Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-27


Theater this week have been unusually
large, the appreciation of ."Old Heidelberg
has been scant as compared with its de-
serts. The approval manifested for this
exquisite study of human nature would be
sufficient to install an ordinary production
as permanency for several seasons, but
so extensive presentation requires more
| than ordinarily liberal patronage to sus-
tain 1t as a box office success. Like the
idyllic things which it so delicately por-
trays, "Old Heidelberg itself must be
swept aside, because il does not sufficiently
conform to practical demands. Mr.. Mans
field is announced for four weeks en-
gagement at the New Amsterdam Theater
in New York
Up to Tuesday, '-~n when he will
produce Ivan the Terrible" he will APP
pear in repertory. The new play is the
work of Count Alexis Tolstoi, a relative of
Count Lyof Tolstoi, and tells a tragic
story Of medieval Russia. AS in the case
OF Mr.. Mansfield's most notable success,
"Cyrano De Bergerac." he will have the
benefit of foreign precedent, as the scenes
and costumes are modelled on plates loaned
by the directors of the Imperial Theater
In St Petersburg.
X
The character sketches which have been
assembled and made the figures of rather
loose and inconsequential plot under the
title of Mrs. Wigs Of 'the Cabbage
Patch were received with incessant peals
of genuine laughter-the kind that defies
intelligence and springs unbidden and I'M
expected from the subconscious ego-at the
New National Theater this week. In this
production the play is distinctly not the
thing, but the characters are irresistible.
The sacrifice of feminine comeliness to the
demands of art is ruthless and wholesale.
but 1t serves a worthy purpose. and as
sists in impressing the gentle, helpful
philosophy of the play in a most diverting
manner Madge Carr Cook is announced
as the star of the production, and main
tains her position securely, but with a
generosity worthy of Mrs. Wigs herself
she leaves fine opportunities to every other
member of the cast, and these opportuni-
ties, as a rule, are improved to the utmost.
Mr.. William T. Hodge, who played Mr..
Stubbins, was a figure of particular in
terest. inasmuch as he is scheduled by
Liebler & Co. to star next season. The
play in which he will appear has not yet
been selected, but his desire is to retain
something of the comedy which brought
him to attention in Sag Harbor. and which
turesque reprobate whom he is at present
portraying. The comedy, however. is to
be blended with a certain amount of seri-
GUS quality, which will give artistic dig
nifty to the role. Although a comparative
stranger to Washington, Mr. Hodge Is an
actor of ripe experience, having served an
apprenticeship In repertoire companies and
one-night stands-an experience which he
vows he would not have missed for for
tune, and which fortune would not tempt
him to undergo again.
Mrs. Wigs will not visit New York
this season, but after the engagement here
will be transferred to Boston for a run
1t has been booked at the Savoy Theater
for next season, commencing September
10. and as no other attraction has secured
time it is evident that long run is ex-
pected.
At Chase's Theater Eddie Foy, who was
burned out of an engagement by the Iro-
Quoise Theater fire in Chicago, and who
nearly lost his life in that catastrophe,
proved that he had many friends in this
city as he has everywhere. In spite of
many difficulties, conspicuous among which
Is very bad sketch, he won a quota of
laughs that entitled him by right as well
as by courtesy to position of headliner.
X X
Years may come and years may go, but
''The Sign of the Cross pursues the even
tenor of its way as one of the most popular
historic melodramas ever produced. 1t ap-
peals with particular force to a large num-
Der Of theatergoers, who enjoy seeing re-
ligious topics illustrated with that vivid
ness which only stage portrayals can Sc
cure. The audiences at the Lafayette this
week were large and enthusiastic.
A play contest, recently inaugurated by a
magazine devoted to theatrical topics, has
drawn down upon itself critical indigna-
ton and even ridicule. The theory on
which the competition was based was that
there is an abundance of play writing
genius knocking at the doors Of managers
in vain, and that a contest open to all
writer's on equal terms, in which name
and prestige of previous success would
not figure, would be sure to develop some
new and glittering star in the dramatic
armament. The winner of the prize was
Martha Morton, who has written so many
plays for Sol Smith Russell and others,
and the piece when produced was not pra-
ticularly liked. Instead Of demonstrating
that an unknown author can write good
play, the contest merely developed the