Life — December 13, 1900 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

-LIFE- A Very Mature Hero. DANI organ FROHMMAN’S stock company is the best ion of its kind in America, both in the qualifi- cations of its members and in the spirit that animates its performances. That being the case, it is to be regretted that so astute a manager as Mr. Frohman should take the trouble to import all the way from London such poor material for his company as the play written by Walter Frith ard entitled “The Man of Fort “The Man of Forty” is a perfectly polite play. It contains not a line nor © to bring the blush of shame to the matince girl— allowing, for the sake of argument, that in the present syndicated condition of the American stage the matincée girl retains the ability to blush. ‘The play's people are, with unim- portant exceptions, chosen from very respectable circles, and their manners are above suspicion, Their speeches are neither shocking nor brilliant. characters tell in’ clumsy fashion a complex tale, which confuses the audience by its lack of dircetness and its too numerous s issues. The motives are of the hand-me-down kind, such as the resemblance of a good brother and a bad brother, the vi control of a mother by the threat to take away her children, and so forth. The smooth performance given by Mr. Frohman’s company is the only thing that s the perforn ance from deadly dullness, Mr. John Mason confirms his position as the owner of the easiest and most self- possessed manners of any actor on th ican stage, Mr. Morgan's nervous methods provide a sufficient contrast, Miss Spong gives eli character, Miss Tyree is as chipper and bright as she can be in a brainless part, and Miss Cecilia Loftus is an ingenue, competent, but not distinguished With Mr, Frohman’s extended experience as a manager, it would seem that he ought to have sensed that this play was not worth the efforts of his company. ° ° ° COMEDY is rather a dignified title to apply to “The Sprightly Romance of Marsae, which succeeded the admirabl ag Mar- bor” at the Republic Theatre. (The strange Hammerstein persists in calling this queer architectural contraption “Theatre Repub- lic.” The equity in the property is pre- j sumably his, and he may call it what he pleases, but Lire declines to inflict this silly affectation and linguistic error on its readers.) The piece is really a farce, not- withstanding the stilted and impossible lan- guage put in the mouths of its characters. It isa dra ation of a book by Molly Elliot CECILIA LOPTUS. Seawell, but if many of its lines are not a literal MILDA SPONG. and bad translation of somebody's French, Lire At least some inspization of Robert Macaire must have been present to the author. Two rogues—this time Latin Quarter bohemians—one fertile in lying, the other a dependent coward, perpetually in a blue funk, make their way to final through a number of incredible, escapes. To make “The Sprightly Romance of Marsae" presentable would require a perfeet f-possession on the part of its interpreters and a acy of treatment rare on the stage. At its first performance the actors were very far from being at ease, and it was acted in a spirit of broad crudeness familiar in farces of the old negro minstrel school. ‘The polish necessary to make such a farce effective was entirely absent, except in the case of Mr. Abeles and Fiolliott Paget. ‘The former was really clever as the young artist terrified into mock villainy by the more assured Marsac, and the latter is an actress with excellent methods too infrequently met with on our stage. Mr. Maclyn Arbuckle, the star, requires much schooling before he will become a finished actor, and although he possesses a personality, he sinks it in a blending of the mannerisms of several more firmly established comedians. By frequent repetitions “The Sprightly Romance of Marsac” may be rounded into smoothness of performance. As a play it is funny at intervals, but hardly justifies the adjective used in its title. ° 2 ° V ITH the nasal acumen given to some mem- bers of her sex, the lady who writes for the Evening Sun has made a discovery in theatrical realism, She perceives scents and perfumes coming out into the auditorium during the manicure scene in “The Gay Lord Quex,” and with feminine joy- ousness announces to the world her discovery of this new adjunct to dramatic art. The odor of burning incense, which has characterized the cathedral scenes in the Irving and Sardow performances fora good many years past, has evidently never reached her. Metcalfe. LIFE'S CONFIDENTIAL GUIDE TO THE THEATRES. Waldorf Astoria. —The Stroliers tn * The Cruise of the Summer Girl.” Elaborate amateur performance of & musical sketch, Academy of Muxie.—Monte Cristo distributing his millions with all the recklessness of a Carnegie. Spectacular and tuteresting. Froadway.—Jerome Sykes as Fory Quilter. Fairly good comic opera of the usual type. Renublic.—" The Sprightly Romance of Marsac."" See above. Wallack's.—Mary Mauoering in * Janice Meredith.” Notice next week. Ghrden.— Bernhardt and Coquelin in“ L'Aigion. French and artistic. Lyceum.—" A Royal Family.’ Annie Russell and supporting company in satirical comedy. Metropolitan Opera Houses Last week but one. Daly's Saroy. Crosman and company. Empire —Me. Jobo Drew — Interesting. —Mr. Crane as Darid Harum. Humorous and amusing. Martizon Square.—Petet P. Dalley in * Hodge, Podge & Co." The play Is trifting, but Datiey ts fanny. Hijou.—" The Belle of Bridgeport,” with May Irwin in the tie rote. Laugh-provoking. Knickertocker.—Maude Adams in “L'Algion.”” when Bernhardt’s performance tx accessible. _ Herald Square.—Clever * Arizona.” About to be exiled from New York by the Syndicate. Weber and Fields’ —“ Arizona in burlesque. worth the price the pubitc ta forced to pay for se: Criterion.—The admirably acted and clever For adults only. misses its guess. success arrow American Jf x BESSIE TYREE English grand opera competently done. in “A Mun of Forty. See above. i," a Clever comedy, well atced by Hennetta Richard Carvel *—strenuous and falrly Hardly worth seeing Fairly fanny, bat not The Guy Lord Quex.” comicbooks.com