Show World (December 1910)

December 17, 1910. THE SHOW WORLD 11 It is not probable that Mary Garden ■will have catnip incorporated in her coat of arms. There is more than one way to be a hero. Note Count de Beaufort and the way he posed in the moving pictures. There he triumphed over his father- It is better to be a hero in a moving picture Than never to be a hero at all. TO THE EDITOR To the Editor— New Orleans, Dec. 10. Warren A. Patrick, General Director Show World, Chicago, Ill. Dear Mr. Patrick: For some time I have been a per¬ sistent reader of The Show World, and as a proof that I am satisfied I still read it every week and anticipate with pleasure its arrival. (Ask my news¬ dealer.) The Show World has undertaken something that is of great moment to the theater-going public, which com¬ prises practically the entire public, in its crusade for the obliteration of that which is salacious and suggestive and immoral in matters theatrical. But, al¬ though, perhaps I am not a “minister,” still I am not a “minister’s — ” - ’ I am in hearty accord with it However. I will not attempt 'to dis¬ course upon the policies and the merits of your publication—their quality is too much in evidence, and when backed by chiefs of the police departments of the large cities, there is hardly anything for the layman to state in accordance with the methods that have made it a great paper. “The World’s Greatest Amusement Paper.” And regarding the crusade against the “shark” methods used by "publishers” of popular music, “Amen” to that. Wishing “The World’s Greatest Amusement Paper,” the directors, staff, and all connected wih it a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and many 3 able di- You I beg t BERNHARTiT SAYS LOVE IS MOTIVE . _ of cruelty: others of fantastic comedy: but in the play, as in life, these are really roles of love under another name,” said Mme. Sarah Bernhardt the other day in an interview in which she declared love is the motive power of the drama and of real life. “Consider the great characters I have played. Directly or indirectly they all go back to love, the motive pow’er of the world. ’Hamlet,’ ‘Phedre.’ ‘Fedora,’ all the dramas with great crises, great problems, have their inception in love, thwarted, triumphant or betrayed.” “Then you,consider love the only mo¬ tive for a great play?” was asked. "It is the only universal motive,” Mme. Bernhardt answered: “consequently the only one sure of a universal re¬ sponse. "It is not every one that permits love to control his life, but at least it rules all imagination, and it is to the imagina¬ tion that a play must appeal. Truly, I think sometimes the modern play is truer to love than modern life is, for It still teaches that love is the synonym of self-sacrifice, especially for a woman.” “But why should women be more self- sacrificing than men?” Mme. Bernhardt smiled her writhing, vividly carmine smile. "Because they have the greater talent for it. The meanest women, the most stupid, has a capacity for devotion that amounts to genius," she replied. “Woman’s devo¬ tion does not always take the form of love for a man. Very often It Is a pas¬ sion for humanity, like that of Monna Vanna. But the best form it can take, the one that gives the most happiness to the world and to the woman, is—the ‘"'i of a mother for a child. The great- ” of the Madonna, most varied, not the most religion, A mother est^role ii dramatic, ''but'” beautiful . which is not dramatic at all. is the only artist who nev regrets, who can never have a Motherhood makes of every woman iu call in this country a s Attacks “Smut Drama.” r-, Th . e ^ Rev - Percival H. Barker of the First Congregational Church of May- wood, Chicago, in his sermon some time " I have always maintained that the theater was a university of the people,, but there is need for a protest against the era of smut drama, for not only at such operas as ‘Salome,’ but in nine out of ten of our Chicago theaters are indecency and unfaithfulness glori- "ART” OPPOSED TO CHARITY The Chicago Grand Opera company has again displayed a mean, not to say sordid and selfisj| spirit. Lillian Grenville, one of the stars in the organization volunteered her services for the benefit of the Volunteers of America, on December 23. The benefit is to raise funds to feed 15,000 hungry children. As soon as the management heard of the offer they began to raise a big rumpus and later they" forbade Miss Grenville from taking part. Owing to this state of affairs the benefit will probably be given at the Whitney on the same date with singers whose managers enter more into the spirit of the Christmas time, and who have some feeling for the poor and needy. ’ At the present time the opera has been occupying a good share of the space in the newspapers that usually goes to legitimate entertainments, and has put a crimp in all the other theatrical business in town. There are a good many people in Chicago who will feel relieved when the arrogant man¬ agement and its group of sensational singers have hied them hence to Philadelphia. Where Wallows the • Publisher of the Smut Song PLAINTIVE STORY, SAD BUT TRUE “For the forty-fifth time I say those seats are broken,” remarked a spectator in an Atlanta moving picture theater Thanksgiving night. A dashing young brunette, picture hat, hobble skirt and all, hobbled into the house and gracefully attempted to make herself comfortable in one of the broken seats, but an usher who was on to his job gallantly informed her that she shouldn’t risk it if she didn’t wish a seat on the floor. She got another seat. She blushed, and sweetly thanked the usher. The man-on the end seat got his cue, and he was kept busy for a time in¬ forming two-thirds of the patrons who entered the house, who seemed to have a liking for those particular broken chairs. The end man saw but little of the show between patrons wanting those seats and acting as an information bureau. Finally he asked the usher to put. a sign up, but the usher did not see the P °The climax came, however. The "in¬ formation bureau” became exhausted, after being told “you’re kidding,” and a heavyweight who insisted drew the prize Vienna, Dec. 14.—The entire men’s chorus has been summarily dismissed from the Imperial opera for what is called a “passive resistance demonstra- The men, numbering forty-eight, ex¬ asperated by refusal of their persistent appeals for better pay, decided on Satur¬ day to keep only the letter of their con¬ tracts. They appeared on the stage as usual, but suppressed their voices to whispers. The conductor’s frantic efforts to make them sing were ignored and the audience hissed them. Hence today’s punishment. The program has been rearranged so as to exclude the chorus from operas as far as possible. When necessary soloists will form the chorus. The chorus man’s salary is $100 year¬ ly until he has served three years, after which it rises gradually until he re¬ ceives $250. The Imperial Opera house has a big deficit yearly, which is re¬ couped from the emperor’s private extrfcateif'and the principal show went ADVERTISE IN THE SHOW WORLD COURIER-JOURNAL ON THEATRICALS - -s hats in theaters” evil. In this regard it hopes: “That a sufficient spirit of courtesy will prevail to prevent the recrudescence of the theater hat evil and the bitter discussion of rights which it occasioned a dozen years ago. Only the woman who has no consideration for others sits in a theater with a wide hat upon her head, and, in Louisville at least, there are now very few of that type in evidence. There are, however, quite a good many thoughtless wearers of wide hats who place the climax of the play in eclipse by beginning to put on their headgear in advance of the fall of the final curtain. Their bayonet-length hatpins so alarm persons in their vicinity while the hat is being adjusted that the disappoint^ ment incident to the shutting off of the view of the stage is less annoying than the fear of losing an eye.” It also touches on the recent optimis¬ tic interview given out recently by J. Forbes-Roberston, in which the actor speaks optimistically of present day stage conditions: “This is a view of the situation at once more cheerful and more thoughtful than that of some of the dramatic writers who, lacking perspective, and unhampered by any feeling of responsi¬ bility further than lhat of filling a col¬ umn between the ringing of the curfew and the second cock crow, lament the decadence of the drama and of man¬ kind. There is a good deal more jaun¬ dice than judiciousness in much of the pessmistic writing upon the contempor¬ ary stage. Many or them forget that comedy originated in phallic songs, and that Rome, in the days when she howled, once put the lid upon the drama be¬ cause it was shockingly indencent, and that the stage has been charged with high crimes throughout Its life as an institution. “The view that the past was- glorious and that the present is not—that for¬ merly all men were honest and all women even more so; that there were higher ideals in art and fewer low ideals in politics—is rarely upheld when an investigation is made to discover the (S’pecial to the Show World.) Moline, Ill., Dec. 14.—"Grace Story, Wyoming, Iowa," written on the shell of an egg served to Woodward Dunning in a local restaurant, has brought about the engagement of the young people. Mr. Dunning copied the name of the girl and corresponded with her. Th® wed¬ ding will be celebrated in the spring. It is interesting to note that tKe above story is the plot of “The NeSt Egg,” the play in which Zelda Sears -is now staring in the east. In this^ » For the delectation and encouragement of the too often neglected chorus girl who may sometimes think that what she does makes little or no difference so far as the public watching her stage per¬ formance is concerned, the following comment on the performance of "The Time, the Place, and the Girl,” in Baker City, Ore., November 29, is printed (the • comment is made in a communication from a Show World correspondent): "There were two things in the per¬ formance of ‘The Time, the Place, and the Girl’ deserving of special mention. One was a remarkable alto voice in the chorus, which could be heard above all the others in the ensemble numbers. The second was a plump little girl who worked on the prompt side in the broiler line. Oh, for a bunch of chorus girls who would work as hard and smile as much as she—instead of the grand¬ mothers we see so often. She was on the job all the time, and deserves the thanks of the owner of the show. Here’s to you, whatever your name is.” CORRESPONDENCE IN VERSE. Clarksville, Texas, Dec. 10. The Show World, Chicago, Ill. Gentlemen: Clarksville, opera house, Clarksville, Texas, C. O. Gaines, manager. “The Wizard of Wise Land” came this way, Followed by “The Girl From the U. S. A.” While the wizard was wise, the girl was better, “Jolly” good attractions, may they live O. J. Parham.