Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-30

figures, and a number of new acts will be
offered by the variety theaters. The theat-
rical season is probably at its very best
just now. although each of the theaters has
many good things to offer before the adj
vent of spring.
Late night last week distinguished
looking. dark-eyed man stood on the stage
of the Columbia Theater. with his back to
the curtain which had just descended on the
closing act of Naughty Anthony" The
various members of the company, who a
short time before seemed so absorbed in
matters of mirth, listened with thoughtful
attention to the suggestions he had to
offer about the work in which they had
been engaged. The cares of stage man
sgement over for the evening, Mr.. David
Belasco turned to general conversation as
easily as if no such things as first pro-
ductions-first productions which might be
the deciding influence in his hopes of own
ing theater-were questions of ordinary
routine and not at all calculated to disturb
any ones peace of mind.
Il have no doubt it would surprise many
people to know what l have been busying
myself about just now, he remarked, as
he removed his hat from the longish. curly
hair which is just beginning to show the
frosty touch of time. 81 have been look
ing for witty lines. l have asked those
about me to point out any witty lines they
may discover in this piece, SO that | may
cut them out
1t was all said with much earnestness
that there could be no doubt of the serious
intent. 1t was a contraSt-almoSt an in
congruity-to find man who had produced
such play as ''Zaza'' and disciplined such
an actress Mrs. Leslie Carter. bending
his energies so conscientiously to the friV-
olities of farce comedy.
Il don't think witty lines have any place
in a farce-comedy. OF course, | have ref
erence to what is called the epigram 1t
makes the audience think They revolve
it in their minds to see if 1t rings true
They begin to smile and nod their heads
in approval when they suddenly discover
that the action is getting ahead of their
attention, and they must apply their minds
to catching UP with it. Instead of being
pleasure, the epigram has been an inter
ruption. In a farce-comedy the action
must be rapid. In a literary comedy the
action is slow. necessarily. in order that
the people may have time to turn a we'll
expressed idea over in their minds and get
its full significance. People always prefer
laughing to thinking. and that is why |
have been looking the play over for witty
lines, along with other defects. | have
put a great deal of work on Naughty An
thony,' since its opening. Monday night
he proceeded retrospectively. The audi
enceS seem to like it. Yet doubt If shall
my temperament more to make people cry
than to make them laugh. l believe it is
easier to do, too. There are certain effects
upon which you can rely in works of
pathos emotion. There is no telling
about a laugh. 1t may fail to materialiZe
in some scene where You have made your
most careful calculation to secure 1t; and.
on the other hand, it may intrude in an
unexpected manner-and sometimes unwel-
comely. How did come to write the play?
In my boyhood I read a comedy of which
/ can now tell very little except that the
central idea was that of n professor Whose
institution taught people how to be moral.
The idea seemed to be too good to lose.
and time could be better for giving it
to the public in a modern dress than the
present. when institutions which profess
to work all sorts of strange cures and re-
forms are springing up through the coun-
try. Not long ago 1 saw an advertisement
of a place which offered to instruct people
in how to be good. just Anthony did in
the play. 1t is a great deal of work to get a
farce comedy into final shape. Much may be
done to play after the first performance,
and this is particularly true of farce
comedy. l am deeply interested in Naughty
Anthony for in spite &c my long asso-
citation with the stage 1t is my first ven
ture in one of the most familiar forms of
theatrical entertainment.
The hat which Mr.. Belasco donned was
somehow characteristic of the man. 1t was
like many other hats; but, the playwright
had individualizcd it. 1t was a high
crowned. black affair, such as he has worn
for years. and which has become habitual
feature of his attire. Like the late Au-
gustin DAILY, Mr.. Belasco might be receg
nized a long way off by his headgear His
personality is not aggressive. He does not
speak with oratorical iuency, but with
the air of man who knows precisely what
he means TO say and is willing to take
time TO express 1t to nicely.
Naughty Anthony" like all first produc-
tons. came to Washington with many cru
ditieS its head. The first performance
was before a holiday audience; one which
responded with enthusiasm to every hint of
hilarity. The houses held up wei through
pressed, although the play, with all its
ingenuity, has neither the boisterous absur-
dity of a Hoyt creation, nor the delicate fin
ish of style expected in a production which
commands the efforts of the performers
who made up the really remarkable cast.
Blanch Bates, who has played Lady Gay
Spanker to a limited warm weather audi
enCe in this city, and who has also made
her work conspicuous in emotional roles,
which are recognized as test of an ac-
tress' powers, seemed just Il trifle out of
place in a part whose main force lay in
the display Of effulgent hosiery. OF course
this is the incident in the play which will
come up for metropoita discussion. The
times when an actress of legitimate roles
excited piquant and insinuatng comment
by playing Rosalind are times of long ago.
There must be something more direct to
engage passing comment. Miss Bates car
ried the incident with a delicacy and dis
erection which would be possible only with
an artist The quiet undertone of sugges-
ton in the piece was depressed through
out. In one scene the elderly gentleman
who is disposed to be fiirtatious by pinning
the good girl medal back on the Soubrette'S
chest, and so'emnly assuring her that 1t
Was to be cherished as priceless offered
a very convincing and well-intended demon
stration that the management fully indors-
ed goodness as an abstract proposition. 1t
was homely and not very eXpertly de-
Vised stroke of sentiment, but the audience
by its liberal applause, showed that it sym
pathized with the idea and had no objection
whatever to goodness, even in a farce
comedy 1t will be long time before
Washington sees many clever peop,e in
the same cast, or such finished stage work
In farce. The performance is whimsical
rather than satirical. and droll rather than
comic 1t is a unique bit of nonsense inter-
esting because of its novelty, even if its
style of fun does not happen to correspond
to the individual spectators taste.
Inventive minds are busy with the bio
graph moving pictures. evidenced by
recent developments in the presentation of
the views at the New Grand The aim
of genius is to perfect the realistic features
so that nature will not only be counter
feited mutely, but that sounds also shall
contribute to the effect produced. Simple
devices have been constructed for this pur-
pose. and there is no doubt that by their
use the imitation of life in motion is made
more satisfactory. Now, at the Grand