THE MORNING ASTOMAN, ASTORIA, OREGON.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26, 1901.
We are headquarters for all kinds
SEEDS
Flower and Garden
Extra Choice Variety of Sweet Peas, all Colors
' and Nasturtiums.
A. V. ALLEN I
Pbonb , Branch UniontowkI
Main 711, Main 2371 Phone Main 713 I
Sole agent for Baker'a Barrington Hall Steel Cut Coffee. I
i asaaaa
CHARLES
FROHKIAN
Speaks Upon the Growth of His
Stars.
THE THEATRE-GOERS TASTES
It is the Play That Hakes the Actress
as it is Opportunity That Makes the
Man and This Would be so in
Maude Adams Case.
NEW YORK. Feb: 25.-The place
breathed the energy of some tremend
mi nrcnnalitv. It was the crowded
- i rf- j
day before his departure for Europe.
All appointments were being kept
to the minute.
William Seymour, General Stage
Director, hurried out with his hands
filled with notes and memoranda, as
I passed along the corridor, Coed on
either side by great oaken cabinets,
leading to the private office of Charts
Frohman.
As I entered, he stood eating his
lunch from the tray that rested upon
his desk. And I, having had mine,
declined participation in it, and threw
myself in a great leathern chair to be
confronted by scores of photographs
of stars, female and male. To look at
them was to think of Mr. Frohman as
the bin brother of them alL Those
who know him best say that the only
- companions Charles Frohman has are
his stars - - - the only conversation
that interests him is new ideas, the
only scenes he cares for are the views
from his window at the streets of
New York and of London.
The man whom all these stars af
fectionately refer to as "C. F." has
the manner of a man surcharged with
energy. f
He is in his office every morning
Mrs. Fowler's
Free Lectures
At Astoria Theatre beginning Wed
nesday, Feb. 26, 2:30 p. m., ladies
only; Wednesday, Feb. 26, 8 p. m.,
gentlemen only; Thursday,, Feb. 27,
8 p. m., to all; Friday, Feb. 28, 8 p. m.,
to all; Sunday, March 1, 2:30 p. m., to
alt
Phrenological examinations and
health consultations .given daily at
Occident Hotel, from 9 a. m. to 9
p. m., till March 11th. Her classes
n the use of electricity to cure dis
ease will begin March 3rd at 2:30 and
7:30 p. m.
before nine, however far into the
night rehearsals or new productions
may keep him awake. His conver
sation is never theoretical or hypo
thetical It is a series of statements
never uttered until thought into the
most economic form. A man who,
at his day's work, is lavished with his
means beyond the wildest dreams of
extravagance, he never wastes
single word in conversation. Mr.
Frohman never argues; he states con
elusions.
Renewing an acquaintance, begun
in his apartments at the Savory Hotel
in London, when, one night, I sat
with him upon the balcony overlook
ing the Thames, and gazed up the
river at Westminister, with Parlia
ment in session, my greeting now, as
then, was more by a kindly twinkle of
the eye than by a tamely conventional
salute.
"I am glad you have come," was his
beginning, "because, before sailing
for Europe, I wish to state my grati
tude to the press for exactly reflect
ing the motives, the significance, all
the feelings that impelled me to the
most important production of my
managerial career. I mean The
Jesters.
.The feeling that gripped me most
and perhaps determined me to secure
that play for Maude Adams was pre
cisely the sensation that made me in
stantly fond of J. M. Barrie's 'Peter
Pan. There can be only one Peter
Pan, we all know, as there is only one
Midsummer Night's Dream, to which
the spirit of Peter was frequently
likened. But 'The Jesters,' like the
story of Barrie's boy Pan, is the glor
ification of youth. It is the embodi
ment of all that is optimistic, vigor
ous and healthful in life."
"Then why don't you produce more
plays like 'The Jesters' and 'Peter
Pan," Mr. Frohman V
"For two reasons. Because plays
like 'The Jesters' only come along in
decades, and in the next place, when
they are written they do not leap into
popularity of themselves, but through
the interpretation given them by a
popular star. That s, the audiences
go to see the star and stay to love the
play."
Will the success of 'The Jesters
induce you to buy more poetic plays
abroad?"
"The significance in the great suc
cess of 'The Jesters' is not so much
a returning public taste for the poetic
drama as it is the complete develop
ment of Maude Adams. And I'D
show you the steps in her progress
from a superb actress to a finished
artist
"When Miss Adams played 'L'Aig
lon,' and crowded the large Knicker
bocker Theatre, at the same time
Sarah Bernhardt was filling the small
Garden Theatre, the press and the
public had their first demonstration
ASTORIA THEATER
2 Nights, Commencing Sat. Feb. 29
FRED RAYMOND'S
SEMI-MUSICAL MELOETRAMATI C COMEDY SUCCESS
OLD
AN
SAW
WITH ITS WEALTH OF START
LING AND REALISTIC SCEN
ERY AND EFFECTS!
Have You Ever Seen That Eccentric
Old Man With the Funny Laugh,
JEREMIAH SNODGRASS?
A HAPPY BLENDING OF
PATHOS AND COMEDY SKILL
FULLY HANDLED BY AN
EXCELLENT COMPANY
MMcE Yew IIMif
To the largest load of merchandise it ever pulled. Make
your money work overtime for you. The Great Clean
Sweep Sale at the HERMAN WISE Store opened some
marvelous purchasing opportunities.
Today Will
:; RocM
leaker
If indications count for anything. We expect to do busi
ness unprecedented in volume in Astoria.
Some of Our Prices
We have not space here to quote all.
$5 Stetson Hats now 50c and 75c Ties now . . 35c
Regular $3 and $3.50 Hats selling 25c Ties now ............... 15c
for ........... ... $1.40
100 dozen of fine Black and Tan CSf
Hose, regular 15c, now selling at
Six pairs only to each customer.
- r Boys' Knee Pants and Overcoats
Regular $1.50 Hats..... 45c Half Price
No stock is being reserved. Lewis Bros. & Co. of Spokane, who are in
charge of the sale, have decided to let the selling price cut no figure. Be
ing entirely without regard for cost or loss, they have offered merchan
'dise at prices far less than would be paid for inferior goods elsewhere.
MERMAN WISE -
Reliable Clothier and Furnisher - - - - Astoria, Ore.
Regular $2 and $2.50 Hats selling
for
Musical Numbers, Specialties, Singing, Dancing, and the
Famous "OLD ARKANSAW" Quartette
PRICES 25c, 50c, 75c. Advance Sale at Box Office.
of what Maude Adams could express
in world of pity.
"It was a trying task, lo carry it
off was to induce her audiences, not
mlv to pity "the prisoner at the Court
of Austria, but to respect the son of
Napoleon the Great. Every moment
of the play the audience had to be
made to feel for and with the boy.
"This is what Maude Adams did In
TAJeW in English, while Madame
Sarah was achieving the same results
French.
"As certainly as .you knew that a
great French artist had arrived in
ew York, you felt that a great
American artist was arriving.
"Two weeks ago Maude Adams
nneared in 'The Testers.' assuming a
i r - - w
character that "required humanncss-
id poetry of expression. The part
calls for the management of an in
tense and lengthy love scene, acted
bv a woman in the guise of a man.
The sympathy of the audience" must
be gained for the character, not for
the actress playing the character.
'Chicot,' the jester, is a young man
filled with a poetic feeling and sub
ject to the same quick comedy turns
required and given by Edwin Booth
in his performance of 'Brutus' in 'The
Fall of the Tarquins. ' .' '
"My test of a good actress is the
ability to play a straight character so
truly that the. .author will unconsci
ously murmur to himself, 'I've met
just such a person.' But my test of
an artist is the "power to depict a
character of conflicting impulses and
be equally true to each impulse as it
arises.
"That was the glory of Booth's
Brutus. That is the excellence of
Maude Adams' Chicot. A new
Maude Adams has arrived."
"Do you mean new to you, Mr.
Frohman?"
"Not at all. It is the play that
makes the actress, as it is opportunity
that makes the man. We had the
satisfaction of feeling this would one
day be so with Maude Adams' case.
We knew It, In fact, when last sum
mer he acted 'L'Aiglon' in the Greek
Theatre of the University of Califor
nia and aroused five thousand people,
largely made up of students not
the easiest of audiences into the
enthusiasm of cheers."
"Yet the wonder is, Mr. Frohman,
that Miss Adams should turn aside
from the surety of 'Peter Pan' or
'Quality Street' to the experiment of
'The Jesters.'"
"Miss Adams could have gone on
acting Mr. .Uarrie's plays for many
seasons to come and doubtless will
one day return to them. 'But in those
plays it is her personality that charms
in 'The Jesters' it is her artistry that
compels. It was her own wish that
she essay the poetic drama. And the
success ofjt all proves to me that the
way to make the poetic drama suc
ceed is to lift it into popularity upon
the shoulders of a great popular star."
"It is said you are to bring Miss
Adams to London. Why haven't
you done so sooner?"
"For the wisdom there is in pat
ience. I chose to wait for the full
maturity -of America's most popular
actress, and exhibit her to London
audiences at her best But more than
that ' I have always wished that Miss
Adams visit London with a reper
toire. "Now my idea of obtaining a reper
toire is not the simple act of saying,
'I shall play this and that and the
other.' A repertoire is made, not
chosen. The only way to get a reper
toire is to have had a series of suc
cesses year after year. , Hard work
and popular success bring repertoires
r -not a vaguely imagined fitness 'for
certain parts, selected off hand."
"But why bring your stars at all to
London, when here in America they
can play to greater audiences and to
greater returns?"
"In the first place, because it's the
finest kind of development for the
actress or the actor, and the liberali
zing of the public. An American
actress before an English audience
finds herself confronted with new
tastes, new appreciation, new de
mands. She must meet them or fail.
What does this result in? Versatil
ity, flexibility and, in the end, a firmer
grip on her art. Just as, long ago, I
predicted that the work ofour home
playwrights would be taken up
abroadi so, too, I feel that the Ameri
can actress will firmly establish her
self in the older countries. It is a
fine result for us as a nation."
"How do you go about procuring
plays abroad for America Mr Froh
man? Do you limit your negotia
tions to established successes in Eur
ope?" v- ,
"No. I start out by asking certain
requirements of every play. If it's
drama, it must have hcaltlifulncss
and comedy as well as seriousness.
We are a young people, but only in
the sense of healthy mindedness,
There is no real taste among us for
the erotic or the decadent: It is for
eign to us because, as a people, we
have not yet felt the corroding touch
of decadence. Nor is life here all
drab. Hence I expect light as well
as shadows in every play I accept.
Naturally I am also influenced by the
fitness of chief parts for my, chief
stars. But I often purchase a man
uscript simply after learning its cen
tral idea. I" commissioned Clyde
Fitch and Cosmo Gordon Lennox to
go to work on "Her Sister' after a
half hour's account of the main idea.
Her work in that play, by the way, is
the best instance I could give yoirof
the growth of Ethel Barrymore."
"Is it true that Miss Barrymore
will undertake Shakespeare next Sep
tember?" (
"Yes,' and what has not yet been
announced, she will not , only play
Rosalind in 'As You Like It,' but 1
intend to present her in the old com
edies - -especially in 'She Stoops to
Conquer' and The School for Scan
dal.' These will follow a season of
twenty weeks in 'As You Like It,' ,
"The particular skill that Ethel Bar
rymore has obtained - - and this ia a
test of an actress worth remember
ing - - is the art of acting scenes that
are essentially melodramatic in an
unmelodramatic manner,
"After all, what is melodrama?
Life itself Is melodrama. And life,
put upon the stage, only seems untrue
when it is acted melodramatically,
that is, unnaturally. !.
"I would venture to submit to Miss,
'-.,' ' ... ...f;
Barrymore' delivery any scene sup
posedly melodramatic, and, if it is not
absolutely theatric in thought and in
dialogue, I am sure she would carry
conviction for its every moment by
the naturalness and simplicity of style
which she has acquired. I took for
a scries of Shakespearean revivals as
the result of her forthcoming Rosa
lind." "It was recently said, Mr. Frohman,
that until very lately you had stopped
buying farces. Why was this?"
"Shakespeare invented farce com
edy, and whenever I consider the pur
chase of a farce comedy, I compare
its scenes with the greatest of alt
farces, 'The Taming of the Shrew.'
And wjicnever I produce a farce, it
goes without saying that its spirit is
akin to 'The Taming of the Shrew.' "
At that a bell rang. The faithful
"Willie", silently entered the office
and announced a name. For the first
time 1 realized the length of my visit.
"Well, Mr. Frohman," said I, "as
'Peter Pan' would say to Wendy,
'Mind the tree tops on your travels'. "
Vlfome soonl" he rejoined.
Save Money by Buying Chamber
( lain'i Cough Remedy.
You wiU pay just as much for a
bottle of Chamberlain's Cough Rem-'
edy as for any of the other cough
medicines, but you tave money id
buyng it. The saving it in what you
get, not what you pay. The sure-to-cure-you
quality ii in every bottle of
this remedy, and you get good re
sults when you take it Neglected
cold often develop serious condi
tions, and when you buy a cough
medicine you want to be sure you are
getting one that will cure your cold.
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy al
ways cures. Price 25 and 50 cents
a bottle. For sale by Frank Hart and
leading druggists.
Kodak Supplies.
A full line of films, papers, cameras,
kodaks, etc., just received at Hart's
Drug Store.
9