New York Clipper (Apr 1923)

,14 THE NEW. YORK CLIKPER April 25, 1923 "WITHIN FOUR WALLS" DULL IN SPOTS BUT RATHER ENTERTAINING -WITHIN FOUR WALLS," a com- edy-draou in two acta and nine scenes, by Glen MacDonotigii. Produced at the Selwyc Thatrc. Tuesdaj c^axnn, April 17. CAST Clancy Waller Lawrence Gcrrit Minuit Lcunard -Doyle Asnen Meade Anne Morruon Delphine \ Hester Van Dan \ Helen Ware Sally Haynes J Vartc/oa B'jbcrdinate cbaracten gro-jpcd .ia two leparate -sets of characters; played by the following: John Keefe. Wamei Anderson, Violet l>imo^ Dorian^Anderson,. Florence Gerald, Sherman Wade. Cugexie^ HacGrcvor, Clay Carroll, Marie Benia.' Leonard Doyle. John Feralock, Nancy Xjet, A little bit of eretythiog is incorpor- ated in "Within Four WalU," comedy, drama, oelodraoB, some good and some bad, with the good in the lead, ereryduDg considered.- The acting of Heico Ware and Anse Moirison stood out above any- thing else of merit in the Various mechanics invented in the movies are used in the piece especially the "cut back." . The action starts with a scene in 1923 and goes back to 1820 and touches other periods in between. Gerrit Minuit, a fail- ure, is reading some old papers conceniing his ancestors wbo be blames for his fail- UT^ being that their faults have been re- flected in himself etc His former sweet- heart is with him and she nrtces him to ' foiget his forefathers and go out and ■home. - ' : A "cut back?' to «'A Spring Day in '1820," is the next scenfi Old John Minu- it has retnmed home, apparently to die after his strennooa- adventores in darkest -Africa, dealing in slavcK ■ The old man's coasdence bothers him' because he has '^mordered a boy. A tropical fever has him 'on his last legs ami a nnrie- akiUed in the treatment of the disease^ an octoroon, b bron^t to nurse him. The'next devel- opment handed die play a. knockout from which it never fully., recovered. It - de- 'vdopB 4Bt the norse is i ^' veii ged when she 'tdls the dying man that'she is his former 'mistress ajid ttet the boy he has killed is bis own son. Subsequent scenes' had some farce^om- edy and crther things. One' "Scene "con- cerned a flirtatious hu%band and ..a con- :tented wife who was^ b^jnpingntp-grow tired of her existeritge. as soch. - The final scoie was on the litUe old New York order and a cheap melodrama, probably based on one of the fomous shootings of a few gen- 'eraiions ago, was poorly acted and staged' °jnst as bad. Few in the cast did well with thdr re- 'spective parts. Anne Morrison revealing herself as an excellent comedienne, and Hden Ware did very well with her parts, missing on one occasion which may have .been no fault of'hers. ;In spots the'play shows signs of good staging and costum- ing, but on the whole, is a terrible conglo- -mecation of faulty acting and writing, i A "n"*^^ of the.old song .hits of a score or more years ago were plaj^d dur- ing the piece, among .'them being "Rosie CGiady.'' "After the BaU," "The Side- walks of New York," and others-which a large portion of the audience remembered wen enong^ to ham. Re-arranged, the "Fotir Walls" would idoiditless ^ a better entertainment. ' : ^ IIEW:'NA>iE tokJ*frVB. ;9lviBeV^ ;; ■ 'WloChell fSfnlth tah' u) i iJj)i e ti e d litwiHIug -aie scoMid att of •^i'^HVeO? 'iMiatim. early in Jime otit of town.' SHAKESPEARE IN STOCK The stock companies seem to be taking up the Shakespearian craze as well as Broadway. The New Bedford Players, of New Bed- ford, Mass., staged a revival of "The Merchant of Venice" last week, with Ed- ward Waldmann especially engaged for the role of Shylock. The local papers were . loud !n their praise of WaMmann's per- formance and from all accounts the produc- tion enpoyed a prosperous week. Several other stock companies are now planning to revive "The Merchant," with a prominent player as guest star to play Slqrlbdc as' 'W'aldmann did in New Bed- ford. EASTERN SHOWS FOR COAST San Fkancisoo,' April 23.—Mclntyre and Heath will open with "Red Pepper" at the Sbubert-Corran theatre on Monday, April 29. They will be foltowed into the ; bouse by "ShufOe Along" the colored show which is now wending its way westward. "HOW COME" FASTEST DANCING SHOW OF THE WHOLE SEASON "HOW COHE," ■ giily mostcal dark- medy, score by Ben Harris, book by Eddie Hontcr, additional jiombcrs by Henry- Creamer and Will Vodery- I*ro- duecd at the Apollo Theatre. Ifodday evening, April 16, - ^ CAST Deaccn Lmg Tack Andrew Fairchild Sarah Green Amanda Craig Erother Wire Nail Leroy Brobmfield Didores Lcve Nina Hunter Suter Dcolittle *.'.'..". Hilar? Friend Cbcneser Green••.**.....,.Anm Davis . Brother Ham Alec Lovejor ' A. SD\art Chappy Ch^ppelle Malinda Green .Juanita-Stinnctte Rnfos WIk : Cco^ W. Cooper Rastus Skunkton Lime....Eddie Biioter' Dandy Dan '. .'.:G^ee C Lane Ophelia Sdow . . .Andrew TrihUe - Smilinff San. , / -.Billy'HiftBins Otcther Low- Dcwn James Dingbat' Sister Wbale.';.Octavia Sawder If "Shuffle Along" or "Strut Mi^ Liz- zie" left any step undanced, that oversight ..was Temedied 'IV' the more or less, dark- isldiined "muncal darkdmedy" "How .Come," .«hich,J^e||i tfoWii.a^ &e Apollo last -Holiday mgfat." Doiibd^js; there were never's6' many fljwig; fef|t..'9n'any stage not of &e super hippodrome class. From the standpoint, of .th^ libretto the show niay be'attenuated,'btit it is'thick 'with legs and its footage is incredible. "How Come" employs almost all of the nimble high kickers -who' 'were seen a year or so ago at Daly's Sixty-third Street Theatre, and since that time in the cabaret belt Its jaz2y score is the work of Ben •Harris and Henry Creamer and Will Vo- dery, 'who ilid "Strut Miss Lizie" and other negroid musical entertainment There is a racy chorus that executes be- wildeniig rushes from the wings and is not noticeably 'oicundiered with- inhibitions. "The leading'' comedian, Eddie Hunter, 'Woi-ks somewKat after the Bert. Williams style but lades the'finish and ability of the late artist AlAougb' considerably lightweight on 'comedy. How Cbine". b one of the fastest -nmsical shows Broadway has glimpsed since "Shuffle Along." Had "How Come" been the first'pf the colored cast shows to t^ch'Broadlvay ifs Success tvould doubt- less h^e .b^= fidbdark^lit, but following ■io ttany loses, the.ii^v*elty 'app^ aqd UtaA'tii^i^cft're fttabd.on-its-own'.merits. - ='Th'ei« vHt sbm goiad'soilKs In the score anil tbii ord^festrai foqliKtM' •bjr'^l Vo- 'dcky. gi^ -them as' well'a»''th« faltrbmen- tal portion, a tcally fine interpretatioar- "DEVIL'S DISCIPLE," SHAW REVIVAL, AT THE GARRICK ■THF, DEVIL'S DISCliPLE." a melo- drajna by Itcraard Shaw, presented at the Garrick Theatre bir the Theatre Guild on Monday evening, April 23, 1932. CAST Mrs. Annie PrimrL-ee Dudgeon, Beverly Sitgraves' F.ssic Martba-Brran Allen ChriMy Gerald Hamer .•\nthony Anderjpn Moffat Johnston Judith Anderson -Lotus Robb ' Law.ver Hawkitis ..Alan MacAteer WilliaiD Dudgeon Bryan Russell Mrs. William Dudgeon. .Kathe'ryn Wilson Titus Dudgeon Lawrouc' Cecil ' Mrs. Titus Dudgeon Maude Ainslie Richard Dudgeon Basil Sydney' The Serfienol Lawrence Cecil Majce- Swindfn Reginald Goode General Durpcyne Roland Young Mr.. Bnidenell Bryan Russell When Shaw wrote "The Devil's Dis- dple" he bad not yet become truly Shavian • and only here and there gave the promise of the keen satire that was to bring him fame later in his career. But the play is still a Shaw play, and it docs contain a great deal of ^e real Shaw spirit, nicely mould- ed and served in a melodiama that is, at times, as gripping as old "ten, twenty, thirty" shows which we viewed from the peanut ^llery on die. shoemaker's "bill- boaitls" m the days of our early youth. The time of the story is during the early -days of the American-Revolution 'and Dick -Dudgeon, who has the misfortune, to be a liberal thinker set amid'the Puritan re- strictions of a New Hampshire town, startles his neighbors' by telling them that ,he is .a disciple of the' devjl;',e*tcrilnig the •many virtues of his Satanic'inaiesty and :avpwin^ that he knew fro«n the first that 'the Prmce of Darkness !w^s his natural -liiaster and captain/'and friend.^ Kck hAs 'just inherited the old home and, in. effect. states that'he will turn it into a'temple of Diabolonianism, where everything shall be happy and carefree, with fear abolished and jio tears shed. Later in the play 'we see .'Dick Dudgeon, mistaken by the British troops for the husband of the lady with whom he is having tea, led to the allows -unprotesting, to be hung for the crime of which the lady's husband, a Presbyterian ^minister who is under suspicion, is accf^ed. Of (Miurse he escapes'the death penalty'as the dust-covered minister rides up at the last .minute with the papers establishing'Iiis own, innocence. PKiUp Moeller, who staged the prodtic- tion, has made a fine job of it and Lee Si- m'onson has devised some great period cos- tumes and stage settings. .. Thb play was last seen in New York 'about 1897 with Richard Mansfield in . the leading^ role. - It. is • fairly safe to say that 'averaging, the general excellence of the cast in the present production with that of Mansfield and his supporting company, and discounting the glamour that time has im- parted to some of the liaines in the Mans- field production, the present play sets a higher standard. It is difficult' to pick out any of the lesser characters for their good work, -for those who had relatively un- important parts did their work as credit- ably as those who' played the leads. Basil -Sydney, as the_ swaggering Dick Dudgeon, gave a splendid performance as also did Miss Lotus Robb as the parson's wife. But a role that was filled wiA realism and made somediing to .wonder at was that of Genera]' Bnrgoyne^ - played by ' Roland Yotmg ■with -a fine distinction. and tech- nique that was a joy to behold. LITTLE NLLY FOR AUSTRALIA ; Little Billy, w,ho has just' completed a tour of the'Orph'eum Grcuit,.'will sail from San Francisco oh Jime 1.5 for. a twenty- wedc engagement in Australia. ■' "BERANCER" AT COMEDY The Harvard Dramatic Oub presented Sacha Guitry's "Beranger" on Thursday evening, April 19, at the Comedy Theatre, as the second bill of their week's program. The .play is replete with allusions to . Napoleon, Louis XVIII and other mem- bers of the royal family of that period,']and concerns '-Beranger," who composed'sonigs, particularly one which worked its way into the heart of France during the trying times of the revolution. Three' episodes in the life of Beranger are taken by Guitry for ' His material for the play, the details for the most part being uninteresting to the aver- age American theatre-goer 'whose thirst for :Frendi history is limited. However, the best scene is reserved for the last The- old song writer returns to the scenes of his youth, and hoping to cheer him the town's peorple-strikeiup a famous tune, where.'npon Beranger says the song is not his, and alludes to fame in-cynical manner. . The company does some fair work. John Collier played the part of Beranger, which proved to 6e real difficult Dorothy Goog- ins, in ithe-leading feminine role, was pleas- ing and displayed- fiiie- stage presence. Probably the b^f individual performance was given by Conrad Salmger, who portrayed a Talleyrand of considerable merit .- -- SOTHERN-MARLOWE FLAMS After a season of inactivity, the greater rt of which was spent touring abroad, H. Sodiem and Julia Marlowe are plan- ning to return to the stage next season, Xhey'\will 'again sail 'under -the Sfaubert ' Ibaiiner and will offer a repertoire of plays. :Among the plays which they will do wHl be /^r^rmbeline," which has not been oo die Aiiierican stage in many years. The. re- mainder of their repertoire will include "Hamlet." "Twelfth Night," "The Mer- chant of 'Venice," "The Taming of the Shrew," "As You Like It," "Much Ado About Nothing,"- "Macbeth,?' "Anthony -and Cleopatra"-and "Romeo and Juliet" " Miss Marlowe, in accordance with her custom of acting only in alternate seasons, ■will not appear the season after next but -it- is announced that'Mr. Sothem will be seen at that time tmder the'direction of Lee Shubert in three new plays.: "Two of these plays are entirely new to the Ameri- can stage and the third is a revival of a success of the past. Miss Marlowe and Mr. Sothem'will-sail for. England on May I and expect to en- 'gage players and prepare costumes for their productions during their stay abroad. ' : THEATRES JOURNEY ON MAY 7 The Great Neck Players..of Great Neck, L. I., and the Alliance' Players, of Jersey City, are the latest groups to enter the Little Theatre Tournament, which will be conducted with the co-operation of the New York Drama League and which will open at the' Bayes Theatre on Monday, May 7. The event will run throughout toe week and will provide each group an op- porttmity to display their best talent. "nRST THRILL" IN BROOKLYN "The First Thrill," a comedy by Beulah Poynter which George LelBer is sponsor- ing at the Montaidc Theatre, Brooklyn, this week, will conclude its season of two weeks on Saturday night The play will be rewritten and the attraction proiduced again by Leffler in the fall. REVELERS START ON SATURDAY .The. Revelers, an organization recently organized along die lines of the Sixty Club with its membership limited to' peo- ple, in the theatrical'professioh, will'have lis.first affair de^ibed as a"Vanity Fair'? at the Ritz <^fton Hotel on 'Saturdav night . This will be the' bee;innirig of -a series of bi-wedcly events that wiircontiOiie through the summel'. "