The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-18
THEATRICAL LETTER
 FROM FRANKLIN FYLES


 Passes" written to be read but not
 acted, and Theodore Rremer's "A Wo-
 man of Fire" wrttted to be acted but not read. the weeks dramatic output
 Longs W Madam Butterfly" written fn
 no play form whatever, and 1t Is Inter
 esting to consider the three contrasts of appeal to audiences.
 Lawrence Barrett shaped Browning's
 "A Blot in the 'Scutcheon, to be acted
 with profit of fame and money; Sarah
 Cowell LeMoyne, Eleanor Robson ana ana livered '1n Balcony to few pleased audiences, but "Pippa Passes" has not
 been performed until now that Mrs. Le
 stage with full and adequate equip
 ment. Even people of good culture don't read Brownings longer ana
 heavier compositions, and 1t is no as- persion upon your intelligence when remind you that "Pippa Passes" is an
 assembIage of three short dramas ut terly disconnected, except that Pippa
 passes the houses In which they take place, singing 8 song with the refrain, "God's In His heaven--all right Tn the world. That sentiment, being oyer heard in turn by the paramour of a widow whose husband he has murdersd; ! by a sculptor who has been tricked to laccept as an afiinftiye bride slFl really ignorant of art, but whose iove | and beauty compensate for her lack | of aknocwelge; and by plunder of a priests estate. who confesses ms crime; and In each case 1t IS presunleu | to have an effect on the denouement. There is a complete lack Of dramatlc action in these pieces separately, ana l nothing save the voice of Pippa m ner I passing song to link them together. i They and the introduction, ihterludas | and addenda occupied four hours.
 Each section had It's own distinct
 cast. except that Mrs LeMoyne ne p,aige1t pr~iast who exposed the plunderer or ms sa aead
 brothers estate. Mir. Killer directed the handsome production; but oia noe nSa | assign role to himself and Of the | eighteen otherwise facile players. ohIy | Mrs. LeAToyne possessed the language 1 so as to ciarify it's purport. The tne-
 erary incfinationa, to whom the per- 1 formance fave much satisfaction. but no theatrical entertainment. except duf- l ing the first and last quarter hours, a., I 1s conscientious chronlcler l am bound to write that Mabel Taisaferro was one object of anything but literary l interest in the presentation or Pipps l Passes Mabile was the Pippa, ana I she was of no account as 8 speaker l Of Browning's matter: but she IS young daintIly pretty, and as the ltalian ia- | tory maiden on a holiday, she got out of he'd and dressed herself at the be- ginninE of the play in the morning re | versing the process at the end m h' eus
 evening. The first lift oS> the cIIlaan i5,a,., I the rest of her being under qulIt uP to her chin Daybreak aWoke ger ~ talk, talk and talk of the clear weather
 and osher things affecting her ouhlhs. oisst Even the devotees of Browning didn't seem to mind that they eouldnt near half she said. nor derive any enjoy yuleingt leig
 from her utterShniSee hiS 9E pbat tne the soiiloauy
 lasted she was doing humanly interest,"
 The first of them was to stretch her slim. white arms outside the coverlet, the second was to swing her bare feet l free from under 1t anl step out on the | floor in her nightgown, and the tnlfo was to give glimpses of her ankle in moment of dancing merrily to the shim-
 mering glints of sunshine on the Wall l She was such a naive. graceful, uneon7
 scious creature that It seemed shane al1l..
 to watch her deftly slide chemise over | Ciaelf and under cover of 1t drop her
 nigktie to the floor, wash her face and
 neck, arms and hands, in basin or | water put on a frock, and thus com rIete her toilet. for she didn't wear [ shoes and stockings, even on holiday. ] After Pippa had passed the places or
 the three dramas ana retuaneo urn e hEInei t;reS
 as the audience. She chatted to her
 self again while undressing and the
 Browningites again gave the closest of
 altontion--to her toilet activities, This time, the nightgown screened the shucking of the shirt. with no mis- chance In the change of garments to dismay Miss Taliaferro or to distract | the watchers. It was to be seen that
 the neat and tidy girl had avoided mud l and dust in pntterfng barefoot all day
 about the village, for when she knelt
 the toes were pink. Once more, as the curtain went down, her pretty head lay
 on the pillow of innocent slumber.
 The magazine story of Madam But l American naval officers temporary Ja- | panese wife's permanent love of her | husband. David Belasco. who had made
 a star actress of Louise Leslie Carter. l and was ready to do likewise with
 Blanche Bates, saw the value of Longs | tale for his new venture. He enabled
 New Workers as ChO- San, but for | three weeks only, as unfortunately ms
 Naughty Anthony" the longer play in
 the bill. was a ridiculous but not anus ing farce. The pitiful charm of Ma | dam Butterfly couldn't be killed by | the immediate death of Naughty Am
 thony, but lived three months contin-
 uol sly at Broadway vaudeville thea l tro. Now, after years. it comes back by the way of Italy as grand opera
 with music by the Puccini of Ia
 Cho-C -Cho-san has become such a voluhle | singer of her joys and sorrows that three prima donnas are required to | voice her in each weeks relays pro- vided by the Savage company.
 | The singing version of Madam But | terfiy" was last season's musical mar
 vel in Europe, and l don't doubt that
 it will be this seasons in America. It
  | scr:ptioN as an opera. As lengthen- | ing of tha Belasco play 1t has one act containinR the wedding of Lieutenant | Pinkerton and Cho-Cho-san, which l Long didn't cover in his narrative, fol- lowed by two acts identical with the one of the Belasco dramatization. Nsc- essailY, the charm of characterization Is l sacrificed to music. The quaint Eng
 llgh Of the Japanese girl couldn't be aceeUted by e singer. Longs dicton 1 ian Ib~etto and back in a translation | Isubservlent to grand opera vocalizatton, | has fallen off to commonplace. ad- | wise the original author to stay away | frUIn the operatic performances of his rovaltics It seemed to me a sin and 1 n shame tt make mere libretto of 1 .Tadam Butterfly" but, then, I have 1 no ear for great music, and wasn't ! warranted in refusing to enjoy myself | was crowded b, aH fashionable an au- dience as ever hailed new opera with | enthusiasm
 Now for the drcf of drama into pppL lariZatiln ty Theodore Fi-mel, whose | fortv-rnurth Ilay Iuts him agatn in tho | have worked up lately into rivalry. | Tine wCrcar wluh gives the title to A | Woman of Fire" has n habit of pouring
 ke1 oseuc ever these Shr dislikes. touch ing a match t3 them. and watching
 their d!sCnm:cci Eleetu''y as human
 i',r firs 4: Lhc statt O. the evehlg | shs unIc.talgHs 10 oil aI,-i a 4ite fluffy | bride. who would blaze beautifully; but | that would end the play in fifteen min
 mtes; so her hand is stayed until II
 crown to girihood. Then the Woman A9f Fire has another incendiary Impulse. and would haste the youngster with
 kerOsine, preparatory 10 cooklng Ter