The billboard (Nov 1911)

52 T tte Bi llboapd NOVEMBER 11, 1911. WILL ROSSITER NOTES. (Contlnned from page 12.) Clark and Ber^an are also meeting with more thaik passlDS saccess with Mamma's Sbnfflla* Dance. Tbe Church City Fonr are singins the rallad beanUfnl. Love Me. Let the World Go By. Harry W. Splngold's .Three Dixie Girls are ' taklnK nlshttr encores with Iiet's Mafee rove s WhIle the Ifooa Shinea. V' SylTta De Frai^ a big winner la Let's -Make Love While the- Mi>on Shines. Diamond and Kelson-are dellgbted with tbe f befcaTior of I'd Lore to lire Iii.-IiOTeland Vritl: . • Gin Like Yon and Let's Hake Love While l:. the Moon Shines. Sam T. Harris calls himself the Bosslter Boost- In? Eld, as be i:f sfai^inj? a complete WiU Rn^st - ■-^:uier .repertoire, indiidins his supreme hit. When -?:I;rWoker'Up this Morning. y Mnmmj's Shnffiln* Dance Is.a TrmrlwlBa hit E .wltli -Wells. Holmrs snd. ^ Si?:«»siB«d9s!a>ixoB.ii>aaiaeins' X£t^ tLore^While. ^^^IhKJfaonTSbinegindsUinnmy's.'Shnlllln; Dance.' : \ Those JVrar Entertain''rs are enterralntng audi - ' ence8 ;witb That; Carolina Ra?. PARIS LETTER. (Contlnned from page 13.) lOmatantlB. MoDdenr PtegolB. etc.. are among ^itbe pieces s he- appeared la, and the anthers of <>;tliese :are'demanding of M. de Bosa. his mana- iger. their fnil royalties for each presentation. - De Rosa has offered two per cent, wbleli has been Indignantly refused, and a Joint lawsnlt will prolMbly be resorted to. -■ There is some criticism as to M. Gnitry's at- titude, some saying he Is Indllferent which way : the tiling goes, and has strangely left the an- ' tbora fight It ont with the Impresario. LB BABGT AGAIN. :3omemonts ago mneh was printed In these eolnmm : concerning the possible, or probable, 'Rslgnatlon of V. -Le Bargy from the Comedie- . fftancalae. The- question of. leavlnj^- this -play^- ^ hsnse has come np again, and with It the tem- i.pest-In-a-teapot Is sizzling worse than ever. The thing is now certain. . The famons actor - win leaTe the Comedie-Francala^ in Jannary, He win go to tbe Port Sslnt-Martln Theatre, re- placing. In a way, Lnclen Gnltry, who.-in a bna. went over- to the TandeTilie. M. Le Bargy la to get $25,000 , a year, pins a percentage^ which is gotbg some better than the ^000 or -C9,0ao he drew down as salary and prollts from • the Comedle-Ftanealse. : , Also he Is to tonr -America. He win play :..I^rano de Bergerac and Le Marquis de Prlola -—probably. ••Probably" la correct. For It Is said that an Injunction wHl be secured to prevent M. Le ■Bargy appearing In any other playhonse other than the Honse^of Ifollere. Tbe moment his ■ame Is pasted on a billhoatd. blngl The blew win fan. Also It seems doiAtfnl-If he wm be allowed to pisy Le Uanmls de Prlola entslde - the Comedte. Apropos of this Henri Lavedan vWIOte the following to iL Jules Claretle. dlree- : tor of the Comedle: •'Saint-Cere. 17 OcUbre. - "The statement that I have Riven the right to play La Unrquls de Prlola to '.s.Bargy at the Porte Saint-Martin Is not exact. Prlola con- tloups the property of the Comedle-Francalae. "tJLVBDASt." SOUB MOTES. - De .Max has been engaged to appeac at the Cbatelet Xbeatxe la tbe. pmdnetlan of La Coarse -avK Dollars. - - • • -Dnrinir a oerfonnance of The Bluebird at the Bejane Theatre. OelDhin. the yonsgater who plays the part of Tyltyl. the Dor. in the piece, fell tbr.ngh a trap- door- and was painfully in- jured about the head and back. His nnderstudy was sent for. and beyond a somewhat lengthy wait, no noticeable damage was done to^the per- formance itself. Selphln Is improving rapidly. Nicod, a seventeen-year-old French XKrr. in a twenty-fonr-bour roller skating contest this week, ca-^e first with .4SS kilometres (ahont 393 miles). Tbe record estaUlahed last spriag by Jesse Carey, the American efaampian. Is about five miles father than this- The yonngster did not leave tte floor once.-tliongh he started to lie down on the track twice;' aiid had to he fipnrreil on by bis trainers. LONPON LETTER. (Continued from page 13.) on bnslnns. bet U rraUty to Xneeme on pleas- nre and with a fbnner love.. At tbe-end of live w«efcs he zetorns. Bat. In the: meantime hta wife baa not been idle. The little conntty moose iias become acclimatised. :-. She Is now a gay and giddy woman of the world. Althontrh still fond of her husband. She feels that the best way to bring him back is to carefully retrain from showing It. And whea Roger discovers that the dowd. gorgeously plumed, has become a glory among' women, he is stirred by an In- stlttctl-re desire to'ma after her.' Bat by tliis time Pemande looks -with fa-vor on another—a ymmg man of handsome looks, who makes the pace a jtvely one, : And tten. of coarse, Femsnde eomea alon? with the sncgestlon of the conventloaal core of jealousy. 'Vareine rings her np on tVe tele- phone late-at night, and asks her to go olf with him. Of conrse. tbe hnsband arrives on tbe scene In time to hear her hesitatingly agree. In a bisze of paaslo? he nearly strangles his wife, and at the same time convinces hef that be has some atfecton for her. By the next morn- ing, however. Soger Is In a -very different frame of mind; and talks to Us wife about his desire to make her hapiqr and Ms readiness to go away to Spain If necessary In order to smooth the gith for the hapslness of her and her lover, earing this Femande Is on the point of flying headlong Int* his arms and beseech him to do nothing of tlie kind. Bnt the wise old nude Intervenes in time, snd persuades her to keep op the pretence of Indifference to the last. She does so. and la the end the hnsband finds that he jBst can't leave her, and so sU ends hapnll.- It wonid be dlfflcnlt to call the play a -good one, bnt It Is ouite redeemed from any chance of failnre by the -wonrterfnl acting of Hare as the old oacle. an- Marie Lohr as the wifo The latter practieany has to- carry the play on her hack, and her sncecss. for so yonng an actress. Is Bometbtng remarkable. On the first night both of them received a great ovation from the andlence. The other iiarts are also exceed- ingly well handled. Arthnr Wontn« has a thankless part as tbe husband. Imt he makes a good showlnr with It. Godfrey Tearle, as the ■ver. was as ardent as a'lover ahonld be. .And. even If the play Itself should not last. Hare's study of tbe old man will long be remembered. Two good musical comedies have recently seen the light. One is The Love Mills, which has bad a considerable run in Belgium, and has tiecn put on here at the Globe. The t>ook Is by Frantz Fon«on and Femand Wicheler but it has been adapttil—and very considerably altered— by Leslie StUes. The Idea of the piece Is that an Inkeeper, Claes. has such supreme confidence in the faltliftilnrss of his wife that he signs an official document that he 'vi'iU allow any man In the town who gets posseiuilon of tbe '^aper to make Iov£ to bis wife. Of course tbis soon happens and then there is trouble at once, for Claes immedlstely gets insanely Jealous of his wife—entirely wlthont cause, as It happens, and It takes a lot of artificial stage work and make- believe before the two in the end are recon- ciled. Tbe music, however, is first rate and there are some tattling good son^. One song, written by Lonls HiUier, called The Queen of Hearts, is one of tbe best walttz son^s 1 have heard for a long time, and fibonld be all the ^^rage -^wben ..the ..pantomime^ season . starts. .Nan Stuart., a- pretty, vivacious actrcts. makes a great hit as the wife, and Leslie Stiles plays the husband in the most breezy manner. The Other characters don't cut mnch ice. bnt the whole entertainment is exceeillngly "merry and bright." and looks like mnntig for some time. The other departure In musical comedies is Bonita. by Wadbam Peacock and Harold Sim- son, both strangers to tbe stage. Xot that this appears to lie any disadvantage In. tbe ifrcsent 'nstance because there is a vein of freshness vnnning through the piece that ^ves it consid- erable attractiveness. One new feature is that Portugal Is tbe scene of the action, and also tbat there is quite a tragic prologue before the first act. In this an Incident of the Peninsular War Is iHstrayed. In whicb the grandmother of Bonita. then a yonng wife, sees her hnsband shot dead. The rest of tbe piece follows much on the nsnal lines. The principal character is a lawyer. Frc4lerico. of the villainous type, who nnblnshlngly de- clares himself tbe biggest rogue of the island where the scene takes place. One of his prac- t^es Is to oi>en and read aU letters tbat arrive In tbe Island, and by this means he discovers that Bonita Is an English heiress, with estates and a title coming to her. And, of course, as the villain should, he decided to marry her. Tills Uttle scheme, however, is somewhat frus- trated bv the arrival of Bpnita'a consla. Lieut Arthnr Mannerton, who has 'come, along with his company of hnssars, to search for Bonita. Having fonnd ber. he promptly [proposes. The rest of the story is taken up -with her accept- ance of her lover auii the way in wliich. in the end they defeat the deco and dark machinations of Frederico. The. end is reached by the latter and Mannerton'submitting tbeWdalms on Bo- nita to lie decided by a prettily conceived trial 1iy fire,, each lover pladng a flower on an altar on which a lire has been lighted after an Invo- cation to St. Anthony. - H The piece lends itself to burlesque to a large extenti aad as -the lawyer. Lionel Macklnder does s>me splendid fooling. Clara Evelyn makes a very satisfactory Bonita and sings most charmingly. The music Is very well written and is both easy and melodious. One of the zreat features is the handling of the crowds. Under the direction of Granvme Barker. wIh> produced the play, some entirely original effect? have bern reached in this direction—snch. fat instance as giving each of them a distinct ex- damation of his own. Instead, of all sboutinp the some tUng. and th« result Is very striking The piece did not so well when It wss first put on. bnt It has been eonsiderablye remodeled since, and now ongbt to go very wen Indeed. WITH EDGED TOOLS. • ((^ntlnaed from page 8.) opinion of a prodnetion as a whole, hnt linlte in pronouncing it tinsuitable for the American taste. Frederic Hatton, In the Post, said: "The senti- ment -with which England invests these who are carrying the nation's mission of world power t«. far-comers of the earth, isn't well understood ii- America, for. most of us leave native sod only for pleasure. - With Edged Tools may be de scribed as a stndy of the Englislunan in tbe bnsb of the African west coast. Tbat sangniaary en- vironment makes a beast of one Briton and a man of asother. The human Items in this stor> are familiar In British fiction. There Is a prond Sir John, whose harshness genda hU son to Africa, the Bdgiavia beauty who Is unworthy of the tatter, and the simple Xoango girl who Is. The yonng man comes back to England with the rlfEht girl in prescribed play .fashion. She. however, has an admirer In Africa, who makes all sorts of trouble, nntll be is tortOred and mutilated b> his own slaves, and then sent Imck to climax the fourth act, with a terrlVlc death by .'way of tbe sleeping sickness. "With Edged Tods Is the other sort of British play, the one we rarely see over here. It place> smaU emphasis on brittle banter, and tea Is servnc only (mce. The average -American audience wii< view It with at least curiosity." -Ashton Stevens, in the Examiner, cimslders tb- Elay'azehalc: "A cnrloeity in play and playing I afforded by the Whitney Opera House, when an English company aopears In Henry Seton Mer- rlman's book-play. With Edged Tools. I do not know whether the performance or the piece is the more archaic. The book is not a-thousand yean, old. and there are In the company fairly youn^ actors, who have given only l.OTO presentation^ of the play in Great Britain. "They are a cnrlons. belated little band of Brit iahers, and very far from their native pr«>vinces. Their acting is tbe pretentions, elaborate, stage Bed acting of a day long dead, bnt they go about It so earnestly, -with such perfect team wort for such Imperfect efforts that one can not bnt bi^ kindly disposed. They are .as strange In a Loop theatre of Chleago as they would be la a West End theatre In london. Their innocence of the moving hand of time is almost patlietic. "Good English acting most Americans are ac- quainted with, since a third of the casts of mt princlnal productions Is recruited from london. Pnt tbis kind is new. An American "road" com- pany in 'St. Elmo' would not bo more strange to liondon. There Is such a tmstfalness In tbe en- terprise. The company might have worn Its cos- tumes ever the water and carried the scenery In Its trunks." The Inter Ocean ciMisIders the com>-any ex- cellent, bnt criticises the pla.r: "Not half a do>!"i. examples of finer acting have been seen In Chi- cago in recent years than tbat submitted by a company of English players at the Whitney Opera House last evening. A vivid, freqnently wordy mdodrama was the subject of their ^Eorts, and It was performed under dlflicnltles tKat to play- ers leas sincere and less expert wonld hare ap- peared almost insurmoontabls. A cramped stage. scenery pitifully frayed au<l woru by long use, a futile and uncertain orchestra frequeutiy depend- ed on to create atmosphere. IlgbtlKg and scenic effects of the crudest sort—all these scorned In league against the llttW company, yet by the sheer force of their artistry the actors wovo their own spell, drove home situation after situation, and dung a 'big' scene in the faces of their auilieuce like a ml scar across tbe fabric of the apiieallttg love story." WITH EDGED TOOLS, Henry Seton Merrimau's book-piay, made from hiji novel of tbe same name.' Presented by an English company in tbe Whitney Opera Bouse, Cbicago, Oct. .11, mil. The cast: Sir'John Meredith Rlchanl HIckn Jack Meredith Hamilton Deant- Guy Oscard Stanley Bedwell Maurice Gordon Charles Hattopp ■Victor Dumovo Campbill Goldsmiil The Doctor Graham Pockett Footman Aries Conway Servant Wentworth Gracmi! Lady Cantoume ...-Alice Maude Mllllcent Chyne .Marguerite Cclller Jocelyn Gordon ...Marie I.eonhard Lady Herrles Nora Craigie Marie Florence Ddlbunty STAR AND PLAY' DELIGHTS. (Continued from page S.) to this star. A happy combination still Is tbiy of Fiske and Mitchell—that of pleasant mem ory in The New Tork Idea and Becky Sharp. No other -American who writes for the stage has dared to so folly imderstand the high- strung, nervous, alert, intellectoal women of these United States as lias Mr. Mitchell, anil no actress realizes them so successfully as Mrs Fiske."- Aston Stevens Is perhaps gnllty of tbe severest criticism. His remarks in tbe Exam- iner accuse the new play of being "ail words:" "It Is brilliant, but it is all words. To be sure, the actlun of The New Marriage rushes like a French farce, precisely like a French farce, for tbe action is movement rather than real action. "Tou are eternally bewildered, but seldom satisfied. There is such a restlessness, such a shrilling of the nerves. *tThe very piiicldity of the trained - nurse in tbat nfurastbeolc environment l>^omrs a ner\ousness perverted. Ob, for one human comic figure to 'liave and to hold,' as tbe sellers say. "Mrs. Fiske has given hier own nervous best and an almost faultless production -Langdon Mitchell's new play. It Is exquisitely set. Its manners (and she Is the artist stage manager of modem -manners) flatter even the high social order that . Mr. Mitchell draws from -and on. "There are moments of wonderful situation; flash after flash of wonderful line." O. L. Hall In the Journal also finds occasion :o romplain of tbe play's talfclness. He prefaces bis, review of the pro<Iaction in'these words: "Whoever wonld hear all there Is to say abont marriage and tbe things which make it happ.v or otherwise sboold take himself to the Grand Opera House, whereat Mrs. Fiske Iwgan her engagement last night by acting a new comedy writtrn by Langdon Mitchell and :slled The New Uartlage. This new play reveals the secret of Mitchell's long abstinence from antbor- stiip; he. has been: boarding Ills: vocabulary for this new periphrasis. . -. The new play to- vei?- smart as to dialogue, and it is exliaiistlve. No one In It uses one vari when ten will an- swer the purpose Just as well. The characters all know ail the standard aids to circumlocntion. The play begins very well and Xeeps a gentle grip of interest through two of its four acts. It then l>ecomes tedious, partly because it con- tinues its torrent of speech, and partly because It turns ont to be a warming over of old'mater- iaL It drives one's memory back to Dlvorrons, Mrs. Partner, Penelope and Sanee for the Goose. THB CAST. Wilmer Crimley Joseph Kiigour Agnes Bromley .- Minnie Maddem Fiske Mrs. Elllcot .....Blizabeth Fagan Blanche Ellicot Aime Bradlev Mrs. Cantrip .' Hattle Bnssel'l Horace Byethome ...SheUey -HnU Leona Byethome ' Giadya Hanson John Goodloe Edward Donnelly Jane Goodloe Edwalyn O'Connell Professor Lake Horoaby Douglaai Patterson Jennie Gonn ...Hden Van Bmgb Koakosnra ..T. Thmnnoto -Antolne .....J. T. Challle Emilia QUds Varesi HANKY PANKY. ((X)ntliined from' page 8.) "At any rate. Mr. S-alch hi> i>t:uled t^'ngs at the right pace. E. Bay Goetz has provided Jingle that fits the hour. And A. Baldwin Sloane has written some music that would net have shamed old Sttomberg himself. "One of Sloane'g airs is nnescapable. The beys on my typewriting machine are dancing to it now. It's an air that's In the air. The whole tswn wiU know It In a couple of da.vs. It is already doomed to a glorious chestnnthno)!." The Journal devotes a negligible amount of spaee to critldsms. bnt reviews all the acts. The Tribune summarises the production In these words; A Hanky Panky, It seems. Is something with girls, music and Jokes, which follows a vaude- vlUe prologue. After Miss Mabel Bnnyra's lover bad shot her boaband to much applanse. and Mr. De Haven had snng of wine and wom^n Jocnlarly, there was an intermission. Hanky Panky was then Introduced. Tbis was a tern- miBcence of tbe old Weberfields entertainments, with a -wisp of a burlesque and a stage Jew coming Into dramatic conflict with two comic Teutons. Mr. Harry Cooper took the place of Mr. David Warfleld, and Mr. Ons Sogers and Mr. Bobby North Imitated Messrs. Weber and Fields. They were very funny for a while. As evidence, Mr. Rogers' definition of a qnartet may be sub- mitted. 'A quartet,' said he. 'Is composed of three men and a tenor.' Mr North, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Cooper Indulged In Jest tor a time, and tlien Miss (Sertmde Qutnlan. apiieared and announced a song entitled She. Is -More to Be Pitted than Smallpoxed. "A song or ■ two followed, one of them en- titled Where the Edelweiss Is Blooming, offered by Mr. North, Mr. Bogeta, Miss Mona Desmond and another yonng woman, so gracefully and rhythmically tliat many encores were the re- sult. Somewhere In Hanky Panky there was supposed to be a burlesque of Get-RIcb-Qulck Walllngford, the most fertile field of burlesque tbat tbe American play offers. Bnt Mr. Edgar .Smith, the librettist, fell by tbe wayside snd failed to puncture that atuffed prophet of our popular plays. Tbere were many handsome youne women in the chorus, and, strange to lay, the^ were not Intrusive." Tbe News prints the moat complimentary notire of Hanky Panky. excepting tbe American, in n-hich latter sheet Jack I.alt spealcs most kludlv of tbe new productlou. Ilcaaing its revh^w". "Lew Fields to Keseue," the News said: "Lew Fields has come to our rescue and gufssid what Chicago wanted ail these yearii, and if Chicago has Its blinders off,- the new Lew Fields American.Music Ball will be the Im- mediate goal of tbe wiary one, the blasp piny- man aad tbe charming matinee'woman wlio ne<fl!* a cliange. "Somehow, the old music hall primped up becomingly and lield its big, happy audience Joyfully and handsomely. The entertainmeut Is —when Jt is tinishtd—to- be rather neart-r real French vaudeville than anything else, althotigu those who reveled In tbe original Wriicr-Flelils shows of many years ago will recognize the form and the irresistible variety in tbe aGTalr given as a promise last evening. -Always this sort of a show must have time to stiidy Its audiences, to quli the locality, to sniff at the hetls of the town a wblle and learn Its own ground tboroughl}-. Last nlgbt things were in tbe fidgets and many of tbe best departures were smothered by nervous troubles and the In- evitable mechanical and decorative shudders in- separable fro:it a notable biting off of tbe old ends of worn thread and spooling along with new. At that, tbe spirited sbow pranced out In trig step, with so much which will be better next time, that It came almost as an Invitation to bu.v a second batch of tickets Just to prove the certainty," Thus wrote Lait: . "Cbicago shook hainds with its <dd pal, the American Music-, Hall last lilgbt; threw Its arms around Hanky Panky and bugged to Its langbtcr-sbakcn bosom a new style of enter- tainment—a breesy, crackling creation iUnmln- ated.wlth tbe genius of Lew Fields, .America's foremost figure In tbe gentle art of maldng wholesale laughter and metropolitan frivolity. "It'was really Halloween—not an April Fool. -AU tbe rosy promises iieid out for the Field- size music hall and its »how were tulfille^i, and a bit of lagnlappe. "The boose, aglow in Its new decorations, was packed with enthusiasts who drank In every line and gesture, and applauded tbe trav- esty In the a. m. part of the calendeHc division. Then they went away happy. And the men Snd women whose hearts and souls and ambltloss ave been wrapped into this pretentions re- inaugural of a house which In Its brief career has founded Itself upon a loyal affection of Its followers and has become an Instltntlon of nation-wide fame, were happy, too. "The first half of the entertainment is s sort of latterday vaudevUIe. It looks Ilks vaudevlUe, It acts like vaaderlUe,,, jet It Is more pleasing." . THB (XAST. Cutle Wriggle-......'.... Miss Mona Desmond Dopie Wriggle ......i -Miss Myrtle Gilbert Baby JeweU .*...i.Mlss Ads Christie Pudgy Plumpers Miss Ethel Sberwin lona Carr . Miss Jeaa Calvert Ponsonby ......... . ;Hugh Cameron Earl of Stoneybroke ........iOUbert Ckdeman Sir J. Bntns Walllngford .;.:.v;Banr Tighe Herman Blerheister ...,,.,,.,,,,,,Max Rogers Wilhelm Ransmitt ., Bobby North Solomon Bumpskl Harry Cooper Clorinda S ribblem : . .Miss Gertrude Qnlnlan Blackle Daw ....,,...v..>....Cartcr De Haven Cleopatra .Miss: Adeie BItcble Mal»-lie Whitney Miss Flora Parker Dnstln -— Cheater Burhans m IIMCE WILSM lataofthe WIISON SISTEIS Now (daying in tiie Orient. Feimanent address, Savoy Hotel, Shanghai, China. EVA UNSELL & CO. FBESENTINQ THE COHBDY DRAMA The Girl and The Ruby tToited time. Pecmaneint address. Hie Billboard, NevYoritaty. N0THIN6 TO DO TIU TOMORROW OTIS FRANCES KNIGHTandDEYER ORPHEUM CIRCUIT Lytton Dramatic Company In a sepertolre of bteh-clan ataodatd plays, n nmte. Permaaent addma, 220 W. Uberty St., Cincinnati, O. WANTED Colored performers who can double it* brass. Need two good comet players. We never close. Money sure. Show billed strong. No boozers. Travel in own calB. THE GREAT SPIEGEL, 8. G. Paris, Mgr., 249 Virginia Avenue, Indianapolis, Ind. If Ton ■•• It IB She BiUbeaid TsU Than Bo.