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Show Mi The Theatres and Resorts I IllfflB ",N A BLAZE 0F GLORY." lllPi I Someone in the vicinity said "ghastly," in a Jjfi jj I parroty sort 'of way, another voice echoed "mor- :' bid," but strangely the small voice 'way inside "ujfiij i, which sometimes malces mistakes, but which in yjJH : its own estimation at least, is usually correct, a , whispered "human." I'll "In a BIaze of Glory" is a wonderful piece of ''t'i'4 fi' work, and none can appreciate it so well as those who know Paul Armstrong who happened to t l ? write it. No matter what other success Paul 1' li' Armstrong has ever made, "A Blaze of Glory" yl Il-l stands limned in the limelight above everything j-tlj; IP else he has done. The personality of the man !;'! 1 " is woven right into every line of it, and the 'C j ! color of the thing- is marvelous. : j II' It is all Armstrong, and the way it is acted '!'( by Mr. Goodwin makes one wonder if some self- esteemed critics do. not step outside the realms i ." of art to follow foolish precedent for Nat Good- ! win has never done anything more artistic than j "Michael O'Brien, a bum," and it is up to the 1 1 En r great American critic to let this great American actor be -serious once In a while. II But regardless of the diversity of opinion - Uf.Mi garding Armstrong's- character study, it is truly S j! wonderful, and there is something lacking in any- J one who cannot rise to it. , ;': I The excuse of Mrs. De Peyster after O'Brien 1 1 1 has saved her little girl, because she's going to . . jj 1 some cerise celebration, the regrets of the father XI m because he has an appointmnt with a bevy ofi i .I5H bond holders, the' hatred of O'Brien of anything ' ffiflE English, his heroism in the face of the inevitable, ''TflW his gratification in the realization of his final sur- ''liHI roundings with music and blossoms and wine'; the " afP' resignation and pathos in that line "Ain't that hell" when he learns that he hasn't a chance, all . V" Hf servo in the purpose of making "In a Blaze of , .v'! J Glory" great. Then, too, it is all Armstrong and jh J Nat Goodwin has caught the spirit of it, as no ; 'i !;' Nat Goodwin's "O'Brien" is a marvelous crea- ' 'q'. , tion there is nothing very sad about it. There is r j i;L everything artistic and this little story of a lost ' soul affords- the best opportunity for the display 4; of the Goodwin talent of anything produced by -j Jj ;4 him In several years. Gordon Johnston, who is s i very like Jack Barrymore, though retaining his f$ j ; own personality, assists materially in making of .,y&' ; the remarkable little drama the gem that it is. .j! . THE GENIUS. j jf h "The Genius" is a delightfully nonsensical sort 1 1' 1 , of a comedy that might have been better, and 'i$,Wt This is speaking strictly of the play and not of it- flH '., 9 j the players, for they were all delightful, even '-g'H 1 those in parts which were terribly overdrawn in Bggj in tIl's st:ory of n man wllo. posing as a genius in Bjpj 1 K ! any old 1InG bunkoes the public and wins an im- Hfi '9 pressionable young person who is crazy about art i But in -ne process, he meets another, and his Hi ", ' frantic efforts to extricate himself from his en- Efjjj . ill gagement, lead to many impossible though none wlli il l! I tlle ess entortaining predicament. Hof! 'Iff ut tllG snow Is Nat Goodwin for in the hands Hill f f anyone but this prince of farceurs it would Banff! "iffM I seem like a different play. bbsOU l I There is very little that is probable in "The Kcl 1 'l'B! ! Genius" with the exception of the hunger of the awlf ' 'vfi I artists, but people were there to laugh, and the Kfif I im'm I night was too warm to thinic of the serious possi ll I bilities of the play. Mr. Goodwin's tendency to interpolate was a little ill-timed in the last act where he could not resist the temptation to quietly remark "23" when he was presenting the art critic with the hand of his former love, but even that got a gcream from the good-natured house. After Mr. Goodwin, the honors went easily to Robert Paton Gibbs who as the painter Le Mer-cler, Mer-cler, was immense. His performance is the cleverest clev-erest creation since the original Zu-Zu in "Trilby." But Neil O'Brien's musician, and Gordon Johnson's John-son's sculptor were not far behind the work of Mr. Gibbs-. Mr. Goodwin seems to have a faculty for discovering dis-covering charming women, and Miss Edna Goodrich, Good-rich, who had about as much to do as a walking lady Is beautiful to look upon. Her ability as an actress may be better judged from her work in "When We Were Twenty-One." Miss Suzanne Perry kept her artistic temper-ment temper-ment at a high pitch ever minute she was on the stago, and Susette Jackson did a bit of giggling which showed the possibilities of the habit when cultivate, in alarming extent. & & & HENRIETTA GROSSMAN. Henrietta Crosman appeals- to you as do few women on the stage. Real art can never grow old, and hers is real art, if anything is. If all women wo-men could carry the years as lightly as does the charming Crosman, there would never be an excuse ex-cuse for dodging the question of age, for she is even more piquant, dainty, fascinating and delightful delight-ful than she was in that other day. As alert as a girl of twenty, quick -to take advantage ad-vantage of every situation and bring out all that It contains, charmingly graceful in every movement and expression, Miss Orosman is a great comedienne, come-dienne, but oh that awful play! "A Scrap of Paper" over again, with all ot the best removed. A silly lot of the worst kind of twaddle without a single line to save it at any stage of the game. Think of Henrietta Crosman rolling around the floor in a catch-as-catch can with waste baskets and anything else that happened hap-pened to be loose in the room. Think of the Japa-nese Japa-nese duel over again, the same one that has been used so often in the tent shows with the Kickapoo Indian patent medicines, and don't forget the detail, de-tail, and the terrific striving for effect. For instance, Danvers, the globe-trotter, is In his den with a heavy fur overcoat wrapped about him ,and a grate fire to keep things comfortable. But the ladies enter in the lightest of costumes with no wraps, and at the home of the Beimores, a few rods away, the windows are open and the season for the open-faced porch seems to be at its height. There is only one reason for the overcoat over-coat and that is that Brother Danvers may step behind a door when his lady friend appears and coyly say, "You can't see me because I'm in my (bear skin)." Great! fine! Can you imagine a more hilarious situation? Miss Crosman is by no means nearing the close of her pleasant career on the stage; in fact, it might be said that she is at the height of it, and though it is fraught with honors, "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" added little to their lustre. Nor did the people with her headed by Boyd Putnam, who looks like a brother of Jeffries, and Addison Pitt, who acts like another brother. ! t & The Orpheum stock company, the coming week, will play "The Girl I Left Behind Me," "Old Hel-delberg" Hel-delberg" and "Alabama" in the order named. |