Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-02

fage Eddie Foy Raymond
Hitchcock. Lew Dockstader. all
in the same constellation made
the theatric armament fairly scintillant
with quip and repartee. The parting
week was as strictly jocose as the present
one Will be uncompronisingly dramatic
dramatic with capital ID and even with
a slight roll TO the r.
"a Yankee Tourist" is composite work
something after the manner of the Eng
lish musical comedy. Originally ii was d
play, without music. It's success in that
form was moderate. though not striking.
and more talent was called in for pur-
poses of bolstering and establishment.
As 1t stands it is a singularly deft bit
of cobblerins. requiring great familiarity
the first material ends and the patch
begins. 1t brings to attention new as
pirant to the successorship OF ]. Cheever
Goodwin and {. NJ. S. McClelland in the
production of lyrics for stage purposes.
Goodwin, 1t will be remembered. wrote
Wang and The Merry Monarch while
NcClelland has to mis- credit number of
I.ederer pieces. conspicuously 1.-The Belle
Oh New tIcOTSc W. i<eueT5l was
once asked why G. NJ. s. McClel.and had
turned his back on the frolicsome muse
who had showered him with fortune. 1T
is simply explained. was the reply. 4
made him rich and now he doesn't feel
ike working Harry Il. Smith. Of course,
is not Yet eligible TO a successor. He is
indefatigible as of yore, and the most
that any musical comedy poet could hope
to do would be to share the field with
him. He has created so many characters
in stage fiction that a history of musical
comedy would be Ito adopt the merry
method of the librettist) a sort of Harry
B. Smithology. MIR. Wallace Irwin who
writes the rhymes for "A Yankee Tour
ist," has a rugged. though well-measured
fiuency of syliables. The song form seems
scarcely as yet more congenial to him
than cold type which gives more time foc
the appreciation of ideas. The effort to
be utterly nonsensical-and a certain
amount of utter nonsense seems indis-
pensable to musical comedy-is not we'll
sustained. The effects are somewhat
abrupt. the song. for instance, There
Comes a Night When We All Get Tight -
being quite devoid of fanciful grace and
suggestive only of corned beef and cab
bage Bohemianism. Mr. Robyns' music is
pleasant without being extraordinary, the
tunes being abstractly melodious rather
than interpretive of the whimsical hunlor
of the librettist. The stage pictures are
dashing and Respondent, and the work as
a whole vastly superior to the average
Englsh-made collaboration of similar pur-
port
THE Orchid depends almost solely
upon Eddie Foy for its attraction. Eddie
:Foy. neither singer nor a dancer. is
simply a personality. As made up for
stage purposes he is inimitably grotesque.
1t seems that the playgoer. anxious for
sheer diversion. particularly welcomes
some stage figure SO utterly unlike any
thing humanity produces elsewhere that
it cannot possibly remind one of his fell
bowman. On the stage Eddie Foy is
funny. Were you to meet him unex-
pectedly in the twilight you would run
shrieking to the nearest society of psychic
research. Foy's individuality is genial
and persuasive. He has won a strong
place in the esteem of fun-lovers. and al
though he was d veteran before he was
accepted on cordial terms by eastern
theatergoers. he is now triumphantly es-
Iablisned and sure of popular acclaim
even in mediocre piece.
Why an English musical comedy should
after meeting with unbounded success in
Lorfdon, so often prove u lukewarm af-
fair in America is one OF the mysteries
OF the theater. Transplauting seems al
most invariably TO have Il weakening eff,
feet The difference may be due partially
to the inferior facilities provided in this
country for musical Interpretation. In
Europe orchestral support is so abundant
ly provided that melodies of scant intrinsic
quality are made attractive by lavisnness
OF instrumental establishment.
One of the cherished traditions of the
stage survives in Lew Dockstader's min
strels. Promptly at the mystic hour of
40 a natty corps of minstrel men pa
raded the avenue TO the music of the
band And in the evening the curtain was
lifted to display the magic semi-circle
whence melody ana song pour forth in
bewildering abundance To say that Dock
stader's AiinstIels Offer nothing stri.lingly
new IS not TO criticise. a minstrel show
Is something whose quality is crystaliized,
well defined and whose merit lies To some
extent in being instantly recognizable. 1t
is in seeking novelty that il is most liable
to tread on insecure ground as is shown
in the japanese incident, which. without
being very mirthful, is. in view of inter
national circumstances, 10 say the least,
ill-timed. Dockstader comes to our midst
with the serene jolli,y OF one who is sure
of his welcome to our beautiful city. He
talks TO US about our fads and shortCom
ings ike a friend and 4 neighbor He dis
cusses our street car facilities as II he
were :. fellow-strap-h hanger. uses the
United States Capitol as background on
his three-sheet posters and makes the
august reception room of the Executive
Mansion do duty as the presumptive scene
OF his personal merriment. In addition to
being funny-and no one who heard the
laughter that filled the auditorium nightly
would deny that he is funny-Mr. Dock
stader has a wonderful nerve. Whether
or not entertainment of this kind Is worth
two dollars seat depends on two things