Life — April 14, 1892 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

240 PENELOPE : Why did you refuse him ? Perpita: He had the audacity to buy the ring be- fore he knew whether I would accept him or not. ANNIVERSARIES OF THE WEEK. APRIL 10, 1574. A PEARL, THE SIZE OF A PIGEON’S EGG, BROUGHT TO PHILIP II, APRIL 19, 1775. PAUL REVERE’S RIDE. APRIL 20, 753 th. © ROMULUS FOUNDS ROME AND HEGINS WITH WHOEVER HE CAN GET TO GO THERE, gi x aI SS <= MINISTER CRANE, ol [* isn’t’ strange that Mr. W. H. Crane is trying hard to secure another part like Senator Rivers. It fitted him and he fitted it per- fectly. It must be admitted, though, that the character of The Honor- able Benjamin Franklin Lawton, American Minister to Italy, falls very far short of Mr. Crane’s de- sires. The charm of Senator Riv- ers was the fact that he was a readily recognizable type of quite a large class of Americans. Americans like Benjamin Lawton may exist, but they are certainly fewer and farther between. Senator Rivers seemed to come from life. Lavfon is an ar- tificial creation that it takes the spectator some time to assign to a definite place in the scale of possible humanity. “The American Minister" was constructed by Mr. Paul M. Potter to provide a part for Mr. Crane. His failure to do this successfully is evident. Outside of this the piece is a peculiar production. The playwright introduces last year’s diplomatic trouble with Italy as a foundation for a plot. The incident is so fresh in the eyes of the public that the liberties Mr. Potter takes with history are so apparent as to render impossible any dramatic illusion the audience might otherwise enjoy. He lugs in by the heels several timeworn dramatic situations to help out the plot, and in the general use of all kinds of material has gone to work to construct a legitimate play on farce-comedy lines. He has not even omitted a characteristic darkey song, dragged in with the appropriate- ness usual in “A Trip to Shantytown ” or The Tin Monkey.” Mr. Potter also displays a facility in arranging duels which should fill with envy the breasts of the Duc de Morny and other gentlemen who have been conspicuous in that business. Mr. Crane's company does better than might have been expected with the material at their command. The only characters that at all approach the normal are the young women, and these are prettily portrayed by Miss Anne O'Neill, Miss Katherine Florence and Miss Gladys Wallis. Mr. Joseph Shannon, whom old theater-goers will recollect as the excellent Baron Stein in the “Diplomacy” of the Wallack régime, has in Ciciriello, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, a similar part to which he fetches a differert but not so good an interpretation. It is to be regretted that Mr. Crane does not find what he needs in“ The American Minister.” comicbooks.com