Variety (November 1922)

Friday. November 17, 19211 LEGITIMATE ■T<p*.' r' ^-^^v^^-jyy. 17 EQUmrS "HOSPITAIITY" SECOND TRY AT 48TIf STREET 1' ^J(ush'' Calls New Play "Solid Week of Rainy Sun- day Momingt"—Four AcU of Gloom—Story of : Mother Who Tries to Break Up Son's Home ^ ■ • .''■ • ■ :~~' t gteond productlcn of Mm IQqultr Plaren, Ine. prevented under auaplcea of the Actora' Rquity Asaoolation. I'Uy In four ^et» itnd two sc^nee by I..eon Cunnlneham; •tared by Aurvatln Duncan: etare netttnga by Woodman Thompaon. At the 48th St. Nov. 13. Jennie Well* Loulae Cloaaer Male Peter Wolla Tom Powera llelena Wella Harrtette AVuodrufr Auntie Mm Vemrl Slndflar Buthle ./ liaryaret Borough Muriel Humphrey rhyllls Povah Jfr. Wicker ...Claude C3ooper Clyde T^ompaon Stuart Safe "Hospitality" te a stark and ac- curate photoffrapn of the lives and doings of a drab lot of uninterest- ing people. It may have profound meaning to the author, but for the theatregoer it is a solid week of rainy Sunday morning^. The four acts of the piece at the 48th Street concentrates more sombre gloom Into that comparatively narrow compass than you'd imagine pos- sible. There isn't a relieving g]«am of humor in the entire affair, and it is guaranteed to take all the cheer out of any balmy Indian sum- mer evening. If this is an attempt to capitalise a theatrical vogue for plays with obscure and unintelligible meaning, ''Hospitality" ought to lead the list. As a contribution to the literature of mother'stories it is unique. Here la a mother who goes with wilful and deliberate purpose to break up her son's home and achieves her goal, even though it kills her. If anybody is looking for a "fresh viewpoint"' on the subject of mother love, here is one that will bear a world of study. The whole thing Is a queer bit of inverted ideas. Or is it Just a perverse notion that because all the playwrights of the centuries have exalted maternal love, if the convention is turned topsy-turvy the result will be "mod- ern and smart?" It's difficult to get the attitude of the dramatist and as difficult to guess the angle of the producers. The thing Is done seriously and In its, sombre power efTectively in so far as the tone of bleak tragedy Is achieved by painstaking care of details. The rankling annoyances of drudging lives accumulate through the four acts; the people of mimic life nag a..d grate upon each other with their selflsh im- pulses until the wretchedness of be- ing alive at all communicates itself to the audience in a mood of irri- tation. Everybody in the world knows people like those of Mr. Cun- ningham's play, but in real life everybody makes it one of life's ob- jects to avoid them as far as hu- manly possible. Why go to the box offlv,e to meet people who are avoided in ordinary relations? The logic of this ought to be 'Plain. On snap gue.ssing it Would seem likely that the play Would make discussion and patron- age among the small group of the professional highbrows and then fade. Certainly there seems to be little In it to attract the amusement seeker who makes up the vast ma- jority of the community. What is there promising for dra- matic material in depressing family quarrela unless they are touched with a saving grace of humor? "The First Year" colored the little mo- notonies of life with mirth and lightened them. But if there is one thing from which mankind flees as from plague it is the nagging home ■ituation. Here it is presented powerfully, too powerfully, in all Its sable garments. It seems a waste of stage talent—and this company has a wealth of talent—to make a murky world a trifle more murky. Jenny, approaching age and worn with a life of toil, runs a boarding house adjacent to the factory of a middle western small town—scene of so much that is ugly tn modern literature. A stoical widow of rigid repressions, she "sees things as they be" and hides her enthusiasm and affections (real though they are) under a cloak of petty fault finding. For her only son she has a deep and abiding affection, but she must own him and rule his actions. She picks out for him a humble but ex- cellent mate In the demure Kuth, but the boy, working his way through college, falls in love with Muriel, spoiled daughter of wealth. When he brings the bride homo an Instant enmity is engendered be- tween the mother and the young wife. The couple go to live apart, mother and son alienated, apparent- ly by the circumstances of the mar- riage, but In reality (so the author apparently strives to ri^y) by the mother's lack of sympatiu'tic under- standing of the son, reaching bark to long a{?o, Muriel's rich parents cast her off on her marriage to the poor Peter. In an effort to supply her with luxuries Peter plunged into debt Presently there reach the mother's ears tales of Muriel in the company of a rich man, her former suitor. Mother determines to enter Peter's home with the deliberate purpose of separating husband and wife, "4)efore she makes a fool of Peter." Once Installed In the newlywed's home, her campaign widens. By spying she learns that Muriel wants to run away with the rich lover, but "hasn't courage to make the plunge. So she sets herself out to make the wife's home lot so terrifying by her persecution that she will be driven to the elopement. For part of one act—the fourth— the carrying out of this design makes real drama, depressing and gloomy, but with a dramatic kick. IiT the end the determined old wbm- an prevails. By her maneuvering she brings the domestic situation to a hysterical pitch where the wife's resistance breaks down. In a really strong scene with the husband she declares her lover 'has been as much my husband as you have" and rushes away to the home wrecker, while the mother, stricken to death by a mortal malady, spends her last moment of life Jeering at the de- parting woman from the window. This final episode may be "drama," but It is an unholy thing to watch. Jenny has a sister, Mae, comfort- able, contented, modern matron wJtM complacent disposition and enlightened views. The play gets its name from one of Mne's theories. "You can't own the children," she tries to explain to the hard shell Jenny. "You must treati them as guests, abiding with us for the time, enjoying our hospitality, and then going on their way." The two settings are the "parlor" of Jenny's boarding house, and the living room of Peter's home, two acts to each. The pictures are con- vincing backgrounds. Louise Closser Hale does a memorable piece of act- ing in a dry and monotonous part that must have presented manifold difficulties. She gets into Its mood and gets the mood over the foot- lights tremendously—too much so for the comfort of her sensitive auditors, which is perhaps the highest tribute that could be paid a player. The supporting company Is as near flawless as Is possible. Tom Powers Is a persuasive young man without a trace of the stage about him. Claude Cooper as a character old man makes a clean-cut charac- terization. If the play were only as worth while as the talent that goes into its presentation, all would be well at the 48th St. "Hospitality" looks like the Equity's second flop at the 48th Street. It is quite unlikely people will flock to see this play and pay cash to do so. If the Equity Play- ers are protected by its subscribers the 48th Street may have its audi- ences, otherwise where they will come from no one knows. The other, and first, flop was "Malva- loca," that ran at the house for four weeks, opening the season for Equity Players, whose lead into the man- agerial end of thfe theatre, probably against the ''commercialism" of it, appears to have been the incentive that provoked a number of writers and critics to believe the New York public cared $6.50 worth, per each, for their stuff when appearing out- side a daily paper that can be pur- chased for the most at three cents —which, after all, may be the true valuation. Managers are managers, and ac- tors are actors. Many of both spend their lives, or moat of their lives, in their chosen pursuit before they know they understand their busi- ness. If exchanging positions for as many years, then the actors may believe they are managers, but the managers will never claim they are actors—on the stage. And as for critics—they should stop their kid- ding. Rush. romantic, temperamental artiste, aha expresses that term "personality" to a degree which mocks the million upstart hoofers and mummers who have the colossal temerity to claim It Here Is personality! The ushers, who understood no word of French, stood spellbound: the husbands of the women who dragged them along because they wanted to see "a nov- elty" and "society" remained awake! Opening her first American ap- pearance on what would seem the most inauspicious evening of the year, against the premiere of the Motropolitan opera with Jeritxa. Sorel's draw nevertheless outclassed it and eclipsed It Person for person, it must have outdone the opera in class and distinction. Among those recognized in the little house were Mrs. William K. Vanderbllt, Mrs. Helen Gould Shepard, Stephens El- kins, Mrs. W. H. Hearst, H. F. Du Pont, Mrs. H, O. Havemeyer, Mrs. John S. Rogers, Mrs. Samuel Lew- isohn, and each with a party In accord. The play was "L'Aventurlere" ("The Adventuress"), from the Com- edie Francaise repertoire. It Is an old comedy-drama, first done some- whore about 1860. It is In rhythmic measure, by Emile Augler, who. If memory serves, was an Italian. The ac Cohan as a satirist could not be repressed. It is natural for him to "kid" about the stage, and his own plays in particular, and that occurs In "Little Nellie Kelly." A good deal of the satire was in the lyrics, for there was a minimum of book—that probably by actual design. Satire came to the rescue of the plot, and the kidding was anent the call of the mystery play. One of the char- acters remarked "wait until the sec- ond act," which was the spot for the mystery satire. In unexpected places the satire bubbled up. A Juvenile lover told his sweetie that from the "time I eat my oatmeal In the morning until I fall asleep reading the 'Racing Form' I think only of you." Cohan's musical comedy cop declared after getting a nip that "It's the best drink 1 ve had since I raided 'Jack's'." and after a dance he said "that's the first time I was on a ballroom floor since the time I raided 'Shcny'a'." Then he slapped 42d Street, when one of the characters who was searching for a stolen necklace, said he included the theatre ticket agencies along with the pawnshops—"all the places where Junk is bought and sold." Regarding a "dick" a Juvenile said he wanted to meet a real open-air detective. "I've met lots of house Moliere Influence must have inspired detectives, but they don't count It, for it has the sam^ flow and the same general treatment as Moliere's best known satires. The story is unimportant It has to do with the reforming of a siren who, having lived a reckless and ruthless life, feeling age beginning to creep upo.n her, decides to hook a respectable old flsh and barricade herself against her past with a re- spectable name and an honest wife's estate. She Is frustrated and takes it like a rare sport. Sorel as the principal, assisted by Albert Lambert, who is her only rival at the Comedie Francaise, and Louis Ravet, also a prime favorite of the nation there, sparkled and gave a great art that transcended oceans as well as decades to her performance. Her gowns were gasps of richness and regal taste. Her Jewels were a wonderment even to that assemblage, and her bearing was ekr^glously authoritative. It seems a pity that this attrac- tion, which would be heavily patron- ized for months, must depart so soon, when Just around the corner and up the street and across the way are dozens of native shows and plays, written by natives, played by natives in the native language that are hanging on by faint threads— because they are not by Augler and not with Sorel, both of whom are immortals. * In the repertoire are "Le Demi Monde," "Le Duel," "CamiUe," "La Megero Apprl of the Shrew Misanthrope." Heretofore the That was a wise crack, and about the only one. Nellie Kelly's home is mentioned to be In the Bronx, which Cohan says is "the second balcony of New York." / There Is a cast of 14, and at least 10 of the players are capable of han- dling a song exceptionally and are dancers as well. They are in addi- tion to the broadside of specialty steppers who shoot Into the enter- tainment. Some of the players are from other Cohan attractions, and leading all is Elizabeth HInes, who came to the fore in "The O'Brien Girl" last season. A lithe blonde beauty with exquisite grace, she pro- vides a peach of a heroine. Miss Hines isn't blessed with much of a voice, but her sweetness counter- balances that and she makes a rare heroine whom Charles King couldn't help loving. Miss Hines looked al- luring last season, and now, with confidence and poise added to her natural attributes, she shines forth more brightly than any on Broad- way right now. Charles King is spotted In a role that fits him perfectly and one which h^ plays with more feeling than anything he has offered in years. He sang "NelUe Kelly. I Love You," to fine success. It has a bit of the Irish in melody and Is one of the sure hits of the show. Miss Hines and King sang "You • Remind Me of My Mother," the he score and wrote from My Mother" has been a counted strongly with BeaaU Claj* ton's vaudeville act last •reason, were snapped up by Cohan for the "Kelly" show. They danced In "one" during a scene change and scored easily. In addition Mercer Temple- ton played a hooflr • detective and did it well. Joseph Neimeyer was •mother well-knuw dancer with a role. His specialty was offered in the second act with Miss Hamilton. Arthur Deagon as "Police Cap- tain Kelly" was reborn in the legiti- mate. He sure has a kick, as he proved in his handsprings acros* the stage after singing "The Grea- New York Police" (a number thai Cohan may have dedicated to his friend Steve Rcardon—a smart guy). Deagon. however, with "The Name of Kelly" was in his happiest vein— "Kelly with a capital K, a name that Is synonymous with hooray." There was a terrific punch near the finale with an ensemble num- ber, "Till My Luc'.c Comes Rolling Along." It had Miss Hinea, King and Greenwood at first and Misa Sakl and Otto Joined for a quintet The work of King stood out in the going and he much aided build the hurricane of applause that greeted it So sustained were the returns that Miss Hines asked if it was wanted over again and it was given. Julian Mitchell has turned an ex- cellent Job in staging the numbera He had the 24 chorls'ers in action behind the dance fusillade to good effect always. There were a dozen boys in the chorus too. not count- ing Herbert Barnett, a midget whc trotted In with the beaux in a num- ber with Miss Hines. Costume changes were made rapidly at time* and brought the chorus Into notice. The settings figure well in tha count-up on production. Three tuM* stage Rets In the two acta were de- signed by the H. Robert Law studloa and Joseph Wlckes and built by George Vail and T. Ji. MacDonaldL Of "Little Nellie Kelly" a well- known author during intermission put it wittily and well by saying. "Cohan sure done right by our Nell.** The show should have had a seaaoa In Boston and that waa never known there. It ought to run a year on BroAdway. lb€€. THE LOVE CHILD • Marie ..|^ Orafis KaanerA Barry Haxry Olbbs lAura Thome Janet Beecher Busene Thome Bldnay Blackmar Aline De Mar VIvlanaa OabonM Oaby Mulliraa Blaanor Wllllsma Helna CUve v lAllta Robertaoa Kitty Lanalnr. Qaneva Harrtaoa Paul Brander Lee Dakar Helen Brander Juliette Croaby Rmlth Hay Walllac Noto r. Blaaa Duel," "CamlUe," "La'^*'"""", "*" "* . ^ ♦i" •Ivolsee" ('The Taming S.,fh rfvHrth.t' rnh«n* r"), "Tartuffe" and "Le ^'**l^ 'r "iflf vP^t!^. TT^..->f«# ♦».- the heart "My Mother" French National Theatre affairs In l^^^y "°"^^«,", * ^^^ *"ThI^in2- New York have been successful, but' ^^J^^. ^.'"^^f.r^'^I'lH^^t^f J-? nl^^ say that Nellie Is the prettiest name In the world. That recalls Cohan calling -Mary the grandest name In the world In "46 Minutes from never overwhelmingly brilliant The presence of Sore! may be credited with the vast difference. She Is a world-wide genius, and if she lives long enough will succeed Bernhardt. Lait. COMEDIE FRANCAISE L'AVENTURIERE Don Annlbal Ferdinand Charpln Horace Charlie Oerval Dario Jacques d'Apoij^ny Servant M. Parotte C«Ile Rachel Berendt Donna Calrlnde Cecile 3on«l Fabric* Albert Lambert Montc-Prade a Loula Ravet Ceclle Sorel, the Idol of France and the star of the Comcdle Fran- caise, opened her two weeks' rcpcfr- tolre Nov. 13 at the ,19th Street the- atre under the auspices of the Shu- berts. Tho engagement had been announced for one week only, but when the orders came In so fa-^it that the mail demand cleaned out the week's rack, she was prevailed on to add a second week. Mme. Sorel, though she is inter- estingly close to 60, is still a beauty and a rave in Paris. She is a seri ous actress, whose Camllle has been ranked with that of Bernhardt A LITTLE NELLY KELLY Nellie Kelly i Elisabeth Hinea Mrs. Langford... .1. Oeorela Calne Maria Marlon Sakl Jerry Conroy Charles King Capt. John Kelly Arthur Deniron Mlaa Spendington........... .Marjorte Lane Ambrose Swift Mercer Templeton Welle-sly Harold Visard MaUlda Edna Whistler Sidney Potter Frank Otto Harold Westcott Joaeph NIemeyer Jack Lloyd....: Barrett Greenwood Francola DeVere ; Robert Pitkin Jean Dorothy Newell Out Of the East came "Little Nellie Kelly" to the Liberty Monday night (Nov. 13). It had been shining forth In Boston for four months, and they said it could have stayed all season. After the musical comedy gem opened on Broadway that opinion* still goes. It is the first musical show turned out In total—words, lyrics and score—by George M. Cohan In perhaps 10 years. The producer - author - composer - actor Jockeyed for a start In Beantown, the spot where he tuned up "Mary," then "The O'Brien Girl." From the Jump "NeTlle" was loved up there at the Tromont a^d^ a^ the way it packed the house" to the tune of $22,000 and more every week through summer humidity and autumn. "Little Nellie Kelly" was forced to leave Boston through Insistent bookings, which were put back for a number of weeks. What the Hub lost Broadway has gained—^a musi- cal entertainment of rare brilliance, one of corking numbers, 4f crack dancing—a polished production by Cohan at his best in many ways. Cohan calls "Nellie Kelly" a "song- and-dance show," which is a modest description. It may be better said to be a musical comedy sparked with revue. But whatever the clas- sification of "Kelly," it Is the finest musical show yet offered under his name, and with a bow to the au- thors of the pieces presented by Cohan alone there can be no true comparison. There is more action In "Little Nellie Kelly" than any show of Its kind remembered. That m'^ans (lancing. The speed of the stepping was a rather remarkable feature, for it was not confined to a few special- ists. There are nine specialty dance artists, and they were flung Into the going with bewildering succession. That went mostly for the first act. and when the same steppers were on for bits later they drew fresh plaudits, for there were no encores- Broadway." The latter show may compare with the new one but "Lit- tle Nellie Kelly" is the better. Mltttt nines' best vocal effort was with "The Voice In My Heart," also a pretty melody, which she soloed near the close. It first was heard in the opening number, "Over the Phone," then sung nicely by Barrett Greenwood. The latter number was staged In a novel and humorous way. Miss Hines was given a spot for a waltz number with Carl Hem- mer. that being the latter's only ap- pearance but well worth while to show off the lead's pretty pacing. Her singing of "All in the Wear- ing" was at the first entrance and on repetition later stood out as one of the best of the melody songs. The first of the dance smashes came with the third number, "Girls from De Vere's," sung by Robert Pitkin, who played a modiste shop proprietor brightly. The Lorraine Sisters, in vaudeville for some time, proved a revelation. Their kicking and the nicety of their tandemed efforts brought down a solid hand and the girls were recalled. Imme- diately after the next number there followed another dance surprise. Frank Otto and Marian Sakl warbled "Dancing My Worries Away." Miss Sakl proved a tiny dynamo. Her stepping and speed seemed to take the house unawares, coming so soon after the Lorralnes' exhibition. It was, however, to "When Tou Do the Hlnky Dee" that the show's dance magazine was discharged. It was the sixth number on the pro- gram. The song was contributed by the Misses Hines and Sakl and King and Otto. Aileen Hamilton, a loo.ie toe artist, offered an unusual number. The Lorraine sisters hopped on for some additional kick- ing and then Cunningham and Clements. The latter dance team has been In productions for several years, but never have they per- formed as in "Nellie Kelly." The great work of Cunnin^jham and Clements brought a shout of en- thusiasm along with hand clapping that came from all over the house. That could have been a climax to the first act. There were no encores to the stepping and none were per- mitted by the arrangement of tlirowing one team in after another Joe NIemeyer was slated also for tho "Illnkv Dee" dance carnival, but a lame leg sustained in Boston forced him out. When he is able that will mean greater results for a groat number. That was not all th ■ dancing in the show nor was It the end of It. The Templeton brothers, who There is no Important play today without its frank profanities. In this one the "love child" la referred to by a shorter and ugliar word, and there Is more than a ''d" and soma dashes in the way of expletives. It is becoming embarrassing to review the drama these nights, since ona cannot report what ona heara Audiences, however, are no longet embarrassed, and probably not thrilled any more at hearing across I the footlights what they have haarA acroiid bock fences and in argU' ments between teamsters and newi« boys. Between "The Hairy Ape," "Rain* and "The Love Child" there are non only about three words In the Eng« llsh language that haven't yet b««a heard from a stage—and this re- viewer will pay no rewards in any guessing contest aa to what they may be. If his next plajr isn't ■ hit he is going to do one ^rith an three of them, one in each act, and order his Rolls-Royce. "The Love Child " Is not a naughty play, despite the use of the several familiar Interdicted adjectives. It is a French adaptation by Martin Brown, out of Henri Batallle. • la French It was perhaps an ab«brb- Ingly frank study of a condition rampant and issues almost vital to society there, the relations of mis- tresses and paramours, illegitimate childrc and their parents and their parents' lovers and the world at large and their own sweethearta In the United States, while Illicit and Irregular amours are no novelty, these ^questions have neveKhelesa not attained any comprehensive es- sential interest They usually ar# threshed out In court and become scandals over here, whereas they ara discreetly kept confidential and be- come comedies or tragedies over there. In this Instanca the central ro- mantic figure Is a middle aged wom- an, played by the erstwhile fasci- nating Janet Beecher. There was a player executing a bit In the cast Lollta Robertson, who could hava done more with it Miss Beecher, like the plot, seemed to wander considerably, and soma of her at- tacks were distressingly Ineffective. Mistresses who have lived 17 years with men are not primarily thrill- ing, at least aa exposed to the lim- ited development of two and a half hours. Their problems may be pro- found and their situatloi.s precari- ous, but In play form they are not intriguing and their woes are soppy .and maudlin. Young love, with Its endless complexities, is a broad enough field for the theatre of to- day. Only classics can survive'in this dramatic era when centered on the tribulations of the aftermath. — The "moral.' if any. Is not quit* clear here. The woman has had a "love child" before she met the great lover who could hold her 17 years and then break her heart by refus- ing to marry her when his wife, conveniently craxy in an asylum.