Omaha daily bee., 1906-04-04
At TIE PLlYHOUsEs

MISS Viola Allen ana company IN 'lne &
by Clyde Fitch: under management OF i
Charles w. Allen. The cast:
Mistress Betty Singleton, the duchess Of
Mistress Roxana ........ Miss Isabel Irving !
The Dowager Duchess OF Malmsbury
.;...;..... Mrs Fannie Addis2n ,, PIN
Lady Charlotte ............ Mise Alice wilson 4
The Duke Of Malmsbury- Conway Tearle |
I oTd fhPg abe 5uk siH'e'
younger brother ........... Hassard Short I
Master Harry Bent .......... Norman Iharp /
Mr.. Mclaughlin ....-...;.... 6. l;esis Ailen I
Call Boy ..................... Master Maurice |
An old Man Ledger ............. Mr.. Allen I
Walters .......................... Leopoid Lane
Footman .............:......... NJ L. Bassett /
After seeing THE Toast Of the Town /
one has to look again at the announcement 4
Of the bill 10 make sure that Clyde Fitch Z
wrote IT, II il like him In only one regard; I
the acts bear little IL any relation to one
another. Each is complete and perfect in
detail and each might be used as a play
by itself or be set into another play with |
out much disturbance TO either. In one re- |
gard at least. Mr.. Fitch IL the stage man
ayers delight II It becomes necessary 20
shorten a performance for any reason, an
act or scene may be omitted anywhere /
and the continuity OF the play is in nowise
disturbed. In this piece, though. Mr.. Fitch
opens with charming comedy act. and i'm
mediately proceeds to tragedy of the most
sincere type. each of his successive acts
differing from the other, each plunging the
heroine a little deeper into the abyss, ana |
not one of them redeeming the promise
made In the first. Betty Singleton, queen OF
the London, stage and toast of the town.
| loves a duke and weds him. He drinks and
they quarrel she leaves his home and he
seeks her out and begs her to return. She
! is jealous OF another woman and fondly de-
/ termnes to sacrifice herself that her hus-
| band may be free and wed the other
woman. To do this. she processes to love
a man who has long pursued her, and her
! husband believes her. Betty's cup is en-
FILTERED by the poison poured into 1t by the
selishness Of girl she befriended when
at the theater. The end is easy to guess.
Miss Allen lavishes on the role of Betty
| the wealth OF her talent for such roles.
| II is quite within her scope, the character
/ being that off, gentle, loving woman VINO
wants to cling to the object of her afec-
! lions and who cheerfuly gives over her
| own for his happiness. She is misguided
by her own affection and wrecks her life
because she has not the courage to face
an apparent evil and not the confidence to
trust her husband In measure 1t is
Hermione and Perdita combined, but at
the, best IL is not a satisfying part. 1t
docs afford much opportunity for varying
moods in which Miss Allen excels, and
allows her to use all her little tricks Of
vocal and facial expression and to dress
herself charmingly In the gowns Of a
century and more agone. But Betty is not
a heroic figure in any sense, and while she
has the sympathy Of the audience it ie'
for her. sufferings and does not excuse her
I apparent weakness.
One fancies one sees in the first act,
and especially in the trick speech, when
! Miss Allen comes before the curtain and
| addresses an imaginary audience some
thing prophetic of her approaching fare
well to the stage. 1t is known that she
has been married since the season began
and it has been whispered that she in
tends to give over the glory of the mimic
/ world for that of the real at the close
of the present season. II truth there be
\ in this, then the speech she has in the
I person Of Betty Singleton is most apt
and appropriate, and its sincerity is surely
appreciated by a host of warm friends
who will follow Miss Allen into her home
life with only warm wishes for her well
being and the fondest hope that she real
ICES more of the real joys OF living than
fell to the lot of poor Betty.
Isable Irving IL sharing with the star
the honoTs for a well developed character
i'm the selfish. shallow and vain Roxanna,
who calmly accepts favors from one and
all and does nothing good In return. In
the third act, when ROxanna topples over
the newly built happiness of her Betty
! by telling a lot of idle gossip and scandal
under the guise of befriending and warning
her. Miss Irving does a really splendid
bit of acting. Mrs Fannie Addison Pitt
/, / ha has fha
comedy character in the play and does
1t she does all her work, with an ar
tstic finish that is delightful.
The male characters in the piece are less
! clearly defined than those for the women.
Mr. Conway Tearle's duke of Maimsbury
| is a creature of negative virtues and posi-
tive vices. He rids himself of his vices,
but he cannot bring his virtues far enough
to the front TO hold his wife. Mr. Tearle
makes this phase Of the character quite
. clear. Mr. Hunters Lord Phillips is much
the same sort of man. although he does
show at times TO little better advantage
than the duke. Mr.. Short has a silly
} boy part, which he does very well, and
Mr.. Allen affords a much relished flavor
OF comedy by his lucidly expressed notion
of the old Scotch theatrical manager
The play is splendidly staged. 1t opens
in a green room of the London theater in
! which Mistress Betty IS the leading
4 woman;. from there it proceeds to the
Malmsbury family seat. where Mrs. Betty
: is found, surrounded by duoal fnery and
unhappy; the third act is set in the garden
: Of an inn on the banks OF the Thames
and is most effective and the final act is
In London lodging house. A year elapses
between each act, making the time of the
play three years, and accounting In a
4 measure for the sharp contrasts afforded
: large audience witnessed the play last
: night and paid to Miss Allen and her as
b sociates the tribute OF enthusiastic an
plause for the excellent work done In their
EFFORTS to make the, piece seem interesting
The Toast Of the Town" will be given
at special matinee this afternoon and
: again this evening
u nnnI nnnhl lHEA nHhINI