Variety (May 1925)

28 VARIETY LEGITIMATE Wedn<aday, May 6, 1825 Builivan prc=eiitation, one ;>erfo;tlv cast, iinsiirp.'issably bumk and acted Bnd mounted in the niann«r cf a large cameo. It has what "The Mikado" re- vival lacks—a cast. Maybe its names aren't as big as those In "The Mikado," and certainly the salaries aren't as blK. but the present capt playing "Princess Ida" ?ould hv transported bodily into the 44th Htrcet and give a better perform- ance of the show than the present cast there is capable of. Th.-xt ex- cepts Sarah Edward and William Danforth. who know their chores backward, but In every other way, apeakinif In the manner of the?e operettas which played in reper- toire permit of Interchanged casts, th« "Ida" outfit seems perfect while the others seem like actors experi- menting in something about which they know little or nothing and for which they are not suited. Clever—this "Princess Ida" is a wow In every sense of the word For the average Broadwaylte it would furnish a fine evening's en- tertainment, yet the appellation, a classic work, kills oft their trade " automatically. Listen to a sample of the lyrics as sung by Robinson Newbold as King Gama: -1 know everyboOy's Inconi* end what •v»rvb<x1y enrn*. :. And I carefully compare if ullh th« income tax returns." Those aren't contemporaneous lyrics, either. W. S. Gilbert wrote :■■ them 40 yearn ago. The satire of "Princess Ma" is directed at women. At the early ' age of one, Hilarion, son of Hllde- brand. Is betrothed to Ida, daughter i of King Gama. But as the years 4 go on Ida establishes a school for ' young ladles and teaches them to 'abhor men In genera), and that be- ' !ng their idea, men are fort>ldden '; from the school. Their Idea of the i^ genus homo Is expressed in these v lyrics: "Man will «w««r and Man nil! »toriii— Man la not at all irood form- Man Is of no kind of uae—Man'a a don- key—Man'a a cooar— Man Is coarse and Man Is plain—Man 1» more or leas Insane— Man's a ribald—Man's a rake—Man is Nature'a aole mistake." I* ■ ^^ And yet, later on, when three men, ^. Including Hilarion, have i;ivaded the girl's school dressed as women, they suffer the revelation of their iden- tities, and although the women have f«, been warned again.st them by Ida, iv? these lines are spoken when the ^ women really know that they arc (j^ standing with real men: • "They told me Men nere hideous, Idiotic and deformed. They're quite as beautiful aa women are. An beautiful, tbey're infinitely more so. Their cheeka have not that pulpy noftness which one crows n, weary of In wom.inklnd. Their features are more marked, and, oh, their ehlna-how cu- nods." From then on it is a setun for all the men, and although Gamn has been imprisoned by the father of nilarion, he is eventually set free and even Ida capitulates Into tho arms of a man when She finds that women will desert women any time for a man, Tho nusic is fine. Being by Sul- livan, it would be. The settings by John Wenger are also excellent, be- ing Imaginative and attractive. But it Is the cast and the staging whl?h call forth the most admira- tion of all. Anhalt. in drawing this cast together, shows that he knows to a nicety exactly what is required by Gilbert and Sullivan. What is more, he must love the stuff him- self, for po man not liking It could ever cast It so well. Bertram Peacock is good. Det- mar Poppen, buried along Broadway for years In inane musical shows, at last comes Into his own as King Hltdebrand. Scott Welsh is one of the trio with Peacock and Frasier, but It Is Frasier himself of this t trio who commands most attention. _ Peacock and Welsh are known quantities. Frasier is new to Broad- way and has done most of his work out of town. Yet as the son of Hil- debrand and the suitor of Ida he establishes himself as a tenor stand- ard in this town. Certainly there Is not one singer of operetta stuff around here who trumps him. He la young, nice looking, robust and strong and true of voice. Those ' qualifications will take him far and "Princess Ida," whether it fails or not, will probably be the milestone of his life. Robinson Newbold. as aways. pronounces the most difficult words and phrases with utmost meticulousness, and in this respect he Is quite on a par with Dan- forth of "The Mikado" company. In . addition Newbold gives a great act- • Ing bit to his Uama impersonation. The women, too. are all to the mus- tard. Miss Kosta is more at home than in several years. This mu.sic Is of her caliber, while .she is sec- onded nicely by Rosamond White- side, Virginia O'Brien and—Berni.-e Menihon. Miss Mershon Is the comedienno of the show, and although she gets but one or two opportunities to use that contralto voice of hers—and it ' im n. voice, no kidding—her comedy styff gets over every time, and it isn't so obviou.c, that comedy. 8o "Princess Ida' is a perfect Gil- bert and Sullivan revival. In every detail, from the 24 men in the pit to the large company on the stage. 1 It shames 'The Mikado" production acroMH the. hticti. L..t bhow, which accounts for the dif- ference in grosses. "Ida" won't get what It deserves, but now that An- halt has proven himself as a O. and 8. producer who knows the racket, his next move Is to put one on in a cheaper house and with not such an overhead. From the support given this work, comparatively un- known, it Is a cinch that his direc- tion would load another try at something more popular into auc- ceaa. Here It Is geared too heavily to run for more than a moderate term, yet if "Ida" runs out eight weeks it will be highly creditable all around. Sitk. LITTLE THEATRE TOURNAMENT First (Monday) nlftat of the third annual national alx-Bicht showlns of Utile Theatre, onc-actera, conducted under auspicca et the ManltatlaB Uttle Theatre Club, for the Blaaco trophy. At Wallack's Tlieatre. New Tork. Three one-act plays, one of them good and one of them fair—curtain up at 8:35 and down at 10:10; 12 amateurs, most of them very green. Not very hot "show business' one would say, for a legitimate Times square house. The Little Theatre movement has become a mighty element In the native theatre, and 10 years from now It may dominate it. It la a growing bloodless revolt against the commercial stage, its inefficiency, its insuflrtciency, Its monopoly. Al- ready here and there si,ngle groups have risen to a standing, grudgingly yielded to them, but now intrenched so that recently one built its own New York house and has three reigning successes in others. There are probably 700 .of these earnest bodies scattered over our map. Many are in active competi- tion with the profit-seeking amuse- ments. Some have lent to their vested industry both players and plays which have survived the more critical demands of high, box-offlce stop-limits. Regular managers, professional actors, skeptical reviewers are in- clined to scoff at the amateurs. So did the r^d-coats scoff at the Min- ute Men, who were amateur soldiers: so did the diplomats scoff at Franklin and Hamilton, who were amateur statesmen; so did the smug producers scoff at the Actors' Equity Association, plodding along under the faith and zeal of amateur unionists—and one might go on for paragraphs citing parallels. The "sticks" get no traveling com- panies these days, what with the films and other things which killed the provinces. Where there are steady dramatic attractions the admission prices are high and on the other end two or three almost unseen hands can choke off any play or any type of play against which they choose to combine. Such gestures as have brought about the gradual growth of. the Little Theatre movement have fol- lowed., and logically must follow, conditions which develop to shut off from any large number of peo- ple something which they want especially a wholesome something. And there are millions of people in America who want popular- priced entertainment and who want some "say" in what that entertain- ment shall be. If men's suits went up to $200, and the wholesalers de oellent. The direction la unuaually intelligent. « FOB BISTDfOUISHED SEBYICE One-act play by Florcnca Clay Knows, done by the LishUioaae Players. Man- hattan; acenc, » modern apartment. Kate Barton Mary Blerman Mrs. Jim HardlDK LJIltan Hlllman Mary Ruth Aakenaa The Lighthouse Players are blind. The amaxing perforxaance given by the three women waa most praise- worthy In view of their limitations. Almost without mishap, they moved about, handled props and played their parta. The piece la a naivo morality- sketch, not rich In literary ingre- dients, but good enough. A woman about to have an affair with a friend's huaband la vlaited by the friend; they discusa the matter im- personally and the wife ia all on the aide of freedom, romance, etc., until it tranapires that it ia h«r own hu!A>and, when she rants and weeps; the other woman givea him up. hav- ing "taught her a lesson." . Beyond the uncapny aklll of these sightleaa amateurs In ma'neuvering, thla contribution revealed no sub- stantial purpose; but in the cir- cumstances It waa extraordinary. ASIA BE CASFO One-act play by Bdna St. Vincent MiUay, done by Adelpbl Coilece Dramatic Associa- tion, Brooklyn: directed by Henry Trader; q>ecia5 acene, futurist. Ah! Here came a little master- piece of stinging, tingling satire by Miss Millay, one of the most bril- liant of the younger writers of the day. And played aa finely as it was written. While this penetrating and poign- ant, charming yet grim parody on life and humanity, war and property rights ia not applicable in Its fine form tothe unsubtle commercial stage, it Is a lovely thing and should be played again and again at special i>erformances or as a cur- tain raiser. There ia nothing else very like it in our archives. Before the curtain had risen half way it was apparent that this was to be something splendid—the set- ting, the lighting, the costuming, that indefinable something In the air which strikea a corresponding something in an .audience, all said Art. Discovered, Alma Rochford (mark , . , the name, she will be a star some creed pink pants and green coats, day) as a plerrot, and a cream men would begin sewing their own I puff named I.«abella Brown as a clothes. The clothes would be l.;olumblne, are discussing the most grotesque at first, amateurish for a long time—but presently the whole- salers would have to surrender; and it might be too late, for when peo- ple learn that they have gifts and resources that they had never be- fore known they had, they are in- clined to utilize them. Therefore, while the first-night showing at Wallack's was far from Immediately decisive In favor of the ultimate Little Theatre con- quest of the world's stage, it was still significant. It revealed one or two personalities of shining promise and already certain merit; and It rang with the serious intentions and enduring courage of crusaders. Two of the three playlets were pro- foundly ambitious, and ambition has revolutionized worlds. I DID BUT JEST One-act play by Godfrey Schmidt, done by Our T.,ady of Mercy Players, Fordham, N. T.; directed by Anna Haugh: acene. chamlter in a French chateau, period ot 1400. Pl"re Robert Walsh Francois Robert Rose Want W^it Godfrey Schmidt IJidy Marie Acnes Hauch Godfrey Schhiidt. the author, also played the lead, a vagabond jester in love with a princess. Wounded 1.1 defense of her name In a tavern, where a drunken knight impugns it because a mysterious lover has been serenading her,, the buffoon breaks Into the palace where the lady's mother's body lies awaiting burial. A guard attacks him, the lady rescues him. He declares his love and reveals that he is the one who has been serenadi.ig her. She laughs at his agony, thinking he is jesting, and he dies with a jeremiad against his unhappy lot, the jester .stii thought jesting even in his great Crisis. The writing is p.scudo-Shftke- spearea.i. flowing and at times elo- quent. The theme has been harped upon through many ages, and this playlet scarcely adds to the com- pendium of literature on the topic. But it clnsses with a great deal of it, .some which has been accepted as worthy. Schmidt is an actor of quality, with a resonant voice and a pen- delicious fripperies and flippancies Their little romantic farce is in terrupted by a gloomy figure—It might be Fate—with a prompt book and cowl, who drives them off to set a tragedy. They protest, and so do the tragedians, that the sur- roundings are all wrong; he says any surroundings are right for trag- edy. Then comes one of the most bit- ter, plain-spoken, ghastlyjittle trag- edies that this old reviewer has ever beheld, one which goes down to the bedrock of man'a inhumanity and lays bare the delusions of friendship, honesty, love. One shep- herd poisons the other as the other strangles him with a rlbt>on of gold. Kate grina and seta the scen« again for the continuation of the little farce. Pierrot and his confection start to play it and discover the two corpses. They scream and Fate an- swers that they must go ahedd. They protest that comedy cannot be played where death lies. Fate bawls back that farce finds Its home anywhere, everywhere—draw /lown the tablecloth and hide the bodies— the audience will forget. And so they do, and the curtain descends as they again start through their airy little comedy." In every particular this gem was performed as befit, which speaks of an exceedingly high standard. If that Is amateur theatrical.^, the "legitimate" may really beware, for it will not only give It a contest, but will elevate It If it doesn't watch out. />ni7. PLAYERS IN THE LEGITIMATE I BLANCHE BATES "Mrs. Partrido* Praaanta—* BKLItONT TBBATKK. MSW TOBK at: OVTHKIE MeCUNTIO HELEN BOLTON Vandarbilt Thaatra, New York jaybrennan stanleTrocers with "RIT2 REVUE" rOU, BALTUf ORB SPENCER OUytTERS "What's tha Shootin' For?" NOW 4 FLU8HER DULCIE COOPER Laada "Baggar on Horsabaek" Majeatle llieatre, Lm Aa««l«a NYMA D'ARNELL 'H'opay and Eva" Prima Donna HABKIS THKATBB, MKW TOBK AIIAN DBffiHART WITH *'Appl«Mtuce'* Stac^by ALLAN DINEHART Fradassd kr lUCHABD nnUIDON HANMA THBATSB, CLBVUAND HARRY FENDER 9f ''Louie the 14th Cosmopolitan Theatre, New York INDEriMTELY JAMES OEASON TSZATSOr Chanin*s Theatre, N. Y. EDNA HffiBARD Tremendoua Hit in " L w dle a •! tb* Bve- Btaia"—Lyceum Theatre. New York INrecttaa, Jrale Ja«'»b»—WUIte Bdehten CLARA JOEL "MISMATES" llniea SqMtre llieatre. New T«rk GAIL KANE Actora* Equity Asaoclation New Vork CMy HARRY G. KEENAN "MT GIBL"—Dlre«tloa, Ljle D. Aadrcw* Vanderbilt Theatre. N. T. Indeflnltaly. Reviews of all the Little Theatr^ Tournamant performances thia week will appear in "Variety," tha re- maining five in next weak'a issue. WM. T.KENT '■Ro<«-M«rie'* Imperial Theatre, New York SUE MacMANAIIY "FOVB PLUSBBB" Ap*lle Tkcatr*. New T«rk ' Indeflnlta HARRY PUCK tti l» 'My Girl' Vanderbilt Theatre, New York INDBFINiTBLT JIMMY SAVO and JOAN FRANZA "Ritz Revue" Poli Theatre, Baltimora JOHN BOLES "Maroannry Mary" X<«Mia«r« Ikaate*, New lark SDYLUBOWHAN AS WANDA WITH "Rose-Marie" Wooda Thaatra, Chicago I., naUK JACOBB JOHN BYAM **My Girir Vandarbilt Thaatra, New York PHYLLIS CLEVELAND "TeilMm Mor^, Qaiaty Thaatra, N. Y. ARTHUR DEAGON "RoM-M«rie" Imperial Thaatra, Now York DirMtlea jrBNIE JACOBS MADELEINE FAIRBANKS "MaVcanary Mary" liff-cre Theatre. New favk BERT COJtERT . COMEDIAN *'CH1NA ROSE" Kaickerbocker Theatre, N/^. C. SAMHEARN "Mercenary Mary" Loncacre Theatr*, N. Y. WILLIE HOWARD "Sky High" ! Winter Garden, N. Y. Paraonal Mgr. EUGENE HOWARD ALLEN KEARNS "Mercenary Mary" Longacra Thaatra, N. Y. DOROTHY KNAPP "ZiegfeU FMiet" New Amsterdam Theatre NEW YORK CLARENCE NORDSTROM "Ziagfald Follies" Mew AaaateKUai Theatre, New Tark BASa RUYSDAE "Topay and Eva" "Uncle Tom" ■arria Theatre, Kew Terk MARIE SAXON "My Girl" Vandarbilt Theatre, New York DIDKnNITBI.T BUY TAYLOR • JUVENILE "CHINA ROSE" Knickerbocker Theatre, N. Y. C, LOUIS SIMON 'Mercenary Mary' Loniracj-e Theatre, N. V ilff'* ian't aa DOPulM>.aa tkaaUltr inou 'ih« oUi«i8, a« KUAvUb, ai« «jkn'.>tr^ JBt^A"—'-'■ •■SEADBIFT" BECALMED ".Scadrlft," a play of the South Reaa with Adolph Klauber, the pro- ducer, has been laid away until fall. The play is rated promising proper- ty, Klauber deciding not to show it because of the waning neascm and generally bad going. When first tried out the piece had the title of "Wings of Chance." It 5.'.."J. • . -.-lo-w ' LOUIS A. TEMPLEMAN AS "JIM KENYON" with "Rose-ManV nOODH THEATRR, CIIK-AGO rera«nal Ulrertien. JRNIB JACOBS AIMEE TORRIANI "Topsy and Eva" Karri* Theatre, New York JUDITH VOSSELU ZIELGRI.D'8 "LOriE THE 14TII" t^MBiopolitan Tlieatre. V. Y CHARLOITE TREADWAY Lead*—Woroar* Theatre LOM AN4;EKKM ALFRED a WHirT' T.eadins <"onicdl»n "Akle'« IrUh R««e." Hrpubhc. New Yorh a PIERRE WHITE WITH "Rose-Marie" Woods Theatre, ChicaQo INDEFINITELY CHARLES WnilAMS ECCENTRIC COMIC "Student Prince" J0L80N, NEW YORK