| Show g 0 0 N 1 L g go 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 6 oO rn g g THE gog o 0 oo THEATRICAl I OrO o o 0 0 OUTLOOK Q g op 8 o o 00 gS oO g FOR 1900 gEgO oro O o o o IU 0 00 0 0 0 o 0 0 oro 00 I g 0 00 g 0 VIEW Of TilE g oro g go P o 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 g n 0 COLI JY CO g 0 ft n nn loungers the tho Rialto of this 1 I city cily aru jut just now non engaged In 11 the I I pleasant It not able of oC determining ho how tb the new year will pin out tn in a theatrical ml way tray It Is lei been 1 tt well settled by theM awl that the boom which let In Hmo months ago ngo lisa come to stay ta and that the eavon of oC 1800 1500 spring and su au autumn tuma will wUl be notable In the annals ot of the lo It gould seeni that the have made a gued I I for tor It Is Impo to toI predict with fUh any degree of oC confidence JT I chat will happen In the show business there has hILI never been a lime during the thep p past at when the tho outlook was bright rr Cr than at Naturally will depend upon the tho class ollila of at offerings It made by the few tew men who practically control the b et theaters but It ii I Is able that there thero will bo be very et few rew really meritorIous entertainments whether they bounder ho under syndicate or Independent atm that will not meet with a alt Vc C measure of oC success L What the tho cause Is I lIo do not pretend to r It say IlY but It is 11 nevertheless a fact that oh ce macat every business manager and ad adI nI I vance ranco agent who runs Into town for ate a few days reports that the patronage of oC the atra Is II better than Ihan for a long time lime past h t There Thero ore naturally some somo houses which oC C even now flOW do not pay but even these are uv v u whose Juliet Is In man many respects note noteworthy worthy but MIss Marlowe 1 ability ot of a high order WOuld be almOst absurd to assort hill 1 1111 ct Is 18 transcendent In n a wide range of ci Shakespearean toles Among the mon there is II absolutely no noone I one ohio ablo to wane the mantle mantl ot of Edwin noI I Booth with oven passable grace A ten few ears ago ngo Walker Valker lIle encouraged tenI I thu tho feeling that an excellent intEl harl lul arisen en but his hili work ork later to 10 my mind ShOWN showed great retrogression To reo re return turn to the ladies It I is possible that rs Flake might excel In 11 Shakespeare but bUI there Is nothing to indicate that list sh she hia tile the slightest l Idea ot of making the tho ment which Indeed It would be Jo most foolish from the tho practical standpoint for or her to do doNo doNo No as It II may be to moke the It Is s 1 a fact that thero II s no possibility ot of a I great re mc sival ot of Shakespeare In the tho near future I The Tho of romance appease to bo be In close to the line ot of positive soggy filth they can go without coming Into conflict with thin tho police authorities AlA As a tact fact II If lie tho guardians of the tho public morale prop erly theIr dut duty most or of these man tigers would now be II hibernating behind prIson bars They do morn mora hArm to the tho youth of oC the tha country than all other or of so called put pul together hut they ant Ato un an the down grade end It ii Is II not a wild that within B a WJ very few Cew years the tho burlesque show a ea It Is b at present Understood will have become a thing of the tho put One ot of the tho rivals for tor stee popularity will always M be what Is known as the full drese drama or mote more properly speaking the comedy of oC manners Thieve are more examples or of than of oC any other othor sort lort of oC Ila playa In the better Jetter the titers ThO They 1111 have the Ule advantage of susceptible ot of being mode made strictly up to and any noticeable change chance In ii the he nubile taste may be easily met and cater 01 to according to the tho jud judgment of the th exploiter The trouble just JUll now aPpears to 10 be that thaI tho ho playwrights and their employers labor the tho delusion that the tho theater going public t Is clamoring for tor when It Is doing nothing ot of the tOrt sort Suggestion and In whIch would not be 00 tolerated for Cor Cora a moment In n a gentleman are areas as thIck as miasma In n a swamp but the persons person especially In the tho larger cIties who appear to imagine that they are not nOI au nit unless they attend these enter i I i t doing m much ch better lien they have ever 1 d done no before The only method by which n a line may moy t be drawn u upon On the tho outlook Is through comparison Many all attraction came camo In last lut season for tor no other reason renson than that It was WIlS backed b by Inadequate capital und and When a very small was waa found ev cv evl l L try week there thero was no alternative but to give up In most cases those same samo pro II playing the tho caine houses thIs season would 1 be showing n a small profit It If the tho average pro proportion of Increase In receipts were maintained wIth reference to them l i I H however It Is desired to find out the teal condition of oC the country from a the standpoint the people tp to talk to I are the small managers the mon men who run t lit at n a total weekly expense ot of I front to itoe 1000 These fellows get to f the pUlse ot of the real people They have I tic ho exceptionally strong attractions anti I the they cannot as 18 n a rule afford to expend I fortunes In and deceptIve I peper er L by of whIch it Is sometimes pose pee I ibie to carry a bad show c along Inde indefinitely They must be able to toI I i deliver the goods ClOd they pretend to carr carry 1 I mimi to theIr credit bo be It said mid that they usually do this to 10 a greater extent than thant I t their more pretentious Virile If the J peo Pie h have I the coin to expend Ond upon th the entertainments the these soon men gen trail make mon money and It If they have not th tie funds the they handle usually come In for tor te reorganization which It nifty may bo be said lii rarely occurs I rho tact therefore that th these small managers ar In feather tather over oer their I I takings Ir the present season and the ou outlook 0 the remaInder of oC this thu end the t tho tha next theAtrical year r w would iii to Indicate that there is h a temporary boom or oh 01 that the pe L or the 1 at t large are Inclined to patronIze the road rOid attractions l more lib rolly than At any olY rOI rate the Prospects for tor good business are bright brighi exceed The form torm of oC entertainment likely to be mutt most popular which Is during the tiis next has given ria rise to no end or of dt ulon The admirers of oC Shakespeare declare with that t c there ft to te be It a of at tra and anil the classical drama which will carr everything before It There Thre would be enough In this tte atte mInt ment to entitle It to rl respectful consider atton were wese It not or the he tact fact that Shakes peare In II its sense Is II possible only When there II Ia at hand an actor who hoH lil ki lilt t 1 ot of the tie lint liars or of the Immortal J 1 bird will rise ni at on th the That we e now new hive hee no t 1 the such S 8 mOlt moat h wm will Wh t I is b 17 even eln vorea tl 1 not 1 annear alfear to be I th the young youn r any who J la Is ot of ability to the I that 1101 helM he i or site aIle will 1 the niche Which has hila so lear ben In an cl CJ nt It is III true tnt we n hay have Juks I I vogue just juat now though It must bo be admit ted that 1 It Is not In such luch hIgh favor IU as It was Wall a few rew months ago The Tho cause for Cor this Is not tar far to seek The tact fact that a 11 t few w original plays or of reAl merit and sonic some dramatIzatIons ot of popular novais hat had bech very try successful was waa to let loose upon a tong long suffering public aver a vu Ita ble of at toO so called romantIc plays ro oIt or Of wore oro romantic In the tho sense nse that nothing like them hall had ever eer b been oll heard of oC In the world of at pia play writing Naturally th they tailed felled nil as the they deserved to taIL fail but the romantic drama was wall never B a black blaek e eye from whIch It will not Hon recover despite the tho virility or 0 title thIs torm cnn of entertainment whIch la I as wholesome as It is II Impossible and II as lIa as It II is 18 The fhe drama will not hot be Jo the leader In l ell either her Coming to farce and skipping for Cor the moment the tho society drama we find ml thai this form torm ot of I he as 1111 elastic us usan usan I an actors When Whon ono one form torm of at Carte taree falls to pl plato o another Is mine substituted Time WU was and not so 80 lang lont ago either olther when Hoyt 1101 farces toree itera the only ones whIch could bt be count counted ed 4 on any degree ot of certainty to tc yield 1 ld satIsfactory box returns return Nat there wire were It a host ot of Imitators lor un til In now the bogus has haa so replaced the tho article that It ht would lie be excel doubtful whether a genuine lIot play llY Written In that thu prolific authors heal best I ItI style would met meet with more than a 0 mod elate degree ot of It if to tomorrow morrow But Dut farce taree ot of some lome sort or nill by reasor lion I of its lis Vet very elasticity It H cannot really be b I considered seriously as a distinctive cleat I ot of entertainment Tile The hurl burlesque ue III shows 0 I so BO called have hao I i been having a hard time of oC It and this tho I of oC this coalition will greatly all who ha have 0 the or of till the sin stage lit at heart et 01 r shows are aro run by men who whose IOle iou I o In life lICe 11 lIts to be to see seo boa take their wives and ond daugh daughters tore and lind what is II worse at the smuttiness and Imd to think It aw awfully tUlly fully clever dont you rou kno know A few authors ho have latterly come to the tho conclusion that It Is possible to write an interesting society play without the nd ad adJunct ot of sexual problems and the result line hos served to confirm the accuracy of theIr estimate of the tho POPular till taste t lIu But t tso so long as the mAnagers who buy plays remain can ha be no hope ot of general reform With melodrama Wo we find the outlook tOt IKO pretty much the tho same lIa as It haS been for each year ear during the halt decade Like farce comedy melodrama mil be ben n adjusted to the popular sate anc and being susceptible of oC the these lions it II will hardly ever wear ur out II its welcome especially In view of oC the tact fact that the tho moral Pointed Is Ii generally a worthy one The rhe bl big English scenic melo damns are uro no to the general rule but Lut as It has haa apparently become necessary In order to attain sue cess cella to present the these entertainments on a of lavish the poInt will soon poon be 00 reached ot at whIch It will ho be Impossible for tor the receipts to La ho large to show a profit Comic opera ollera appears to have Ie lost tOlt It its I grIp to a certain extent and now It II I is necessary to have hae a 11 star of oC some then if IC one would succeed with this form torm ot of entertaInment To sum It all 1111 ur up the theatrical outlook for IO despite the hero here heroIn In III made on the different types ot of enter ethnical Provided b by OUr amusement ca Is II exceptionally bright and It will apparently be a tery ery matt r for tor tho tie optImists ot of the profession to over tho iii prosperity which is h likely to attend the more worth worthy efforts durIn during the spring and autumn or of the tho year ear upon which we are just entering A ARThUR CRISPIN Ne Nev York |
