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Show I H Uhe Triumph of Maude Adam. J J Sot hern Corning. I 4111 ' MAUDE ADAMS. B ''' ' !'!fu i "Asceticism is the very keynote of her life m ' f ; the life of a recluse, avoiding people, for to her B t'Lii j solitude is a luxury." B plPj That is something like a sentence I read one B : f Jj ' time, in a story of the daily life of Maude Adams, B nit ; and the other night I saw her after the play, as B 'ir'siil tne frIentls of her girlhood gathered about her. B' Bm1 I S,1Q Prossd their hands, she flung her arms about B I'lSrll tneir necks sne kIssed them one after another, Hi Inllf ancl heard her say "I'm so happy, so happy, they B ' ft' make me rest, almost hide from people, but you B l 'fMJ must come, and you, and you," and then I asked B iuflj 1 x her little mother about the story I had read. B nmi ! "Don't believe it," she replied, "Maude is a re- B 'fifi ; cluso of necessity, the poor space writers must B fvml uave somo kIn(1 of a story and that of her so11" B niln tuc wil1 ao as weil as any ther' uecause is B f!l!fl i enforced, on account of a lack of actual physical B fyM j strength." H 'ijlji 1 And to see her before that great audience on H -fiftii ' Monday night, and later when her old friends sur- H f' P rounded her on the very stage where she first ap- H peared as a babe in arms; trying through her H tears of joy to thank them for claiming her as H 1 . theirs, no one of us could be made to believe that H ' , she ever said "If the public loved me, it would H ' Vl leave me alone." B t?ly ) Perhaps if Maude Adams had not been born fli Iot '' of the West and if we had never heard of her, B Jf she wouldn't be so dear to us, but she would be H iflHl j Hs groat, for what she has done the past week. H Jhh i For never ho-s a woman appeared on the his- H '. IBI I toric staSe of the ol(1 theater who has possessed B $! ! GO much of that quality, indefinable as it is, and H WW vaguely and variously described as personality, jjB nW magnetism, or charm. There is a something H ! 1 about her that draws you to her, that brings all H 1 , of the best in your nature to the surface and your H 'rj interest in the weirdly winsome sprite-like crea- B 1 ture, is at once purely personal. And that is the B, h'; j reason she is the most popular woman' on the B $r stage, for there are many others of more force B , Jil'J and beauty, possessed of greater art that comes m is of a certain talent with natural bonius, and which m il'lip i reaches its climax only after years of work and jH ,(. 1 experience. . Lady Babbie came to us like a faint IB lm&, ! sweet fragrance of the long ago, or as soft music B iW. I long forgotten. B ;jji There was no false striving for effect. There B -wmtl I ' was notllinK of the stage and the limelight, but m ;1Im- f e wljolesome portrayal of the life of a girl, from m IjlP' j 'her mischievous fun in the first pretty scene, to HB P 1 ;the more emotional work as Barrie's story comes fl ',ffl' i tto a climax. BH 'iW 1 Maude Adams is the very radiance of youth, BB ,jfo,t ' entrancing in her freshness and sincerity, and as BB rfe ; you watch her and remember that she belongs HB " W ' 1 us' tliat sne was orn of e mPulsive west, B !;ffl I find that uo last a prophetess has returned who is B ra j !not without honor in her own country, you glorify HB ' ! n he marvelous success of this little woman, and BB mjw i Pav her humble tribute. BB (fBH 1 For "Th Little Minister" it needs no review. HR Ulir I' is a play tllat ls one of tlie chIcest things on BBHI mm v Uie stage today, and its revival in this era of bad HB I dramatic productions was wise indeed. Bvery- iBlra I one was familiar with the story, many had seen HhB I the play with inferior companies, but those who HnBB I ' hadn't were glad they had waited for something HBfnf f wel1 worth waiting for. BBPPi 1 Tlle company supporting Miss Adams was Hp most capable, particularly Mr. Ainley, who was Hp splendid as the minister, and Mrs. Jones, who was IBRjJk perfect in .the character part of Nannie. Mrs. BBPiiii 1 Jones is one of the veterans of the stage, and her B8HI M'p - work was a rare treat. The whole company was mm '.1 I mm ' 1 fine, the elders, and Miss Gordon as the French mafd making most favorab.e impressions. T. & C j THE STORY OF THE PROUD PRINCE. Although any play which E. H. Sothern presents pre-sents must necessarily rank very high, "The Proud Prince," in which the eminent actor will appear in this city soon, is calling for unusual attention. The success attained by McCarthy in his former play, "If I Were King," leads naturally nat-urally to the question, if he has duplicated In "The Proud Prince" the high standard and ideality ideal-ity set in his former piece. E. H. SOTHERN. From all reports it seems evident that the churchly parable of King Robert of Sicily has furnished McCarthy with a theme that approaches ap-proaches the -sublime, and calls for the most impressive im-pressive ajid exalted dramatic expression n its treatment. McCarthy's fine command of language, lan-guage, poetic imagery and delicate perception has already been proven, and with the ponderous subject that shows the miracle visijtod upon the proud King by Heaven, it can be surmised that his powers are given unusual scope. Almost every one has read Longfellow's ex-. ex-. qulsite poem of the haughty Sicilian monarch, who scoffs at Heaven and while at the height of his power is changed throuj;h the appearance of an angel into his own court motley, while the angel assumes his kingly form andjreigns in his place. The sufferings whioh he undergoes, the humiliation and his final redemption and ennoblement enno-blement carry with it a strong religious message of the folly of pride and the power of Heaven. It has been McCarthy's endeavor to bring "Robert "Rob-ert of SioTly" to life, and it has taxed the genius of Sothern and McCarthy to cast into dramatic form the psychological, mystic and supernatural surroundings of the legend. The play opens in the thirteenth century on the Sicilian hills where Sicily's executioner lives In seclusion with his daughter Perpetua. Sicily is being reigned over by King Robert, who has attained the name of "The Bad" through his injustice, in-justice, his selfish pride and his domineering power. While olad as a simple hunter le had won the love of Perpetua, and now comes with his enormous court retinue to induce the maid to return with him to his palace. She, in refusing, humiliates and wounds his pride so intensely that he determines-he will bend her to his will. In a chapel hard by monks are conducting services. Through the open door comes the sound" o a chanted hymn. While still in a fit of anger at the' humiliation given him by the maid, and in accordance with the 'legend, King Robert mocks the iserviae. A thrilling storm ensues and amid, the flashings of lightning and the rumble of thunder, the figure of an angel in a niche becomes be-comes animated and appearing before the affrighted af-frighted King repeats the words of the Magnificat: Magnifi-cat: "He hath put down the mighty from their " seats and exalted them of law degree." In the ohapel the monks are chanting: "Deposult poten-tes poten-tes de sede, et exaltavit humiles." When the darkness passes, Robert is King no more, but ls changed into his court jester, a grovelling wretch, misshapen and clad in rags, whose unquiet un-quiet brain and whose frantic ravings: "I am the King!" are mocked at by the mob. The act closes with the distraught King wringing his hands and sobbing in agony: "I am the King! I am the King!" The proud King now leading the life of the fool is brought close to the life of the people and' although he becomes the subject of the abuse and humiliation he had practiced on others, he ' realizes the sufferings he has been causing. It is through the pure spirit of Perpetua," -whom he now learns to love In meek adoration that he becomes ennobled. He is seen in many stages of - -suffeping, self abnegation and restitution and in scenes of peril he saves Perpetua from the very torture he had arranged for her while King. je Si BUEL SCENE TAKEN ALL TOO LITERALLY. In the last act of "The Virginian" the scene is the Western town of Medicine Bow. It shows a street with many corners, and the houses dumped in at haphazard, after the manner of new towns in the cattle country. The Virginian, played by Dustln Farnum, and the rascally Tram-pas, Tram-pas, represented by Frank Campeau, are" looking for each other with six-shooters. It is an intense situation, and the audience Is always wound up into a condition of breathless excitement. One evening last week,-jusfas Trampas carao Into yiew around a corner, with his murderous looking, revolver in his hand, as the Virginian walked away around another corner a man in the audience could not stand it any longer. He shouted in a hoarse whisper. "Look out!" A cruel smile stole over the face of Trampas as he blazed away ot the Virginian, immediately afterward aft-erward falling before, the pistol of the latter, as the gjwge business requires. Only the presence of mlpd of Mr. Campeau and Mr. Farnum saved the scone from being spoiled. As it was, the interest of the play quite overcame tho interruption. interrup-tion. Not many serious dramas could have stood such a test. . 4 ,tf Viola Allen is an actress who dislikes making speeches on first nights, or any other time, but she has perforce succumb M to the custom. Recently, Re-cently, Aftar aumerqua roonUi in "Twelfth Night," sh.e turned the tables thus: wIt is unfortunate that the author is not in the house, for I am entirely en-tirely incapable of voicing the gratitude he would J feel in consequence of your warm appreciation of his- comedy." |
