The Washington herald., 1908-02-11
BeInsco-~The Gay white Way"

~
The real thing IN Broadway shows is in
Washington. and that its fame had pre-
eeded il here was proved by the packed
house which greeted the opening perform
ance al the Belasco last evening. The
exploiters claim for their play nothing
Inere than that it is devised for the pur-
pose Of affordiug an evening entertain
mcut. during which the authors make no
attempt at providing plot This admis-
sion. frankly printed on the programme.
is an acknowledgment that ia shows OF
this character 40 ono cares for the task
OF following the characters through the
n8zes Of plot, and IS the bes, thing that
can be done to put the audience en- rap
port with what they are 10 witness
The Gay White Way IS just such an
other one OF those gittefing. shimmering.
dazzling reviews that Washington has al
ready seen IN The F0ilies. and the Anna
Held show. There is plenty Of action in
the way Of fun-makIng, which Is in the
hands Of trusted comedians There are
clever and bewitching women among the
principals. and a swell bunch Of chorus
girls, both of the statucsque and the
"broiler variety. The number Of current
successes which are buTlesqued and imi-
t8ted are too numerous 10 mention. but
every one Will be satisfied with seeing
bit of some favoT!te piece recalled to
mind
The climax Of the review Is reached at
the end Of the second act. when operate
numbers, both grand and comic, are in-
terpolated Some Of the most pleasing
happenings are The School Of Acting"
stunt by Miss Ring and Dir. De Angels.
who begin with an absurd yet artistic
take-0n of The Thief the reigning
New York dramatic sensation and wind
up with a burlesque circus act which
put half the audience into convulsious.
The startling and chic appearance OF
Miss Guerite as Anna Held also created
a sensation. Miss GueTite is one OF the
most fascinating sOubrettes that has
flashed on the local public IN a great
while. De Angels. in a dozen C0miCai
makezups. supplies the mere violent COM
edy of the piece. and while his methods
may be q trife broad. he makes a most
excellent partner for Miss Ring. who is
one of the premier condolences OF the
present time.
Her songs are all Of a catchy nature
this season, and she is the same clever,
smiling, jolly good fellow that she has
always been In her way, she is inim-
liable. Mdude Raymond also scored a big
hit with her coon songs. She so seldom
visits Washington that her appearance
was treat She is perfectly at home
amid the burlesquers. Alexander Carr,
who is co-star with Ring and De Angels,
is the much-talked-of impersonatoT, who
appears as David Wardeld. If Carr
would appear more as himself he would
be far more effective. as he is a good
comedian. but there is a little more of
the Wdrfieid imitation than is necessary.
and il becomes tTesome. Lew Fields has
done the same thing much better in
About Town" Melville Ellis appeared
in the final act with his speciality at the
grand piano, and gave "The Merry Wild
oy'' and Madam Butterfys beautiful
aria from the Puccini opera, as we'll as
his own trifie. What's the Good of All
These Things Without the Girl Inside?"
Queenie Nassar and Frank Doane are
the other well-known members of the
cast
THE Gay White Way" is mounted
with a lavishness and an apparent disre-
gard Of cost that eharacterizes all enter
tainments Of its kind. There is a con-
staut procession of novelties OF every de-
scription, and anything that causes the
action to lag has been judiciously elm
mated. It is, taken altogether, one Of the
best if not the best. musical shows of
the present season.