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Show ! THE ALTAR OF FRIENDSHIP. i The play Nat Gopdwin brought to us Is abso- lute proof that even the best actors are having a . dlllicult time getting a play worth the staging. And had it not been for Goodwin himself, this ! talky Imposition Lucette Ryley has handed a pa- tient public would be well nigh unbearable. People can never tire of Nat Goodwin with ! his ease, and finish and brilliant Interpolations, ; and it is seldom that he appears In a poor play B for he knows the true worth of a good production, but this "Altar of Friendship" is the sky' limit, B with very few things to compare it with in stu-B stu-B pidity and uter inaction. Mrs. Tat Campbell's B "Aunt Jeanie" is the neaiest companion piece. B And say what they will, a Nat Goodwin pro-B pro-B duction without Maxine Elliott is awfully lono-B lono-B some. Zeffie Tillbury can act, but she is not at-B at-B tractive and the day for grandmamma heroines B is Pt. B Julia Dean was splendid, in what little oppor-B oppor-B tunity she had to display her talent, particularly B In the last act, when she learns of her husband's B former "affair." B But what handicap Miss Dean worked under B In playing opposite Fred Tiden. As the Imp during B the last season of "When "We Were Twenty B One," he spoiled the play for a lot of people, and B in "The Altar of Friendship" he is equally ob-B ob-B noxious. The story must be true that Goodwin is B getting mercenary, and is employing a bunch of Bj low priced English actors. But he must cut this K hamfatter habit it isn't fair. Q The prettiest thing in the play which is the B old story of love and sacrifice, is the way the cur-H cur-H tain drops at the end of each act. No stagey B climax, nothing of that sort, but something nat-H nat-H ural and unconventional occurring and then the m drop. H Aside from Mr. Goodwin and Miss Dean, more interest centered in the stage settings and the H bull pup than anything else. B & & & B David Warfleld declares that he honestly be-lieves be-lieves he was a mighty clever scholar when ne was going lo school, though the fact was not generally mentioned at the meeting of the su-perintendents. su-perintendents. B "I remember an examination," said he, "which jMvas the hardest thing I ever had to get through. The teacher, I understand, has kept some of my answers. Among the bunch that she sent me recently was my answer to the query, "What is Ha synonym?" It ran: B " 'A synonym Is a word we use in place of one Bve don't know how to spell.' " m & & B Wilton Lackaye, who is now in Amelia Bing-Bnni'B Bing-Bnni'B company, Is famous for the aptness and lMBf,""'f"' iiiiiiinyiii lumi (imniKwmr w 11 amm umii """ originality of his conversation. He was touring the South some seasons ago In the play with which he tried to follow his Svengali success. It was called "Dr. Belgraff," and dealt in a melodramatic mel-odramatic way with the power of hypnotism, but was not sufficiently potent in this respect to attract very large audiences. In an Alabama town a climax was reached when the local manager dropped back of the star's dressing room to tell him that it was the mo3t fabhionable audience he had ever seen in the theatre. The audience, numerically speaking, was about eight Btrong, and Lackaye was heard to whisper that he did notcare if they were coal heavers if the house had only been filled. However, How-ever, he would have his joke at any expense, and during the next scene, in which Dr. Bolgraff is alone in his office, the veteran Joseph Allen en t,eied and, reading his introductory line, looked at Lackaye and inquired: "Aie we alone?" Lackaye, with one quick glance at the entire audience, nodded his head and replied: "Yes, comparatively alone." t ( William Collier declares that there isn't a grain of superstition In his composition and ho jests at those wro predict misfortune when some one whistles in a dressing room or twirls a chair about on one of its legs on the stage. But Collier Col-lier has a habit that seems to verge upon superstition, super-stition, although how he contracted it or what it signifies he cannot himself explain. Collier will never enter or leave a room or go en oi off the stage without touching a piece of wood. This Is particularly noticeable in his stage entrances. He stands in the wings awaiting await-ing his cue, and when it arrives he reaches out to the frame of the nearest scene, passes the tips of his fingers over the surface of the wood and walks before the audience. Once in the excitement of a first performance he made a few steps toward the footlights, when he remembered that his wood-touching had been neglected. While the audience was still applauding applaud-ing him he backed a few steps, bowing modestly, and iv .ne mcn arele2s fashion reached out hJs left hand and touched the edge of the scene frame. Then he went on with his lines. This hobby was noticed by J Charles Bigelow, who on one occasion was standing, beside Collier in the wings. "Do you always touch wood be-foie be-foie you go on?" asked the scanty-haired comedian. come-dian. "Sure," replied Collier. And then he gently stroked Bigelow's head and made his entrance. |