The Washington times., 1907-10-27
Merry Widow
And Greek Play
BroadwayRivals
BY A. &. BALLARD.
New York. oct. 70

New York. oct. 70
| IT He apotheosis OF the waltz.
That's what The, Merry
Widow" IS. She is indeed a very
widow-a radiant type that
TIN Ills, that caresses, that WHITES. Il
Is the best IN opera boune combined
with the best IN musical comedy. II IS
! something new under the sun. Not
Stree Les Cloches de Corncvjil,," that
rare old combination Of grand operl
ard bouffe. have We had a.iythIn., to
which the Widow can be compared.
No wonder the inhabitants across .he
pond have been submerged In enthu-
5iasm ever since the opera was born
1t will catch up America in its train
Of sparkle and light Always merry
yeS-and much more. You feel as il
you had been IN good company You
are invited TO the refinement of huI.lor
riotous briiliance Of habilimrnt ana
color. The world, worldly. IS there.
but it IS something beyond and above
what we might call gilded vice Man
AIha warts 70 be naughty. way down
!" ms heart and soul. and he likes a
mint OF wickedness-in others
Inc airy elements of mischief the
TO licking bubbles Of healthy utr1tr,
woman beauty, the spirit OF gona mo
god Of love, the tempering Blessedpees
OF joking, the Old. old story of tu,,
hearts Ihat beat as one-aH is sDol-e,
IN the language Of music, and the mic
ture Is set In a frame Of walrzfnr
rhythm that slowly sleeps us in ersr.,,v-
As glance backward in the annals OF
New 4orks theatrical world. can
remember. even in the earlier days ~
youth tWhen Impressions are strongest, |
nothing on q plane with The Aferr,, |
w 'doW' except it may have been the |
gorgeous days Of Booths Theater on /
IWenty-third street, when cages apoo |
Maurice GraU brought over from paris |
MS glorious company that set this cirv
WiiC with the masterpieces of onera
bouffe. PaoIa Marie, CapouI. Greroirs |
were names with which 1
10 conjuTe- What a magnificent round /
OF light opera il wasI
Tie city reSounds with praise for ..TrIe /
Merry Widow" William Winters 6ptst |
eloqueEce could scarcely contain the
proper need OF praise that people here
arc hurlng at The Merry Widow
The Siren Waltz.
When Ethel jackson Cthe widow, Iears
backward on the circling arm Of Dom /
aid Brian prince Danilo): when the /
siren waltz begins; when their feet 1
glide and touch the floor to the magic
pulsatiOns Of the best waltz Of twenty
Yeas; when Ethel's fingers rise and
fall as the fluctuations pass from her !
swaying body: when these two beings
.ntertwlne their arms-their souls seem
to be set On tjre-they seem to reach
your spirit goes with
them 81 sympathy.
Hark back TO the days when Strauss
first electrified as with THE Beautiful +
Blue Danube" when thousand and
One Nights" made your heart leap:
when "Manola' oore YOU along on a
sea Of bliss as YOU held your best girl
close To your heart Up-tO-date Deopic
~ the recognized continents have not
heard any waltz of late years that
comes within speaking distance Of this
marvellous siren waltz Of Franz
Lellar.
Waltz time is preserved well-nigh
throughout the entire opera. There are
enough spoken lines TO break approach /
10 Inonotony and TO connect the threads
IF the story.
There isn't an unclean joke in evil
ience, yet the spice Of life is ever on
he surface
Three acts-oae at a foreign en-
Jassy. one an outdoor fete AZ Paris
md one the interior at Maxim's-feld
,nough for high color there. Ell? Sim
ply, a fellow loves q widow and a
widow loves a felICw-gnd how they
worked out loves troubled dream and
'eality. Fun? The most ScintiHating.
Dressing? Models for the eTistocTats SUI
)erba. Topical songs? A world-beater
bout woman. and girls, girls. girls.
girls, GIRLSr' that makes the audience
almost stand up and yell. All through,
[ is the poetry of motion, that charms,
you, while the melodies soothe
nd caress-- Yet, / believe, me supreme
,harm Of the opera is its atmosphere OF
1enignant tolerance Of this word as we
ind it-something that strangely haunts
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