Life — February 22, 1912 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

The Triumph of the Weberfieldians OR America the exhibition of loyalty to stage favorites shown in the hurrah over the Weber and Fields“ jubilee” is rather remarkable. Abroad, once to have been accepted by the public is a pretty fair guarantee of permanent popular favor. In Enj land it is almost a case of once a favorite, always a favorite. British youths of the present generation flock to applaud comedians because their jokes were laughed at by the grandfathers of the present audiences. The English pub- lic even insists on the same jokes. Over here we are not apt to tolerate our stage folk if th fall off perceptibly from their highest mark. They may trai a little while on the strength of their names, but unless they can shortly repeat their former successes they are quickly re- duced to the value of the squeezed lemon. Of course this trait goes with our national love of novelty and our ambition in all ways to be not only abreast of the times but ahead of them. ro Fe Fw R seven years of separation—a long time in the world of the theatre—Messrs. “Joc” Weber and ields found the Broadway, one of the largest of New ‘ork theatres, too small to hold those who flocked to witness their reunion in conjunction with other favorites in thei companies at the little theatre which formerly bore their names, The first performance of the cight weeks’ “ jubilee ” assumed the importance of a metropolitan event and was a rare testimonial of the loyalty of American pleasure seekers to those who had in times gone by given them entertainment. One reason, perhaps, is that although they were not highly intellectual and refined, the Weber and Fields shows were clean and the comedians themselves have gained and main- tained their position without scandal. “MAN Not the least of the interest in the occasion lay in the re- assembling of members of the old force. Most of them have been pretty continuously in the public cye since the old days and there was not much question that Lillian Russell, Bessie Clayton, Mr. William Collier, Mr. John T. Kelly and the man- aging comedians would take up the old work much as they left it. Fay Templeton, though, had been out of the public view and it was an agrecable surprise to find that, although the adipose of vengeful time was much in sight, the magnet- ism of the artist was as compelling as ever it was. There was also curiosity as to what the intervening years had done to the celebrated, sightly underpinning of Frankie Bailey, but it would have apparently taken a micrometer to di change in dimensions and symmetry. The former agile chorus has either not perceptibly changed or has been succeeded by a collection of youthful femininity cqually agile and equally well trained a>. O 2s I* deference to the past a few of the old favorite numbers are revived, but the performance is practically an entirely new one, although carried out on the old lines. The first WELEN COLLIER GARRICK AND FAY TEMPLETON IN “ BUNTY BULLS AND STRINGS” comicbooks.com