"THE DIVINE SARAH."

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 132, 27 July 1911, Page 7

"THE DIVINE SARAH."

Madame Sarah Bernhardt sailed from Now York for France last week after one of the most remarkable professional "tours of the United States ever made (writes a San L rancisco correspondent under date of June 28th). This old lady of sixty-seven in thirty-five weeks played 285 performances, travelling incessantly between whiles, so that she covered all the larger cities of America, and many of the smaller ones. As one new sparagrapher sums up the performance, she “completed a. tour of 25,000 miles, visited 103 American cities, gave 285 performances, won nearly a million dollars from theatregoers and lost 151bs.—quite a little jaunt for a woman of 67.” As she chatted on deck before the steamer sailed she talked of plans'for revisiting this country in 1915. Madame Bernhardt’s art is as great in her 68th year as it ever was, say those who first saw her in her comparative youth; perhaps greater, for she now has to surmount physical difficulties consequent upon her years. The one sign of advancing age ’noted by critics was the actress’s proneness to lean on the backs of chairs and other articles on the stage for support. . Particularly did she make use of su ffi aid during the delivery of lengthy speeches, but always so cleverly as to be scarcely noticeable. In all other respects her art was flawless. There was the same golden voice, thrilling, musical, and perfectly modulated; the same rapid, imperious, gestures; the same immaculate technique. Everywhere the actress was greeted w.th boundless enthusiasm. She almost lived on the stage during her stay m each city, refusing thousands of social invitations. It was no unusual thing for her to give two oertormanccs iu a day. Her share of the profits of the great tour amount to about £50,000.