The Butte inter mountain. [volume], May 04, 1901, Page 10, Image 10

About The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Doings of Stage
F oiks—
Blanche Walsh
Coming
to the ? Grand
this Week
Actor's Chat.
W IL1.IAM GILLETTE has for
mally announced that he
will never again appear be
fore the curtain in a the
ater. He did not intend to
convey the idea that he was taking his
farewell of the stage or would abandon
dramatic work, but that hereafter he
did not intend to sacrifice iHit - ms, by
accepting the compliment of curtain
calls.
No person whose intelligence and ana
lytic qualities rise superior to primeval
man whacking his tomtom will contend
that Gillette is not right. The sight of
a f,tage favorite emerging from a stage
picture and destroying the effect of a
good scene by dropping an assumed |
character to recognize the applause !
evoked by artistic merit in the portray- j
al. very often the creation, of such a
character, naturally irritates the sensi
tive person who goes to a theater for
the sake of the illusion which is afford
ed by dramatic art in all its aspects.
Especially is it offensive in plays of a
tragic or serious nature. The spell gen
erated by the spirit of the play is broken;
one drops from the exalted plane of im
agination to the prosaic level of things
ordinary; it is antithetic to illusive at
mosphere and rob histrionic effort of
the glamor it should have for the observ
er in order to stimulate his sympathetic
qualities or arouse a spirit of censure or
criticism, without which no play can in
the truest sense be enjoyed; it simply
causes the cold waves of disapprobation
and disgust to undulate along his spinal
column.
"The Highwayman.''
Not long ago " The Highwayman"
was produced at the Grand by a v»>y
capable company. The efforts of the
player folk comprising this company
were so thoroughly appreciated by the
audience that the applause in several
instances was responded to by them. Up
went the curtain and there they stood,
hand in hand, bowing their acknowl
edgements of the compliments given by
the spectators.
They doubtless meant well--their ac
tion was taken principally out of defer
ence to the desire of the spectators. Y et
it destroyed the illusion of the play, and
it was the illusion produced by the per
formance which was responsible for the
curtain call. The spell was broken and
until the illusion was again created in
the minds, of the audience a true ap
preciation of the play or the perform
ers was out of the question.
Not so ■\ ery long ago Richard Golden
appeared before the curtain at the Grand
and made a set speech, defending the
practice of responding to curtain calls,
though he admitted that it had a cer
tain "disillusionizing" effect. In con
trast to Golden's plea for popularity
take the sensible protest made by Gil
lette. One thought he had tact, the other
showed courage; one subordinated go id
work to self-pride, the other made
anity secondary to the meritorious per- j
fnrmance giving vanity its basis»
The habit has become a nuisance to the
bettereducated class of theater-goers
and should be stopped. When actors
and actresses add psychology to the list
of their studies it will stop. Until then
the public must at intervals grin and
bear it.
Mansfield as Satirist.
1
i
!
Whe nRichard Mansfield gave the fol
lowing adt iee to some dramatic students
in New York about two weeks ago he
must have chuckled in his sleeve:
"Don't be eccentric. Don't try to be
eccentric. Give swing to your genius
only in your work. Don't try to further
yourself with a pose—by long hair or
an odd manner of speech or strange at
tire. There is really no necessity for an
«cto
r, a painti
?d, or
a pos
H to wear his
haii
long. He
can pi
•nbably do his work
just
as well in
short
hair.
When a mao
has
recourse
to ee»:*<
e*n i ri<
■ities of lires»
and
manner it
is an i
l»UtWî
aid ami visible
•sign
of an in
iward
and
invisible con.
fessi
ion of wea
kness.
! have oft
en wo
ndere
d why Is wa.»
absi
liutely nee
essary
for
certain paPn
ers
of my act]
luainta
nee t
:o wear velvet
jack
els and rt
Hi noi
ktles.
Don't imag
ine
that you a
re diff
erent
from the rest
of tlie world because you are an actor
or trying to la* one. You are simply a
person pursuing a profession, and, there
fore, leave your stage manners and your
wig and your costume where they be- ;
long, and walk into the street like a
quiet, unobtrusive gentleman. Great i
humility of attire is just as conspicu
ous as oversigETA ETA ETA ETA ET
ous as overdressing. The man who go's
to a dinner in a business suit is just 1
as blamable as the preson who attends
a morning function in fui 1 evening
dress- unless, of course, he happens to I
be coming home.
"You cannot succeed on tli e stage
without work. You cannot spend the
days in bed and the nights carousing.
More women succeed on the stage be
cause they are more in earnest,, harder
w orkers more courageous, and more
temperate than the average man. Noth
ing hinders a woman on the stage, but
plain looks and matrimony.
"And now I will say, finally, you can't
be taught to act. No amount of lectur
ing can make an actor. A man with the
taFnt, the genius, the »qualifications for
the stage must learn his rudiments, but
you may teach two men your rudiments,
and the one will become an ./tor and the
other won't. That's all."
Lulu Glaser's Popularity.
ClaHsse Golden and Henrietta Clark
I
;
1
i
I
:
!
two wealthy young women of Boston,
were recently denied entrance to the
Herald Square theater on account of
their unwelcome attentions to Lulu
Glaser, the actress, now appearing in
"The Prima Donna." They sent flow
ers and jewels and finally dellveded the
flowers in person by hurling them an to
the stage from a, box. When they
reached a point where they made an
Idol of the actress by attempting to
railroad her away from the theater in
lk
£
V
railroad her away from the theater in
order to "give her a good time" the
management was obliged to interefere
and deny them admittance to the the
ater.
Wees of "First Nighters"
"l'in the first night of 'To Have and
to Hold' at the Knickerbocker theater,
New York," comments the Sun in a spicy
article, "the sophisticated audience en
joyed the play as our people always
do a rousing melodrama in a fashion
his plays, and George Alexander had to
'booing' were evenly divided at the
able
theater
, with
a k
een though
sar
casti
ical app:
reciatio
'll of
its novel poi
in is.
But
all joint
at in h
ea rty
applause as
the.
acts
ended.
In the
third
1 section an ;
n * 1 -
dent
al India
n delig
hted
them, and w
hen
the
curtain
fell he
was
singl at out
for
clem«
unstrath
,'e approval
though he
h ui
not
been in
the fin
al se
ere. Isabel
Irv
ing
and Ru
■bert I
iOrrai
no stepped
for
wart
I and bowed,
till s
lome one in
the
gallery let
out an
In<
Han warwh
Oup.
This
so trill;
expre
ssed
the general fee-»
ing -
that th
e suva
ge c
nes were t.
iken
up in many
parts <
if til;
e house and
eon
tinued until
the st
age
Indian came
out
to acknowledge the compliment. In the
meantime Mr. Lorraine, who is from
London, evidently took the cries for an
American form of booing, and turned
to discuss it with Miss Irving, perhaps
offering to protect her from anything
that might be thrown at them. Mr.
Lorraine should riot judge us by the
standards of London, where only two
plays have been produced this season
without hostility on the part of the gal
lery and pit. Marie Tempest was in
sulted the other evening for being un
fortunate enough to make a failure in
'Masks and Faces,' and Phyllis Rankin
had to let an understudy finish her part
in "Florodora' because the hooting bj
some of the rowdies drowned her song.
So eminent an author as Henry Arthur
Jones, who should be regarded with
pride by his countrymen, never cot
before the curtain on the first nights
1 apologize for reprimanding an audience
that had insulted a woman dramatist
who came before a curtain. Mr. Löwen»
feld's way of escaping first night hos
tilities was to open the Apollo theater
i and produce The Belle of Bohemia' to
an invited audience. Two years ago,
when he brought out 'The Coquette' at
the Prince of Wales, the applause and
of the play. He stepped forward, ann
asked the gallery what it had to 'boo
at. No reply was given, and Mr. Loiven
feld said: 'You may draw your own
conclusion.' Thereupon a man arose in
the audience and an enimated discussion
followed, in which the manager said
that if the gallery gods were dissatis
fied none had lost more than a shilling
while he had risked many thousand
pounds. An earlier first night expen
! enee of Mr. Lowenfeld's was when he
produced 'La Poupee,' and announced
that any one leaving the theater at the
end of the first act might get his money
back aml at the end ,,f the second, half
;
i
1
I
!
:
!
!
!
i
j
j
'
|
of the original outlay."
La Loie Fuller Coming.
La Loie Fuller, the celebrated French
dancer, now on her farewell tour of
America, has created a new dance this,
season in which it is claimed she wears a
dress containing 10,000 yards of silk,
I which cost more than $5,600. So delicate
; is the fabric that a Chinese firm required
more than four years to fill the order.
1 To operate the complicated apparatus
used in the production of the electri
cal effects with which her dances are
embellished eight electricians accompany
i her on her present tour. So delicate is
I this apparatus, it is said, that four
: other electricians travel in advance of
the dancer to prepare the stages of the
! theaters along the route. The floors of
many of them have to be reconstructed.
La Loie will appear at the Grand on
the evenings of May 12, 13 and 14.
Ada Rohan has gone abroad, closing
her season earlier than was contemplated
because of ill health. She will not re
turn to America till next September.
Martha Morton has contracted with
Klaw & Erlanger to write a new modern
society play for Miss Rohan, to be ready
August 1st. Miss Rehan will make her
firs,t appearance in It in October. Miss
Morton has abandoned her proposed trip
to Europe and will retire to her cottage
in the Adirondack mountains and devote
the entire summer to the composition of
the new piece. Miss Morton is the au
thor of several successful plays, among
them "The Merchant," "His Wife's Fa
ther" and "A Fool of Fortune."
The receipts for the last week of "Ben
Hur*' at the Coloniial theater In Boston
exceed $2:1,000, breaking its, famous Phila
delphia record of over $20,000 In one
week. It will end its season at the Co
| lurnbia theater in Brooklyn, where Its
original booking of two weeks, beginning
; April 23d, was extended to four weeks
! before tlie opening performance because
j of the wonderfully large advance sale.
Contracts between Klaw & Erlanger and
1 Arthur Collins, of London and James C.
; Williamson of Melbourne, contemplate a
simultaneous production of "Ben Hur"
. in England and Australia April 8th, 1902.
j These are independent projects. The
1 American company will continue its tour
j here. This means that three productions
; of "Ben Hur' will be running at the
| same time in different parts of the
! world, giving employment to more than
j 1,200 people. "
43LANCHfc> !
WALSH »
BLANCHE WALSH TRIUMPHS
She Will Appear at the Grand Opera
House in "More 'Than
Queen."
In her rather brief career Blanche
Walsh has assayed numerous roles with
signal success, but it is claimed for her
that there are none in which she has
achieved such a triumph as in the por
trayal of the character of Josephine in
"More Than Queen." The theater-going
public of Butte is to lie congratulated
on the fact that Manager Sutton has
contracted for her appearance in that
role at the Grand on the evenings of May
10 and 11, with Saturday matinee.
The play is an adaption from Emile
Bergerat's dramatic production, founded
on the romance of Josephine and Napo
leon, and the character of Josephine is
one of great possibilities, eminently
suited to the ability and personality of
Miss Walsh.
The period in history with which the
play deals gives wide scope for gorgeous
scenic environment, and Mewirs. Stern
and Brooks, who present Miss Walsh,
have given her a production correct in
detail and magnificent in its entirety.
It is asserted that the scenes and cos
tumes represent a measure of brilliancy
and beauty which has few stage pre
cedents and to be appreciated needs but
to be seen.
By sheer merit and moderate luck Miss
Walsh has secured for herself unques
tionable recognition as one of the few
really good actresses on the English
speaking stage. Those who best under
stand her capabilities will have confi
dence in her power to deepen the
excellent impression she has already
made on play-goers, the country over.
She has been surrounded hy a very^fo
i
i
j
1
j
capable company. It includes such well
known stage folk as William Humphrey,
Robert Lowe, Frank Sheridan, Ogden
Stevens, Ellis Ryse. Katherine Clinton,
Helen Singer, Elizabeth Mayhew, Kate;»
, , t» ■ i ». .
'ower and Emily Baker. ,
F00TLIGHT FLASHES.
Clay Clements Is writing a play for;
his own use next season.
Edmund Gerson, European agent of
Sire Brothers, returned from England a
short time ago with a trunk full of
signatures, of vaudeville performers who
arc to appear this summer on the roof
garden at the New York theater. Among
them is that of the Princess Chitnay,
who will be accompanied to this coun
try by her gypsy husband, Rigo, and
the eccentric dwarf, Little Tich. They
will not arrive here until the latter part
of June.
Charles H. Yale has promised every
thing new in "The Evil Eye" this season.
It is a fantastic spectacle into which
many mechanical devices are introduced.
There are disappearing rooms, a com
bination of drawbridge and catapult
T-tid other odd examples of trick scen
ery. Electricity is a factor in many
FR.OM TOMBSTONE TO THE STAGE.
j Harry Hermsen, the clever young
comedian who has attracted such favor
able attention by his interpretation of
the 1 role of Hans Nix in "The Telephone
cOirl," first appeared on the boards in
0melodrama, under the management of
uqifdrge M. Hayes, better known as
■ "Dad" Hayes. Afterward he took comic
tebaracter parts in light opera. His
d first hit was made as the German inn-,
'peeper in "The Girl front Paris."
j Hermsen tells a humorous story of
"'himself which will be appreciated by
c|thers as well. He says his father was
HARRT HERMSEN,
The Funny Dutchman.
a stern old gentleman who thought that
^ every boy should be taught a trade.
oven if he desired to enter upon a pro
fessional career, in order that he might
fftll back upon it in case of failure.
Selecting a trade for his own son, he
started the lad in life as a granite cut
ter.
"I was set at work cutting epitaphs
on tombstones," remarked the actor,
"and for some time did nothing but that
kind of employment. I have always re
garded it as a strange thing that I
should have begun life as a cutter of
epitaphs on tombstones and graduated
into a comedian "
BLANCHE WALSH IN "MORE THAN QUEEN."
the effects, and in one dance all the
dancers are aglow with electric bulbs of
^Various hues. "The Evil Eye" will be
ÎBrofluced at the Grand on May 16 and 17.
_
ià軄 ____. .. . . .
I'.jlfte bloodhound that took exception
Uéin. __ » —. . — ' .
Inspector Thompson to Dan Daly s
|aSeup in the burlesque of "Uncle
's Cabin" at the Academy of Music
jjihe extent of chewing Daly'r hat,
Kh had fallen off, has been isolated
It kennel back of the Pasteur Insti
tei; and will be watched narrowly,
tâtes the press agent for the dog. Mr.
Daly is still at liberty, and so far has
exhibited no alarming symptoms.
"Rip Van Winkle" was revived at the
Harlem opera house, New York, th ! s
week, and theater-goers of the metropo
lis were, again afforded an opportunity
of seeing one of their favorites, Joseph
Jefferson, in a play with which his name
is inseparably linked. It is « y prob
able that at this late day the public
would refuse to accept Jefferson in any
Other than the roles he has filled with
such credit to himself for so long a
period.
William Collier has entered upon the
tenth week of his, engagement in "On
the Quiet" at the Madison Square thea
ater, New York. No diminution of the
favor with which this farce was received
at first is yet noticeable. The play will
probably re-establish the Madison
Square as thte undoubted home of Ameri
can humor, a place it held securely dur
ing the Hoyt regime, but from which it
was dethroned during a continuous pe
riod of innocuous French farce. The one
hundredth performance, a souvenir event
came about on May 6.
Fir Henry Irving is arragning a reper»
tory for his American tour next seas m.
The success of "Coriolanus" makes it a
surety that it will be the principal piece.
A surprising and welcome decision is
that he will use "Madame Sans Gene,"
in which he and Eellen Terry have never
appeared outside of England. The actor
manager will impersonate Napoleon and
Miss Terry will have the title part, !h
which she is said to be very fine. Sh»
will be the fourth representative actress
of a nationality to act the role in New
York. It has been played here by tln
brielle Rejane of France, the original,
Agnes Soima of Germany and Ada Re
han, who made an unexplainable failure
in a seemingly very suitable rol e.
Kathryn Kidder was the first Mme. Sans
Gene in this country.
QUITE A SURPRISE.
Tramp—Say, girn me a quarter.
ru
k y
Poet—I wish something that rhymes
with 'camp' would strike me.
"Dick" Sutton
Takes
Second Part
Theatrical Syn
dicate That
Takes in Butte.
"Dick" P. Sutton, manager of tlio
Grand opera house and Sutton's theater,
has been chosen vice-president and treas
urer of the Northwest Theater associa
tion, a consolidation of theatrical, inter
ests in the northwest of exceeding great
importance so far as the amusement of
tlie people of Butte is concerned.
Calvin Heilig of Portland is the man
who has brought this unity of interests
about. He has long recognized the im
practicability of securing first-class at
tractions on the Pacific coast without
making engagements for several weeks'
time, on account of the expense of rail
road travel precluding many leading
companies from visiting that part of the
country. He set about to devise a plan
whereby this difficulty could be overcome,
and the result is that a contract has been
made with Klaw & Erlanger which sig
nifies a consolidation of a number of
leading theaters in the northwest terri
tory.
Heilig is the president of the new com
bination, Richard P. Sutton vice-presi
dent and treasurer and John Cort gen
eral manager. The following theaters aie
included in the new arrangements: The
Marquam-Grand, Portland; the Tacoma 1
theater and Grand Opera House, SeattleJ
the Everett Opera house; the Spokanno
theater; the Union opera house, Missoula;
the Great Falls opera house; the Mar
garet theater, Anaconda; the New Grand
Butte and Ming's Opera house, Helena.
The formation of a permanent stock
company to fill in the open time at these
houses is provided for in the plans. While
several houses are not absolutely owned
by the combination, they are bound by
an Iron-clad contract to accept its book
ings. It may easily be seen that the
consolidation makes a complete chain of
all the principal theaters west of St. Paul
and north of San Francisco, excepting a
few unimportant one night stands. The
contract with Klaw & Erlanger will en
dure for a period of five years.
A few of the attractions that have al
ready been booked to play the circuit are
West's Minstrels,, Chaupcey Olcott,
"Shore Acres," Eugenie Blair, Frederick
Warde, Matthews & Bulger "Sporting
Life," Hermann, Jefferson De Ang4Bl»
Willie Collier, "Way Down East," Yi4tA
Allen, '"Arizona," "Barbara Frietehie,"
and "The Pride of Jennico."
SIDE LIGHTS.
Adine Alder retired from "Begi Hur"
to marry Moses Yictorson, a Boston
merchant.
Wilson Barrett Is writing a play to
be called "The Christian King" for Lon
don next fall.
A Swedish translation of "Lady Win
dermere's Fan" was produced recently
in Stockholm.
Ward and Yokes will produce a net*
farce called "The Head Waiters" la
Chicago this summer.
J. L. Toole, the English actor, has
given £5 5s. to the fund for a national
monument to Gueen Victoria.
It is said that Etnile Poulsen, a Danish
actor, will make a professional tour ol
America next season.
An English company will sail on May
6th to act "Lady Huntworth's Experi
ment" in Cape Town.
Edward J. Morgan and Theodore Rob
erts have been engaged for the Frawley
stock company this summer.
Mabel Gilman, whose illness forced he*
to relinquish the title part in "The
Prima Donna," will appear in "The Roll
of the Drum" this summer if she is well
enough.
Henrietta Crossnian is considering
play by George C. Hazleton Jr., who
wrote "Mistress Nel.," and Minnie Selig
man Is giving her attention to one by
Carroll Fleming.
Portia Knight, whose unsuccessful
suit for breach of promise against lha
Duke of Manchester has brought her
into some conspicuousness, acted in
America in Edward H. Southern's com
pany three years ago, playing a small
part in "Crange Alley." She made lier
debut in "Belphegor" and acted for a
season in a repertory stock company in
Lowell, Mass. She has been in London
a little more than a year.
Paris dramatic critics seem to com.
bine sound business sense with artistic
ideas. Henry Fouqnier of the FigarJ
wrote so comprehensive a review of
"L'Aigon" that the publisher of Sarah
Bernhardt's programmes iflserted it in
the bills of the play as a synopsis. As
the sale of the programmes was very
large, the dramatic critic asked $600
damages and got it by going to law.
Considering that Mr. Fouquier is pahl
to write for the Figaro, it may bo said
in true American that he is on both
ways.
Sarah Bernhardt has Invited Elsie
Wolf to occupy her theater in Paris and
the American actress has accepted. Sins
will produce "The Way of theWorld,'
by Clyde Fitch, in New York next Octo
ber, taking it to London about Easter
time, and appearing in it at the Tne
ater Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, in the
summer. Miss de Wolfe wifi be the sec.
ond American actress to dare a Paris
appearance, speaking in her native
tongue. Ada Rehan was the first and
was not accepted seriously or respect
fully. Even the great English artists,
Irving and Terry, have never acted in
France.