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Show I iSk -L? WC Act OIS MM& 'anaJAe Aefore rise Mr ,&m r wtNUBUAL interest attaches to the I annoimcemont that MrB. Flske Hj jflj is to houd a atock company In tho Manhattan theater next winter, eayu the New Torlc Preso. Undoubtedly the actress will meet with great success, and her plan ia likely to sound, the death knell of Hj other schemes for giving tho city a stock company of rounded excellence. There have been many reports of late of the H revival of the old Empire company, and it has been paid that Daniel Frohman has thought of making the New Lyceum a permanent home for a goodly group j of players, airs. Fiske's arrangement makes it necessary for Charles Froh-man Froh-man to weigh the chances of old time fl patronage in the Empire, and for hlB brother to revise his conclusions sas to fl the probability of continuel profit with a stock company in the New Lyceum. The programme outlined by Mrs. Fteko is Just what might be expected from one to faithful in following after "art." The first production, to take place early in September, probably will be a new play j by C M. S. McLellan. Of the trend of this play we have been left to guess, as the actress has not thought it advisable to tell us more at present than that It is "charged with originality and novelty, besides being strong In dramatic in- Here is a characteristic Weberflcldlan joke which "Weber recently told in the presence of a couple of friends, one of whom related it as follows: "Mr Weber can rattle off a huinor-our huinor-our skit tremendously fast when the oc-caslon oc-caslon calls for speed. Frequently he runs off one to himself, just to keep in fl trim he rays. 1 "Tho other day he came out with one of his numerous hits at a friend's house. So far as I can recall, it ran something like this: "Pie .entered a saloon on the Rlalto, his hat on his car and his coat on his arm, and, flinging the garment on a 1 table, he shouted: " "Is the man here who said .he could pulverize me in five minutes?4 " 'He is,' replied an individual who was just wiping the dew off his chin. " 'And you are the man?' am.' " 'And you said it?' " did.' " 'And you won't apologize?' " 'No. sir.' "Well, let's have a drink. The boyB paid you were an old man with a cork leg, and I didn't mean standing any nonsense from a person of that sort. Here's luck.' " B o j A catastrophe that might have been terrible In its results barely was averted at Amerlcus, Ga.,' recently. The Amer-Icun Amer-Icun theater was packed beyond its ca-paclty. ca-paclty. Twelve hundred persons, prln-clpally prln-clpally women and children, filled the building, when an alarm of fire was given. Hundreds rushed for the single entrance, twenty feet above the pavc-ment, pavc-ment, and reachel by a single stalr-way. stalr-way. Efforts of police and teachers on the stage were unavailing until the or-chestra or-chestra struck up "Dixie." This served to restore quiet. In the stampede sev-oral sev-oral women fainted. H m o To Richard Mansfield an enthusiastic woman admirer had paid tribute of praise; adding: "I suppose, sir, that when in the spirit of those great roles you forget your real self for days." "Yes, madam, for days, as well as nights. It Its then I do these dreadful things trample on the upturned features of my leading lady and hurl tenderloin steaks at the waiters." "And you do not know of it at all?" "Not a solitary thing, madam, until I read the papers next day." o ti n New York has presented a revised vcr-sion vcr-sion of "Borneo and Juliet," in which the stars are married. Another ver-sion, ver-sion, dealing with their divorce, should "be prepared for presentation at New-Krt. New-Krt. "Washington Post. H n u t Arthur Wtng Pinero, the dramatist, passed his forty-ninth birthday last month. He keeps himself in play-wrlt-ing form by means of outdoor sports. In his early days near the footlights he was jestingly known as "the "Wing of the theater." "When John T. Sullivan, from whom Hose C'oghlau obtained a divorce re-contly, re-contly, was dying, a few days ago, he 'T am going to die," said the sick man. "The curtain Is to be rung down. Tell Rose that I still love her and wish j I could see her before I go." A priest was f-tnt for and the last sacrament administered, and as the final words were spoken the actor died. Friends of the dead man say that the suit for divorce brought against him had much to do with hastening his death for pi.'sce the final decree wao granted, Sullivan had "been ill. 1 Milt Harlow, the noted old minstrel, was recently taken to tho New York hos-pltal, hos-pltal, ' sufTerlng from canqer of the throat. An operation was performed j nnd it is hoped that Mr. Barlow may j , recover. It Is not likely, hmvevcr, that I'e will be able again to appear in pub- H Stamped envelopes and postal cards, free to all, may now be found In the lounge rooms of some Eastern theaters. Of this striking innovation a manager said the other day: "The public Is pro-1 pro-1 foundly Impressed with the free stamp j novelty. Men go Into the lounge rooms Hl of the theaters to smoke, and, seeing free stamped envelopes and postal cards on the writing desks, they are amazed. 'A cry generous .thing,' they say; 'a verj nice thing on the management's part,' and they keep on smoking they do. not write any letters. At the theater, you see, no one cares to write. The theater thea-ter is for recreation, not for work. Banking on that fact, we Introduced free stamps four months ago. Our munificence mu-nificence impresses the public, but it hardly costs us 10 cents a week." 4 "Buffalo Bill," while giving a little reception re-ception at his tent at tho close of the afternoon performance, was approached by a young man and his mother. After a moment of embarrassment on the lady's part she said: "Do you consider that you give a true picture of Western life?" "We try to, madam," answered Mr. Cody. "The people really ride about and shoot In tliat terrific manner, do they?" she continued. "Well, yes, on occasions' the showman show-man replied, rather more guardedly. "I never suspected It," went on the' lady, In some agitation. "Most of the money left me by my husband is invested in-vested in the West, but 1 now feel doubtful about allowing any more of it to go there." "Ia it secured by first-class real estate es-tate mortgage?" "I believe so." ! "Madam," said Cody, with confidence, "do not give yourself the least uneasiness. uneasi-ness. In all my experience with the West I have never yet seen a first mortgage mort-gage on real estate riding a bucking broncho, shooting up the town or doing anything except grimly drawing its 12 per cent per annum. I wish I owned a million of 'em. Anna Tjaughlin the Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" Is probably the only soubrette on the stage who does not use any make-up. Speculation has been Indulged In-dulged In to discover the trick by which she so successfully simulates babyhood on the stage by what art or magic she becomes a child" In "The Wizard of Oz" though 19 years of age looks not a dny more than the ten-year-old girl she represents. "I have no special trick as many suppose," said Miss Laughlln. "I simply dispense with cosmetics, rouge and greass paint. T don't blacken my eyebrows or eye lashes or put carmine on my lips. I think other girls on the stage would look better from the front If they followed my example." His coming one will be Kyrle Bellew's first visit to t,he Pacific coast for seven years. When last he played San Francisco Fran-cisco he and Mrs. Brown-Potter were associated in a starring tour, but he has never played the cities of the Northwest, where the theater-going residents will now have an opportunity to learn how much they have missed. And withal, the role of "Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman," is one of the most fascinating fas-cinating In which Mr. Bellew has ever appeared. A prominent actor tells this story about two brother players and their experiences ex-periences in a Maine temperance town. Feeling In need of alchollc refreshment they made application at the local drug stores, but wore told that stimulants were sold only in cases of snake bite. The actors had about decided to content con-tent themselves with such refreshment as the town provided, when they heard that a certain resident owned a rattlesnake rattle-snake which he kept an a pet, Securing Secur-ing his address they called on him, and offered to hire his snake for use in some scientific experiments. "Nothing doing," answered the owner; "he's booked solid for four months ahead." Harper's Weekly. a The new ballet which Wrght Lorlmer has In preparation for the palace scene In the third act of "The Shepherd King" promises to be a triumph of Oriental magnificence. P'our noted masters of the ballet have been engaged to colabo-rate colabo-rate In arranging this Oriental dance which will be put Into rehearsal as soon as M. LiOrlmcr returns from Switzerland. Switzer-land. Frank Eldredge, formerly of Salt Lake, is on the staff of Mr. Lorlmer. "The Wizard of Oz" will be one of tho early fall offerings here. This sucpess has achieved Its popularity solely on the strength of its originality. Hamlin Ham-lin and Mitchell say they Intend to strengthen the organization presenting "The Wizard of Oz" for the coming season. sea-son. An entirely new scenic equipment has been provided. o The play selected by Frank L. Perley for the Initial starring appearanco of Margaret Anglln Is announced to be "The Eternal Feminine," by Robert Mlsch, a German dramatist, who has written successful plays notably, "The After Fame," originally presented in German. "The Eternal Feminine" made a most favorable Impression. It was subsequently translated and played with equal triumph in Italian. It Is now being be-ing prepared for presentation In Paris. An English version has been arranged for Miss Anglln's use In America and will be simultaneously produced In London Lon-don and New York In the autumn. It hus been praised by the critics as a moat jolly and fantastic comedy. The part for Miss Anglin will give her opportunities opportuni-ties for wide range in comedy and emotion. emo-tion. Mlsa Blanche Bates has been saying some sensible words' about "stare." Being Be-ing safely a star herself and assured of all the limelight she possibly can want she can afford to say them. She means them, too for other players. Here they are: "Pooh! stars. Everybody Is a star nowadays. Give me the right part and I don't care whether my name Is In the programme. The right part, and I do not care whose name is in the electric light sign' Give me the part and well, some of the money; the money habit Is hard to lose Pshaw' being a star Is merely being the alleged money getter, after all. I'd rather be an actress than a star any day." Chicago Tribune. 4 Charlc-H Itlahman's new play, "The Genius," had Its rtr.it presentation a fortnight ago In Pittsburg, and is Bald to have been well received. The piece is the maiden effort of the two young De Mllles, rons of the late playwright. Henry C. De Mllle, who, with David Belosco, wrote such successes as "The Wife," "The Charity Ball," "Men and Women" and "Lord Chumley." "The Genius" will serve Mr Rlchman on his starring tour next season. It has been definately arranged that Lew Fields In to make his first starring venture alone In a comedy drama built about the "Bird Center Cartoons" which have appeared In a Chicago nevspnp'er. These pictures by John J. McCutcheon have been acquired for dramatic purposes pur-poses by Hamlin. Mitchell & Fields, and have been turned over to Glen Mac- donough for preparation. The latter has already furnished a scenario which the firm says promises well. Ethel Barrymorc, next season, la to create the role of a Chinese girl, Si-Si. in a Chinese comedy by Mme. Fred Groesac and M. Paul Ferrlcr, entitled, "The Third Mcon" ("La Trolsicme Luno"), which was produced recently at the Vaudeville theater In Paris. Mies Barrymorc, however, will open the season sea-son with "Cousin Kate." There Is no doubt that the four or five English playwrights whoso nameR counted on the bill almost as much as the leading actor's have a little lost their hold on tho London public. Neither "Iris" nor "Detty" had the run or the pralso that were to be expected for plays by Mr. Pinero. Mr. Jones has struggled through a series of failures to such partial par-tial success as "Whitewashing Julia" and "Joseph Entangled," but neither made the Impression that his pieces used to make. Nothing that Mr. Esmond had written of late has been well received In London and Mr. Carton's newest play, "Tho Rich Mrs. Repton," has found small favor in comparison with his "Lord and Lady Algy" and "Wheels Within Wheels " For tho moment only Cant. Marshall, with "The Duke of Kllllechankle," In the vein of light satirical satir-ical romance, holds his own. Some are unkind and dogmatic enough to say that the work of Pinero and Jones is practically prac-tically done, and that none of the plays that they may write hereafter will kindle kin-dle such interests as those that they wrote five and ten years ago. Their imitators. In this view, are likely to fare still worse. Andrew Mack was Illustrating tho danger of giving advice, and ho told of a theatrical manager who adopted the line, "Go where the crowds go," as a sort of trade-mark and used It on all his literature and posters. "The scheme worked pretty well," said Mr. Mack, "until the theatrical man struck a town at the same time a circus cir-cus was there. Then the suggestion, 'Go where the crowds go.' proved a boomerang, boomer-ang, for the crowds were going to tho circus, and the theatrical man went broke." Eleanor Robson and her mother, Mrs. Madge Carr Cook, are trying to obtain a few weeks of rest at Bass Rocks, near Glouchester, on the Massachusetts coast. Chauncey Olcott tells of an old negro who was charged with having stolen a hog. The facta were all against him. He had no counsel and when the judge asked him if he wanted a lawyer assigned as-signed to defend him ho declared that he did not, "But you are entitled to a lawyer," the court explained, "and you might as well have the benefit of his services." "Yoah honor would Jes gimme romo cheap white trash lawyer." the old darkey replied, "and he wouldn't do mo no good. If It's jes de same to youh honor, I'd ruther depen' on de ign'rance ob de court." a The oldest member of the Bostonlans' chorus Is James E. Miller, who has been with the organization since the days of the Boston Ideals. The youngest member mem-ber Is Miss Letltla Bradley, who Is 14 years old. Jack London's novel, "The Sea Wolf," Is mentlonel as the future play for Richard Rich-ard Mansfield. Those who have read the story confess that It will suit the actor, and the part of Wols Larsen Is one just In Mr. Mansfield's line. The author Is at present the correspondent of a New York dally paper and Is devoting de-voting his time to the Russian-Japanese conflict, so he may be counted out, as far as the dramatization goes, but It was slated recently that most likely Charles Henry Meltzer would have that task. |