Variety (November 1922)

•4V;«: •; > • ^■1-^ » «,f»<*'.- ',■■*.►;) Friday, November S4, 1921 LEGITIMATE ■.' ^ 15 BROADWAY REVIEWS % ,TiE TEXAS IHGHTINGALE ■RAV^n TUIerton.^ V>>•Cyril KeiRhtlny Walter Prescott Perc« lt:mton Klttx MiHborrjr Llszie McCall Br«Mi Canava Jobyna Howland Baymond • Percy Helton -.faea •••» Beth Varden ■aacha Bloob Oeorg^i Renavant Count Houdonyi-Bloch Paul Porcaal^ Under the stately auspices of the Frohman name (and tradition) at ~the venerable Empire theatre, a new " star was inducted where so many luminaries glittered in those dear days. Jobyna Howland entered. It seemed lilce the coronation of a new queen in the regal halls and royal vestments of her forebears. And none turned over In the graves of memory, even those whose memories * mean Immortality. * And the fact that the vehicle was . a comedy in no way detraced from the impresslveness or the impor- tance of the ceremony. In truth, tlie vehicle is perhaps not even whtit may i>e denominated a "success." It is "The Texas Nffehtingale," by Zoe Akins. who can dispute with anyone,' man or woman, the emi- nence of being America's flrst play- wright of today. Miss Akins became professionally ■ f enthused over Miss Howland and visualized in her a stellar potenti- ality when she witnessed her flashing ' characterization in "The GoJd Dig- gers." The authoress wrote this comedy with the avowed purpose of starring Miss Howland. Had she written it more for other purposes ' It might have done mdre for the in- . fant star. As it was, it served its intent. And Miss Howland paid by doing as much for Miss Akins' play as Miss Akins' play did for her. She wove an evening's encrtainment out of a script which, is devoid of • story, impoverished of plot and totally nil in theme, although clever, biting, smart and at turns scintillat- ing. The piece was submitted to Sam . H. Harris f.rst. That foreseeing impresario fondled it for weeks, nourishing the thought of Jobyna Howland, those crackling lines and a new Zoe Akins book. But he reluctf^ntly passed it along because "it didn't figure to get the money," and his vision appears to have been prophetic. Even he could not have anticipated the superb performance Miss Howland would render, and even despite it the logical probabil- ities are against sustained survival because the action and the progress are devoid of anything that reaches below the tough hide of the man or the powdered skin of the woman. Misd Akins, had she been more of an observer than a dreamer, might have Iearne<} that plays about opera singers always miss. The public worships the divas so much that it seems to resent eavesdropping be- hind their bedrdom doors and peep- ing through their kitchen keylioles. Of course, there isn't a Broadway superstition that hasn't been and • can'.t be broken—by a masterpiero, but "The Texas Nighingaie," despite its spurts of brilliancy, is not that by far. As a background this star, a singer of Wagnerian roles, has a Texas origin and a breezy individuality that runs in strata rather than blends of banal vulgarity, sacred sincerity, T. N. T. temperament. ■ melting tenderness, humors, whims, caprices, fits, egotism, cocksureness, eccentficlties, flights and flurries. She is an interesting enough person; if only something happened around Ler it might have been saved In the face of the hoodoo. But, though the lines keep moving and are never dull, there are no climaxes, no jolts or yanking reactions. •" She has a son. aged 19, as crazy as she is, but puny, whining, morbid —and a poet; to make it sadder, he Is a good poet and will probably never get over it. His father, the second of his mother's four hus- bands, Is an author; he is a bad one, and he, apparently, will never be more than a gentleman, a kindly simpleton and a failure. No wonder the precocious boy, as the three group for the family mo- •ment toward the end, sighs "We're a queer lot—all of us." He Is In , love with a simpering lollypop whom he adores because he thinks she is mysterious and beautiful, and whom his mother thinks a blither- ing kewpie and continually refers to as a "tart." The mother Is Infatu- ated with a youthful virtuoso whose music makes her weei>-f-and swear. (While this piece added "tart" to the theatrical thesaurus of 1922, and employed about as many hells and damns as any rival except "Rain," "The Hairy Ape," and "The Love Child." it did not reach as far into the restricted lexicon as some of its contemporaries.) For the finish, after scenes of blurb and blab as well as garish "-^sentiment, and rococo brainstorms. the mother breaks and lets the fool poet marry his all-day-sucker, gives / the .«iad fiddler the Noveml)er breeze. and seems about to reunite with the ^ second of her quartet. Miss Howland's lights and shades, switches and complete Bomer.saults were terrific. She had a thousand personalities in as many moods. And she was superlative in every • one. It would be impossible to name a comedienne of the day who could a# It afl well, and an effort to think up one who could do it at alL Cyril Keightley was the ex-hus- band, his usual fine, manly type and convincing artist. Percy Helton was an inspired selection for the misanthropic congenital Jest. Beth Varden was most apt as the imbecllic Inamorata of the brain-fevered lyricist. The second act was set in a model kitchen (evidently In a search for novelty, and not a vain one) and the other sot was faithful and good enough. Npthing. however. In It scratched a mark on the bafflingly impervious glass of time except the diamond- pointed keenness of Jobyna How- land, cutting in as a notable and a noted, Lait. JOHN BAERYMORE'S HAMLET Production "ot the Shakespearean tragody by Aithur Hopkins with John liarrymore as Hamlet. Staged by Mr. Hopkins; pro- duction deslRntd by Robert Kdmund Jones. At the Sam H. Harris, Nov. Hi. Francisco John Clal-k Bernardo Lark Taylor Horatio.i..". Frederick Lewis Marcellus • E. J. Ballantlne Ghost Resinald Pole Hamlet John Barrymore Claudius Tyrone I'ower Gertrude IJlanche Yurka Polonlus John 8. O'llrlen Laertes Sidney Mather Ophelia ; Rosalind Fuller Kosencranz Paul iluber Gulldonstern Lawrence Caell First Player Lark Taylor Player Kins Bumel.Lundee Second Player Norman Hearn Player Queen ...'.Richard Skinner Lucianus Vadlnl Uraneff A Gentlewoman Stephanie D'E»t« Klnns Messenger* Frank Boyd First Grave Digirer Whitford Kano Second Grave Digger Cecil Clovelly A Prle«t ^...Renrlnald Pole Oaric Kdgar fltehl F''ortlnbra« i I.>owden Adams Perhaps the distinguishing marks of Mr. Hopkins' production is its modernity and its humannes.-^, and this goes with special emphasis for John Barrymorv^'s Hamlet. In the obvious and superficial aspects -the traditions of the play are followed, except in the scenic equipment, but the underlying spirit of the in- terpretation is fresh. It is difficult to express the essence of this presentation's indi- viduality. Perhaps it lies in a subtle intimacy. Maybe this Hamlet loses some of his heroic proportions: is less distant and awesome than the Hamlet of "another day, but ho Is very rdal and sympathetically human. The presentation is all Shakespeare. The text is of the fullest—several scenes that com- monly are elided here are given In full—the playing is temperate, and even the scenic backgrounds are merged into modest neutrality lest theatrical embellishment intrude. Probably Shakespeare never before has been done with so little postur- ing of producer and •actor as this hapmr collaboration of Hopkins and Barrymore. Barrymore's flrst night perform- ance was astonishingly smooth and fluent, and playing is bound to make it increasingly rich and mellow, a notable addition to the honorable lift of Hamlets. For. first of all, Barrymore has the physical appear^ j at 11:25. ance for an id^al Dane. Few Ham- lets have had Ms "points." His act- ing is genuine ^o a degcee. Here Is a player who can read metered lines without the curse of "elocu- tion." Barrymore's Hamlet is be- fore all else a follow creature rather than a mere histrionic creation. If the first night audience looked for radical departures from the tra- ditions of the tragedy It was dis- appointed. There are no such violent Innovations as those of Hopkins' "Macbeth" a little more than a year ago. A single stage setting serves for the whole play. It is simple to the point of bareness. The stage Is a stone chamber with broad steps ascending and narrowing toward a narrow, lofty archway at the back, the opening revealed sharply with a rich moonlight blue illumination contrasted with the dim half lights of the chamber itself. One gets the effect of looking from within a darkened room into a moonlit night. The setting is without decoration. With the most trifling of props the same background is made to serve various purposes. A dull gold curtain hung across the arch and several massive benches furnished the suggestion of the throne room and a change of draperies makes the Queen's cabinet. When the set- ting Is stripped It becomes the plat- form on the battlements for the ghost scenes. The recess of the arch later Is the platform for the players. The only point at which this arrangement Jarred was the grave diggers' scene. The stage is illuminated for this passage^nd the interior effect Is distracting. This is perhaps the only place in which the odd scenic arrangement defeats itself in the purpose to neutralize the background. In the familiar ar- rangement of an'actual churchyard the surroundings did not Intrude, but this framework is Incongruous. The dressing for the burial scene is a departure. The entire cortege Is swathed in flowing robes of white Instead of their every-day garments, probably to give the scene an effect of churchly dignity. but is indicated by a mysterious, Indefinite illumination in the center of the arch, the voice coming from off stage. There is a faint sugges- tion here that the whole passage is a dream, but it is not indicated clearly that such Is the intent. In the players' scene a novel tech- nique is followed. The play-wlthin- the-play Is made as artificial as possible. Two figures enter flrst In rich garments and talce places at 'either side of. the platform. They are succeeded by two other figures r^presen^ng the king and que^n, who occupy the stage proper and supply the gestures while the first figures at the side* of the inner stage speak the lines. The voice for the queen is a boy with a peculiarly rich young voice, and the king is an adult. Apparently th% Idea Is to make the artificiality as emphatic as possible In order that by contrast the real stage action will gain in power-of reality, and it has indeed Just this result. The costuming of the Players, by the way. is the only detail of obvious splendor. The characters of the play proper are never striking in their apparel ex- cept for the Queen in scarlet. The King wears subdued robes and the courtiers are not especially bril- liant, although there are toOches of color. Here as elsewhere the soft pedal is on the theatrical. Of the other characters (he Polo- nlus of John S. O'Brien is unusual. Instead of the portly L^d Cham- berlain, dignified and aiwlable, this conception puts all the emphasis on the humor. This Polonlus is a fussy old bird and a good deal of a simpleton. Ophelia (Rosalind Fuller) is a mere sprite of a girl. In the mad scene she sings most of her lines instead k* speaking them and the prop fiowers are absent. One of the scenes that usually are left out, but here played In full, is the passage in which Hamlet comes up#n the King in prayer and is about to kill him, but changes his mind when it occurs to him that he OUT OF TOWN REVIEWS ROSE BRIAR Atlantic City, Nov. 22. Crcceleoui Paul Doucet Mias Nicely Florence O'Denlshawn Rose Briar k Hillie Burke Paradee Allan DInchart Mr. Little Richie Lins Mr. Valentine Frank Conrc/y Mrs. Valentine Julia Hoyt Miss Sheppard v«'2^'>'«' Remey Love, when it is a matter all on one side of the household with none on the part of the wife, may not be a pleasant situation, but according to Booth Tarkington it can appa- rently go on and on. At lipast that was the impression he left at the finish of one of the most finely staged and acted comedies of many seasons at the Apollo Monday. "Rose Briar" has Mr. Tarkington delving into society for his people and finding them very real. He is back into the same sphere of folk as he was In "Clarence," with all of the young people left out. It was an- other of those light, unimportant comedies that mean nothing unless Mr. Tarkington has the good for- tune to fall into the hands oC an exceptional producer. -^y ;.. . This piece lent itself well to the artistic sensibilities of Flo Ziegfeld and he used it to the full, creating an atmosphere and an enthusiasm of delightful perfection in his play that aroused an equally fervid sat- isfaction in the' audience. The re- sults were astonishing. It had much the superfluity of good things that mark a Ziegfeld musical sho>y, and at the close of the flrst act had this auditor wondering what there could be in the apparently domestic situa- tion of the following two acts that could keep pace with the saturated activity of this Parisian cabaret. But the acts kept their pace, not alone by Mr. Ziegfeld s staging, but would thus insure salvatioh to the mostly by the genuine rarity of an murderer of his father. Various almost flawless cast, fragmentary scenes are played be- fore a curtain lowered near the front. The design of this dtapery is the only bizarre note in the stage settings. It is a curtain of Indefl- nite tone, parted in the center and beSring In Its design six mystic figures robed In purple and gold, all identical and resembling in treatment the illuminations in an ancient Bible. The figures are the upright di- mension of the curtain and repre- sent a robed man without hands and arms, the face being blank and sur- rounded by a halo of pale blue. In general outline they suggest the representation of the Ghost in the first act. The division of the play is arbi- trarily fixed. * The program explains the arrangement—"The play will be presented in three parts, with inter- vals following the first Players' scene and the Queen's closet scene." The final scene is the unabridged version with .the dialog between Horatio and th^ foreign soldiers and not the briefer rendition that brings the curtain on the line, "And the rest is silence." The fullaess here and throughout makes the perform- ance a long one. The premiere be- gan promptly at 8 o'clock and ended Rush. almost .flawless cast "Rose Briar" belongs among the plays to be put on the "mu6t" the- atre list of the season. It has deli- cacy, charm, repartee, pointed sar- casm and at least a sense of trav- esty. I can recall only the Inset stage scene of '"Palmy Days" with Vivian Tobin dancing that com- pares with the picture of the inset stage of the cabaret with the little floor space before it, the orchestra and the one ringside table. Theat- rically it was particularly effective. The exquisitely irresistible dance of Florence O'Denishawn, more youth- fully and poetically perfect thah Pavlowa, formed an interlude to the huge, swaying costume in which Billie Burke surged onward to the forceful opening of the plot as she sang the song of the cabaret girl and wooed on both lover and the other woman's husband. It is a play of cross purposes, In which a wealthy society woman in her own right attempts to dominate her husband to the securing of a divorce by intriguing hfm with this cabaret girl. The girl happens to. be destitute, but of a fine family, and she i)roves in the succeeding acta more than a match for ^he self- satisfaction of the wife. Miss Burke as the girl came back to the days of her -youth as she has not done In any recent play. She was once again the Ingenue who held her audience from the opening word to the last. This frail play with its many decorations was a distinct event for Miss Burke. Allan Dinehart played the younir man who hovers between the wife and his flrst love with a still finer finish to his style, which is growing more and more to be less of his self and to be more of character por- trayal. Julia Hoyt was singularly complete as the blase society wom- an with too many affectations for a charming imitator. No one surely could have more splendidly given the resurrection of the hus- band than did Frank Conroy, and even Richie Ling kept up the splen- did ensemble, though he was mostly in the background. "Boss Briar" should not be missed. . ■^.vf ■■'/ Hchcuer. ^/■■- '■.■• STEVE ■'^:rr^-r Scranton, Pa., Nov. 22. Amit Joirta ViTiaa Ocdes Spot Uleason ,..Homer Barton Lulle Toothacre iMibel Wlnlock* Christine H«!en Wetr Hebors Brown Frank Herbert Uramnoy L^ibee...... Thomae Whlffea Steve Bvane ^ugene O'UrieA Hita Norton Ann Wlnetoa Tavy Daaaett ...Peny Whlffen Reeves Brown Tpblllp Lord Props Barry Curren Assistant Prop* Bdward Kennedy VIRTUE? Rrooks, deputy sheriff..,.., .Ben Hendrick* 1 <'^"t*'*Ct attorney of the play Another excellent portrayal was that of George MacQuarrie as a lawyer. The rest of the cast seemed swamped by the all-round Inadequacy of the play. The way that "Virtue?" entered Into it—and that question mark after the title never was explained— was through one of the women char- acters having been mixed up in a roadhouse affair with the young Pains Dorothy Palmer, stendgrrapher Flpr Murray Daniel Greene, attorney and counsellor at law and elder brother of "Dick" Greene George MacQuarria Ned McCormack, Jr., only son of the late Senator McCormack William Williams Richard W. Greene ("Dick"), district attorney Henry O. Sell Eleanor McCormack. daughter of the late Senator. In love with "Dick* were taken to make it plain that the woman did nothing at the roadhouse that might have caused her reputa- tion to be blemished. The pair only stopped at the roadhouse, anyway, because the automobile they were riding In broke down, or something like that, but the woman dilated at .. ! iT^ngth on the incident, apparently Shirley Malcolm, the gove^no"."%auTh'"'I |,^»*'"^ ^»^? «tf"^ ^^\^^^ ^"''"Bf J^ ter ' Laura Arnold ' nave carried the roadhouse affair to Topsy. a maid Marion Hutchins : greater lengths than she did, only Governor Malcolm Clerence Handysldcs Uobert Duncan, political leader. Frank Sheridan the district attorney had better sense. At least that's what the playwright seemed to be registering through the dialog. « - The performance as a whole was about on a par with what would be expected in a weekly change stock Ei^ene O'Brien returned to the stage Monday in a three-act comedy- Irrama entitled "Steve," by Robert L. Dempster and staged by Laura Hone Crews for Geo. M. Oatta. while the play, witnessed by a itf per cent, movie audience, displayed many rough spots, the five weeks it is booked off Broadway will be needed to place it in any kind of shape. ^ Co-starred is the Orandnfother of the Stage. Mrs. Thomas Wkirfen whose Grammy Lubee is beyond compare. As Steve Evans, nu>vie star and self-appointed guardian of an un- affected country girl made the vic- tim of a rural community's lUc|j^g for scandal, Mr. O'Brien gave evi- dence flrst-night nervousness is true also of movie stars. His perform- ance was counterbalanced, by his personality. , ... :. . The country girl lives in an island town in Maine, where customs and beliefs have not been changed. She comes under the eye of a movie director, under whose tutelage she becomes a star. Drama and comedy are blended into the action, based on the gossipy types of a small town. The Aunt Josle of Vivian Ogden and the Lulie Toothacre of Isabella Winlocke are drawn true and intro- duced the necessary comedy. Mrs. Whlffen as Grammy Lubee is entitled to all honors shared by Mr. O'Brien. The manner in which she did this lovable old lady Is a shaded reminder of the school of acting. One or two of the situations needs strengthening and more action will have to be given to the opening por- tion of the first act. There are Just enough surprises to enliven the in- terest. The background of the play Is clever, and with a few changes it should^o over before a Ihost critical audience. Jlipoina. From Its title "Virtue?" suggested a sensational sex play. But it wasn't. The title Incidentally means practically nothing as far as it re^ lates to the play, which opened at | house in Worcester, Mass., or Terre the Norah Bayes Nov. IB. The Em- Haute,. Ind. Just when the plot pire Play Co., Inc., produced it. j would appear to be getting intelll- There may have been worse shows ' gible It would take another slant, flashed before a Broadway audience and every new tangent left a trail of than "Virtue?" since the flrst theatre ' bewilderment behind it. was buflt In the section, but it is I Toward the end of the epilog, unlikely there have been many. For when the tangled ends and frag- sheer tedlousness, lack of clarity , ments of plot were being explained, and amateurish construction "Vir- I likewise the manner In which the tue?" can come pretty near holding vlilnin had met his death, the first- its own with any of the poorest. night audience at the Bayes, which It's in three acts and an epilog, had listened for some two and a half land William-Everett Is programed hours to the amazing array of com- as the author. Oscar Eagle staged plications, emitted a snicker or two. It. The play Is said to be based on It was a wonder the ontire house actual occurrence In Naahville when, had not laughed all through the several years ago, the shooting of show. Senator Carmack by Duncan B. Some melodramas have the saving Cooper, a political boss, stirred up grace of being so bad they are funny, nation-wide Interest. | "Virtue?" however, while bad»enough In "Virtue?" the two names are to qualify, rambles so much it suggested by characters listed as doesn't qualify even as a comedy. ex-Governor McCormack and Rob- Each of the three acts had a dif- ert Duncan, the latter the political • ferent set. the same set being used for the epilog as the third act. The ]> oduction was ad' M"at<» sronlcally. Some years ago there was a pic- ture, "Should a Woman Tell?" The title created a great deal of interest and the picture did business. "Vir- tue?" is in no particular like the film in plot or pf(»ry. lut it.s pro'lur'^rs appeared to have the same principle In mind in tltlinK It. the idea evl- NOBODY'S FOOL Ik>s9 In the play. The story is as complicated as the territorial ad- justment problem in the Balkans. The flrst act talks Itself unconscious with a minimum of action to relieve the dialog. The second art is about on a par with the flrst. but the third picks up a bit with some melodra- matic action that had the advantage Two other unusual details are the j of competent acting by Frank Sheri- managemcnt of the ghost scene, in . dan. which the dead king does not ap- pear in an actual actdr's person, I part of the political boss Duncan Sheridan Is the heavy, having the dently being to arouse curiosity as to what the title "Virtue?" might sig- nify. Bf>n. Washington, Nov. 22. Henrietta Grosman Is, as always* ~>i a perfect delight, and her perform- ance lifts Alan Dale's very thin story with its equally as thin character buildings to a delight. Miss Cros- man made Impossibilities seem at least probabilities. Because of this the revival of "Nobody's Fool" may be Justified, artistically as well as by . the box ofllce. % i^ The Shubertfl are presenting MlKi "^ Crosman In the play, which was util- ized by May Robson for a season. An excellent cast has been assem- bled, with William A. Harcourt as ' the father, Liiella Gear as the v%mp and Morgan Farley as the boy. Evidently the same production as formerly is again urfed, while the ., piece has been most acceptably di- rected by Gatenby Bell. .. .^ THREE CHICAGO SHOWS Chicago, Nov. 22. .«. Three shows have left Chicago recently to carry entertainment to the one-night stands: "The Red Widow" has George Damerel as its star. "Smiles and Styles of 1922" is a production by Ch<K-les Anderson. A vaudeville road show of six acts and an afterpiece is beii^ lent out i by Jack Fine. ulif •*'»'' ■>. A'