Show World (December 1910)

December 10, 1910. THE SHOW WORLD 9 GET RICH QUICK WALLINGFORD KNOCK S ’EM QUICK TWISTER I Latest Geo. M. Cohan Comedy Received with Unusual Acclaim by Chicago Reviewers—Other New Plays of the Week Open Without Enthusiasm By WILL REED DUNROY N OT In many months have the newspapers of Chicago spoken so enthusiastically of a theatrical production as in the case of the latest Cohan & Harris offering, "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford,” which opened its Chicago engagement at the Olympic theater Sunday evening. The gentlemanly “high brows” who still hold to their right to pass personal judgment on what is “good” and “bad” on the stage, seem to have been “knocked off their seats." as the vernacular Has it; with one exception they went the limit in saying good things about the performance. And their encomiums of praise are fully warranted—so fully, in- *hat the one lone objector in their has jeopardized forever, among _srho have already seen the latest comedy and the many more who will see it during its stay at the Olympic, his reputation for being a man of judgment and veracity. George Cohan has cer¬ tainly caught the public’s pulse once more and has given American theater¬ goers what they want—and this means -’—i. -Rich-Quick Wallingford” is no¬ ticeably patterned after “The Fortune Hunter,” but this is nothing to the dis¬ credit of its author for the reason that Fortune Hunter” is good enough the ; theatergoer’s standpoint ’ to many another play as nearly like .. __ the cbpyright laws will allow. Risking an odious comparison, one might — •'-it the new Cohan show from the _ of George Randolph Chester, is equally as good as “The Fortune Hunter,” save for its lack of a central interest, which does not have to flfeht its way into the hearts of all classes of people—those who quibble on morals and those who are not so particular where ' heroes be shining "Tights, according . >e modern church’s standards or crooks as the police hold them. The story told in the entertaining play cohcerns a pair of confidence men ”general plan of operations is to -me quiet little town where there is a lot of money lying dormant, and appropriate a little of it through the medium of bad checks. The pair break ar. “tank” town called Batfljeburg — puO hp such a strong bluff at being capitalists that they stampede the place 'nto a boom. They organize a company o manufacture a mythical covered car¬ et tack, and later, while stalling along waiting to jump out with the $125,000 which trusting “boobs” have given into their care, take up options on an equally visionary interurban traction line and make a killing on inflated real estate values. Each of the crooks—for they are only, that—finds the girl of his choice in the little rube town and lingers longer than was the original Intention. While lingering, the imaginary schemes are strangely converted into realities— the covered carpet tack, thought out as a grim Joke, proves a necessity to the public welfare, and the visionary manu¬ facturing scheme nets loads of money; a traetio* company in the same locality "“"possibilities in the franchise factors. It follows that they marry of their choice, settle down in the iwhich has once been a “tank," and \appily ever after, etc. ■V been intimated that there is ’aversion on the part of a certain — of theatergoers to admiring as heroes men who are merely crook.s, and this aversion furnishes the only stum¬ bling block to the play’s unqualified suc¬ cess. However, so adroitly has Mr. Cohan maneuvered that his play eventu¬ ally wins every member of the audience and the ultimate end of entertaining is Ralph Stuart has the title role and handles it well. George Parsons is Wall¬ ingford s fellow crook, “BlaCkie” Daw, and more than gets away with the part. Myrtle Tannehill, as the stenographei who shows Wallingford the error of his ways, gives an excellent performance iy ihe principal feminine role. Joseph Kaufman, with another of those village .“mart aleck" roles which he had in The Fortune Hunter," and Carolyn Gor- “® n - ln character as a head waitress of the Childs’ type, and later as the show¬ ily dressed wife of the village sport who has made money in the moving picture business, score the character hits or the comedy. It is in the careful handling of_the small parts that George Cohan has made troduces characters distinctive ... rube town which makes one marvel at his familiarity with types which are entirely foreign to the world in which the successful Broadway author-actor producer is supposed to exclusively with “Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford.” Sun¬ day night at the opening performance a small sized riot followed the curtain on the big third act, and on Monday evening this same act drew seven cur¬ tains. The play gives every indication of being just what the Olympic needs for a three or four months’ run. MR. EX.TINGE AT ILLINOIS IS A “PERFECT GELMUN” “Mr.” Julian Eltinge—we prefer the explanatory written parentheses or parenthesi to the objectionable spoken bracketed question mark which invites most masculine jabs from Eltinge— opened at the Illinois theater on Monday night in “The Fascinating Widow," a Hauerbach-Hoschna model especially fitted to the female impersonator’s ability. Unquestionably Mr. Eltinge is one of the most popular performers on the vaudeville stage and has carried the popularity evidently to the so-termed legitimate. The educated sea-lion and the iron-jawed acrobat are also very popular on’ the several-a-day stage but it is doubted if they could swing their following if they were dramatized or musical-comedied. Yet the sea-lion gives a wonderful imitation of a grouchy man barking for breakfast and doing stunts when a fresh fish is thrown in. This is not said to give the impres¬ sion of our supersqueamishness regard¬ ing the impersonation of the female. We are forced to remember now and then, however, when viewing such a perform¬ ance, that persons get arrested for such things on the street. But, then, a sea- lion would also be impounded. We will say, nevertheless, that of female impersonators Mr. Eltinge is pos¬ sibly one of the best. He can breathe in stays as well as a female and smooths his hips like a “lady.” The plot of Mr. Eltinge’s dramatic cart follows: He appears as Hal Blake, student in a co-ed college. As George Monroe would arrives is told h ’ n the n er-ry n To partment many _ _ _I and counter plots, but nothing ever seems to get any place, and the inco- hereney of the whole business is little else than exasperating. There is a love story in which May De Sousa is implicated. She appears as the daughter of the mayoress of the town of Devonbridge, and she loves a young man. Her mother, to further her ambitions to become governor of the state, insists that the daughter marry a senator, and thus things are all mixed up until the close of the last act. There is much political intrigue among the women; there is an insurrection of the lady police, who appear in tights, a la burlesque; and the members of the Sub¬ jugated Husbands and Retired Burglars’ clubs also add to the general confusion. The mayoress of the city bribes the women voters with gloves and hats (all bought with funds from the city treas¬ ury) and thus hopes to remain in office. Her rival goes her one better and offers bigger inducements, and thus the cam¬ paign is waged. The company contains several clever people and, after they get to working together a little better, the show may be more entertaining. Lu¬ cille Saunders, who looks like Mme. Nor- dica and wears stunning gowns, is the mayoress. Max Freeman, a character actor of some worth, is seen as her recalcitrant husband and affords some little diversion. Edward M. Favor, a nimble comedian, seen as Booby Pepper, a henpecked husband, manages to ex¬ tract some litfie fun out of his lines. Grace Leigh, a shapely young woman, is the captain of the lady police and looks stunning in fleshings. The piece is offered by the Hall Amusement company. Arthur J. Lamb is the author of the book and John T. Hall wrote the music. Max Freeman staged it. Arthur Weld is the director of the orchestra. There are eighteen song numbers in the offering, and it is in two acts. Walter W. Newcomer is the manager; Max Freeman, general stage manager; Arthur Weld, general musical director; James Fennimore Lee, business manager, and Mrs. Carrie King prove that he is a man he is in_ with Margaret Lefflingwell, impersonated by Ruth Maycliffe. Margaret’s mother doesn’t like Hal, who is quite a naughty fellow. His rival, be-spectacled, accuses him of some cutuppish acts, whereupon Hal, being a “perfeek gelmun,” hangs one on his beak. (We are getting quite manly, too.) For this he is banished. To sidestep the exile he dons female attire. Then follows the comedy. As the fascinating widow preparing for a bail, the ciiar- acter drinks a highball and smokes a pipe while powdering the character’s shoulders. Several men — including the hated rival and a professor—make love to the character. Finally the character appears as a bride. Then comes the denouement — we write this without reference to our French-English diction¬ ary — and the character disrobes. Such is the plot. During its unweaving the chaste humor evolves a question regarding the character’s experience in maternity. Situations develop that demand the character’s dressing in a woman’s bath¬ house, sleeping in the girls’ dormitory and other chaste humor. The audience laughed much. The music, which we forgot to men¬ tion, might pass with our apology. It is decidedly the Hoschna music but not the striking stuff of which “Madame Sherry” was made. Other performers i» the show were Edward Garvie, as the trainer; James Spottswood, the freshman; Carrie E. Perkins, as the stout and stern mother; Violet MacMillan, Frank Wentworth, James E. Sullivan. Charles W. Butler, and Gilbert Douglas. “THE MAYORESS” PROVES TO BE A RATHER TAME ATTRACTION _ offered at the Colonial, is a - and rather dull affair. The advance stories of the piece would lead one to believe that it might contain quite a little pungency, but the story is bung- lingly told and the music is not new or fresh. The story, in brief, has to do with the time when women shall rule and the situation when that day foundation. "Mother’s Child” is a catchy number, and "Stroll With Me” and "The Man I Love” gave excellent opportunity for a chorus effect. In spite or because of the mixture of plot which allowed the audience to view the show without bothering about the musical non-essential, the people in front seemed pleased. Each of the number mentioned had a satisfying number of encores, and Bailey and Austin tore out the laughs, sets aforesaid. Julian Edwards wrote the music and Charles J. Campbell and Ralph M. Skin¬ ner the books and lyrics. Thursday afternoon at the Grand opera house the players in the most prominent companies in Chicago appeared in the Chicago Examiner benefit for the poor of Chicago. There was a very good au¬ dience and a neat sum will be realized from the sale of seats. This benefit was organized by Managing Editor Polachek of the Examiner, assisted ably by Mrs. Magda West, who worked herself into a sick bed over the affair. The program consisted of the following: Song from “The Chocolate Soldier,” by Forrest Huff. Grace Drew, Pfitzi Von Busing and I Henry Coote; Scene from "The Spend¬ thrift,” with Thais Magrane and Robert Haines; song from “The Mayoress,” by May De Sousa and chorus; Anna Fitz- hugh, in songs from “Lower Berth 13”; Trixie Frlganza in songs from “The Sweetest Girl in Paris”; the second act of "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford,” with Ralph Stuart, George Parsons and Myr¬ tle Tannehill: songs from "Two Men and a Girl,” with Elsa Ryan, Fred Bailey, Ralph Austin and Olga Stech and male chorus; act from “The Deep Purple,” with Richard Bennett, Emmet Corrigan, W. J. Ferguson, Jameson Lee Finney, Ada Dwyer and Catherine Calvert in the cast; Sallie Fisher and Vera Michelena in songs from “The Girl in the Train”; Grace La Rue and her company from the American Music Hall; Frank Tinney from the Majestic theater, and a scene from “The City,” with Tully Marshall, Mary Nash, Mary Servoss, Wilson Mel¬ rose and John Jex. Speaking aeronautically, "Two Men and a Girl,” billed as an aerial musical comedy,” is a lighter-than-air machine. Still aeronautically, the phrase “lighter- than-air” means an airboat supported by a flimsy bag filled with gas. Exactly. And the balloon-basket supported by the bag is very heavy and the woven sides of its plot are so intricately welded that one can discern neither beginning nor end. It makes the going heavy and the landing hard. This gets about all of our limited knowledge of aeronautics off our chest and we hope it describes the show that opened at the Cort on Sunday night. The show is a sort of “cooked twice” affair, being rehashed from “The Aero Girl.” It is spiced by the antics of Fred Bailey and Ralph Austin, rather slapsticky, but with ability to tear a laugh out of you. There is also Belle Gold, as "ein Deutsches Madchen”; Rena Santos, with a vaudeville interpolation, and Elsa Ryan as "the aero girl.” Olga Stech as a countess has two good num¬ bers with a trousered octet. Now for the review, shaky in memory. Thus: Opening scene—Holland; exterior of inn. Enter chorus. Much talk of escaped airship. Enter Mrs. Dare, new wife of aeronaut, separated from hus¬ band. Enter countess and maid, pursued by amorous noblemen and irate father. Countess and maid in love with airship officers, who rescued them from kidnap¬ ing Uhlans. Oh, yes, a prize cup for airship superiority has been won by sis¬ ter of aeronaut, who also appears. Enter airship officers, Messrs. Bailey and Austin, as a jockey and trainer dis¬ guised after an escape from prison. Business of slapstick. Song. More slap¬ stick. Another song. Complications, love and curtain. Second Round—Scene in lobby of Pa¬ risian hotel. Countess still pursued. Song numbers. Disguisings by Bailey and Austin some more. Plot seems to be thickening. More disguising. Song. Dance. Aviation cup is stolen. Enter hero. Lady and gentleman principals fall into each other’s arms. Bailey and Austin appear with cup. Curtain. There are some good song numbers, well done. There is the “Beautiful Waltz” in which Belle Gold importunes one Herman to whirl her in a waltz which has a reminiscent bar for Us Nat Goodwin, who has just closed on the road, arrived in Chicago Tues¬ day evening and made his way to the Blackstone hotel. He registered, and was given a room on the seventh floor. “You are just one floor above Max¬ ine Elliott, the star,” said the clerk with a touch of pride. “That’s nothing,” replied Mr. Good¬ win with a smile,” many is the time I have had a room with her.” The clerk scratched his head a mln- ‘ " tumbled to the fact that agement avers that he has made himself obnoxious about the place and refuse to allow him the run of the house. There is a ’story also current that Mr. Armstrong had trouble at one of the prominent hotels in Chicago one night “The Floodgate” is the title of a new drama by John T. Prince, Jr., which will receive its baptism of the footlights next Monday night at the Peoples’ the¬ ater on the west side. The play is in three acts and the scenes are all laid in Montana. Much secrecy has been main¬ tained as to the plot, but it is intimated that there are some exciting scenes in the play. Mr. Prince is the manager of the Peoples’ theater and was formerly engaged in dramatic newspaper work. The Marie Nelson Players will be seen in the production, and a special produc¬ tion is being made for the play. CHICAGO THEATRICAL BUSINESS IS VERY GOOD IN CERTAIN SPOTS. The theatrical business in Chicago at the present is in what might be called a lumpy condition. That is, it is good in spots and bad in spots. The attrac¬ tions that are doing big business are “Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford.” at the (Continued on page 16.)