Life — May 11, 1911 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

= LP Es A Novelty and a Dead One OMBINING food and stage entertainment might prove dangerous for the performers if those in front reached the point of dissatisfaction where missiles were appropriate. Fortunately the pro- moters of the Folies Bergéres recognized the fact that unless they wished their whole enterprise to be an immediate failure the food would have to be good and the stage show at least entertaining. If either was bad the two might get mixed up in very “unpleasant fashion. A bad entrée might be hurled at a per- fectly good actor or a good salad might be wasted on a bad one. In advance the enterprise looked like a very dubious un- dertaking, but the managers have carried it out better than any one supposed it could be done. The arrangement of tables and seats is most ingenious and the service is smooth and expeditious. The cuisine is good and the prices no more exorbitant than at the other New York restaurants patron- ized mostly by Pittsburg millionaires and other extravagant persons, The idea is a unique one for America and until it shall have lost its novelty will be well supported. SEZPRESES S a place of stage entertainment the Folies Bergéres is attractive, the tasteful decoration being enhanced by the subdued lights on each table and the irregularity of the seating arrangement. The general effect is less that of a theatre than of a rather cozy restaurant. The eating facili- ties are not permitted to interfere with the performance proper, as diners are supposed to be pretty well through ‘when the curtain goes up, and, except during the intermissions, the waiters are not allowed in the aisles. After the first section, which consists of the dinner and a formal show, there suc- cceds opportunity for supper to an accompaniment of vaude- Tr DAE, ville acts. The wise explorer will divide his attendance into two visits, as a continuous session lasting from half after six or seven in the evening until one the next morning is somewhat exhausting to the eyes, ears and digestive appa ratus. The main performance is largely of a kind with which Broadway is tolerably familiar, consisting of a couple of cx- travaganzas and: a formal ballet. The first thing on the bill is entitled “Hell,” and hangs on a supposed visit of the Lib- erty Statue to the lower regions a number of jests suggested by the title and allusions to contemporary persons and things not always amusing or in the best taste. The ballet follows and is well staged and costumed, but the dancing itself is very far from being in the highest school of the art. The final number is entitled “Gaby,” and is based on the alleged infatuation of the deposed young King of Portugal for Mlle Gaby de Lys, a scandal of some importance abroad but of slight interest here. It serves as a thread for song, dance and spectacle, which are the main attractions. In the whole performance there is nothing of great novelty or merit, but everything has been done lavishly and brilliantly, apparently with small regard to cost. The principal feature throughout is the chorus girl and she is here in all shades, sizes and de- grees of personal beauty and exposure. To the person who has sat through all this the after per- formance of vaudeville comes as something of a let-down. Taken by itself and as a side issue to a bite of supper be- tween the theatre and some folks’s bed-time, it will be found agreeably entertaining but not startling. All in all the Folies Bergéres is a novelty and the way it has been brought into being shows originality of conception and remarkable executive ability, a>. O 2 IN “The Lights o’ London" was a very successful melodrama in New York many years ago, the lurid situa- tions and language of that kind of play have been so often burlesqued that the up-to-date audience in America abso- lutely refuses to take them seriously. At the first performance of the elabo- rate revival of the piece at the Lyric the spectators simply howled with laughter at what used to be the most impressive lines in the piece. We probably have Mr. Ibsen to thank or condemn for this remarkable change in the popular taste. His influence THE DISCRIMINATING PUBLIC comicbooks.com