The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-12
GRACE GEORGE IN CLOTHES"
BIT HER NEW AMERICAN PLAY
rs PATCHWORK.

Fitch et Al. Audience enthusiastic
"Reminiscences Of The House Of Mirth."
When Mr.. Avery Hopgood sat down to
write the New American Play in which
Miss Grace George appeared last night at
the Manhattan, he had an idea which IL
measurably new TO the stage, and which
is capable Of sympathetic and effective
handling, but either he or his collaboration,
Mr.. Charming Pollock, or both, forsook
the gods Of truth and have given us in
stead the most amazing collection Of the
stale tricks Of stageland that it has re-
Gently been the fate Of Broadway to witness.
Clothes" il a crazy quilt in which the
thread Of logical development in character
and in plot is lost 70 view in tawdry patches.
There il scarcely a successful society play
Of the past FIVE years that has not been
laid under tribute The cast was able and
the production good. Some popular APP
pToval the piece undoubtedly achieved.
But on serious ground it is nothing.
The programme quotes Carlyle: Society.
which the more l think of it astonishes me
more. il founded upon CLOTH Ohuid Sher-
rood Miss Georgel is striving to maintain
the position Of luxury TO which she is born
on two thousand a year. The idea ~ that
OF LILY bOTt OF nc I1OuHo VI hlIlh III
the story shows her vacillation bet ween the
man she likes and the man she feels obliged
to marry for his money. There is much
talk Of dresses and dressmakers and n
gown in particular threatens TO be the ruin
of her character and her happiness. The
point Of departure NJ admirable.
First and last, however, all simplicity and
truth are thrown to the winds in the search
for the effect OF the moment. The smallest
detail is as eloquent as the great" scene.
In a sumptuous metropolitan apartment
the front bell hangs in the drawing room.
For what reason2 So that theh honest lover
may be interrupted for comic effect while
he rs proposing to ntiUfc. And he ia inter-
Tupted as long az the audience will laugh,
which is very long. Then he a
chair and muffles thu bell with his handker-
chief, and the audience laughs again. Mr..
Hopwood and Mr.. Pollock mOw that front
bells do not hans in drawing rooms, but
they wilfully disregard their knowledge.
In matters OF detail such tamperinR with
fact IL mildly annoying. When Il Is carried
into the vital dramatic elements it brings
an atmosphere Of ~vulgarity which Ia o n
the less revolving because il il 30 obviously
wilful. Mr.. Frank Worthing is again the
Wal Street villain he was in The Climbers"
He purpOrts to be the mar Oh "a likes and
trusts; but he is an obvious cad from the
outset.
He comes on the scene very drunk and
disorderly. Kisses in the face OF the heroine
that no Til marry her. taunts her with
accepting clothes from him. which she has
done, though u~nwittingly. grapples her
on the staircase during the progress OF a
hall. falls headlong down the fight, appaT-
emily dead, and lies hidden behind q curtain
while the jewellers file in front in the anoient
manner Of The Moth and the Flame
Then he comes to life and Misses villainy
and drunkenness for a while longer.
There is a middle aged couple who were
happy in Omaha. but whose happiness has
wrecked by the metropolis and clothes
Horace Wdtltnq N a OF q publishing
firm who makes thirty-ive thousand a year
and whose wife spends fifty on her dress
maker. But in spite Of income n ex-
~perienCe he is Childike h bland. He
appears on the scene at a social Junction
with an annful Of his own books, and to
exc out his income he invests his last dollar
a mining stock that for five years a
been VIGOROUSLY worthless. When the
crash comes he and his wife monopolize a
handsome apartment during the ball with
what is Ostensibly a strong moral ace ne
on the order of that in The Walls Of Jer-
icho," but what is in reality a cat and dog
fight OF the kind that would disgrace the
Bowery.
There is much e~pigrammatic talk dug
from the catacombs Of dead wits. There
il a scene In which a plain woman Ia made
up into p~rettiness while her back is turned
to The audience, as Florence Rockwell wa
made up in Sweet Kitty Bellairs,' and
Marie Tempest was made down in The
Marriage OF Kitty" Scarcely q moment
passes that something is not done which
has been done better before.
The end, il not as cheap and tawdry, il
as insignificant and as inexpensive. This
Lily Bart, having eluded her evil TrdiH0r-
DOrsCt-a man who woos her while his wife
il living and who publicly ~rejoices at the
ball when he learns that she has been
drowned-is married 10 her rich sutton
vuhnu, M .ha communicable Asan,nya-a aha
has grown to love. The moral lie. blow
yourself on gowns and the easy mark will
foot the bills.
Time will tell whether there 10 a public
for this sort OF thing. The house last
night gave many curtain calls, the two
authors walked in and on and on like a pair
OF song and dance specialists at PrOctor's,
and Mr.. Pollock made a little confident
speech, while Mr.. HOpwOod looked scared.
The outward and visible signs we're those
of success.
Mr.. Brady gave the piece his customary
elaborate mounting. But he did not make
a speech. Apparently he ran down last
year in his efforts in behalf Of The Red
skin" In one respect he deserves all
praise. He in one Of the very few managers
who have the courage to do well by untred
homs talent. II X a pity that he places
NO much faith in the timewOm tricks OF the
stage.
Miss George acted with az much sim
pllClby anu Cndrm IA the OCCASION aufnlLtou.
Mr.. Worthing did his BEST. which is very
good. by his repulsive part, and rolled down
the ballroom stairs with the true Nethersole
reck ~lessness Of consequences. Mr.. Robert
Haines was solidly effective as the honest
lover. Mr.. Charles Stanley was breezy
and robust in a minor part, and Miss Louise
Closer played the spinster whom Miss
George made up into a belle with all the in
cisive precision and feeling for character
Of her PrOssV.
$50 Years OF Vaudeville.