Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-10
BURBANK PRODUCTION IN THE
MAIN IS EXCELLENT
Katherine Willard Makes a Big Hit on
Her First ppearance-Desmond
the Weak Spot-swede COM
edy at the Grand

/
that memorable presentation of 1t
which comprised the swan song of the
old Hazard pavilion, when Mrs. Fiske
and her superb company, forced out of
every theater in town, converted the
old shack into a thespian temple in
which worshiped every true votary of
the drama who could find room for his
presence.
1t is a drama with a problem; that
problem has been handled in many
ways by many writers, but by few bet
ter than in Leah Kleschna," by Mr..
Mcclellan. 1t involves the rescue of
girl from a life of wickedness by an
| appeal to her overpowering and re-
deeming though hopeless love. Whether
| this is possible in real life or not is
hardly a question; it depends entirely
upon the circumstances surrounding
! the individual case. Instances OF its
supreme success in actually have come
before the present writer; instances OF
| it's failure blur his vision in even
| greater number.
Given the problem as outlined in this
play and his sane judgment would be
| no. But that answer at once precludes
| the possibility of a DRAMA and conces-
sions have to be made even in real
istic drama to the credulity of the pub
| lie. No painter would dare picture sun
sets as nature repeatedly limns; no
| writer would be fool enough to permit
his fancy to soar into flights and fig
ments of imagination; stranger than
which life, however, presents in ever
| increasing volumes. No dramatiSt may
transcend the limits set him by the
small horizon of the average theater-
| goer; hence the drama is not real
| transcript of life, but is a devitalized
| and toned down depletion of events as
| people think they are or should be.
This holds good in Leah Kleschna";
| not so much, perhaps, as in many an
other play, and hence the hold this one
takes on one. But it is there, neverthe-
| less.
However, it is not the purpose here
and now to review Leah KleSchna' as
a play; that was done in extenso dur
ing Mrs. Fiskes stay, and the public
memory was so impressed by her mas
terly depletion of the work that it has
not been obliterated by anything dra-
matically that has succeeded 1t. SO
transcript of 1t now would be work
of supererogation.
The point in the present case is, how
was Leah Kleschna" done, not in COM
parison with Mrs. Fiske's presentation
| it's own merits as a stock Offering, with
| all the limits that must hedge about
| stock production!
An the answer is: In the main, sur
| prisingly well. The spirit of the play
| has been maintained admirably; the
characterizations, with one or two no
| table and even astounding exceptions,
are excellent. The ensemble work Of
the company is of the best, and the pre-
sentation, from the scenic and sartorial
| points of view, is all that could be
asked. 1t is pity that the Burbank
players appear in 1t so uneVenly as to
afford glaring contrasts between the art
of most of them and the failures of the
| few And here is another odd fact
| the newcomers are doing the very best
| and most artistic acting in the cast.
First honors go to Katherine Willard,
| the new ingenue leading woman. In her
| Manager Morosco has seemingly Sc
cured a treasure. Her personification of
Leah will stand comparison with that
| of Mrs. Fiske-what higher praise could
| be given?-and the latter need feel no
| contempt for this clever little woman's
| work She has grasped the concept of
| the character admirably; she plays it
| with skill, appreciation and understand
| ing and in a keen sense of dramatic
values that shows that she is an artistic
of parts, a distinct acquisition, and a
| woman Oh WHOM LOS Angeles lHedler-
| goers will feel proud, even as they Will
love her. Miss Willard was accorded a
fiattering reception yesterday and even
called upon for speech.
Next to Miss Willard comes Arthur
| Rutledge as Kleschna. He is admir-
able in the role he handles it with
| reserve, a feeling and conservative
ness that make it memorable. He never
rants, even when the opportunity offers,
| nd In GIIh6Iad T1rtS hn iC
| ever forceful and alert to grasp the idea
and bring it home to his audience.
High praise is due both Willis Marks
as Schram, which thankless role he
does perfectly, and to Harry Mestayer,
as the drunken cad and reprobate,
Raoul Berton. The latter depicts this
| rich but libidinous young roue excel
lently well; he brings out the vileness
of the character, yet never shocks one
with mere dirt; it is a clever piece of
| character depletion.
The most lamentable failure is scored
by William Desmond as Paul Sylvaine.
He seems to have no grasp on this role;
he gives one no. clear cut and well de-
fined idea of the man Mcclellan drew;
he acts in a wooden way, as If entirely
out of his element Sylvaine is de-
cared from first to last to be a strong
individual character; Desmond plays
him as if he were clothes horse. He
did not know his lines yesterday, he
baked on his business and he gave an
all-round dead dull and monotonous ex-
ample of how bad a matinee idol can
be when he is bad. All this, Mr. Des-
mond is written with the keenest re-
gret, but all of it is true-and you
know it.
John w. Burton as the French Gen.
eral Berton was joke. Burton can play
corpulent comedy gentlemen admirably;
when he comes to do a straight part
in the same garb, with the same man
nerisms and the same teetering walk,
he is to laugh. Elsie Esmond is not the
French soubrette that the part of So
phie requires, but 1t is only a bit"
anyhow. Harcourt is better as Valen-
| tin Favre. The other small parts
which include roles falling to Carrie
Clark Warde. Maude Gilbert, Robert
Homans, Gavin Young. H. S. Duffield,
Daisy Teasel and Carroll Marshall-are
in good hands.
That the Burbanks production of
Leah" is a disappointment by no
means must be inferred from what is
here written; on the contrary, 1t may
| bonaoklxx no farrnad a I,io, .,,a.oa.