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Show PERCY HAMMOND'S LETTER PRODUCING PLAYS IS PRECARIOUS CALLING A (Copyright. 19L'2 New York Tribune, Inc. i The business of producing dramas seems to be as precarious a calling as roulette or aviation If I had been asked at the beginning of the season to make i list of the "sure things," I should have included as enterprises certain of success "The National Anthem." An-them." "Maih-lelne and the Movies" and the musical play In which MLss Ethel J,.'c. returned to Broadway and her native land t Yet failure, more or U SB Ignominious, Ignomini-ous, was the lot "f aii of them. Possessing Pos-sessing most of the auspicious assets indicative of prosperity, they became, before their time was over, lugubrious mendicants nking the humiliating alms of the cut-rate ticket agencies. I 'ii the other hand, "Tho Cat an,i the Canary." starting with no prospects w hatovcr. barefoot and almost penniless, penni-less, despised and a waif, now flaunts a noticeable affluence. It is said that during the first performance of "Tho "at and the Canary" its dejected sponsors hawked it upon tho sidewalk, side-walk, endeavoring to sell It for little or nothing, so sure were they of disaster. dis-aster. This correspondent, reviewing the exhibition for The New York Tribune, put a shroud around "The Cat and the Canary" and called for knells and D sarcophagus. So. Indeed, did many ol hers who soothsay hereabout. Yet II .'xlsts in opulence and Is one of the town's hauphty hits Prognostication In matters of the drama Is replote with hazards and prudent reviewers avoid it perilous and conducive to discomfort. dis-comfort. For their sad owl-songs often of-ten are omens of great joy and their jaunty bacchanales, with frequency, precede mourning and distress Here was "The National Anthem," a drama tn itint; ! such animated topics as liquor and the dissipated dances 1 omposcd by no less an author au-thor than Hartley Manners, who wrote "Peg o' My Heart " and played by i Miss curette Taylor, the First Actress, Ac-tress, Its promise was exultant. Mr. Manners was neer before so much! in earnest, viewing with a sprlphtly! alarm the twin and popular evils of j Jazz and alcoholic stimulation. Miss Taylor, In the impersonation of Its principal character expended with a lavish liberality her treasure of charm I and devices. But the customers did not care for it and it languished pitiably pit-iably and died of its mysterious anemia. ane-mia. ? e Miss Georgette' Cohan, as offspring of her noteworthy parent had a fine chance in ' Madeleine and thr Movies" because her hitherto unfailing ancestor ances-tor wrote the play and because It was about the most celebrated of our institutions, in-stitutions, the cinema. But. in the artful of Broadway, It "flopped on the first night, it seemed to have everything every-thing that a "show" ought to have In order to get the money names, sentiment, sen-timent, prestige and familiar subject Discovering at the first performance that something was wrong. Mr Cohan himself rushed into the leading man's role. The sacrifice, however was of no avail. Empty seats persisted and "Madeleine and the Movies' went down unhonOred nd unsung .Ml Cohan's mother. Miss Devey, flushed with European triumphs a popular p.-t In Ixmdon and other foreign parts appeared to bo a safe Investment mi "Go Easy. Mabel." She also declared no dividends, and she r j u 1 1 Rallanth after af-ter a lonesome fortnight or two. hu.-t-ening to vaudeville's hospitable and remunerative sanctuary. In case I am asked what was the worst show I ever attended I shall reply, re-ply, without equivocation, that it was "Able.s Irish Rose." Abraham Levy, a handsome and unorthodox youn;' Jew, marries in secret, a lovely papist Miss Rosemary Murphy, and the plaj Is about the agitations which arise therefrom Abie's father Is enthusias ticaliy of tho Talmud; Rosemary's male parent Is more Romanist than the Vatican. They conflict for an at I or two, performing many naive capers, cap-ers, and at the end Solomon emhr.i. . -Patrick and there Is B meeting Of th! ends of the earth. Young Able Is to be seen decorating a Christmas tree with a Star of Bethlehem, while Ro mary cooks In the kitchen range, profane pro-fane hams and kosher muttons. Com posed. I suspect, for the theatrical eight-year-olds, by one of the most precocious of their kind. a You are, perhaps familiar with Hal -old MacOrath's story, "The Drums of Jeopardy.'' In which there are emeralds emer-alds a Russian prince It fair American Ameri-can ingenue. (Miss Marion Coakley) and a plucky, noble chap from th1 slates, (William Courtlelgh who marries mar-ries hor at the conclusion. Also an ancient violinist and Intrigue Well Howard Derrick has made a so-so melodrama out of the volume and It Is undergoing performances at the Gaiety. The lime is the present and the place New York. Among Its other oth-er characters you may discover nji omnipotent war correspondent and ;i sly Bolshevik envoy or t o It Is a nice, snappv show constructed for tho purposes of Broadway and tourists, i and It will, perhaps run for two or ; three years. |