The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1908-01-21
in THE THEATRES
MILLIONS" Is
GOOD ENTERTAINMENT.
Storm Scene Thrills Audience at the
Newark-Fine Work Of MI. Abeles.
other Attractions of Last Night.

George Barr McCutcheon. for supply
ing the idea in his novel; Winehell smith
and Byron Ongley. for so cleverly work
ing the idea into dramatic shape; Frederic
Thomson. for furnishing the play forth
with such realism of scenic setting. and
Edward Abeles. for so amusingly portray
ing the central character. divide the
honors of the of "Brewster's Mil
lions" one of the brightest farces that
has played the Newark Theatre this sea-
son or several seasons.
The novel situations of the play are N
course erive directly from Mr.. Nc
Cutcheonis popular book. The idea IS
most extravagant, but, with all its ex-
travagance, it is made to appear possible
and even plausible. Here is a young
man, Monty" Brewster, whose grand
father has left him a million dollars. A
forgotten uncle u West, who has a
very healthy dislike for the grandfather
because of the unpleasant manner in
which the latter had treated Monty's
mother. leaves the boy another seven mill
lions, but on strange conditions. To come
into possession of the seven, Monty must
first have spent every cent of the original
million. In this the uncle has two pur-
poses: First, to deliver the boy of the
faint of living on his grandfather's ILL
gotten and ill-used wealth, and second, to
test the boys manhood and ingenuity. 1t
is set forth in the will that the money
must be dissipated to the very last cent
within a year and that no property as
sets must exist at the end of the period.
Monty may be free as he likes with his
money, but must keep within the bounds
of responsibility and reason.
1t Is a difficult proposition to set be-
fore any man. Spending money at the
rate of 5000 "a day, every day in the
week, is a good deal harder than it looks
to be al first sight. So, at any rate,
Monty hnds It, the amount of trouble
that comes to him in his work of getting
rid of the money keeping him quite as
actively occupied as his grandfather could
have been in accommodating it.
The idea has great comedy and dramatic
possibilities, and these the stage adapters,
Messrs. Smith and Ongley. have utilized
with much skill. They have retained some
of the snappiest of the original dialogue
and welded the whole story into a form
far more Ineligible and compact than the
average book dramatization. Much Of the
most telling action comes in the second
net when Monty endeavors to lose money
in Wall Street. This is usually a simple
task, but the more Monty plunges on
shaky stocks and toppling banking lnsti-
tutions the more he makes. All that he
accomplishes by his ingenuity In arraug-
ing costly banquets, backing ambitious
soubrettes in uncertain starring ventures
and sending lengthy telegraph messages
to his partners in the next room is set
at naught when he puts up a small for
tune on a 30 to 1 shot In a horse race and
lands a winner. 1t is even more comically
tragic when he goes to Monte Carlo in
the next act and, though trying his level
best to lose, comes very near breaking
the bank.
Lr - st.,.o4 -
volved. In fact before the action begins
Monty had been or the point OF propos-
ing marriage. This, however, the pro-
visions of the will forbade his doing, and
it also provided that TO NJ one, not even
to his sweetheart, should he reveal the
secret Of the will aud thus make his wild
operations understandable. From thil
eventuatc many misunderstanding, all OF
which the last act, of course, sets Alright
But with all due credit TO the ingenious
ness and inventiver1ess of Mr.. McCutcbcor
and the dramatic skill Of Messrs. Smith
and Ougloy, the big thing in the play,
that delights and thrills the spectator
more than anything else in it, is the work
solely of tho producer, Mr.. Thompson.
This is the storm scene at the end of the
third act. Though naturally developed, it
is really a thing apart, and one of the
cleverest sensations that the originator
Of the Hippodrome and Luna Park ever
devised. A special moving stage TO con-
vey the picture of the yacht tossing in
the throes Of a storm on the Mediter-
ranean has to be employed. The motion
is vivid and heightened by the manipula-
ton of the back scenery. The clouds
drifting past, tho flash Of lightning, the
receding shore and the passing lighthouse,
the roar of thunder, the excited rushing
about of ships officers and passengers
combine in action and picture that, FOR
realism, could hardly he beaten. The illu-
sion of actual movement Of the yacht as
perfect. The audience spplauded the scene
again and again.
In the enactment of the play the honors
belong almost exclusively to Edward
Abeles. who is starred in the role of
Monty Brewster. Mr.. Abeles's dry hun1or,
buoyant spirits and breezy nonchalencc
I'm trying situations made every comlca1
passage telling. Only once or twice did
he make his points a bit too obvious.
Never. even then. was he anything but
amusing. His facial control and express
s~iveness were capital. He never relaxed
the rapidlty Of pace so necessary In farce
to impart the proper snap and speed OF
action. He never dropped the character.
His was in fact an excellent impersona-
ton throughout, and 1t was given good
support. The work of Miss Mary Ryan,
as Monty's sweetheart, was particularly
pleasing.
TO sum it all in a word "Brewster's
Millions" Is the lightest and brightest
and wholesomest Of f~srcical entertain
ment. 1t is not aimed to present a seri-
Gus study of life or character, merely to
amuse. : It succeeds richly and no New
arker who wishes to enjoy himself can af-
ford to deprive himself of the pleasure of
witnessing II. The performance last night
was a benefit for Corinthian Lodge, r. A..
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
rhnrn arn sn.craI onnd hearty lanehs al