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Show I With The First Nighters I THE LITTLE THEATER THAT the "Little Theatre" has - come to stay in Salt Lake would Hi seem to ho indicated by the splendid m patronage which has thus far char- H acterized fjhe opening of that institu- H tion at the old Social Hall, 41 South H State stret. Architectural skill has Ht made of the old edifice a modern the- H atro withouU, sacrificing the old fea- H tures of the building which have en- H deared themselves to the hearts of H the older residents of the community. H The spirit of romance associated wtih H Social Hall blends admirably with the H efforts of the University of Utah in H making it a center for the exposition H and interpretation of modern dra- H Mr. Maurice Browne and Miss El- Hj len Van Volkenburg, of national rep H utation, who were the sponsors of H the Little Theatre which waB opened H with such pronounced success in Chi H cago, have brought their stage equip- H ment complete, and together with H Miss Maud May Babcock and the H company of selected 'Varsity Players, H, aro giving to patrons of art of this Hi city a season of keen enjoyment. H The repertory that is being offered H is distinctly attractive and unusual. H The Theatre opened at the end of H September with Barrie's famous and H popular comedy "The Professor's H Love Story," and after the influenza M; ban was removed reopened two weeks H ago with a bill of the four most suc- H cessful one-act plays in the six years' H repertory of the Chicago Little The- H atro. Bernard Shaw's sparkling com- H, edy "Candida" for the theatre's H third offering proved so successful on Hj itB opening night that though it had H been planned to play it for a half week H only, it was decided to repeat it dur- H ing the last three days of the week H following Christmas. During the hoi- H lday week a completely unusual and H unique entertainment will be offered H in the fairy plays performed by the Hj puppets that Miss Van Volkenburg H introduced to America after an ex- H haustive study of puppet theatres in H Europe five years ago. H Salt Lake 1b fortunate in having Hj the opportunity of seeing the puppets H' on the first occasion that they have H been presented since Miss Van Vol- H i kenburg was able to give her atten- H tion to the magain. The puppet play H presented by Puck, that shief of 1m- Hl mortals, who brings his first offering Hf to Salt Lakers, are "Little Red Rid- H ing Hood" and "Jack and the Bean- H stalk." His second production will be H Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's H Dream." So far as can be ascertained H , the only other puppet production of H Shakespeare ever made was that of H "The Tempest," presented by Sagno- ) relli In Paris some twenty or twenty-five twenty-five years ago, about which Anatole France wrote very charmingly in the H ' famous essay on "The Marionettes." In between these two puppet productions produc-tions will bo presented anothor Shaw play and one that is perhaps the most popular of all his comedies, "Andro cles and the Lion." This topical humor hu-mor and profound insight into the deepest seated motives of the human heart In the guise of the essentially Synge's "Deirdre of the Sorrows." Up to the present only two special performances per-formances of this great play have been given in America. The play waj received with such marked enthu-siasm enthu-siasm and critics and audience alike agreed that It was the finest production produc-tion Mr. and Mrs. Browne had ever THE FORD SISTERS, WHO WILL APPEAR AT THE ORPHEUM NEXT WEEK IN "THE FORD REVUE OF 1918," ONE OF THE HEADLINERS IN A BIG HOLIDA Y BILL. Shawvlan parade should insure it a rollicking reception. The part of An-drocles An-drocles which was created in America Amer-ica by Mr. O. P. Heggie will be played play-ed by Maurice Browne. The profound pro-found and witty fooling of Androcles is to be followed by the loveliness of made that the Brownes secured the entire American rights in the play with the view of production in New York. The production here is in a sense a preliminary trial for a reper tory season which Is being planned for them in New York next season. ORPHEUM Sy HERE we go to work and get out a Christmas edition full of peace on earth and all that stuff, and along comes an Orpheum bill that knocks all of the good will to men out of the system of anyone who sees the shoW, and spills the beans generally. It ends up beautifully Avith Sylvia Loyal and her dogs and pigeons, but they cannot make one forget the odor . of the brie that precedes them, and 'v, most of it is full strength. n Paula, an aerialist,, cleverly con- M torts on the trapeze, and Is followed ( by Homer Dickinson and Qracie Dea- ( gon, who have a rather different line of song and chatter during the course of which Miss Deagon puts over a lot of fun to the delight of everyone. Then appears James C. Morton with . his company. He Is billed as "the famous fa-mous comedian in a comic travesty all his own," and we doubt if anyone ( covets it. The Morton act is a bore from start to finish, and one wonders what it is doing on Orpheum time. Utterly Ut-terly devoid of real humor, the tedium deepens as the thing drags on without with-out one redeeming feature until the final drop, and even then "the famous comedian" seems loth to depart. Eddie Foyer repeats a lot of the old stuff supposed to emanate from the hasher in a cheap restaurant, and shadow boxes with Dan McGrew for what seems an interminable time, and then the Misses Campbell sing a little . receding the appearance of Eva Tan- J guav and her jazz band. Eva is almost as active as of yore, and though fatter and fortier by sev- M eral summers, she gets by with the same kind of songs and antics that gave her a real start in life. But the bill as a whole wont do a tall. PANTAGES SPANISH Dancers From the Land of Joy is the way the headlines on the Pantages program for Christmas Christ-mas week are billed. Originally they were brought from Spain and were a part of the "Land of Joy" company which made a big hit In the eastern cities, theatregoers according the sen-oritas, sen-oritas, their dancing, and the irresistible irresist-ible Spanish music a great reception whenever the company appeared. Alexander Pantages secured them for the circuit when their engagement was at an end. Taking the principals princi-pals and the best of the dancing girls, j the present act was constructed, new &m costumes and scenery were provided, V and the act, consisting of fifteen num- H bers, sent on tour. Besides their in- ? Imitable Spanish dancing, there are four singing numbers, all in Spanish. It is said to be one of the most fascinating fasci-nating acts in vaudeville. This week Brltt Wood, the boob with his harmonica, is making them scream at the Broadway house, and among the other excellent numbers are "Olives," a merry musical melange; me-lange; Octavla Handworth and com- BPHH IHBII IHPIH 1 Ih r9flHH HBHnH 1 ELLEN VAN VOLKENBURG MAURICE BROWNE MAUD MAY BABCOCK M The interpretation of the modern drama at the Social Hall Theatre by Miss Van Volkenburg, Mr. Browne, Miss Babcock and their H people is attracting those who remain among Salt Lake lovers of the artistic, and others who are beginning to realize the worth of the H & productions. H - 'x pany; the Follis Sisters and Nat Le - Roy in songs and dances of the century; cen-tury; Zeno, Dunbar and Jordan in a comedy flying act, and oh, yes, Eddie IFitzpatrick. It is a very good bill, well worth seeing, and it will pay to spare the time from your Christmas shopping and drop in. f; ', , WILKES '"T f A GAIN "Polly o The lCIrcus'" tnIs time at the Wilkes, and the players in the stock company tliero do full justice to this play of smiles iif--" an( tears which was first seen hero ;jl several years ago with Mabel Talli-j? Talli-j? ferro in the title role. In the present fi production. Miss Mae Thome takes the part and Interprets it pleasingly. J. Anthony Smythe does some of J' the best work he has ever done lo cally as the minister, and the other i parts are capably handled by the sup- porting company. a! C MY SOLDIER GIRL w i v T ias keen tlle attraction at the 'tftf I Salt Lake theatre during the if x i 5f entire week, and while not making the pretentions of more elaborate and higher priced productions, has pleased the patrons of the house with , a medley of comedy, music, dancing and other entertainment provided by '", the principals with the assistance of " 5 a glittering array of femininity. The engagement closes tonight. j LURE THE HEART OF MEN !PR By Julia Chandler. IS TN the history of the theatre frocks fiBf have never talked so loud nor mm told so graphic a tale as those worn wg by Prances Starr in David Belasco's '&& production of "Tiger! Tiger!" Edward "a Knoblock's new play now on view in .ffl the Belasco Theatre. They reeval the m soul of Sally as no word of mouth w could ever reveal it. They say ''jm things which no playwright could pos- fflf. sibly describe. They tell a story that is altogether woman. They worm o their way into the thought of an onlooker on-looker and wrap themselves around the heart of an audience until they wring their toll of tears. And here is the manner of their doing: do-ing: The first act of "Tiger! Tiger!" finds Clive Cooper, who is a power in parliament, entertaining Evelyn Greer and her father, folk of his own class, in his London rooms. The father ex presses his regret that he cannot have the consolation in his illness of seeing his daughter and Cooper married, and the girl and man in question discuss the subject as frankly. They reach the conclusion that the tinder is there; also the flint, but deplore their inability in-ability to find the spark. The conversation conver-sation ends with a warning from Evelyn Eve-lyn to the M. P. that some day the "Tiger! Tiger!" of man's desire will MARJ-JULI SISTERS, SPANISH DANCERS, WHO HEAD 2 HE BILL AT PANTAGES CHRISTMAS WEEK spring out of the jungle and stir him H from his apathetic indifference to H woman. M This prophecy is fulfilled in an H amazingly short while, for some ton jH minutes later Cooper mots on the H moonlit square a young girl whom he H never has seen before Lifting her H eyes to his the girl has much the ox- H perience which Shakespeare attrib- H utes to Juliet when first she saw Ito- H meo, and that history records of hun- H dreds of men and women who have H looked and loved. Mesmerized by the H experience Sally goes back to the H rooms of the M. P., which are lighted H only by the fire while they enter, so H that an audience gets but a dim im- H pression of the stranger-girl who has H fallen prey to the jungle heat. But H when the lights go up the story of H her station does not need to be shout- H ed in words from the housetops. One H knows instantly that she is not a wo- H man of the streets. One is sure that H she works for her living in a clean H and decent way before she ever as- H sures iCooper that such is the case. H One knows also that she is neither H stenographer, typist nor clerk. H H And the knowledge comes from the H way the girl is costumed rather than H from what she says. She wears s H straight brown skirt with a tiny stripe H in it, a flimsy little waist of a pongee H shade, the plainness of which she has H tried in true feminine fashion to ob- H vlate by embroidering a little green H silk wreath around the neck. Fjr H stockings are of brown, and the black H shoes again express the feminine do- H sire for prettiness in their neat black H bows. On the black straw sailor H hat there is a flowered band and a red H quill, another capitulation to the de- jl sire for attractiveness which burns H like a flame in the heart of every wo- H man, no matter what her station. But H the note of greatest pathos Is achlev- H ed in the short black coat with its H wide band of black velvet around the M bottom, its bizarre lining of Roman- H striped silk which forms the collars H J H, and cuffs as well, all screaming Its H home-make and Its struggle for attrac-H attrac-H tlveness at one. Never was there any-H any-H thing upon the stage more grotesque B and more pathetic than this abbreviates abbreviat-es ed little coat. Never did wearing ap-H ap-H parol of woman speak more potently H of Jier Inherent decency, for with all j its piteous struggle toward prettiness H I the thing is not tawdry. There isn't a M 1 tawdry suggestion In the whole outfit, H j from skirt and coat to the plain little M green pockethook and leather belt. That is tho beginning of Sally's story M as told by frocks a drab little crea-fl crea-fl ture whoso instincts reach out to the 1 softer, prettier things of life when m she becomes the prey of "Tiger! H Tiger!" m The rest is a story even more M graphically told, for it has to do with H the struggle of the little London cook- m'f, lady to hold the love of a man when M ' instinctively she knows that her house H; of happiness is builded upon a founda- Hj tion of shifting sand. Illiterate, cramp- Hj, cd in experience, starved for tho wide, Mi ( free spaces of the open country in M Which she was born and where she H spent her youth, It is just the instinc- H tive woman of it that Sally should rely upon her concept of feminine charm M in clothes to keep Cooper enthralled. m. In the second act of the remarkable HH play the leaven begins to work. On HB her "evening out" Sally comes to her Hj M. P. attired in a cotton voile over HL which there is scattered a green and h pink figure. The lower half of the K sleeves are of net, and the oversklrt w Is caught up at regular intervals with Hr little pink roses. Home-made again in Hh fact and in effect. But that is not the K thing that brings a mist to the eyes W of tho onlooker. It's those pathetic H little bunches of pink roses! H i The green stockings and green satin W bows on black slippers, the green sash, j the little green velveteen pockethook, M the green parasol, are all touching tributes to the girl's realization of the Hj,' power of clothes over tho heart of H; man, but there is nothing she achieves Hi in sartorial effects that is so saturated H with pathos as the cheap little pink K roses with which she drapes up the H' skirt of this frock, unless it is the red t cherries she uses in the third scene of H' the third act. Here she wears a brown w cotton voile, trimmed wtih two tiny H bands of brown velvet around the 1 skirt, sleeves and skirt draped up with H bright red cherries. To match the H cherries there are red ribbon laces tand H bows for the black satin slippers, and H an odd little round cape of brown cloth H trimmed also with a bunch of cherries. H The cherry effect Is carried further H to the home-made hat of corded silk H and straw, where they serve as trim- H ming. H "IF will be noted that time brought H Sally a distinct effort to effect a H greater gayoty in her color schemes. H Cllve Cooper had given no bint that H time might end his companionship with H the little cook-lady, but his best friend H had told her In no uncertain terms H that such must inevitably be the case, H It is immediately after this interview H with the interfering friend of the M. H'v p. that Sally appears in the cherry- trimmed frock and hat, with its pathetic appeal to the senso of beauty In a lover whose cultivated taste must have found them incongruous' and hideous. In all the world there's no more pathetic pa-thetic a thing than the effort of a woman to hold man by the lure of pretty clothes. That Sally's frocks were an affront to loveliness and fash-Ion fash-Ion makes no difference in their import in the story that is told. To her they were beautiful. One can just see her spending every spare hour, not given to her lover, in studying creations In the windows of shops in fashionable sections of London. And again, transferred trans-ferred to her room In the servants' quarters of the homo in which she served, working far into "the wee sma' hours" upon her own "creations," the weariness of the long day In the kitchen kitch-en forgotten in the hope of bringing the sparkle of approval to her lover's eyes. Sally to whom "Tiger! Tiger!" brought so much of tragedy. Sally the girl whose life-experience, however sad, was not able to warp her common sense; Sally who gave divinely with on expectation of return, Is yet Sally the woman trusting the power of a frock the full length of the way. New York Telegraph. |