The Washington times., 1908-10-11
ZangWill Play
One of Seasons
Best Productions
Walker WhiteSide Makes Ex-
Cellent Impression-Nazi-
nova and George Re-
peat Successes.

TO say Is the new ZangwiI play 70 be
another artistic product Of the highest
merit, beautifully presented. and IA
vored by the few? or is IL TO add sub
stantial patronage to It's good qualities
and reward producers. actors, and au-
thor with n fair return for their skill
and labor?
The forecast last Sunday was: There
is hope" Today the Judgment is. the
hope is realized. II The World ana
His Wife can pack the theaters OF
Washington, Cincinnati. and Chicago for
the Favershams. then The Melting
Pot ought TO pack those Of other cities
for the Liebler Company, Mr.. Whiteside
and Miss Herne, and Israel Zangwill.
The Merit of a Happy Ending.
For The Melting Pot" has virtues
which were missing in The Children OF
the Ghetto" And the greatest Of them
is that it ends happily. There is a
world Of bright future IN that one cir
cumstance. We are all little children
at heart; those of us who have any
right In the theater are completely illu-
stoned; as we grow 10 know the char
acters Of u play we grow also into an
enforced affection for them, varying in
its degree according as playwright and
players do their parts we'll or poorly
We are not content when those we love
are unhappy. That IS why tragedy IS
doubtful venture. and an unhappy end
ing a severe handicap in this blessed
land OF America and this blessed year
1905
In Merely Mary Ann Mr. ZangwiIl
brilliant as he is-had to crawish TO
get the close Of his story in the sun
se--r,, -.r,fr1-er, Of he Chaf4O'f
could not have been made over. and If
another than the composer OF that Won
derfuI symphony in words had under
taken to rewrite It's melancholy and
andante conclusion. the artiice would
have been so bald as 10 fool mighty
few into paying for tickets But here.
in The Melting Pot" is achieved an
entirely different result. There would
be no play worthy Of the author If the
two who make It did not go forth from
the stage hand in hand 10 live their
later lives as one
A Greater Than Warfeld.
The very virtues OF the performance
give emphasis to this thought. If there
We're any whose sympathies We're not
touched by Mr. Whiteslde, the theater
and fiction and the whole realm of
fancy are LlOL lol Llltlll NJ dGlDA u
this generation has presented a more
nearly complete impersOnatiOn. Phrases
like that are so easy to write they have
become almost commonplace. But here
the tribute is earned, and is literally
justified
Any one who knows anything of Mr..
Whiteside will hardly doubt on this
score. For he has been re ceived by
Hilary Bell-not inclined TO enthusiasm
as a critic and perhaps not above
WEAKNESS Of the American stage-as the
only Hamlet New York saw between
Edwin Booth and Forbes Robertson.
The Middle West knows Mr.. Whiteside
as so strong a Lear, OthellO, and Shy
lock that year after year he redeemed
performances with patched scenery and
no other actor in the cast Provincial
ism on the part Of house managers. too
bOyish an appearance. a slight figure,
and a serious conservation to dramat-
70 art which pr-cluded a striving
for what IS termed a popular sue
cess-these factors have kept him out
of his own in the theatrical capital Of
New York. They have now the effect
Of establishing that in the character OF
this later Sweet Singer Of Israel. He
has so far fitted his own personality
10 his role as 10 display an art beyond
most of the stars in popular success
es' whom we of Washington have ever
seen.
In being measured against Mr. War
field (the comparison is inevitable.
though surely there is need for both
on our STAGE Mr.. Whiteside will not
suffer. II may be he lacks a little Of
the others constant appeal 10 the pa
thetiC impulses But he has an appeaI
larger and more lasting in an art which
is not confined 10 haIf-lights He is
capable Of strong direct, forcefuI act
ing. as well as Of pathOs. And with
all that-without disparaging in the
least so gentle and lovable a nature
as was displayed in The Music Master
Mr.. Whiteside is yet able TO touch
the most secret chambers Of the heart
in that wonderful speech in the third
act Of The Melting Pot"
There must be joy these DAYS in a
certain quiet. Christian home. at Hast
gs-on-the-Hudson, where this excellent
actor and his domestic little wife live
as far aloof from the glare Of the
theater as the circumstances OF their
lives viii permit Also there must be
Joy under the waistcoat Of certain
George Tyler. Of whom Mr.. ZangwIU
spoke only the truth last Monday night
when he said something TO this effect.
He has courage to choose actors for
their merit and not for their regulations.
He is a sort Of astronomer Of theatrical
stars"
The Jew in America
In the course Of the week the station
of the Jew in America was well dis
cussed here in Washington. Mr Fang
viii does not visit Washington without
spending hours in the company Of his
friend. Or. Cyrus Adler The two to-
gether met and talked with such other
Semitcs, as Secretary Straus and ST.
mon Wolf. At the White House, the
author and Mrs. ZangwiI spent the
luncheon hour with the President and
Mrs Roosevelt, Secretary and Mrs
Straus and Mr. Root. What a range Of
conversational possibilities was there,
one would be amazed TO know how
many Of these other Jews were willing
10 accept the lesson Of The Melting
Pot'-that America is the new Zion and