FOREST AND STREAM. 



Irt and jBrmm. 



THERE was a time when the opening of 

 a new and splended theatre occasioned 

 a great deal of excitement in the city. We 

 suppose the remark will be made : Very pos- 

 sibly, but that was when New York was a 

 village. Now it has grown .to such metro- 

 politan proportions that a sensation theatri- 

 cal is impossible. This may be partially 

 true, yet we insist that the inauguration of a 

 temple of the drama of such excellent char- 

 acteristics as the New Lyceum should have 

 been a more marked event than a mere rip- 

 ple on the surface of public excitement, to 

 subside imm ediately into the level of the 

 common-place. The introductory piece 

 was, and is, entitled "Notre Dame," and the 

 plot is morbid and melo-dramatic enough to 

 suit the most enthusiastic disciple of the 

 modern school of playwrights. To give our 

 readers any idea of "how the thing is done" 

 is impossible with language of ordinary con- 

 struction and use. We are therefore com- 

 pelled to quote a few paragraphs from what 

 is considered to be the leading theatrical 

 paper of the day. Speaking of the person- 

 elle, we have, among other similar descrip- 

 tions, the following: — "There is the charac- 

 ter of Esmeraldi, as beautiful as a clear con- 

 science and as rare, who throws sunlight 

 upon the hideous tragedies around her until 

 her own young life is quenched. There is 

 Jehan, the boy student, for whom existence 

 should have been as harmonious as a hende- 

 casyllable, and as smooth as a rhyme in the 

 metre of Catullus. There is G-udule, whose 

 fate flashes with the blackness of a terrible 

 nightmare through the light and shadow of 

 the romance. An<|| finally, there is Quase- 

 modo, in whom the perfection of the gro- 

 tesque and the perfection of the horrible 

 meet in chemical affiinity," &c, &c. 



And to get these impersonations (!) before 

 a West side New York audience, is erected 

 one of the most charming and easily-reached 

 places of amusement in the city, where the 

 audiences are expected to crowd in every 

 night to witness the heroine, beautiful and 

 rare as a clear conscience, quenched in hide- 

 ous tragedy, while the fate of Gudule ' 'flashes 

 with tJie blackness of a terrible nightmare 

 through the lights and shadows of the ro- 

 mance !" To conceive that this dainty dish 

 is selected and seriously put on a stage lo- 

 cated in the most refined and intelligent part 

 of our city is almost impossible for belief, 

 and to many of our readers the realization 

 of such an event will indeed "flash with 

 blackness" the dispatch that we have an- 

 other downward slide of the stage. Not a 

 newspaper notice has expressed the least ad- 

 miration of the performers; they are passed 

 by as mere necessities to get the "gorgeous 

 and unsurpassed scenery in its place. " ' 'Miss 

 Lewis," however, calls forth some warm ex- 

 pressions from our critic already quoted. 

 He says this "slender brunette" captivates 

 more by her personal appearance than by 

 her acting or her voice," but she becomes 

 invincible when "threading the dance to the 

 mingled music of the balafoes, the tambou- 

 rines, the goat horns and Gothic rebecs." 



All this is really unworthy of serious notice 

 in any paper desirous of sustaining public 

 amusements— amusements which are equal 

 to the intelligence of our people. Our pub- 

 lic may be compelled for all time to eat 

 these dishes of "husks" because the mana- 

 gers have found it easier, dLeaper, and more 

 to their glory to command scene painters, 

 gilders, and fiends of red and blue lights 

 than draw around them cultured men and 

 women, upon whom God has bestowed ge- 

 nius, and the power to illustrate the various 

 and ' conflicting emotions of the human 

 heart. We have charity to believe that the 

 proprietors of the Lyceum would do better 

 if they could. The fact that "their open- 

 ing night" was only moderately well attend- 

 ed* a thing that never before happened on 

 an opening night of any theatre, must have 

 given them some twinges of despondent 

 doubt as to their final success if they persist 

 in running a muck in intellectual wealth 

 against the Bowery in its worst days, and 

 against the "Crook" for scenery in its "Im- 

 perial splendor." 



The Grand Opera House has brought out 

 and continued on the stage since our last 

 issue the notable melo-drama of the "Wan- 

 dering Jew." The story is made familiar 

 by the name of Eugene Sue, and our citi- 

 zens who are maturing into men and women 

 Will recall its successful representation at 



the Bowery Theatre some fourteen years 

 ago. Of course all that can be done by 

 scenery and costume has been bestowed "in 

 the fitting up" by the enthusiastic manage- 

 ment, and yet the audiences are not happy. 

 Mr. Fox, of "Humpty Dumpty" fame is 

 evidently the intellectual hero of the play; 

 what he does has no connection with the 

 piece, but it affords to the thoughtless crowd 

 who witness it an immense amount of 

 amusement for its grotesqueness, and, to the 

 few judicious present, is taken as a running 

 comment of condemnation upon the absur- 

 dity of the play. As a contrast, probably, 

 to the aged Jew, who is supposed to have 

 lived nearly nineteen centuries, there has 

 been forced into the piece, in the carnival 

 scene, a large number of dancing infants. 

 In fact, the performance of these little ones 

 occupies almost the time of the third act. 

 These infants receive a great deal of ap- 

 plause, but how mothers who have left their 

 babes at home to enjoy their natural sleep 

 can otherwise than be painfully impressed 

 by the exhibition is difficult to imagine. 



At Robinson Hall, West Sixteenth street, 

 near Broadway, by some very natural but 

 unexpected offering, the legitimate drama is 

 making its way with the public through the 

 means of marionettes, or wooden dolls. 

 Since the decline before the British pub- 

 lic of modern theatricals, efforts on the 

 part of ingenious persons have been di- 

 rected to the construction of mechanical 

 figures, which could by their histrionic 

 powers not only amuse and instruct an au- 

 dience, but also, possibly, revive a taste for 

 intellectual acting instead of mere scenic 

 display. These dolls are diminutive wooden 

 figures (though not as wooden in their act- 

 ing before the curtain as most of our living 

 actors), furnished with movable limbs, and 

 are moved by means of cords controlled by 

 unseen hands. They are managed by bright 

 and intelligent people, and their perform- 

 ances are throughout pleasing and unexcep- 

 tionable. These little creatures, through 

 pantomime, assisted by intelligent and apt 

 dialogues, give almost every human action; 

 in fact, their attention to detail is almost 

 or quite as perfect as the French school. It 

 would be a great benefit if most of the liv- 

 ing actors now strutting their brief hour on 

 Ijie stage would go to see these marionettes, 

 and learn something of the true expression* 

 of their business. At present the dolls give 

 Punch and Judy, a crippled sailor, and a 

 melo-drama, in which a wicked nobleman is 

 punished, The troupe also includes an Hi- 

 bernian, avIio, in some respects, is quite 

 equal to Boucicault in action, and superior 

 to him in the correct brogue. To hear the 

 juvenile portion of the audience laugh their 

 applause and demonstrate their joy with 

 clapping hands and light eyes is worth a 

 dozen prices of admission. We do not 

 know if the report is correct, but we have 

 understood that negotiations are now under 

 consideration for the engagement of the 

 marionettes for the production of a series of 

 plays, including two or three of the best 

 tragedies of Shakspeare, and all the old 

 comedies so popular in the palmy days of 

 Wallack's Theatre. We trust that this will 

 be the case, and possibly our living repre- 

 resentations of mimic life will take heart at 

 the success of these dolls and try to imitate 

 them on the stage. The dawn of the era of 

 the legitimate drama possibly opens before 

 us. 



The Olympic Theatre has substituted 

 "Sinbad the Sailor" for Mr. Rowe's bur- 

 lesque of "Mephisto," and we think the 

 change is warmly appreciated by the public. 

 Miss Thompson has now an opportunity of 

 reveling in her peculiar role of the "child- 

 like and bland." Miss Ada Beaumont is 

 nightly gaining in popularity. 



The Voices at the Union Square, in the 

 "Belles of the Kitchen," present really one 

 of the most agreeable entertainments in the 

 city. The sketch of "Micawber" to us is 

 not interesting; it is depressing, and the 

 personation of Uriah Heep, while it is artis- 

 tic probably to the last degree, is simply a 

 hideous phantom, that makes one feel as if 

 a snake was in his pocket. The "sketch," 

 no doubt, answers its purpose, in making 

 the appearance of the dashing girls doubly 

 agreeable, but we would be content to see 

 the jolly demonstration below stairs first, 

 and leave Micawber and his troubles to go on 

 without our presence. 



BROOKLYN. 



The entire success of the Park Theatre, 

 under the management of Mr. Samuells, 



has already established the fact that a good 

 theatre will be patronized in Brooklyn, and 

 hereafter it would stem that New York is 

 to lose some of the patronage that was justly 

 expected from our neighboring city. The 

 effect has been to give a new impulse to 

 other places of amusement, and the Brook- 

 lyn Theatre, under the management of Mrs. 

 Conway, which, without opposition, was al- 

 lowed to literally "go to seed," opened on 

 the 13th instant with an improved company 

 and the greetings of a crowded and fashion- 

 able audience. 



DRAMATIC NOTES. 



Artists are flocking into the city in crowds, 

 all busy as bees in completing their engage- 

 ments for the coming season. Among others 

 is Wirner, the celebrated violencellist, who 

 returns to this country after two years' ab- 

 sence in Europe. 



Santley, whose name has been mentioned 

 in connection with Miss Kellogg in English 

 Opera, has withdrawn. Frank Bartlett, the 

 ballad singer, is now spoken of as likely to 

 join the troupe. 



The engagement of Mrs. Van Zandt, at 

 the St. Petersburg Opera House, turns out 

 to be merely an "unfounded report." 



Salvini is possessed of a much handsomer 

 person than his pictures in the various sa- 

 loons suggest. 



Nilsson sang recently in four different lan- 

 guages at the house of the Baroness Adolphe 

 de Rothschild. 



We are happy to announce that Jefferson 

 will probably soon appear in a new play. 

 This will be a genuine sensation, and we 

 have no doubt it will prove so to the public. 

 Of his success, who can question it ? 



A phenomenon has appeared in Paris — a 

 moral drama. The author is Malpertuy. 



The Graphic balloon ascension was adver- 

 tised under the head of "amusements." 



Booth's Theatre, heretofore claimed as the 

 home of the legitimate drama, is to be made 

 sensational by the production of the "New 

 Magdalen." 



A passion play has been revived at Brig- 

 legg, a small Tyrolean town, after a prohibi- 

 tion of some five years. At Ammergan the 

 performance was literally in the open air. 

 At Briglegg it is performed in a covered 

 building, with seats for 2,500 persons. Great 

 throngs attend. The words and plot are 

 from the Scriptures, followed as literally as 

 possible. 



The Union Square Hotel is crowded with 

 the members of the Grand Opera troupe. 

 Many not finding accommodations are seek- 

 ing quarters in private ho uses in the neigh- 

 borhood. 



The regular opening of the Union Square 

 Theatre will be on the 30th # instant, with a 

 new play by George Fawcett Rowe entitled 

 "The Prussian." 



Mrs. James Oates is announced to appear 

 at the Olympic Theatre on the evening of 

 September 20th in modified opera bouffe, 

 given in English. 



Pliny estimated that Roscius made annu- 

 ally $20,000, and that the Dancer Dionysia 

 had an income of $8,200. For the love of 

 his art, for ten years prior to 77 B. C. , Ros- 

 cius played for nothing. Imagine Mr. Booth 

 or Mr. Sothern doing anything of this kind. 

 The Roman stage was then remarkable for 

 its pageants. Cicero says that in "Clytem- 

 nestra" no less than 600 mules appeared on 

 the stage, and that in the "Siege of Troy'' 

 whole regiments of cavalry and infantry ap- 

 peared en scene. After this all modern "Cat- 

 aracts of the Ganges," with equine develop- 

 ments, must be considered as one-horse af- 

 fairs. 



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