Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-11

so often sigh with more or less
sincerity. and musical comedy In
its most modern and diaphanous form. And
so far as patronage was concerned honors
between THE Belle of Mayfair and Ihe
Student King were about even. Every
now and then Mr.. DeKoven or Mr. victor
Herbert filings a real comic opera into the
arena of theatric strife, and 1t usually
comes out with an excellent record Yet,
great as the artistic satisfaction Lust De-
1t is doubtful whether the risk is rewarded;
whether the care and scholarship weigh
suficiently In the balance of popular esteem
against the light and airy connections
which are so promptly and carelessly put
together after the well-known musical COM
edy recipe 1t Is the good old question of
the debating society to which avails
more money or brains, and an opera like
1.-The Student King" despite the piquancy
and melodious efficiency of the prima dom
ma, Abarbanell, depends chiefly upon Its
solid qualities while The Belle of May
fair and its lk depend upon the man
ayers liberality of purse in employing COM
petent performers and securing exquisite
effects in costuming.
The stage at the New National Theater
last week looked like an animated fall
opening of a department store. There has
been no such impulse to applaud sheer
fnery of dress since Florence Ziegfeld dis
played an octet of gorgeously gowned show
girls as a background for the Quaker
ish simplicity with which Anna Helds 1.-the
proportions were clad. But with all the
magnificence, musical comedy is but quest
for another "Florodora,'' just comic
opera however scholarly or ingenious, is
but a vain search for another "Mikado."
The domination of the box office and the
booking agency insures cash for an
ample production. The manager is su-
preme, and the author and composer, in
their present subordination, do not and
cannot be expected to develop the orig
inality of speech which characterized libret-
tos or the dashing cleverness or rhythm
and interval which distinguished the music
of those earlier productions.
4
1t is a fearful thing to reminisce 1t
means sourness and lack of modern sym
pathy. Blessings on the man who can sit
out in front and throw back his head in
good old-fashioned laughter at the antics
of the comedian. whether they be germane
TO the story not; blessings on the white
gIoved old chap whose hair Is parted down
himself to say bravo when the prlma
donna touches high note blessings even
on the girl who giggles. They are the link
Between the old regime and the new; the
assurance that what has been will be
again. that the public is still ready with
laughs and willing to be generous in award
ing them. 1t is not discouraged, and in lieu
of square meals is willing to be philosoph-
feally satisfied with light luncheons. espe-
eially if there is plenty of dessert in the
way of song, dance and specialities
x
display of feminine charms always has
been and always will be an essential ele-
ment in theatric diversions. But an evolu-
ton has occurred in the ballet. The gauZy
skirts that once futtered through grand
opera, making their wearers look like ami
mated mushrooms, are now In the limbo
of anachronism. The sly jokes about the
old gentleman who went to the opera osten-
sibly to hear the prima donna, but in
reality to behold the gyratons of the pre-
miere danseuse gone Nobody winks
one eye and jabs his thumb into a portly
friends wastcoat when THE Black
Crook is mentioned 1T was The Black
Crook" which first dismissed the embellish-
ments of aria and recitative and frankly
presented the Ddllet as a piece Ue resist
ence. What an audacity! 1t was no wonder
tradition has it that one Charles Barron,
the author of the play (Which, by the way.
contains some good sonorous blank verse
of really literary WORTH, fell into a melan-
choy and sickened when he found what
the managers had done with the work which
he had intended to be serious drama OF
high moral purpose. But the name Kiralfy,
which was once synonymous with all that
was spangled and spectacular, has itself
faded into an echo. No longer do fiat
chested ladies excite admiration by stand
ing on one toe until the muscle is entirely
displaced by tendons.. The coryphee has
been superseded by the show girl, who.
protected against stage drafts, as her pre-
decessor in the mimic picture never dreamed
of being, prOmenades in skirted statelinesS
through the scene, the envy or the admra-
ton of every eye that is susceptible to the
artistry of modiste and milliner. And what
eye is not?
We are taking things more seriously
even the stage door Johnny, who used to
be joke, has become a tragedy. The
dispatches from Pittsburg constantly COM
mand sympathy for the woes he suffers
through devotion to some beauty of the
lyric stage. And further west in St. Louis
he has thrown himself at the feet of the
drama, keeping Miss Margaret Anglin' s
press agent busy recounting the mad and
hopeless devotion with which he persists
in sending bon bons, bouquets and heart
felt protestations.
The only play of the week-outside of
popular melodrama, which has a trusting
clientele which needs no encouragement
through favorable comment, and is invul-
nerable to adverse criticism-that did not
depend music was The Love Letter"
1t is a Sardou comedy, whose &pprecia-
ton requires a vastly liberal frame of
mind and a comprehension of French So
cial standards quite apart from the &C
cepted American ideas of domestic pro-
priety. What might be comic in Paris is
b often a little pathetic anywhere west OF
New York. A situation which presents
two men. who have in turn succeeded to
the position of husband, engaged in ar
animated three-act dispute as to which OF
" them IL that she had deceived, should
be supported by far more brilliant Dialogue
than that which occurs in The Love Let
ter 10 be even satirically effective. The
piece Is waste of time for admirable
an actress as Miss Virginia Harmed and
so accomplished a character delineator as
W. j. Ferguson.