Show DRAMATIGA LYRIC A Chat With Ned Royle About S Friends S CHICAGO CAPTURES SOUSA Clcacoa Newest Dramatic Sensation Frank Goraels Next Dixie In Opera Asaln Notjs I is as good as a leaf out of 0 novel to sit down with Ned Royle and hear him relate re-late something of the trials ho had to contend con-tend with and something of his feelings while those trials were onduring the time his play of Friends was undergoing the test of a New York production That ho is through It all with no silver streaks in his hair and no wrinkles around his eyes shows what the human frame is really capable of in base of an emergency The first thing to be considered in arranging ar-ranging for n New York production is a stiff bank account a young and unknown author might havo another Two Orphans Or-phans In his possession and i the ploy had not been tried he would stand no moo show of inducing a manager man-ager to risk anything on its production pro-duction than he would of being able to rent the dome of the National Capitol The bank account assuredand Mr Royle was fortunately provided in that regard the next thing to get is a decent theatre This was one of the main difficulties and in Mr Royles case as In many others it was a difficulty that could not be gotten over All the firstclass theatres are always al-ways occupied either by stock companies or by attractions which have a known standing and the theatres that can be rented for trial productions are narrowed down to a very undesirable few When Mr Roylo enterea the arena there wore just two the Standard and tho Union Square neither of wnich could bo called a popular house But he was forced to decide on something and he took the Standard which Is notorious In the profession as the graveyard grave-yard of more theatrical hopes than any house in New York with perhaps one or two exceptions All his friends immediately im-mediately set up a mournful headshaking but Royle disregarded them and plunged on The work of selecting I company was not difficult so long as the money was forthcoming and an ideal cast was gotten together Mr Royle says he could not have obtained a better by ransacking the whole of New York Then commenced the worry of rehearsals not the lightest part of which as may bo imagined was the direction of a corps of old experienced actors by one whom they would naturally regard an a mere stripling in the profession profes-sion sionWo Wo said to Mr Roylo that that must have been one of the most trying of all his ordeals Well he responded most of my people peo-ple were so excellent that they left but little room for suggestion Ono of tho company did cause mo some terrible anxiety anx-iety I confess by coming to rehearsal after rehearsal and merely reading his lines mechanically When tie date of tho performance drew near and I had gained no idea of what he was going to do with his part I went to him and told him frankly that this thing was all in all to me and he must pardon me I I told him that he was not making of the character what I thought he could His first tendency was to throw up the part but when I remonstrated remon-strated with him and told him I knew ho could do the character if ho only would he consented to try and eventually he made one of the hits of the piece The thing that came nearest to plung ing me into despair and wrecking the piece before It got a trial at all was the Henley incident There is not a finer actor on the stage In certain lines than Mr Henley and I expected great things when I engaged him for the part of Jack which I played in Salt Lake While we were rehearsing in New York he was performing in Boston aud the only way we could get him to rehearsals was for him to take the midnight mid-night train from Boston after his performance perform-ance give us an early morning rehearsal and get back to Boston in time for the night This was very unsatisfactory but it was all we could do But imagine my feelings when on tho day of the performance perform-ance after wrestling all day with sets of furniture musicians stage carpenters gas men property men and heaven knows what besides I got word that Henley was ill and couldnt appear Of course there was nothing for it but to hustle nothing huste my wardrobe war-drobe togetner and go on myself though l was in no condition for it not having rehearsed re-hearsed with the company for ten days and being generally upset with nervousness nervous-ness Then too everyone else was thrown out through having rehearsed with Henley and a worse rattled set of people for a first night performance you couldnt imagine Oh that nightl We couldnt get the curtain up till 9 oclock and that was the first damper Wo had to announce Henleys illness and that was the second The house was crowded down stairs up staira there was no one The gathering was made up of two classes one the newspaper news-paper critics cold passionless impassive and anxious to get out into the air The other was my personal friends whs were there solely out of regard to me who were as anxious as I was and who couldnt have enjoyed the performance i i had been perfection The first act fell fat and I had prided myself on that act When the curtain went down I said she5 a goner and sat down with the calmness of despair I thought of the newspaper follows sharpening sharpen-ing their pencils and my head swam The second act things picked up a little Hen derson got a tremendous encore for his solo and Miss Fetters fainting scene which you remember Edith Clawson did so well hero got B recalL re-calL Then my spirits went up a little All the actors pulled together bettor and the third act was finely done The climax where Otto dies of delirium tremens caught tho house Mr Lyons was a triumph tri-umph I really believe no actor in Europe or America could excel the terrible effect ho got out of that scene Wo didnt got out till midnight wo all wont home hopeful but too nervous to sleep I waited all night for the morning papers and had them all dumped into my room as soon aa they came The first one I opened was the World Well you remember re-member the roast It gave the play I laid it down heart sick I waded through the whole list and when I got through I was was almost dizzy Such a divergence of views it had never been my lot before to hear about much less experience One of them said it was the most puerile of plays another that it was the strongest American Ameri-can play yet put forward by an American author I didnt know what to think but I averaged them all up and found the majority ma-jority was favorable This encouraged mea me-a little I wired home that the first act fell fat but that I thought the play was all right We spent the whole of the day after the performance in the theatre thea-tre cutting slashing and revising We cut it down fully half au hour and that night it went splendidly The house was filled peoplo had their curiosity excited by the deferent reportsand It was a strange audience an audience whose judgment would tell how the groat public was going to regard the piece We got an ovation and at the end of the third aot overyone was called before the curtain After that it was easy sailing Our business went up every night The papers which had been unfriendly turned around and the World managing editor Mr Ballard Smith not only personally complimented me but sent an artist up to illustrate scenes in the play for a Sunday issue of the paper The piece went four weeks and j ou are aware of tho favorable notices it received and later of the sale to Manager Hartz of Cleveland We had 0 great many professional people In our audiences every night and Nat Goodwin came three or four times Mr Goodwin would be surprissd said Mr Royal with 0 smile I ha knew that tho first aot of that play had been read t him almost a year before I read it in bis r008 but I suppose he never recognized it when he saw i on the boards Mr Royle says ho f made many changes in the piece after its production here The performance enabled him to see where the piece H ded alterations and ho mads many 5 S S chances which materially strengthened i He says te production here was a strong advantage to him In placing it on the New York boards and he expresses earnestly the obligations he is under to the Home Dramatic club for the aid rendered ren-dered Urn at the baptism I Is just a year ago today since the trial performance The name was changed from Out of Darkness to Friends because in New York the former for-mer suggested burled melodramas like After Dark Through by Daylight ete The season opens in Montreal Sept 12 < t Prank Daniels in Little Pack will open the theatre a week from Tuesday evening Until this attraction the theatre doors will remain closed One of tho coming singers of Salt Lake and a most promising one is Miss Helen Shearman who has been heard at one or two sociables during the present season Miss Shearmans voice is a full rich mezzo and people who have heard her will be surprised sur-prised to learn that she is only about 17 years of age She has received her instruction from a lady teacher in San Francisco and will return there to resume her studios Miss Shannons positive success suc-cess in all hor Salt Lake appearances has been a most charming song Darling Kiss My EyelidaDown which is not at all the light order of chanson the name would suggest sug-gest Added to her sweet voice Miss Shannon has two other decided advantages striking personal attractions and an absolute abso-lute repose of manner in facing an audience Wo expect to hear from Miss Sharman some day The vast strides Chicago is making in musical affairs was showu not long ago when she stole Theodore Thomas away from New York and has been further emphasized em-phasized during the past fortnight by the acqualtion of the renowned Sousa from Washington The following paragraph is from the Washington Star Prof John Philip Sousa of the U S Marine band today signed 0 contract with 0 syndicate of Now York and Chicago business men which makes him for five years the director of a new military band now being formed with headquarters in Chicago The name of the new company is known as tho Blakely syndicate and the band will be known as Sousas New Marine Ma-rine band rne To a reporter of the Star this afternoon Prof Sousa corroborated tho above and said ho would leave Washington on the 1st of August for Now York where he would drill the band He stated that Colonel Heywood had agreed to discharge him from the marine service on the 1st of August and that he would immediately commence his new duties The new band he said would bo the finest in the world Ho had been given carte blanche to employ whomsoever he saw fit and had already selected some of the best musicians in the country He said the band would be composed of seventy musicians It is stipulated in tho contract that all musical compositions owned by Prof Sousa or hereafter composed by him shall becomo the property of the syndicate Prof Sousas wellknown composition The Chariot Race was sold yesterday to Dltson 8 Co of Boston at a handsome figure W Arthur F Clarke advance manager of Charles Frohmans company writes from Son Franciscovto Dramatic and Lyric to say that it has been found impossible to five the first night production of The Counselors Wife in this city That event will take place in Chicago The company however will give us another call with The Lost Paradise which is meeting with a tremendous reception in San Francisco Fran-cisco I is to bo hoped that the hot wave that kept so many theatregoers away from the theatre before will have subsided by the time this beautiful production is given again in August Chicago is greatly excited says the correspondent cor-respondent of the JJramalic News over a recent dramatic production In that city I is a novel melodrama depicting Southern life in the slavery days before the war It is entitled Uncle Toms Cabin and is I dramatized from a novel of the same title tte written by a Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe Tho central figure of the drama is an szed colored man whoso moral character is certainly cer-tainly above that of any colored person Jny I 1 ever met and tho comedy is furnished by a shyster lawyer named Marks and a corked soubretto died Topsy There is a Gconio representation of a frozen river which is very grateful in this weather but the idea of introducing animals on the stage is an old one though well carried out in this play I firmly believe that the author has touched a popular chord and I predict for Uncle Toms Cabin a long lease of lite It is a very good summer play when real negroes are not employed The dramatist dram-atist who adapted the novel for stage purposes pur-poses is not named1 the programme but I would not be surprised I the libretto was by Harry B Smith while the music reminds re-minds me of some of the earlier works of Reginald do Kovon Notes H B Conway the English actor has been secured by Daly to succcedJohn Drew I is said that the brothers Jean and Edouard de Reszke netted something like 5125000 last season in this country Sims Reeves the veteran tenor has received tho appointment of chief professor of singing at the Guildhall School of Music London Johann Strauss the waltz king is working on his new opera Princess Ninetta the first act of which is completed He Is spending the summer sum-mer at Ischl Sir Arthur Sullivan having so far recovered recoverC his health as to be able to attend 1 Wag r opera Is considered fairly convalescent and is receiving no end of congratulations Kate Castlctons real name was Jane E Freeman It is not generally known that she was married to Elliot the celebrated bank robber rob-ber she secured a divorce from him after his hI apprehension Henry Irving will bring 1 company of ninety persons to America with him In September with their repertoire of ten or I dozen plays Dresses and scenery will be brought across the Atlantic with them A company with 1 capital of 8500000 has been formed to present tho Passion Play in Chicago during the Worlds Fair Two hundred and thirtyfive Bavarian peasants will be brought over for the production In round numbers i is estimated that 1000 0 copies of Comrades havo been sold 750000 copies of Oh What 1 Difference in the MornIng Morn-Ing 850000 copies of That Is Love ondBOO 000 copies of Ive Worked Eight Hours This Day Edwin Booth left town last Wednesday to visit his friend Banker E 0 Benedict at Greenwich Conn After 1 short sojourn there he will go to Nnragansett Pier and thence to Buzzards Bay as the guest of Joseph Jefferson Jeffer-son Mirror According to tho Musical Courier Melba has under consideration and wU probably accept an offer from Manager Abbey who is prepared to pay this fortunate prima donna 2suo for perfoimances In the United States and al owanoes for three attendants which will bring the total up to 75000 for the trip Miss Castletons death will in no way change the plans for the coming season arranged by Manager Murray The Dazzlor will bo played throughout the country as booked with probably prob-ably Pay Tomploton In the principal part negotiations ne-gotiations with that lady baring been begun f immediately after the report of Miss CasUotons death had been confirmed Dramatic Aeiet Ono point that makes me rather incredulous about this Christian Endeavor scheme Is the fact that during the convection in Kow York tho leg shows at our theatres did the most enormous kind of business and their audiences were full of blue green and red badges bear lag the names of the different sections from which tho different endeavoring brothers and sisters bad congregated I suppose thoy went to these shows for the purpose of seeing how dwadfully wicked New ork really isDra matic Aetvt I Glowing accounts are received of the pleasures pleas-ures enjoyed by and the honors paid to Georgia Cayvan and her party on their journey to and In Japan They were the only omen on the ship City of PeUin from San Francisco to Yoko hama and tho captain steward and purer as well as the other passengers were constant in attentions for their comfort Arriving in Japan they found that Miss Cnjvana fame and Intention Inten-tion to visit them bad preceded them and there they have been treated with almost royal courtesy Miss Cayvan was ill on shipboard and has not yet recovered her health which was Impaired by her labors hero before start lag but it is said that she will return in good time lilted for her stage duties Mirror Francis Wilson and his company were given a splendid sendoff when the curtain fell Saturday urday night on his last appearance at the Baldwin Bald-win The red curtain was raised again and aRiiin in response to tho enthusiastic applause and finally Mr Wilson acceded to the loud demands de-mands for a speech He spoke briefly but happily Ho felt that io had made friends hero and would come back to lit again at nq distant date His other remarks were felicitous and at their conclusion he was given three cheers He has certainly made a very fine impression heroand when be does come to us again Tie will receives welcome the heartiness of which will be most unmistakable San Francisco Music and JJrama S o < |