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Show ftoyt Turned Into Music Jhinatown Play Revised ISLomv, But Pwer,u1 In Sweden's Foremost Jjl Dramatist Is Produced in New York Jg With Success. IEW YORK, Apr. I SO It ' quite beM'i the subject that f'-w I'l-' - r" ",ll,,i "e equsUy enthusiastic abool . Katlipr" and " A WinflOBM w" almost. simultaneously lc'ed- such ; eontrasl '' wei n ghaut Rloom Blittei at bandinavian tr;iL'"iv tne Kay burlesque vr"" ' Erf to duplicate. Vet be wonld poor critic srbo could pol see i woald not iladlv celebrate-nceptional celebrate-nceptional decree to yrbicn entertainments Bucceed in ac lisbin? what they set out to ) rmko clear why tb premiere pre-miere of "A Winsome Wid-w.is Wid-w.is an srsnl among person-of person-of the Great White way ?ou Inow that it inaugurated a Venture. The New York the-irhicb the-irhicb Oscar Hammerstein fifteen yean ago, anl which incr seen many UPS and t tiirrrat became tbe Ziea-Moulin Ziea-Moulin Rouce: thougb the of vaj changes "i t hr- gold wrist anditbrium attested tbe that other things besides the Biav, lv any other name, inMl ve. the audience wai not mt the perfumed presence of opulent, creatures who have ralii-r the Ladies of the Demi For it certainly v. an A 1 tdwnv bunch. I have no h a in declaring that the late Actor drawiagroom never 6ueh a notable cathoring of leniiphed bookmakers nd lazlinff, frnhiujr, over-ecner-ntertninme.Dt put before them as gratifying to their taste as cjlmek to .lames Hunekor or ti) fnl dr.imatizatioD of higb S ritual to C. nann Kennedy, idians bellowe.i lustily; the ist efforts of the orchestra ami re werp augmented bv a brass ; overdressed and under ed vounjr women turkey-slatted turkey-slatted with the vim of maniacs rwh f loo.-e. enoiiuli vunetv and ;;';' renHi licI'Mn- pl.-.v. d "'"" fat1 V bich! -i nlcrt'd s'-enerv to pale nr4l fcoondav sun; and. indeed, the ..i Hies? wealth of costumes Cav ralin P impression that everything in (tit P world had been frosted thick th spangles except, ponpiblv, j'p.'laTTv f'onor ' stomn-rs I" -hort,, t'M unnuestionrilile Broadway sn1 mr,lSS vt:i pullerl of'. "' iTA VI ( ; --peiil so manv rear 'OKNaM p olkf- telling every manager who r talJUld listen to me that a irold iM.'fce wa in waiting for the man 0 would re.'-urrect the Charles 11 .Isn't IJ't far' - .m.j p-mode thpni into py : dern mn-i. : i mi!. 'I'cs, l would ,f (l dlv have tIi. ni-rw P, -a- "A r iC3 asotne Widow1' suffered from a i:iil h lT book een it' 1 thoi-glit so; rn I I do not tliiiil so. ' -p UD unnamed autlmr lial made if u0Vi 0f "A Trip to lunatown, ' ' V; tVt ' 1 1 : - T I'M 'II M 1 V , all I HI neeii ' hold'1!- nf the roeord for ,. GT run:- p, ni ri n . liavinir been rniii'- tor 1 r'u''r "five per'orm- SB at. tho now demoli.sh.fd Mad 1 8nuare theater in New York, sinning Novrmb.T '. 1!M. Mr. p"c, 8feld and Tulian Mitchell, as " ' 41i HUentlr su-. i -1" u m fashioning 1)1 (nlnr and opuli'nt burlesque as L Hovt was in the creation of Bi r naT'v lanes, probably made red .Present version; in anv case, it heir skill that ha" donimatcd it. JJjJ fUCIT of the Hoyt fun has been ftdisf L rfta,ne,i. though more lost i snipped over or frankly crowded iliffffBt to make room for turkey-thoojsting turkey-thoojsting vaudeville " spci-ia!t ies '' fnr Frenchy friskiness. Harry ,11 sor, rrajipi -ariu in Ins old rhar-.:!'' rhar-.:!'' of elland Strong, fails to Mis funny as over only where Bunt?! Character ha.- 1 .-!, rut; Imi it all py. Wehlen, a talented and euCJiiwttlne ingenue is woefnllv mi?-t'n?t mi?-t'n?t as the widow, robbing the faiTi'Jfle plav of the centralized dash a llie which Anna Boyd used so ;i the tfy lv to endow it, and which is fnthrTKtial to the full effect. She of fffi however, some daintv sougs vet. thtfullv. b;i .dams also sings a? r'Jt looking wunderfullv hatid-Ihc hatid-Ihc Pwk aii'i Brie and Km?. Lon t jff the Do!b -. Kathleen !'"ttVKI "ther vaudeville fa iiiiitv.,IBtas are on hand to speed the t it "J hour?, with e.ui alents of riD?'; Wfy h)lvc been liked. ( hars 't. '''"ipM waa anion a i h . tnaip wim rotljnnothintr rood enough to ,ln to Ic folJMy their large salaries, though (Mr i""v ''"'t 'd to rnaku his ,irh Paughable. lr0np Weston and '' in f'C .V,ft'rd had been brought r"te , nn ''nb:i""t :' Broa I wav urire sort iM?nCi Nana and .M. vi- tor,, n b,,,v''"' "' r r',J.JvL1ex,?,c', :nn.- each other "' sK ' lering ''"'n tfK r a ,Pt 0l 0hiT peorde did .nunl?t of other thingn thai I have -.nli.'Cr -'co nor word, to n unt. K ,m;'Be.,0,,'h oah n n ii to ,e re ectnmefl rho rntertainment will ZTtmt i dfwn ruthlessly. " '- -" 1,m- ,),uv i,s gSBCOnie w.-arr on,,.. .-,,.,) . , sripfdv of performers makes "appointing and extravagant ,aVe 01 tal . See.i.i.llv. Frank MffP.V- I r . - - - , 1 . 1 , dart.e.l ;-"BBWho.,''i..- Ipe.. San Kran. yvW. U '"I'T ie I'm. . : ' ff0'1 ,,fl the -r.-lte.t hoUoTs of M.eV0"'nr hv I. '"di- 'tflP1- spontaneous :.,,) in r i . om-foolery. much of which fBUdir-r.rf, was so r.-1'.dv to laugli St hoy dp,,v ned eat 1 i Ul:-r . i, . i lii r j,, .. . ro g""-t ' ws , , f :,llv, a ' . : Jr1 at1r;o 1 1 -, ,. ,-,,v r! hpoioht Mentertaiiiiinnt p, ,t- ,,,,! a jSjT-M1 r"""' f 'ce "ii whieh pro-V-jUg" pi h- Cta r'"n art of skat whirled alluringly p, the Jpmie waltzes of "Gypsy JGFST STRTNDHKRG. gen-' gen-' .''" 'rallv reeo-.'iii.i-d as the .... ""BS.08 Swt'dish dramati-t, cor-y cor-y was in a n.-iBty frame of min.l when he turned to playWfit" ing. He had serve I as a Bchool-master, Bchool-master, actor, physii i.mi. telegraph empioyeOi civil servant. painteT, preacher, private tutor and st. T' librarian, all for I he purpose Of BC-eumiilat BC-eumiilat ing or-t-hand knowledye a a proper preparation rdr literary work; but I lie exporieur,. that glares out with t - croatesl glow in his best known play- are the unsought ones "t two nnhappi marriages and a third venture that nenrlv wrecked hi. health and sanity. san-ity. For Strindberg certainly gives it to the girls with an unrelenting va-hemencs va-hemencs that, makes Nietsssche s comments n the female box Boijnd like flattery of the most excessive and gallant sort. Although he wrote -'The Father" tWeuty-flve years ago and it was bailed then and h;ts remained his masterpiece, it had never been acted ill this country until thi week; indeed, except ex-cept for semi -amateur performances perform-ances and. possibly, tome representations represen-tations in German, none of strin-berg's strin-berg's dramas had been played here. Thev have, however. long been familiar to the more though! fill reading public, so. when War ner Gland, an accomplished Norwegian Nor-wegian actor who, speaking admirable admir-able English, has done vrrv good work in "The Master Builder" and ' A Doll's House" with Alia eTazimova and as Peer Oyul an-nonnced an-nonnced a Boasou of Strindberg playfl an intellectual public was prepared to greet the venture more than half wav. But with all reepeel to a great work, I simplv must begin and end mv necessarily brief description of it hv quoting two laughabli nn fortunate lines that occur in the dialogue; for we'll find nothing to smile at iti between. As much through nervousness, resulting nat urallv from contemplation of three tense and harrowing acts, as be cause of tho inherent humor of the remarks, the first audience giggled openly at them, though they came at lr.i-i; moments. s Por that, though, anything happening in ''The Father" had to COme at a tragic moment, for such were the only moments (or hours!) iu the plav Tt was acted on the stage Of the little, semi amateur theater which bore up under tbe weird earlier Ibsen performance in Amer-H Amer-H a and has not collapsed beneath mane a bewildering and gruesome burden since; so what could we do but titter when n character moaned dolefully; "This house was built on an unlucky spot. ' ' BIT let us put all merriment behind us and get. down to the frightful business that eon-fronts eon-fronts us Imagine living through three acts with a wife who makes lledda Gabler seem as gentle as a cooing dove, only to be swept quite off our feet by R final spectacle of disease that is no less horrible and haunting than Oswald Ahing's gibberings for the moon! Laura is quite the coldest and the keenest keen-est mother ever seeu. Her love for her daughter is of about tho sort one might expect in a mother snake. And Rosalind lan, similar in both manner and appearance to Na.imova as lledda Gabler, ekil fullv contrived to make her every movement a sort of shiny coil and to venomously spit her bitterer words as though her teeth ,,ri tongue were fang-s. Laura's husband. hus-band. namelessK described as a Captain of Cavalry, is as wrapped up in their only daughter as she is, but in a far more normal way. On almost every point pertaining to the spiritual and material training of the girl, who is about M. the parents disagree But daring to take anv side but Laura's prrj'v to be a ticklish business. If any suffragette exists who is as depr-aUaJ depr-aUaJ lifivn her wav as Mrs. Laura, and is as heartless in the matter of her means thereto, let ' sr have the oi e by all mean". Finding her husband adamant, standing on hi- paternal rights as the court, of final judgment, Laura asks him how he ran bo sure he is Bertha's father, anyway! A. discussion dis-cussion as to the inability of any man to be positive on such B question ques-tion ensues. But. this wife's scheme goes much deeper. By the subtlest muendoes and by watching him suspiciously) she implants the idea m bis mind thai Ins reasog has be gun to totter. Having succeeded ho far. she then suggests to his pbvsician, to pastor and to Mb old nurse that he should be watched. Finally bis actions begin to appear Irrational; goaded into fnrv by his wife, he fling.- a lamp at her. onlv to see it. smash B gainst a closed door where he had believed be-lieved he saw her standing; and, later, conceiving he idea of shooting shoot-ing his daughter, rather than let bar mother and maternal grand mother get complete I octroi of her. he i.- bewildered by blank report. THROUGH all th;s. manv pen plo in the nervous audience tittered; but the last seem- oi the drama gripped overyone. Perhaps no play since "Ghosts" had come to such s ghastly and unforgettable unforget-table conclusion. Having convinced con-vinced the tender-hearted, woman lv old nurse that it was no !,,"g r safe to let the father wandi r BDOUt at liberty. Laura hands ner a strait jacket, directing her to gel him Into " by trickery. Thii the motherly old soul does by lulling him into unalertneaB through gentle gen-tle recollection- of how ll e dressed him as a baby. Tea;.- are coursing down the woman b faca and her throat is choked with BOOS. But she goes on with her lask, finally catching him In an unwary moment, ilipping on the iackol and binding the long sleeves back of him. Observing what has happened, the distrai ted roan shrieka borri blv; and then, mercifully, the shock proves more than he can bear and he drops dead from a stroke of apoplexy. And with that , culmination, the triumphant wife coila her arms about tho child who is now wholly and unquestionably her own. RESPECT for a great, play of its school tempts me to leave the 5uh.ieet of "The Father" on that big note, or to discant on tho Kenerallv masterly handling of an awful subject but 1 simplv will not wallon anv longer in the hid SOUS and ghastly Bo I M brighten up to Sunday pitch with the other unwittingly comic line 1 promised With everything at sixe;. and sevens, sev-ens, multiplied bv fifty- the BUfBS In tears; papa bughouse; man gloating lik an adder; grandma spirit rapping in the next room; and. I have no doubt. the CO0R drunk iu the kitchen - daughter looks ut wistfully to her father and remarked reproaehf ally ; "It Wai bad Of von, father, to throw a lighted lamp at mother." Is tii- time ;-t hand when we must penetrate the wilds of vaudeville in order to see "legitimate" "legiti-mate" acting? The introduction of three new plays in the realm of acrobats. ventritoonists anil trained "logs bv Macklvn Arbiickle, Robert Mewade, Sir . and W. L. Abingdon suggests ub a possibility; possibil-ity; for who could name a trio of living actors better equipped to re produce something of the sensation thai resulted thirtv years or more ago when Edwin Booth. Lawrence Barrett and Frank G. Bangs appeared ap-peared together as Brutus, CasaSoj and Marc Antonv in Shakespeare's "Jnltufl Caesar t" Yet now we see these essentially "legitimate" performers feeling about to put their lingers on just that, intermediate interme-diate nerve between the genuine and the silly which constitute-, a vaudeville " knock -out. ' ' The point is fine , pretending to be a dramatic critic ami certainly having hav-ing bad B Broadway experience in spotting winners, fail as often as T hit it in this strange world; and, in short, the difficulty of judging the nl-iv that hits the fine distmc tion between the "moving" and the maudlin. according to the standard! bf vaudeville audiences. Undoubtedly accounts for the number num-ber of " let.'it i ma e " actOIS who, having condescended to trv that Held for the money in it, tind soon that thev must return to their own groove whether they will or no T EC E Mr. Mi Wade 'a place, for example. Having, by habit, measured my Standards by productions produc-tions of at least the grade of "Bough! and Paid For" and "The Greyhound ' I should say "The Lifer" would not be worthy a second performance unless, in deed, doe Weber and Lew Field? could persuade Dave Warfield to return to burlesque flud make us rock with merriment over it- Yet. Mr. MeWnde - a fine r,)d actor, who blends the mellowness of the old school with the repression of the modern in a manner that reminds re-minds ua of Joseph Jefferson. Mrs. Gilbert and Mrs Charles Wabol asks us to take it seriouslyj and, all said, T should not. be utterlv dismayed to hear it had been accepted ac-cepted in that. mood. After which confession, 1 can only tell you what occurs An old man (Robert McWadei is serving a life sentence in Sing Sing through a miscarriage of justice. Still, he is having a good time of it, for he is prison gardener and loves the work. In deed, when, after thirty years, he learns that he has been pardoned, he rebels al leaving! He cries a good deal about his garden and his daughter Mary, upon whom he has never laid eves. Then a storm a verv well "stage-managed" 6torm comes up; and, being more agresaively damp than No. 98888 tears, drowns them into oblivion for the moment. The old man's trouble is that New York does not, offer any crime that, will get, him back to prison and his garden. However, the worst of luck is bound to liange Mary turns up with a drunken husband; and, by killing his intoxicated son-in-law, Mr ficWade is able to break into Sing Sing oio-o again and end his days in happiness! Macklvn Arbiickle seems to hawe come near the bullseve with a bit of trite, but genuine sentiment senti-ment In "The Reform Candidate." His role is not the one thai supplies sup-plies the title, but an opposition "boss." The scene is his office, to which the reform candidate comes in panic. He has kuown Hoke from childhood, but lias always beou at odds with him. Now, however, he is in a deep hole- has mortgaged his house and, indeed, ha appro priated $15,000 from the bank iu which he is employed In order to s'.o-nd it on his campaign, He tnmks it would do most good as a bribe tO Hoke; and it looks as though hi- opponent would take it. Hoke has refused to ruu the risk of accept iug it direct.lv. but savs that anything found In his overcoat or in anv receptacle hanging on its hook is acceptable to him as rightfully his own, While the candidate can-didate is absent, getting the mon-ev, mon-ev, his wife calls nu Hoke. T need hardly say they are old friends, though the man conveniently knows nothing of her marriage, he tills the whole story of tho anxieties of the wife of a dishon- eat candidate to lUU; whereupon he p rsuadea her to hang her bag on his coal hook. Of course, tho bad husband puts the stolen money in it and. therebv. gives the star his cue for a fine, tat and long speech about honor, kiddies, bome( wife and all the other matters dear to vaudeville audiences. To people not suffering from that form of biliousness which in so e-Bential e-Bential to the making of a vaudeville vaude-ville appetite, the beat points in "The Reform ( andidate" are the humorous, earlier lines. Hoke sends a tin horn and a drum to "three kids jailed up in a room with the, measles" because they will " help keep them quiet. " |