The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-10-01
FOLLY AND SENSE IN PLAYS.
NEW ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN
TO OUR FIRST NIGHTERS.
LEI x. Ke,ierd IN the CIPHER Cede'' ~
the Feurtecoth street Theatre and .
Lot Of Pretty women in '-Tbe Liberty
Beii-s'' at the Madison square.

LOT OF rretty women w tUs sSoefsy
Bciies'' at the Madison square
When the curtain went up a dormitory
Of a female seminary was disclosed. Pour
school girls were asleep In four beds. A
DOZEN Of their classmates came In. All
were Ia night clothes. varying from nuhy
white gowns to jaunty red patamas. Six
teen uncommonly pretty young actresses
werr the wearers OF these intimately per
sonal and private garments In footlit pub
licity. They engaged In a frolic Of candy
eating. pillow hghtins and other infrac-
tions Of school discipline until their notse
brought the principal and they were ~
severely reprimanded that two made up
their minds To run away. Such was the
astonishing first &C, Of Harry \. smiths
new play Of fun and music. This Liberty
Belle-.- which klaw and Erlanecr's Trou-
hadours performed n tbs Madison Square
Theatre last night.
The disclosure % the wi~de-a-wake crea-
lures In their robes Of slumber was ~ start
ling that tho people stared. and doubtless
some Of them aw aited. with dread or de-
light. ~ the case may have been, for the
audacity 20 become indecent. Instead u
was such n modest. dainty and thoroughly
schoolsirli-h exhibition that no one was
ashaned 10 gaze at II In open admiration.
Its naive manner OF innocence was broken
10y no arectations. nothing wicked wa
said or done. and feminine beauty had
never been projected on tho stase With
more Of sensIous allureu ent and le-s Of
indelicate repellance.
Mr.. smith had written more carefully
and oohereutly than he l,sually does. Al
though the rest Of The IAbefty Bellies"
had naught To do with the frolic OF IA.
schoolgirls. except that two 81 them b~-
cam. principal characters after quitting
the SEMINARY. there was a clear and plaus-
1.-THE intrigue. la which the mimicking Efta
Butler figured "a a secret bride. with the
demure Sandol Niliken for her chun,
aud III. cleverly versatile Harry Daven-
port ~ he usban With the more roughly
comic John Slavin for his chun. In the
SECOND act this quartet was AZ a cooking
school. which the -xiled girls had opened.
and ~ course the fourteen conely ones
wer. there, too. In the hrst act Miss But
lcr'H INIT atoms. coquettish songs by Miss
Close and others and several dances had
been introduced. In the second Harry
Gilfuil's well-known vocal mimicrics were
dramatised into the action, h~ilariouslv.
Mr. Davenport and Mr. Slavin gave bal
lads and there was a great d~al 81 graceful
dancing 10y IN" actresses.
The plot pulled itself together when
an uncle ~ IN. wife. acted by MIR Gilfoil,
Wa convinced by trick and device that
zh. Wa still single, and therefore had not
through di-ohedienc- disqualified herself
AZ h-irr-s 81 his fortune A complica-
ton old In farce was brought shout With
new particulars An uncle Of the husband,
acted 10y j & Marlowe. had promised &"
enrich the first girl baby h'rn Ia him ~
when The old fellows visited the young
pair, the ~ife's maidsn friend pretended
io be the wife. and an infant was borrowed
The decepiiOU- Included the disguise oi
the husbands bachelor freud "a an aunt
from Cuba. and came to an end IN n third
act a. a Florida hotel.
A. an entertainment blending the gro
tssJuerie- 81 farce, III" specialtisS OF
vaudeville and the beauties Of spectacle.
all cDncent rated on the Madison Squar~r
ANAL stage. and all good enough to bear
the scrutiny Of a very near audience. THE
was n noteworthy success The pretty
girls 81 the dormi,ory will he the tax "t
the town. serving tn adVertis" a show thai
ha4 al abundance ot other -stisfsctions
The stage direction nv Herbert Gresham
had been expert. There was all utter
freedom from the effects common to bur
lcsque or extravaganza All was ~ neat
and nice a. the beet grade Of comedy.
Nothing vas rough OF violent Every
thing was smooth and Easy None Of
IN. importstions Of musical fare" from
London has been more polite IN design
or artistic Ia e~Iecut ION hlsw n frlang"r-
T~rouhsdours begin with a big big boom
John r Kellerd. making his local debut No
a s,ar actor a. the Fourteenth Street last
evening. appeared In a play Of American
characters and conditions and written 10y
a native Of our country The matter IL
worthy ~. and. indeed, requires. serious
| consideration Mr. kelcrd IL an actor 81
dignifcd purpose. a scholar and a master
az tn. technique Of dramatic art, lie has
given several strnngly-drawn character
izations To the American stage. interpreting
au,hor- in the fullest meaning Of that word.
presenting th. dramati-t's creation with a
fai,hfilness and completeness that In the
common p~arlance 81 stage folk Ia called
creating" a part.
Charles Klein. who wrote last nights
play of The Cipher Code IL n sincere
, worker. and has produced some worthy
dramns DeNoting time. thought and eS.
renence 10 the study and exposition OF
American people and life, he figures among
tho small lody OF earnest workers for n
national drama Tho sc-ne Of The Cipher
code was laid in Washington, and the
person. concerned In the argument were
~ell-dra~ an cosmopolitan types. and not
] the frequent characters Of stage diplomacy
Several per-oas were implicated In O.
forgery OF the Presidents signature 'c
aid in a Wall Str~e, swindle. Only two
proofs pointing 70 the 'oTEeres ~ere er-
tant. a tracing and a cipher o Tho
former was found in the room OF an ANA
,.ur -chemer and the latter w~ the care
fully guarded property Of a professional
In dishonesty. The adventures % these
pat-rS. particularly 81 the cipher code.
made The PLAY. and were complicated To a
d.s--e ~ almost complete disinteiligi-
bihtv
lake Ill dramas revolving about the
adventures ~ a document rather h a a
human emotion. Sardou's -D:plomacy-
and A Scrap of Paper are notable es-
ampl.-. The Cipher Code sppeal~d 10
,h. brain rather than TO the h"art II
depicted -ch-m~rs, political and financial,
~ gro--ingly. hut thctr plots ~cr~ always
vag,I. and their motives never definite.
A comprehensive description % IN" nara
49,. .,,,ll A.. almnx, impp.1hle Its heat