Life, 1914-04-23 · page 24 of 44
Life — April 23, 1914 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page reviews theatrical productions, primarily focusing on a lavish Hippodrome staging of Gilbert and Sullivan's *H.M.S. Pinafore*. **The Cartoon:** The top illustration depicts a theater manager or producer (likely representing the Hippodrome's production team) standing before an audience in an ornate theater, gesturing confidently. The caption "'I Know My Business!' The First Function of the Theatre Is to Amuse!" appears to satirize the producer's confidence in prioritizing spectacle over artistic fidelity. **The Satire:** The review critiques the production's emphasis on massive naval sets and visual effects at the expense of the original work's satirical intent. The critic argues that *Pinafore's* "entire seriousness" and word clarity get lost in the Hippodrome's enormous auditorium and elaborate staging—sound is absorbed, performances diluted. **Social Reference:** A footnote references Secretary Daniels and the Navy Department's "grape-juice policy" (Prohibition), suggesting *Pinafore's* satire of bureaucratic incompetence remains timely. The page essentially argues that bigger production values don't guarantee better theater.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
eal sal “I KNow My BusINEss! The Really Good Never Die VERY one of the saucy ships that has carried the name of Pinafore in the last thirty-six years sinks into insignificance compared with the Pina- fore now anchored at safe harbor in the big tank at the Hippodrome. There never was a Pinafore in or out of the British navy so big and so adapted for impressive nautical effects. The ideal performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's “Pinafore” must be in a theatre where every word of the text and every note of the music can be heard, and where there is an absolute adherence to the original version done with the entire seriousness that brings out its satire. The Hippodrome performance, in the evident inten- tion to make this production a spectacle, departs very markedly from this ideal. The house is so big and its stage absorbs sound so easily that much of both book and score is entirely lost. ‘The deficiencies in performance find compensation in many things possible only at the Hippodrome. Certainly the big deck, the towering masts, the real water approaches and the possibilities of a numerous crew and chorus give effects that never before were scen and heard in a performance of “Pinafore”. The singing and action in the “He Is An THE FIRST FUNCTION OF THE THEATRE IS TO AMUSE!” Englishman” chorus are most impressive, but we have seen quite as much enthusiasm over this number with far less nautical equipment. With all that Mr. Voegtlin and his asso- ciates have done in this spectacle, with all allowance for burlesque, it would seem as though the boats provided to carry the characters might be made sufficiently substantial to preclude any danger of Buttercup and Capt. Corcoran being dumped into the tank; that when the yards are to be manned they should be really manned instead of that ceremony being represented by 2 few chorus-men sprawling on the cross- pieces, and that when the nine-pounders bang they should really bang instead of making a noise like exploding fire- crackers. A lot of attention is paid to naval realism, but Mr. Voegtlin and his assistants should seck the advice of some one who knows something about naval effects in whatever period Sir W. S. Gilbert intended his “Pinafore” to exist But “ Pinafore” is timely. When we contemplate Secretary Daniels and the grape-juice policy in our State and Navy Departments, we realize that Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B., was not an entirely mythical person. “CHE TRUTH,” as done at the Little Theatre, is entirely worth secing by those whose dramatic tastes are not completely satistied by the moving pictures and the girl-and- music shows. This docs not mean that what is generally admitted to be the late Clyde Fitch's best play is either high- browed or adapted to the liking of those who think the theatre is at its best when it is teaching morality by the exhibition of filth. Tt is a comedy of our time in which there is an analysis of character brought out in the dramatic telling of a slight but absorbing story. Interest centers in three characters—the heroine who is a congenital liar, the father who begot her and her tendencies, and the woman of no social standing who clings to this male derelict on account