Variety (October 1914)

12 VARIETY ROAD "FIRST NIGHT" VERDICTS AUGUR WELL FOR NEW SHOWS "Suzi" Well Liked. Marie Dressier'* Latest a Hit. Nazimova "Over" in "That Sort." "Outcast" Bully. O'Dare Clever. Other Reports. Providence, Oct. 28. Not in several seasons has a mu- sical piece received a more rousing re- ception in this town than did "Suzi" at the opera house Monday night. It is the unanimous opinion here that in the operetta Lew Fields has a genuinely valuable bit of property. Mr. Fields himself came on Sunday night for a dress rehearsal to which most of the newspaper folk of the city were in- vited. When the final curtain rang down, the audience cheered Mr. Fields and his entertainment The music of "Suzi," by Aladar Renyi, is brilliant and sparkling; the adapted book by Otto Hauerbach is the best thing he has done in moons; and the settings are superb. Jose Collins as Suzi won many admirers by her intel- ligent and sympathetic portrayal. Tom MacNaughton has a good comedy part, which will improve with playing. Others who made Jaughing hits were Connie Ediss, Fritzi von Busing and Lew Hearn. With a week's tuning up here "Suzi" will be right for its New York opening next Tuesday. While in the city Mr. Fields spoke up bravely for Providence as a know- ing "dog" town against the attacks of A. E. Thomas and others recently. When Lew Fields attended the dress rehearsal of "Suzi" in Providence last Sunday night he was so dissatisfied with the two sets he immediately sent to New York for John Young and Robert Law to design and paint a new production. Young and Law, accom- panied by William Kellam and Robt. Williams, went to Providence Monday and looked over the production, and Wednesday delivered new scene models to the Fields office which were accept- ed. The new sets will be ready for the opening of the show Tuesday night. Atlantic City, Oct. 28. Mme. Alia Nazimova's new play "That Sort" was shown for the first time at the Apollo late last week. Basil McDonald Hastings is the au- thor. The play is built on the theme of mother-love, the principal character being Diana Laska, a woman of the streets, redeemed by her love of a daughter. The story has several mo- ments that will probably be called dis- agreeable. Diana is cast off by her husband for unfaithfulness and sinks to degrada- tion, but always remembers her child. The play begins with her attempt at suicide. She recovers and by the in- •fluence of a kindly doctor is introduced .into the household of her former hus- lband and their daughter, now grown tto young womanhood. The girl is engaged to a man with whom the mother had lived as mis- tress. The mother protests against the match and threatens to make dis- closures. The man thereupon offers the mother terms. He will give up the girl if she (Diana) will return to her old relations with him. Otherwise he will tell the girl her mother's history. There the play ends. The cast in- cludes Vincent Serrano, David Glass- ford, Beatrice Prentice, Charles Brown, Jessie Abbot, Carrie Merriless, Mildred Seagram. Clifford Brooks produced the piece for the Liebler Co. Atlantic City, Oct. 28. Under the title of "A Mix-Up" the new Marie Dressier piece was present- ed here Monday night at the Apollo and hailed as one of the funniest farces the season so far has disclosed. The premiere was one continuous laugh. There were those among the first-night audience—most of them having jour- neyed from New York—who declared the super-dreadnought comedienne had never been funnier. The farce deals with the familiar theme of an innocent husband convict- ed of impropriety on circumstantial evidence. A strange woman invades his apartment, just in time to be caught by his puritanical uncle. Hus- band is forced to introduce her as his wife. Wife returns and there you are! Miss Dressier sings one song, a tongue tangler called "Sister Susie Subtly Sews Sailors' Soft Shirts." Bert Lytell is seen to advantage as the husband.' Others in the cast are Nellie DeCrasse, Evelyn Vaughn, Helen Beaumont, Robert Ober, John P. Dougherty. Parker A. Hord wrote the play. It was staged by J. C. Huffman. Baltimore, Oct. 28. Francis O'Dare, the Irish romantic actor, made his first American appear- ance Monday night at the Colonial the- atre in the patriotic drama, "Rollick- ing Shannon." It was the first big pre- miere for the playhouse. The play seems certain to make good if the en- cores on the opening night can be ac- cepted fof anything. The drama scintillates with Irish wit, although it has also many strong dramatic situations. Mr. O'Dare sings a number of Ireland's patriotic songs in a pleasing voice and his acting is clever. He is fully capable of portray- ing the Celtic types. The supporting company is excep- tionally strong. Dan Morris Sullivan as Darby McCabe, an innkeeper, is a genuine Irishman, whose ready wit and repartee won quick appreciation. Others are Leo C. Bell, William O'Leary, Scott Moore, Scott Roberts, Nora Kavanaugh, Jeanette Mansfield, Cora Elvira, Margaret Gallagher. Syracuse, N. Y., Oct. 28. The percentage is with "The Out- cast" (Elsie Ferguson), opening here at the Empire Monday. Miss Fergu- son gave a bully performance. The show's first three acts are very good, with a very bad fourth act. "REVOLT" IN CHICAGO. Helen Ware opened Sunday night at the American Music Hall in "The Revolt," the Edward Locke problem play first shown in Philadelphia and then switched by its producer, I. Flue- gelman, to the road. •» The attraction rededicated the Music Hall to the legitimate. The usual $2 scale is shaded so that most of the seats bring $1. A packed house was present at the premiere here. BAD MONDAY NIGHT. Monday night, normally not unusual- ly good for theatricals, was abnormal- ly bad this week. Everything around town felt the slump. The biggest hits failed to sell out, and for the first time since opening, the hotels had "Chin Chin" tickets left on their hands. Monday evening turned chilly and was fine show weather. No explana- tion was given for the falling off that night, excepting New York theatres are suffering just now from the rmall number of transients in town. SHOWS IN FRISCO. San Francisco, Oct. 28. George Arliss in "Disraeli" register- ed over $8,000 on his first week at the Columbia. Indications point to an in- crease on this week's business. "The Whip" opened to capacity at the Cort Sunday. Business is light at the Alcazar, with stock. SHOWS IN NEW ORLEANS. New Orleans, Oct. 28. Emma Bunting's stock company Is outdrawing every legitimate attrac- tion in New Orleans in its first week's occupancy of its own theatre. "Too Many Cooks" at the Crescent is doing better business than "The Midnight Girl," a mediocre attraction at the Tulane. Receipts have slumped with the Beru- clie-Gypzene Players at the Lyric. South Pole pictures draws fair patron- age at the LaFayette. SCHEFF SHOW ON ROAD. The Fritzi Scheff ("Pretty Mrs. Smith") show, which closes its Casino engagement tonight, will lay off next week and on Nov. 9 will play a week of one nighters through New England to follow with a week's engagement at the Majestic, Brooklyn. The road trip has been arranged by George Ander- son, Miss Scheff's husband, who has taken the show over from Oliver Mo- rosco. Charlotte Greenwood and Sidney Grant will remain with the company. A complete route is to be laid out through the Shubert houses before the Brooklyn engagement is at an end. SHOWS CLOSING. O. E. Wee closed the western "The Girl He Couldn't Buy" at Harvard, 111., Oct. 2a "The Marriage Game" closed Satur- day night in Jersey City. It is the John Cort show which had Olive Tell in the former Alexandra Carlisle role. Just when it had been set for Florence Roberts to head the road tour the management called the whole thing off. KOLB AND PILL SHOW OFF. San^rancisco, Oct. 28. As a result of ^Ax Dill fracturing his ankle the opening night of "The Rollicking Girl" at the Gaiety, it has been decided by the management to temporarily close the show Nov. 1 and keep it idle until Dill's condition per- mits his return to the cast. The notice- able effect of Dill's absence on the box office receipts led to this decision. "Let's Get Married," scheduled to tour the interior one-nighters, has been secured to replace the Kolb and Dill show, opening Nov. 2. "1 •RED WIDOW," FAIRLY. Los Angeles, Oct 28. "The Red Widow," given at the Mo- rosco by a cast secured in New York, was fairly well done, with Harry Grib- bon playing the role created by Ray- mond Hitchcock. Grace Edmond was prima donna. Others included Edwin Wilson, Bessie Devoie, Jack Pollard and May Emory. BOTH PLAYING "GOODS." There are two productions of "Dam- aged Goods" in Newark this week. The Richard Bennett Co-Workers are at the Newark theatre with one production, while the Forsberg Players are at the Orpheum playing the same piece in stock. Manager Forsberg said Monday he was willing to gamble his organization would play to four times as much as the Bennett organization. When asked the reason he said his goods were more damaged than the regular at- traction. ROSENBERGS ARE IN. Walter and Jerome Rosenberg have an interest in the Daly Theatre Co., the Charles Taylor enterprise schedul- ed to begin at the long dark Daly's theatre Nov. 23 with a revival of ' Yosemite." Taylor is understood to have inter- ested others in the project to the ex- tent of investments totaling $11,000 in stock. BRIGHTER IN SOUTH. Norfolk, Oct. 28. Business in local theaters is better this week and the managers express themselves as much encouraged. The Wells theaters are hampered by notices of many cancellations. Princess Theatre Sketch Out "Phipps," one of the sketches at the Princess theatre, may be removed from the repertoire this week. There is a possibility "The Outcry," by Henry Kitchell Webster, will replace it.