Judge, 1919-06-21 · page 25 of 36
Judge — June 21, 1919 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents comedic excerpts from three Broadway productions, illustrated with stills or drawings from the performances. **"Listen, Lester"** satirizes a predatory widow's schemes: she's targeting a wealthy man for marriage, but discovers rivals ("there are others"), undermining her design. **"Dark Rosaleen"** depicts Irish-American culture clash. An American businessman named Martin attempts to impose American efficiency on an Irish shop, dismissing traditional Irish street vendors and customs as "ancient ornaments." A character named Katty McCabe resists by having a constable rest comfortably while a (possibly drunk) Jimmy Welsh sleeps—the joke being that Irish charm and resistance subvert the American's modernization efforts. **"Toot Sweet"** shows actor Will Morrissey addressing the audience directly after intermission, joking that many viewers left but surprisingly returned. These excerpts showcase early 20th-century theater's reliance on ethnic stereotyping, slapstick, and direct audience engagement for comedy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
bright bits from new plays From “Listen, Lester” Temporary safety in numbers. Just when she thought her portly prey was ready to be rolled up the aisle, the designing widow finds “there are others.” Beryl Mercer, Dan fes,and Thomas Hl From “Dark Rosateen” Martin, from America, is set on introducing efficiency into Trish shopkeeping. He can’t see the idea of having peddlers invade his shop and sell knicknacks to his customers under ‘ his very nose. Martin—Now can that blarney stuff, Katty McCabe. You can’t pull that on me. I’m going to make this place i look like.something, and I don’t want any ancient orna- ments like you around.—Constable, do your dut Katry (Putting the Constable's feet on chair, making him comfortable)—Arrah, don’t be disturbing poor Jimmy Welsh. Sure, the creature needs a power of sleep. “Tis the lovely corpse he’d be making when his time comes | From “Toot Sweet” Will Morrissey, chief chin support, sizing up the audience after the intermission. “Gee! a lot of ’em came back, didn’t they y Boley and Elizabeth Brice Drape effec 25 somichookseoy)