Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-01-24
The PLAY IN NEW YORK.
BY CLAIMING porrorx
BY CLAIMING poLLocK.

acted by Blanche Walsh at the Astor, Is
Clyde Fitch at his worst. But for one
or two "F'ltchisms' of the sort already
described, the play would smack strong.
~ of Theodore Kremer. II IL n melo-
drama of the most arrant sort, full of
improba billties and 'bunkum." and
quite empty of originality and creative
ness, Each act Is like Christmas
stocking with an orange IN its toe-the
fruit is at the end and all the rest hangs
limp.
Mary o'Hara, called Houston
street Molly" Is known in the district
winch she adorns as a pretty tough
character. She has every vice but
enc, and that being, happily. the one
generally regarded as theunpardouablc
SIN, Miss Thompson, who runs q set
llement house, determines upon saving
her soul. This salvation she accom-
pllshes by putting q child In Molls
zap, an expedent that had never oc-
Cured TO anybody before, and the re-
suit projects Mis- O1lara into the next
act with white dress and a white
washed character Now IL happens
mat MISS Thomson IS in love with
Douglas Aines. as unprincipled a rot
Ter as was ever written. and Mol de-
vines that her benefactress IL being
married Tor money. Accordingly, for
no possible reason cXcept thai she
may have been seeing too many plays
BY A. w. Pnero. Mol lures Aines
INTO her rooms SO that Miss Thomp-
son may catch him In the act OF at
tempted betrayal. Even regular
theatergoer knows that ladies who are
going to have Il man in their room.
or who are going to be In mans
rooms at midnight, never go about the
matter sanely, and Miss O'Hara makes
point OF Keeping her plan secret
from everybody who should have
known II. Consequently. when her
sweetheart Bill Hubbel, drops In and
fnds Aines, there is an awful row and
Moll is discarded by the entire cast
of characters. This discourages her
somewhat. ana she is about TO take
to drink, when a blue spotlight falls
on picture OF the Madonna and her
child, and she takes to prayer i'm
stead, In the last act Miss Thompson
and Bill come back and all is we'll
The play is not without clevernoss.
but generally speaking. ii is decidedly
mediocre. One scene Is good drama.
That Is where Miss THOMPSON, be-
lieving that Mol has stolen her lover,
forgcts about the salvation business,
steps out of the skirts of piety. and
faces her protege in the sohl-naked-
ness of woman-rage. There is truth
and human nature here. and In play
writing an ounce of truth and human
nature Is worth pound of blue spot
light.
Blanche walsh's performance OF
Moll didn't surprise me- because
have always known that Blanche
Walsh is as near genuius as any star
we have in America. Charles Dalton's
Bill did. In common with most peo-
pie | had come to believe that Mr..
Dalton's Roman armor was as much
8 part of him as n tortoise shell is part
OF torpoise. You remember the old
story about the method of telling n
male canary from female-"if he
sings it's he; if she sings it's a she -
Wei, j have n test of the same sort
for players. If | fail to identify a man
through his assumed character tho
moment he steps on the stage, ] say
His acting is good" If succeed. /
say His personality is pleasing" MIR.
Dalton's Bill is acting. Helen Lowell.
as an old woman of the Sums. taught
me to appreciate the talent of Marie
Rates, but the remainder of the
company, including Dorothy Dorr.
Louise Closer, Jessie Ralph and How
ard Estabrook, is entirely competent.
oh, JOY! At last / am given reason
10 believe that | am a genuine dra-
matte critic. / don't rank myself with
Alan Dale ana Acton Davies as yet,
because, while they arc denied seats
at real theaters the deaf car Is turned
to my appeals only at the Bijou The
reason, II occurs TO me. Is that didn't
like May Irwin in Mrs. Wison-An-
drews" If the same punishment Wero
meted out to everybody who didn't Ike
Mrs, WilsonAndrews." the Bijou
would be emptier in tho future than
IL has been in the past, The only
feature Of this matter that concerns
you is that ] am not able to tell you
about The Mimic and the Maid" a
comic opera produced there last Fri
day. / have bought seats for next
week. when / shall DO able 10 crafty
VOur curiosity and my own