Life — March 12, 1903 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

T[PHE Sengambian idea of | humor is primitive at best, but in its elementary state it makes an irresistible appeal to the other human creature with a fairer skin. Complicate it with the ques- je refinements of what is called musical comedy and we get a product which is neither funny All that is essentially ne- gro has disappeared, and in its place is a poor imitation of a model which is not worth imitating. The plantation darkey, onal nor agreeable. aping the airs and graces of his masters the! tural and mistresses, is amusing, but ev not at his be It is when he is n and spontaneous that he is really a co- median “In Dahow theatre of a com which marks the first appearance ata Broadway composed entirely of negroes, is an illustration of the fact that when the negro gets out of his own racial environ- ment he doesn’t but s the negro. Williams and Walker themselves, ho head the organization, have always managed to ereate much merriment in bringing out th very poiut in a vaudeville sketch, One is the typical, thick-headed darkey roustabout, gr and child-like in his credu- lity. with yell skir and a thorough acq ve the negro facility in dancing and singing. As vaudeville artists their Jaughable throughout. Spread ont over an evening's performance the limit of their resources early and one quickly re- alizes how little there is to their abilities. The piece in which they appear is a crude effort with no plot and no lines. “Tm a Jonah Man,” is made funny in the interpretation by Bert Williams, but in itself is on the same lev e rest of the perfort “In Dahomey become a white man, spol sque in perse The other is the equally typical smart * coon,” n irresistible tendency to gor; with sporting life. They | act w they reac One song, ast nee. makes no effort to call out what really charac- ght possibly exist in the large number of negroes crowdedwon the stage. ‘Th good dancing one might f the delightful harmonization to which negro These colored people give ply a pitiful exhibition of their childish race vanity, which finds its exploitation in dressing up in gaudy attire and making up their tawny skins with paint and powder in imitation of their white ri- vals in similar entertainments. teristic talents m re is none of the expect, and none o voices lend themselves so readily. m- As a theatrical attraction, ‘In Dahomey ” does not seem to jus- tify the nt of turning a Broadway stage over to a negro company. As a demonstration of the histrionic capabilities of the colored race, it is an absolute failure. peri ANY people of their own color flocked to see these African performers, and at first it seemed likely New York might have to face the race question right here within its own limits. New York is very sympathetic with the negro in the South, but when it comes to sitting next to him in its own theatres, a slight repugnance demonstrates itself, He may bea man and a brother all right, but when it comes to touching elbows with him for an entire evening, your New Yorker objects quite as strenuously as the Southerner. ‘The man- agement of the New York Theatre met the predicament by assign- ing seats for negroes in separate parts of the house. . ° ° ND so. metropolitan New York is going to allow sleepy Philadelphia to have the endowed theatre this country so sadly needs. Over there it is a matter of five million dollars ; here it would mean six millions. But Philadelphia is the seat of much wealth and the necessary money may be forth- coming before New York knows that it , has neglected the opportunity to establish the one institution which should fix, for all time, its position as the artistic as well as the commercial metropolis of America. It already has the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera House ; to complete its pre-eminence, it should round out the artistic trinity with the Metropolitan Endowed Theatre. Metcalfe, LIFE'S CONFIDENTIAL GUIDE TO THE THEATRES. feartemy of Music —“Florodors,” Musical comedy of a bygone epoch. Only fairiy weil presented, The Darling of the Gods.” Sombre but Impressive Japanese Bijou.—Marle Cablll 1a“ Nancy Brown." Light-weight musical comedy, Broadicay.—Last week of ‘The Sliver Supper. regretted It will not be deeply Casino.—* The Chinese Honeymoon. Musical comedy. amusing and tuneful. Reasonably Criterion —James T, Powers in “The Jewel of Asta Musical comedy. Pretty poor. Daly's.—*The Billionaire.” rather coarse. Musteal comedy, Not very funny and Garden, Mr, Sothern In “If T Were King.”? based on the Ii Well acted poetic play of Frangots Villon. Garrick. —" Mice and Men. Agreeable comedy, with Annte Russell as the star, Meralit Square.—'Me. Pickwick.” Musical comedy, with incidents from Dickens's story. Amusing. Knickerbocker musical comedy ‘Mr. Bluebeard.” Elaborate production of tlresome Manhattan. —*The Bishop's Move,” with W, II, Thompson as The Bishop. Notice later. Princess. Amelia Bingham in “The Frisky Mrs, Jonson.” Diverting play of soctety life by Clyde Fitch. Saroy.—Mr. Fitch's “ The Girl with the Green Eyes." Soclety comedy, Amusing. ria —Blanche Walsh in “ Resurrection.” Depressing bat interesting version of Tolstot’s story. Wallack's—George Ade's “Toe Sultan of Sala," Musical comedy. Well perforined and laughable, Weer and Fieds's,—Borlesque and vaudeville. 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