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Show T"7! " ' - j The Great 'Barnxtm-'Batley Thotej n? n? The WorK. pf 'Brady &he .Serious Htitnor in "(She JSaming I of Helen" S 3 "E&eryman." 1 . (Special Correspondence.) T . Almost everything gives way In New York when the circus comes to town. Certainly every- I thing has given way this year, tor it is Barnum " & Bailey's back again alter years or wandering abroad with things to show that consume all the superlatives of the language in the description thereof. One of the humorous paragraphers put it this way, "There is a disappearance of $5,000,- 000 in the bank reserves that the bankers can't explain. Easy. The circus is in town." All the theatres have telt the competition and they will be glad when the old combination pacKS up its tra'ps and takes leave. It must be chronicled now that P. T. Barnum's laurels are being taken away by the little man who now contiols the destinies of this industry. Certainly never was there such a circus as the one Mr. Bailey has been putting before New Yorkers York-ers at the Madison Square Garden for a four weeks' run. In addition to ail the things that ( usually go with a show of this kind he has taken Bolossy Kiralfy into consultation and has put on an Immense ballet. Europe has been scoured for riders and acrobats and the animals and freaks ' and clowns are legion. Among the new things he has brought forth ! is a bicycle act that certainly surpasses any thing done before in New York. We have had the one legged man who rode down a long incline on his wheel, and the man who "looped the loop" by reason of the speed given to his machine by a I shoot down another incline, but this performer i rides around on an absolutely vertical surface, by F torce of his own speed. He gains his momentum in pne of those saucer shaped devices that have been fehown around the country for the last year and then shoots onto a vertical circular fence and rides around several times, standing out on his wheel in a horizental position. Certainly nothing noth-ing in the way of defiance of the law of gravity has been brought forth that equals this feat. 1&9 &H tv The return of the Barnum & Bailey show will give the west a better circus this season. The Forepaugh show which has been taking its place in the East, will now be sent on tour west of the Mississippi, and possibly the Wild West also will get out into its home region. j e je I In theatricals William A. Brady is entitled to lay claim to the presentation ot the novelty of the season in "Pretty Peggy." It is based, of course, on the life of Peg Woffington and during the action of the drama a faithful reproduction of one of the stirring scenes in her career Is given at the Herald Square. Several score of the performers are stationed out in the audience and at a proper moment they arise and make an assault on the stage and raise a huge uproar. It was a shock to the audience on the first night but New York has taken to this new idea and the play will certainly run until the hot weather sets in. It is the irst real hit that Grace George has made and everybody who knows how anxious Mr. Brady was to have her succeed will be ready to congratulate him and his wife. Brady started, of course, as a manager ot prize fighters, and caught some of their bad habits. He acknowledges acknowl-edges that his real fortune came when he met and married Grace George, for she set a standard of life for him and he has followed it since. His old associates in the pugilistic field see little of him now. From having small productions that played in the cheap houses he has come to be a power in the dramatic world. He gives to his wife the credit of having kept him true to his better nature and he felt that the only way in which he could repuy ner was to gratify her ambitions as an actress. So he set out to make her a star. The thousands of dollars that were thrown away in tne first few seasons of her venture could not be counted on one's fingers and toes, because it seemed impossible to find the right play tor her and Broadway did not take kindly to her. At last, however, she has lound her place and has the sweetest satisfaction that an actress can have In the knowledge that cold-blooded New York has taken her Into its heait. She probably knows as well as anybody that once the barriers are broken there is no-wheie no-wheie gi eater loyalty than in the metropolis. & C A story is going the rounds regarding Rich-aid Rich-aid Harding Davis and his manager to the effect that they had an appointment to meet the morning-alter the first presentation of "The Training of Helen" to gloat over the praises of the critics and to sign a contract for a new play. It is told that Charles Bancroft Dillingham, the manager, arrived at his office an hour late, looking as though he had seen visions in the night and found this note awaiting him : "Dear Dillingham: Since the Flatiron building build-ing fell on me I have come to the conclusion that I need a vacation. DAVIS." Now the bright press agent of the Dillingham office is trying to set the play on its feet despite the unfavorable verdict. The play deals with the struggles of a young playwright and Henry Miller has invited all the young playwrights who have written but have not yet seen their efforts on the boards to attend a special matinee. Undoubtedly Un-doubtedly his house will be packed. One of the faults of Mr. Davis, however, seems to be that he did not realize how easy it is to be ridiculous on the stage. One of his lines Is, fl "I hope this play will be a success, I have been M in so many failures." There is a titter now when- M ever it is uttered. One of his situations brings Ifl the heroine in to say she is going away. As H Weber and Fields have had laughs all season on M a burlesque of just such a scene by William Col- fl Her and Louise Allen it seems strange that the WM playwright should have tempted tate fay putting fl it H It is announced that Mr. Davis has Written another play on his story, "Ransom's Folly," M which will be produced in the autumn. If expert- ence has properly taught him it should be good. The spring is supposed to be the season for M light attractions, but Charles Frohman has M brought back the Sixteenth Century morality play, M "Everyman," and Installed It at the Garden thea- M tre and it has been one oi tho hits of the end of jH the season. This is a queer historical productit n H that teaches a lesson on religion us well as on M the drama. Everyman is supposed to be called tc M take upon himself a mission to Death and he calls H his various friends to go with him and is desert- jH ed by all except the virtues. In the playing of it H God is represented by a man with a beard who jH stands behind a screen and various other exalted M personages are shown in similar crude fashion. It H was the purpose of the play in the Sixteenth cen- H tury, of course, to arouse religious lerver. M When it was first presented in New York It H was regarded as a curiosity and attracted a cer- H tain element of students and patrons of the H drama" who like to take in the odd things. It was H really regarded as a joke. It went around into H New England and over to Philadelphia, however, H and in its wanderings was taken more and more M seriously. It received the support of many of the clergy and now it has come back and is being received with a great deal of fervor. The theatre H is a queer place to make conversions and bring M repentant sinners to the bar of grace, but that Ie H what the play is doing in many cases. H There has been more tnan one instance In M which it has asserted a particular religious in- H fiuence over women In the Lenten season. A M priest relates that several of his parishioners H have gone to confessional again after a lapse ol years as a result of a visit to the theatre when H this drama was being played. A clergyman tells H of a woman who was saved from suicide by see H tag it. e. J. Y. H |
