Life — October 7, 1886 — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- LIFE: SHRIVEN. AM courted and honored by all. My faults are most freely forgiven. I am sought out at german and ball, How many fair hearts have I riven! I ride out in a stylish coupé, Though I'd think myself rich with a dollar, And I've danced for full many a day, Tn a borrowed dress-suit, shirt and collar. But my conscience is clear, I may state, For owing, it seems, is the fashion, (Though I sometimes do rail against fate, And sigh for all human compassion.) But who says that my morals are lax, ‘That my life’s one long impudent caper : Don’t I seal up my letters with wax ? Is there not a gold crest on my paper ? Nathan M, Levy. ISS GENEVIEVE WARD, like port wine, improves with advancing years. were not nearly as matured as they are to-day, and it is not at all improbable that when we are jogging along quietly somewhere in the nineteen-hundreds, we shall still hear that Miss Ward is about to appear in “Forget-me-not,” and the “Queen's Favorite.” The latter play has just been produced at the Star Theatre, where it is audaciously dubbed ‘a comedy in four acts, by Sydney Grundy.” Goodness gracious, and likewise gracious goodness ! the time-honored “ Verre d’Eau” by Scribe, and is there any shadow of a doubt that Mr. Grundy’s work has been | adapted? 1 don't know why I make this interrogation because I don’t want any answer. “The Queen’ Favorite” is of course historical. The men wear peruques, the women, though they strive to dress cor- | ‘histeionic eplendi fi d | of histrionic splendor of costume and scenery. rectly, adopt —I grieve to say it— nineteenth century /our- nures. Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, is the vehicle for Miss Ward's talents, and she makes of that lady a most strik- | ing character. ridiculously Machiavellian. sembling all the time. _ If she says “ Yes,” you are convinced that “No,” and if she folds her arms and It is no use denying that the play is almost she means exclaims “I must be gone, me lord,” you know in your | There is too much of } inner self that she intends to stay. that kind of thing. It is useless. A decade ago her talents | Does the school-boy live who cannot remember | You feel that Her Grace is dis- | Still, Miss Ward’s acting stands out conspicuously in this era of leggy burlesque and glaring spectacle. Her methods appeal to the intellect, and to the intellect only. The “straitened forehead ” of the dude, and the gleaming article of the baldhead would be absolutely out of place at the Star Theatre just now. Such a statement is, of course, designed to make every one, who goes after this, feel extremely comfort- able and complacent, but I like to be sweeping. Mr. Grundy’s work is excellent. The dialogues are witty and pointed; there are numerous epigrams, unlike the usual idiotic truisms; and there is one part at least, that of V/zs- count Bolingbroke, which affords an opportunity for the finest comedy acting. In ‘‘ The Queen’s Favorite” the ascendency | of the Duchess of Marlborough over her adipose but kindly. majesty, Queen Anne, is the theme of the play. The favorite is finally overthrown by the Vzscount Bolingbroke. Queen Anne, played by Miss Gertrude Kellogg, is arranged | to suit the public taste. Every one knows— if they don’t they will please not betray their ignorance—- that Queen Anne was in reality monstrously and exorbitantly fat. The only pure historical facts that are indelibly impressed upon my memory are that one of the Henrys never smiled again, that Mary, Queen of Scots, had red hair, that Sir Walter Raleigh laid his best Newmarket in the mud for his patroness to tramp on, and that Queen Anne was so stout that she had to be lifted through the floor in order to reach her bedroom. In “ The Queen’s Favorite” Her Majesty is sylph-like, fat not being among the realistic effects used by playwrights. In the hands of Miss Gertrude Kellogg, however, Queen Anne is a delightful creature, happily contrasted with the Duchess of Marlborough. The success of the play, how- ever, is made by W. H. Vernon, an actor new to this country, whose impersonation of Henry St. Fohn, Viscount Boling- broke, is marvellously good. Mr. Vernon's methods are free from the faintest tinge of stageiness, and his presence is most agreeable. Miss Ward has an excellent company and an entertaining play. If she fails to meet success she must ascribe her failure | to the fact that she is playing during a trying period, that of the Reign of Rubbish. Alan Dale. * * NOTE. HE magnificence of the production of “ Theodora” at Niblo’s defies adequate description, Not since the gala days of “Sardanapalus” has New York seen such wealth Miss Lillian Olcott in the title réle has surprised even the most enthusiastic of her friends by the brilliant manner in which she sustains her part, and those who predicted the failure of the young actress in her ambitious attempt have now to acknowledge that Sardou’s masterpiece has fallen into worthy hands. The production in any point of view may be regarded as a signal triumph for the modern stage, as well as a revelation of its possibilities. comicbooks.com