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Show MEMORABLE FIRST NIGHTS DURING the past twenty-five years the prepent writer has attended first nights on Broadway, and seen hundreds of plays, some good, some bad, but most of them merely indifferent. indiffer-ent. I have witnessed great successes and great failures, seen "road" successes suc-cesses fail in New York, and "road" failures succeed. In the theatrical profession, as George Bernard Shaw has Intimated, "one never can tell!" Speaking of Belasco, "The Heart of iyiaryland" was produced on October 2, 1895, at the Herald Square theatre. Mr. Belasco had had many hits, among ihem "Hearts of Oak," "May Blossom," Blos-som," "The Wife," "The Charity Ball," "Men and Wpmen, and "The Girl I ) Left Behind Me," but Mrs. .Carter had had two failures, "The Ugly Duck- ling" and "Miss Helyett. The play- j wrlght producer and the stellar at- j traction triumphed jointly In "The Heart of Maryland, and when the red-haired red-haired lady climbed tho belfry, and proceeded with "curfew shall not ring tonight, the audience went wild! , One good turn deserves another, so "Zaza" was produced January 9, 1899, at the Garrick theatre. The nature of the piece had become known, so the house was filled with Zazas. Birds of a feather flock together, especially at the playhouse. To cap the climax, "Du Barry" was presented on December 25th, 1901, at the Criterion theatre. Again the Zazas were in evidence, UiIb time tricked out as Du Barrys. These Carter-Belasco premieres were nothing if not emotional. The audience had hysterics whenever the star set the example. I have never 3een anything like it before or since, not even in Taris! Cn October 5, 189G, "Secret Service" was presented at the Garrick theatre, and William Gillette appeared with great success against a Civil War background. It was in this same piece that he subsequently made his debut in London. Mr. Gillette had established es-tablished a following through his excellent ex-cellent work in "Young Mr. Win-throp," Win-throp," "The Private Secretary," "Held by the Enemy," and "Too Much Johnson." "Secret Service" has rerved as a model for war spy melodramas melo-dramas ever since, especially of recent re-cent times. "Sherlock Holmes" was produced on November 0, 1899, at the Garrick theatre, and held the audience enthralled, especially when the light ed cigar of the great detective glowed in the darkness. "The Belle of New York" was presented pre-sented on September 28, 1897, at the Casino theatre. Everyone was fascinated fasci-nated by the personality of the until (hen unknown leading lady, Edna May, who was destined to gain fame and fortune through this piece at home and abroad. I recall tho genuine amazement of tho Salvation Army 'lassie when called upon for "Speech!" Dan Daly also made a hit. Years ago Elsie Janls used to imitate him. On December 3, 1902, at the Belasco theatre, Blanche Bates, "came," "saw," and "conquered" in "The Darling' of the Gods," which Sir Herbert Beer-bohm Beer-bohm Tree subsequently produced in England, and which Puccini finally set to operatic accompaniment. Miss Bates had previously been at Daly's theatre, but had aroused the resentment resent-ment of the all-powerful Ada Itehan by achieving a marked success in -the Drury Lane melodrama, "The Great f i .iii i m 1 1 FRANK MORGAN IN "THE MAN WHO CAME BACK," AT THE SALT LAKE THEATRE, NEXT WEEK Ruby," her role in that production being be-ing speedily handed over, to Marcia Van Dresser, who later appeared as a concert singer, and recently acted in "Freedom." On August 19, 1901, "A Royal Rival" was put on at the Criterion theatre, enabling William Faversham to make his debut as a star. For many years he had been a favorite at the Empire Theatre Stock company. The play was not successful, neither was another an-other version of the same theme, "Don Caesar's Return," produced simultaneously, simultane-ously, to introduce James K. Hackett as a star. During several seasons he had been leading man at the Lyceum theatre, acting with Mary Munnering, who later 'became Mrs. Hackett, and wih Julie Opp, who later became Mrs. Faversham. In "Captain Jinks," produced on February 4, 1901, at the Garick theatre, the-atre, Ethel Barrymore became a star. She was slight and girlish in those days, and looked bewitching in a bustle bus-tle and a chignon. Clyde Fitch's plays were either very good or very bad. This one was very good, and tho author au-thor and the star both made pretty little speeches after very many curtain cur-tain calls. Uncle John Drew was "among those present" In the audience. audi-ence. On March 2, 1897, Mrs. Fiske appeared ap-peared at Miner's Fifth Avenue theatre the-atre in "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," up to that time tire greatest triumph of her career, although she had first -acted in New York away back in 1870. The scene where she murders her brutal bru-tal lover was tense and thrilling, and the final episode, with the sacrificial stone at Stonehenge as a background was weird and fascinating. "The Masked Ball" was presented on October 3, 1892, at Palmer's theatre. the-atre. In this piece John Drew was introduced in-troduced as a star, after a long apprenticeship ap-prenticeship at Daly's theatre, wllere he gained great popularity, especially among people of fashion. The first night audience at "The Masked Ball" was exceptionally brilliant. Maude Adams, the leading lady, had a gracefully grace-fully managed scene of intoxication. It was her success in this part that prompted 'Charles Frohman to make her a star. |