Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-20
TEEEA7ER
New National Theater.

1t Is for the people who can turn back the
pages of the years and look once more on
the world as the domain of the fairies that
1.-The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast Is
designed. For those who cannot dismiss
critical standards a separate entrance to
the theater should be provided, with the M
scription above it warning all who enter
there to abandon hope. But for those VINO
have not outgrown their sympathy with Jul
venile moods, those who have not allowed
Browning to crowd Mother Goose wholly
out of their affections, there should be q
doormat with a large red Welcome. ON It,
1t is spectacle pure and simple. There
| Is fun, to be sure; emphatic fun, in which
the hurnor is carefully italicised SO. that
there is no danger of its being overlooked
by even the most inattentive auditor. 1t Is
the kind Of fun which production of this
sort requires, for amid the bewilderP3snts
Of scenic magnificence any subtleties Of Wit
would inevitably be lost. The method OF IN
Producing the comedy Is characteristic or
the production as a whole. Comedians ans
not offered individually, but by the BUNCH
Joe Cawthorne appears as the nurseas He
rattles his RS as of yore and plays the>coH-
sicfaniy respect for that much distrusted
instrument. Harry Bulger plays tthe1paEt.
OF the king and VIM. H. Macart that Of the
queen. The humor Of these three roles con-
bald heads, big feet and misfit clothing 1t
is a production in which the effects are
necessarily broad and this trio did not. al
low any of the points to be lost. Yet Ills
all perfectly clean and innocent fun. There
is a bit Of a story. too, which gives Phoebe
Coyne an opportunity to be malevolent ana
terrific as the witch, Leila Mcintyre girl
ishly graceful as the. Princess Beauty and
Viola Gillette statuesquely impressive as
Prince Charming. And then there are girls
|-Flossie, Columbine, Byzantine, GWendonne,
Evelina, Maudie-indeed, it seemed that the
whole family of POLITICALLY christened cory
phees were there. The stage was literally
crowded with performers Of all grades OF
importance and yet the groupings were at
all times artistic and beautiful. At the
very outset the program gives convincing
proof Of the immensely Of the production
No less than four pages are occupied by
the list of managers, authors, composers
and scene painters, the synopsis describing
the various scenic splendors the cast OF
characters and the list Of business attaches.
The ballet Of the seasons is charming
assemblage of costumes, in which daintiness
survives in spite of the immensely of the
picture. The most beautiful scene is that
which introduces the aerial ballet In which
the dancers seem, with absolute natural
ness and uninterrupted. grace, to defy all
the laws Of gravitation. The attendance
and applause so plenteous as to indicate
that the Washington public is in the mood
for just such mental holiday as The
Sleeping Beauty and the Beast Is designed
to provide. 1t is a gorgeous festival OF non
sense, which asks odds of the critically
disposed so long as it has the children and
the young folks of all ages on it's side. The
smoothness with which the production
moved last night bespeaks excellent stage
management. - =: