golumbia. Frank Daniels, 8an Francisco's old fa- Columbia Theater Monday night in , IdoI's Eye.” He is a funny little fellow | character. It has been a long time since | Daniels was here last, fully five years. Since_then he has emerged from farce | comedy into comic opera. |~ Both of his oper: “The Idol's Eye” and “The Wizard of the Nile” have | been tested in the crucible of New Yorki and come out approved. According to the New York Evening Post, that decid- edly hypercritical journal, the two pieces were ‘““By all odds the comic opera hits of the season.” He will produce them here with the same cast of principals and chorus. The two operas are by Harry B. Smith and Victor Herbert. The scenes | of both are placed in the far East; that of “The Idol's Eve” in India during the | [ | BPERLEIN - e S AL IFORNIA BERNICE HoLMES SCTIVaL Y resent day, that of the “Wizard of the Nile" in Egypt during the young days of Cleopatra_before, according to the libret- tist, Smith, she knew anything of love. The Tivoli. “The Wedding Day,” a comic opera played for two seasons throughout the vorite, will commence a season at the | East by the Lillian Russell-Della Fox-Jef- | & “The | ferson de Angelis organization, will re-|flrst time in this city at Sherman & cefve its first presentation at the Tivoli| Opera-house beginning Monday evening. | | The book is written by Stanislaus Stange the music is by Julian Edwards, the com- | | poser of “Jupiter” and “Brian Boru.” | The action of “The Wedding Day"” takes | place in Paris and its environs about the ' | his humor is of a magnetic, penetrating | |in the East, as Mme. Montbazon. Willlam | scenery, costumes and,accessories nave | before returning to their own. firesides. middle of the seventeenth century. The cast will include Edwin Stevens as Pol, cop; Anna Lichter as the Queen's mes- senger, Lucille d’Herblay; Willlam H ‘West, Polycop’s assistant, Planchette; Annie Myers, the bride, Rose Marie; Wil- liam Pruette as the Duc de Bouillon (his original creation in the first production); Maggie Francis as Aunt Hortense, Poly- cop’s aunt, and Phil Branson as the bar- ber, Pomade. Miss Bernice Holmes will make her reappearance, after two seasons Schuster will be the Sergeant Saber. New been made from the original models, and the chorus and orchestra have been en- larged. The Alcazar. Owing to the death of Mr. Belasco's mother there will be no performance at the Alcazar to-night. The house opens to-morrow night with another Hoyt play, “A Temperance Town,” in which this popular playwright looses his satire on Qrohlmtxon s it is practiced in Vermont. Mr. Stockwell will have his old charac- ter of Mink Jones. This will be Mr. Stock- well's farewell week. After ‘A Temper- ance Town’ there will be a revival of | “Men and Women,” and after that Sol §'ml'1th Russell's old success, ‘“Peaceful ey Be co and Thall will send out a com- pany next month, playing all of the pri cipal coast towns in ““The Girl I Left Be- | hind Me “harley's Aunt,”” “Too Much | Johnson” and “The First Born.” H | The Galifornia. “Yon Yonson,” the Anglo-Swedish dia- lect gomedy, begins a one week’s stay at the California Theater on Monday even- ing next, when Ben Hendricks on this oc- casion will present the title .roll, being assisted, it {8 said, by an excellent com- | any. “Yon Yonson” is founded upon an | ncident relating to the appropriation of a patent belonging to Yon's father by a | life-long friend, who makes a fortune by the theft. The friend then adopts his victim's daughter and ships brother Yon to_the wilds of Minnesota. The scenery is said to be picturesque and realistic.” The company assisting Mr. Hendricks contains the names of Beatrice Norman, Belle Francis, Ida Kruger, An. nie Mack Berlein, Georgie Bryton, George | A. Weller, Arthur Earl, Sherman Rawles, Edward J. Mack, E. H. Bender and George Lynne. New Gomedy. George R. Edeson’s farce comedy, “Two | Married Men,” will be given in the Com- | edy this week. The plot deals with the | mishaps of two benedicts who start out | to enjoy what they think an innocent| filrtation, little dreaming of the many | trials and tribulations they will meet with | New songs and specialties are introduced | and the company is sald to be a good one. Gottlob, Marx & Co. have arranged for the presentation at the Comedy Theater, beginning on the 234 inst., of “Tennesee’s | Partner.” The above arrangement is ow~ | ing to the loss of the Baldwin and the re- | arrangement of dates of ~attractions | booked for the California. ‘ The Orpheum. The Orpheum’s bill for this week has | four new numbers, and of these three | acts have been imported from Europe for | the Orpheum circuit. The three Avolos | are credited with being Europe's greatest | xylophone players. The new comedy turn is that by the four Arbras, who are both acrobats and musicians. Max Cincinnati, famed the world over as a comic juggler, is also a new comer, while Johnnie Car- | roll was seen here about a year ago. He| was a favorite at that time and now he | comes assisted by Miss Crawford in a funny blackface act. Papinta begins the last week of her engagement and Barton Hill, Charles Willard, Eila Sothern and | Lucila Nunn are retained in the farce, “Balinda_Bailey’s Boarders.” A speclal matinee will be given on Wednesday fur‘ the benefit of the Children’s Hospital. Morosco's. The Hi Henry Minstrels will close Mo- rosco’s with this evening’s performance. | Monday the work of renovating begins, and the theater will remain dark until the Melba QOpera Company appears. The Chutes. Pianka, with her performing lions, is creating a sensation at the Chutes Free Theater. Her act is the best of its kind ever seen in this city. Next week Armand | and Carmen, a comedy sketch team, will appear for the first time here. Wiiliam Bentley, a musical comedian, and Kitty O'Brien, the “Irish Shamrock,” will also be new. The ossified man is the recipient of hundreds of stony stares every after- noon and evening. Next Thursday even- ing there will be an amateur Amazon march, participated in by forty young 1fame.s, who have never trod the boards be- ore. The Olympia. The Olympla has new for this week Qui- | reta Vincent, the dancer; the three De | Bolien Brothers, and the Drummond Sis- | ters. S The Boy Violinist. Gerome Helmont, the famous boy vio- | linist whom Ovide Musin calls ‘“not only a wonder but an artist and genfus,” will be. heard for the | Clay Hall next Tuesday evening. Wher- ever the youth has played he has been warmly praised, and we are led to expect | something out of the ordinary. He is ac- companied by Grace Preston, the con- tralto, who toured with Nordica last sea- | son, and Ida Simmons, the pianiste. The two remaining concerts will be on| AMUSEMENTS. COMEDY THEATER. | the Popular Bush.) THIS SUNDAY—Matinee and Night LAST TWO P "ORMANCES Of the Big Bpe ular Production of UNCLE TOM’S CABIN. To-Morrow, MONDAY, Jan. 16, The Latest and Best of All Comedies, TWO -~-MARRIED-=-- MEN! The Laughi BY GEO! FULL ss of the Season, R. EDESON : SPARKLING I > AND SONG. XT SATURDAY MATINEE Souvenirs Given Away. BRIM WIT. FUN TWO MARRIED MEN! > Favorite play, “TENNES- SHERMAN & CLAY HALL. TUBSDAY EV 5, J and WE| DAY and SATURDAY AFTERNOC Jan. 15 and 21, at 2:30, GEROME HELMONT The Famous Boy Violinist. GRACE PRESTON. 5 IDA SIMMONS P! —S$1 R man, Clay & Co.'s. Aléaseballl 5 FAREWELL GAME. " Seattle vs. Oakland RECREATION PARK....... TO=DAY AT 2 P. M. AMUSEMENTS. EDWIN MAYO in PUDD’NHEAD ~—- " WILSON TO-MORROW FiRsT AND HERE «.ALL WEEK... six Years! | The Everlasting Success R I RS RS FALTTI -.A GREAT .. COMEDY! Presented by BEN HENDRICKS And a Strong Cast. Coming . . . . ‘A CONTENTED WOMAN.” OPERA MOROSCO'S GRAND ALTER M0r08CO, Sole Lessee and Manager. LAST NIGHT OF THE SEASON. — HI HENRY’'S AGGREGATION. FAREV\‘EI&lfi MATINEE_ AT 2 O'CLOCK OF THE NILE,” President McKinley: New York Evening Post: long New “THE JAN, 23 ... AMUSEMENTS. COLUMBI T0-NIGHT—Last Time—WILLIE GOLLIER in “‘THE MAN FROM MEXICO!” THE LCEADING THEATER IN HIS BIG COMIC OPERA SUCCESS, “THE DOL'S EYE” By HARRY B. SMITH and VICTOR HERBERT, author and composer of “THE WIZARD “THE SERENADE" ER." ““The funniest and prettiest comic opera I have ever seen.’’ ‘“The comlic opera hit of the season.” Praduced here by the same entire ecast and scenery seen during its and “THE FORTUNE TELLE York run. BEGINNING MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 16th. EVERY EVENING, Including SUNDAY—MATINEE SATURDAY. WIZARD OF THE NILE.” TIVOLI OPERA-HOUSE. Mrs. Ernestine Kreling, Proprietdr and Mgr. LAST TIME OF OUR HOLIDAY SPECTACLE, ““THE YELLOW DWARF” Commencing To-Morrow Evening SUPERB BCENIC PRODUCTION. The Eastern Operatic Success, THE WEDDING DAY Presented by the STRONGEST SINGING COMPANY in America. Reappearance of the Favorite Contralto, MISS BERNICE HOLME:! Popular Prices........ 25c and 500 N. B.—A Reserved Seat for_the Matinee....2%5¢ Our_Telephone, Bush §. Secure Your Seats'in Ad ce. OLYMPIA... Fddy St., Cor. Mason. Only Free Theater on the Coast playing Fastern Artists. B5—-NEW EASTERN STARS -5 THE 8 DE BOLIEN BROS. Acrobats Supreme. MARIE WOOD Soprano. DRUMMOND SISTERS Acrobatic Dancers. MAUDE GAGE Unique Whistier. Continued Success of the New York Favorite, <QUERITA VINCENT., New Songs and Dances. AND TEN NOVEL ACTS. MATINEE SUNDAY—ADMISSION FRE! THE SV E LAST NIGHT OF THE SEASON. —BIG— Entire Change of Programme. 18 AFTERNOON +10c, 3¢, 50 LAST NIGHT. LAST NIGHT —o 50— ALL-WHITE PERFORMERS—350 , POPULAR PRICES. ., Enlarged to 168 Pages, By CALL. $1 per Year. AMUSEMENTS. MATINEE TO-DA UNDAY, JAN. Parquet, any seat, balgony, 10¢; dren, 10c, any part of WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY, JAN. 16. 10—NEW VAUDEVILLE MONARCHS—10 THE 4 ARBRAS London and Paris' Most Recent Sensation— Musical Acrobats. MAX CINCINNATIL Europe's Greatest Trick Juggler. THE 3 AVOLOS European Xylophone Wonders. ..JOHNNIE CARROL and ADIE CRAV/FORD.. In One-act Comedy, “Opening His Eyes.” BARTON HILL & CHAS. WILLARD Assisted by ELLA SOTHERN and LUCILA NUNN Milton Noble's Latest Com- ed: elinda Bailey’s Boarders.” GEORGE EVANS Monologue Artist. ««KRAUSE AND ROSA And the “Dutch Pickaninnies. VOULETTE AND CARLOS Balancing Acrobats, PAPINTA-PAPINTA New Dances, New Electglc Light Effects. Reserved seats, 25c; balcony) 10c; opera chairs and box seats, 50c. SPECTAL MATINEE WEDNESDAY for Bene- it of CHILDRE HOSPITAL FUND. EVENING PRICES. REGULAR MATIN 4ESXSAT\'RDAY AND AY. AMUSEFMENTS. ALCAZAR THEATER. NOTE—OWwIing to the death of MRS. RAYNA BELASCO there will be NO PERFORMANCE TO-NIGHT. TO-MORROW NIGHT.....| AND DURING ENTIRE WEEK. HOYT'S A TEMPERANCE TOWN!? L. R. STOCKWELL as LAUNCELOT JONES. | INGLESIDECOURSING PARK SATURDAY and SUNDAY. 8[] DOG STAKE! 80 FORTY COURSES EACH DAY! Take a Mission-street car and it will land you | at the gates. 2%c. LADIES FREE. ADMISSIO} CHUTES AND 700! EVERY AFTERNOON AND EVENING GREAT BILL in the FREE THEATER! «..PIANKA... THE “LADY OF LIONS.” THE SENSATION OF 2 CONTINENTS. ARMAND and Carmen, Comedy Sketch Artists; WM. BENTLEY, Musical Comedian; KITTY O'BRIEN, the '‘Irish Shamrock,” AND A HOST OF NOVELTIES! ...See WM. F. SAPP... THE OSSIFIED MAN. 10¢, Including Zoo and Theater; Children, s | Sundays and Holidays, l0c P. O-. J' C' INGLESIDE TRACK. “The grandest racing plant in America."— Chicago Chronicle. FIVE OR MORE RACES DAILY! WEDNESDAY — THE BALBOA BOULE- VARD STAKES. One mile. THURSDAY—GENTLEMAN'S RACE FOR CHALLENGE CUP. Six entries. One mile. Trains leave Third-street station at 12:45 and 1:15 p. m. Round-trip tickets, % cents. Electric cars on Mission and Kearny streets every three minutes. ADMISSION—ONE DOLLAR. 8. N. ANDROUS, President. * F. H. GREEN, Secretary. L Handicap. Three-year-olds. | | and which can be taken out and looked at. | theater, to please the | Rosed interests of the drama I suppose I Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, at 2:30 o'clock. : Mrs. Bates’ Departure. The playgoers of San Francisco, and especially the patrons of the Alcazar, will regret the retirement from the stock com- pany of that theater of Mrs. Bates, who goes East immediately to join her daugh- ter, Blanche. Mrs. Bates is an actress of strong personal charm and broad experi- ence, and she will be sincerely missed by the public here. THE OUTER WORLD A week ago Friday night in Philadel- phia Melba appeared at Mimi in Puecini’s “La Boheme.” Both opera and singer scored successes. The performance was in Italian. This is what a critic from the New York Herald says of Melba's work: “As Mimi she made a charming figure in her pidturesque costume, and in both the comedy and tragedy she was exceedingly effective, especlally for an actress upon the operatic stage. One does not lock for decided histrionic talents in a prima donna nowadays, and it was all the more grat- ifylng to observe that she had studied the dramatic as well as the vocal demands of the opera. Arter the second act tne recalls were repeated, and on the fall of the third curtain there was a scene that might almost be called an ovation. It was most demonstrative as well as long con: tinued, and confirmed the personal su cess she had achieved earlier in the even- ing.” Cissy Loftus, who_is under contract to appear at Koster & Bial's, New York, has refused to do so o long as the much dis- cussed tableau “Un Affaire d'Honneur” is being shown. She claims through ner lawyers that she would not witness it from the front and certainly will not show on the same stage with it. Manager Aarons tersely says: “If she does not ap- pear here next week I shall see that she appears nowhere else in America. Sarasate has two superb Stradivarius in- struments and other violins of different makes, He has besides in his vest pocket a miniature case in silver no larger than a locket in which lies a tiny, tiny violin, counterpart of his favorite, in real violin woods and strings, perfectly proportioned, He is very fond of this toy. Speaking of the condition of violin art at present, Sar- asate makes the remark: “‘The subject speaks for itself. We have neither Paga- nini nor Stradivarius.” Olive May, the actress, yesterday ob- tained a temporary injunction restraining her former husband, Henry Guy Carle- ton, from making any further contracts for the performance of his play called “The Butterflies.” Miss May secured a | @ivorce from Mr. Carleton several months | ago in Dakota on the ground of abandon- ment. She was married to him while she was playing in “The Butterflies.” Mr. Carleton has more divorces to hi: than any other living playwriter. Olga Nethersole ought to be a lucky woman. She says she has the dramatic rights to one of Kipling’'s stories, a new })lny by Max O'Rell and a promise of one rom Rostand. Jobyna Howland has been drawn more times than any actress on the American stage, and yet she is a mere girl in years. The explanation of this is that she served as the model for Charles Dana Gibson, and her beauty and grace added much to the charm of his pictures. Her most fa- mous work was the illustrations for “Ru- pert of Hentzau,” in which she is now playing Flavia in the dramatization. Stuart Robson recently made a trip from Boston to New York via Rotterdam Junction, which any experienced traveler will recall is not the shortest or most nn- joyable trip from there to Gotham. Rob- son arrived at Weehawken tired and dusty and was awaiting the ferry to take him ‘across, when he was approached by a ragged member of the Weary Waggles brigade, whose make-up and appearance would have shamed any stage tramp ex- tant, and who in a quivering voice said: “Please, mister, will you be so good as to give a poor tramp a nickel? I'm broke and I want to get across the river.” The comedian ,slowly extracted the necessary coin_from his pocket and placing it in the hand of the mendicant said: *‘There you are, my poor man, but I don't see what difference it makes which side of the river you are on, as long as you're | broke.” Moritz Rosenthal, the pianist, tells a story, which is none the less sarcastically for being purely of his own inven- As the performance of a certain tion. composition at an orchestral concert in a large German city drew to'a close; & ¢ copcerting smell of smoke became notice- able; the conductor, fearing a stampede if the alarm of fire should become general, had the quick wit to turn to the audience and proclaim in his loudest voice: !‘La- dies and gentlemen, .the orchestra- will now play the fourth symphony in E minor by Brahms!" Not a soul dared to leave his seat for fear of being thought unmusical. “Cyrano de Bergerac’ was presented in Pitsburg at the Grand Opera-house with a_vengeance. Advertisements the outfit consisted of ten tons of scenery, sixty-eight actors and two hundred supers on the stage. 2 “Caesar and Cleopatra” is the subject of Bernard Shaw's latest dramatic work. | Tn five acts and eight scenes, it begins | with the arrival of Caesar in' Egypt, in pursuit of Pompey, after the battle of Pharsalia. It terminates with his depart- ure, after six months’ stay at Alexandria, with ““The Serpent of Old Nile.” The en- tire episode was rejected by Froude as mythical, but Mr. Shaw has found more than sufficient warrant for his view in Mommsen's copious details of the inci- dert. With its successor, already near- ing completion, and ‘The Devil's Disci- )1Fne4" it will be the third volume of Mr. éhaw's plays, to be published early in the spring. Novelli, the Ttalian actor, is said to have ut into the mouth of a character in ‘“The Merchant of Venice” recently in a Paris anti-Semites, a proposition that the ships of Antonio were wrecked by the co-religionists of the maligned usurer. He also cuts away ruthlessly those parts of the play which do not give him sufficient prominence. To compensate for these losses he has added an entire scene, which will not be found in any edition of Shakespeare, to give him full opportunity for the exercise of his powers. Belasco's adaptation, “Zaza.” produced by Mrs Leslie Carter in Washington, Christmas night, has made a lasting im- pression there. ' According to Eastern ad- vices “Zaza” will run “Cyrano de Ber- | gerac” a close race for popularity. An English dramatic critic writes about playbills: “An old playgoer calls my attention to a laxity in theater man- agement that has often puzzled me and has never been explained. ‘Why are not lay bills dated? Dated playbills make Ristory. Undated playbills lead to lunacy. After forty service in the sup- years' ave a goodly collection of playbills, all preserved in guard books in connection with every theater in Landon. Not a tenth of these playbills are dated. T can- not, therefore, go to these playbills for history, but must rummage about my books, and the books on stage history be- tween 1850 and 1808 are rare indeed for purposes of reference. Where is our Gen- est? We wanted to make E. L. Blanchard onir medern Genest, and arranged to ap- point. him the stage historian and thus make him happy for the rest of his life. But the scheme broke down. Blanchard died, and the story of the stage from Macready to Irving has yet to be written and indexed.” This is written by the indignant dra- matic critic of the Cincinnati Enquire: “A certaln New York weekly ass rts | that the dramatic critics of the lame and | halting West ‘'keep carefully a scrapbook containing the New York reviews of all kinds o conditions of pleces.” The West can repudiate the aspersion with ease. The tons of New York ‘reviews'—God save _the mark—mailed, carried and shipped Into_the West keep thousands of office cats plump and healthy, raise mil- lions of foot pounds of steam and produce miles of new paper at the mills. Other- wise New York reviews are as valuable to Western dramatic critics as Confed- erate money in a national bank.” ADVERTISEMENTS. e .. THE .. STEEPLECHASE At CENTRAL PARK. A HUGE SUCCESS. OPEN DAILY FROM 1 TO 11 EVERYBODY RIDES. ADMISSION 10, INCLUDING HO!