Judge, 1919-04-05 · page 23 of 32
Judge — April 5, 1919 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge magazine page satirizes Broadway productions of the era through quoted dialogue and caricatured scenes. It mocks theatrical conventions: "The Royal Vagabond" is lampooned for overwrought French affectation (the "Petite Fromage de Bric" song mocking Francophilia) and absurd romantic declarations. A running joke targets theatrical hierarchy—a tutor character asks what he must accomplish to earn utensils, after receiving a meaningless "Order of the Tin Spoon," mocking empty honors. The page also ridicules popular performer Fanny Brice's exaggerated "Frenchiest" persona. A final jab targets contemporary theater's trend of sanatorium scenes as plot devices, suggesting producers resort to unimaginative reconstruction themes. Overall, Judge critiques Broadway's reliance on affected European pretension, sentimental clichés, and formulaic staging rather than genuine theatrical innovation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
L the From“Tue Roya Vacasonn” sce Stepuan (Frederic Kneel, Baron Hop- kins, I’m going to invest you with the Orderof the Tin Spoon. Tutor (Robinson Newbold): What have I got to do to get the knife and fork? “Hello, hello, how do you do! Comme si, comme sa, comme oo la la, Tres beans, oui, parley vous. I just come from that busy, That busy Shimmey de Lizzy, And I am full of 00 as I can be; But I wish I was only On that dear old Rouge Boulogny Where everybody calls me ‘Petite Fromage de Bric,’ From “Tue Roya Vacasonn” VIOLETTA: (Frances Dem- arest): Do you really love her? Prince (Fred- eric Santley): Love her? I love ’er, love ’er, love "er, love ‘er, love ver! VioLeTTA: Well, there’s something to it when they talk that way. Tutor (Rob- inson Newbold): And more when the darn fools putitin writing. Parlez-cous gazatsky? Here’s Fanny Brice, as Oui, oui, oui, oui, ‘Petite Fromage de Bric.’” the Belle of the Bronx, (Paroles de Blanche Merrill) at her Frenchiest. <a a From “Ou, My Dear” Perhaps because reconstruction ts the thing of the hour, no musical Shotw this season is complete with- out a sanatorium scene. Here we have Bacsuorr, farce patientat Dr. Rockett’s nerve farm, spieling the obsession that he is Napoleon comicbooks.com