Life — December 12, 1912 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

Theatrical Floodgates Still Open HERE'S no break in New York's orgy of new theatrical productions, but if it doesn’t stop pretty soon there’s likely to be a 2) break in some managerial finances. Even if all the productions were successful artistically— which they are not—they could not all be suc- = cessful financially, because there is, although it might not scem so, a limit to the amount the public can spend on theatres. This brief chroni- cle covers only a fortnight, but the productions of even that short period represent an investment of capital running well up into six figures, which must have a quick return and that failing means disaster to somebody. 29 PU see v7 UES ee ¢ 27 7UES E66 HE combination of a star like Mrs. Fiske and a play by Mr. Edward Sheldon would under normal theatrical conditions be a notable event, As it is, “The High Road” creates hardly a ripple, not because Mrs. Fiske is not almost at her best, nor because Mr. Sheldon’s play is not an in- teresting and well written one on a theme of contemporary interest, but because the public is so sated with theatrical entertainment in every line that only the extraordinarily unusual makes any impression. “The High Road” raises a novel question of the relation of the virtue of woman to American politics, a question of interest in this day of fem- inine clamor for the right to lead the individualistic life. Author and artist combine to give the problem dramatic value, so “The High Road” is quite worth secing as stage enter- tainment and by those likely to be interested in its topic. Wf On cose VG M“*= SIMONE, nothing daunted by her failure to carry the American public by storm in her previous efforts, comes back to the attack this time in a play French in sub- ject, but by a successful English author, Mr. L. N. Parker. The slight plot of “The Paper Chase,” laid in the Maric Antoinette period, lacks cogency, and rathcr mystifies the audience, but gives opportunity for picturesque court cos- tumes of the time and intriguing material for a coquctte heroine. Also there is much bowing and curtsying, which is always picturesque stage material, but not quite sufficient to make up for a poverty of telling situations and lines. Mme. Simone still measures the same—expert in her methods, but deficient in ability to gain the sympathy of her audiences. ON Oe HAKESPEARE is doubly represented in the collection of ventures. The second effort of the Annie Russell com- edy company was a staging of “Much Ado About Nothin ing the so-called Elizabethan method in some particu- lars and the present-day devices in others. The result was not unpleasantly incongruous, as the color scheme in the stage hangings and costumes was delightfully worked out. The acting was neither conspicuously good nor conspicuously bad, simply a praiseworthy effort, with an agrecable but un- impressive result. The lady manager shows good discretion in changing the bill by a return to the very excellent per- formance of “She Stoops to Conquer,” given by the same company. “Hamlet” is the other Shakespearean offering. Mr. John Kellerd essays the role, and at the Garden Theatre, which is really a double display of personal courage. Alas, courage is not all that is requisite in “ Hamlet Sl? aDawe? Bp “THE Firefly,” with Emma Trentini, is a really musical musical show. Mr. Rudolf Friml, the composer, keeps far enough away from the familiar Viennese method and far enough above our own rag-time school to invest the score with a strong tinge of originality, and yet keep it within the range of popular appreciation. The star has both voice and method, combined with an unusual supply of the vivacity which counts so much in comic opera. She is well backed up by a good singing company, and the cast includes, in the per- son of Mr. Roy Atwell, that rare bird, a comedian who can be funny in a refined way. CAR $5 LR. I the musical line of the strictly popular type we have an extravagance of claborate productions. Most important of these, in the fact that it adds another new place of amuse- ment to New York's big list, was “Roly Poly,” which opened the new Weber and Fields Music Hall, Although the proprietors are reunited as managers and artists in this effort to per- petuate and enlarge upon former glories, the initial per- formance lacked the old spirit. The new members of the company fail to fill the vacancies. Of course, the comedians themselves, Marie Dressler and Bessie Clayton fitted into the new frame, but industriously as they tried Frank Daniels, Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes did not scam to be placed in exactly the right society. There is no perceptible falling off in the chorus-girl quantity and quality. Messrs. Weber and Fields are faced by an enormously greater competition than that of the past, but they are re- sourceful managers and may be relied upon to rise to the emergency. Mr. Fields is also the producer of another claborate musi- cal show called “The Sun Dodgers,” which decorates the stage of the Broadway Theatre with chorus-girl beauty and provokes mirth and music, with a large company headed by Messrs. George W. Monroe, Harry Fisher and Miss Bessie Wynn, These musical pieces are all built on so much the same lines that when title and principals are named the de- scription is almost complet. In the case of “The Sun Dodgers,” the variant is the basic idea that the characters are engaged in forming a community where the hours of joy that come with the electric lights are the ones to be lived and the days devoted to rest. There are enough persons of this belief in New York and among its visitors to insure a sympathetic success for the piece. The new show at the Winter Garden, although headed by Gertrude Hoffmann, is not overburdened by that lady's comicbooks:com