The Washington herald., 1908-01-19
The Chorus LADY.

sometimes play is written and an
actor makes 1t immortal by the deIinea-
ton Of some character which the author
deems merely accessory, and then again
an author takes type already created by
some actor and builds play to order
around that character The first is art
the second purely a business arrange
ment The Chorus Lady belongs 70 the
latter category It Is "a safe bet that mad
not Rose Stahl made a hit in vaudeville
as the slangy chorus girl James Forbes
would never have written the four-act
melodramatic comedy seen at the Colum-
bia last week Not that the work was
III done-quite the Contrary-fOr there was
cause for COngTatUlati0n all around. We
are ready to applaud perspicacity In
business wherever it may be exemplified.
and Mr.. Forbes and Miss Stahl deserve
the success that has been theirs through
THE Chorus Lady" Their troubles will
not loom UP before them, however. until
it is time for this play 70 be shelved and
the necessity for Miss StahTs creating
another character is presented.
On Tuesday morning The Herald. in its
review Of ''The Chorus Lady" took &C.
casion 10 Dut it in the same class as The
Music Master The reviewer, by the way.
has rocky road trying % avoid paraIIel-
ing one thing and another. But the two
plays have this IN common: thev are
largely subsidiary to the princlpaI char
acter exploited. Without the consummata
acting Of a Warheld or a StahI. In parts
10 which they are eminently aud peculiar
ly suited, the plays themselves could not
exist The leading roles eliminated. .The
chorus Lady Is far better play than
The Music Master" The latter was all
bat inane, and depended upon mawkfsh
sentiment to excite for the central figure
a sympathy which it could have done in
hnitely better without if allowed 10 de-
pend on the artistic ability OF its inter
prefer. The Music Master" was a dead
weight on Warfeld's shoulders. in spite
OF which he made an artistic and-al-
ways cceptable-pecuniary trimph. The
Chorus Lady" while purely a setting for
Patricia O'Brien, Is far less Of an offense
TO the intelligence, and bristles with I'D
to-dateness, although It's sentiment Is
threadbare and artificial It Is too bad
Mr.. Forbes did not make a straight farce
comedy of the material he had at hand,
although the ambitious climax Of the
third act, which Miss Stahl handled like
a veteran emotional actress. shows that
she does not propose to bury her talents
beneath the designation of farceuse.
Perhaps a great deal Of the popularity
Of ''The Chorus Lady is derived from
the scene Of the second act The public
loves a peep at the mysteries behind the
scenes. It is the same form of curiosity
that keeps people hanging about the stage
entrance TO witness a matinee idol emerge
after the performance. Belasco in ''Zaza"
pandered 10 this curiosity when he show
ed the public the various tricks of the
property man in tho manufacture of
thunder and lightning, rain, the beating
Of horses hOOfs. and other important ad-
junCts to a theatrical performance. In
'Trelawney OF the Wells" the satire en-
the foibles of the very human actors and
actresses was hughly enjoyed by the pub
lie, who felt it was being let into some
'IA I Va a eCtitt AHtitbgs EIODdDlN Qlne-
ty-nine persons out of every hundred
would prefer a trip behind the scenes to
an invitation to occupy the best orchestra
chairs, and the glimpse Of the chorus
girls dressing-room which Miss Stahl
gives us I'm 'The Chorus Lady is q de-
licious morseI Tor the inquisitive.
It is this sort of curiosity which makes
the problem play. wherein the intimacies
of life are laid bare, so attractive, and
surely We cannot complain Of the inno-
cent amusement which the second act OF
The Chorus Lady gives. Miss StahPs
dsrobing scene was beyond the criticism
of the most scrupulous. and there GER
tainly is no harm in the delightful COM
edy bit when she lays aside her "hair" to
don the blonde wig Of her chorus get-up.
The gaping public saw no more in that
dressing-TOom scene than IL would see in
almost any ballroom. but It wouldn't miss
il for worlds, and viii talk about it until
the next sensation comes along.