The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-11-15
WEEKLY DRAMATIC NOTES.
The Way Of the World The Sleep
ING Beauty.
fFoR THE cHRoN1cLw.l }

(FoR THE CHRONICLE.
In his new play The Way of the
World" produced at the Victoria
Theatre last week, Clyde Fitch has
taken unto himself the title of one of
Congrieve best known comedies But
afterall Isuppose small harm has been
done for the title is good one and
not copyrighted and besides how
many Of those who will throng to
the Victoria have ever heard of Con-
grieve, much less read his plays.
The nominal star, Miss Elsie de
Wolfe takes the part of society wo-
man, rather neglected by her easy y-go-
ing husband who is running for gov
ernor on the Reform ticket. In
perfectly innocent way she amuses
herself with Mr.. Nevill-the villain
of the piece and excellently played by
Vincent Serrano-and as a result all
sorts Of complications arise. Mr..
Crayden, the husban !, is estranged
from his wife and Mrs. Nevill threa-
tens to sue for divorce. But in the
end things are explained to the salts
faction of everyone ard the audience
goes home without that bad taste
which is the result of so many mod
ern "society' plays.
OF the plays Mr.. Fitch has written
the Climbers approaches this more
nearly in plot and general style but
in tThe Way of the World" there are
no such startling contrasts of light
and shade as abound in the former
play. The events follow one another
in logical sequance and in conse-
quence it is more natural and true to
life than the stacy, theatrical "Clim-
bers." Miss de Wolfe does some very
good work in rather superficial
part and she is ably seconded by
Miss CLARA Bloodgood, an actress
whose abundant talent has been prov
ed by her splendid work in former
plays.
The stage setting of the different
scenes is admirable. In the first act
an automobile conveniently breaks
down in Central Park, thus enabling
most of the action to take place i'll
and about it. Later on the scene
changes to an interior of the Crayden
house on Madison avenue on election
night; while the best setting of all
is the drawing room of Mrs. Lakes
house where a musical is taking
place.
If remember rightly there have
been several attempts in former years
to transplant that distinctly British
contribution to thedrama--the Christ
mas Pantomime-to America, and
they have all failed disastrously.
Either the faculty for appreciating
this sort of entertainment has been
left out of the make up of the average
American, or the British public are
content with much less witty lines,
melodious numbers and graceful
dancing than are tolerated on this
side. Be that as it may Messrs. Klaw
and Erlanger must have felt consider
able trepidition when they decided
to transport this latest of pantomimic
successes "The Sleeping Beauty and
the Beast with all it costly accessor-
les from Drury Lane to the Broadway
Theatre. They took the precaution,
however, of having great deal of
the libretto rewritten and new music
added to suit the American taste and
the finished product as presented
to the public last week proved how
good their Judgment was.
The setting of the scenes seem to
increase in beauty as the spectacle
goes on. eliminating in the gorgeous
splendor of the crystal palace. The
ballet of the seasons alone is worth
going to see. while the flying grigolatis
pirouette through the air with as
much ease and confidence as if on
Mother Earth.
Everyone will see this fairy play aud
if one wants to earn the undying
gratitude of the small boys and girls
of the family, here is the chance; for
it isn't often that they can be trans
ported to Fairyland for the small sum
of two dollars.
Knickerboclzer.