Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-12
THE CAST


Officers of the English army and navy
English and native ladies, Ayahs, retainers
of Nizam, jugglers, natives, flower girls
coolies, sellers, etc
BY SIDLE LAWRENCE
N HERE'S a man in the Blue
Moon.' Being a normal man
u he's got a girl with him. If it
wasn't for these two any little old air.
ship that CHANGED to pass along might
easily effect a total eclipse of this rs
candle power cerulean luminary.
1.-THE Blue Man was made in Great
Britain. With this genesis unblushfng-
ly admitted upon the program the
piece falls under suspicion before the
rise of the first curtain. Fifteen min
utes later suspicion becomes a certain
ty. The star and his consort are Off
the stage. The moon beams simmer
duly and the audience begins to sniff
of the escaping gas. Soon, however,
James r. Powers and Clara Palmer re-
appear, the audience becomes less blue,
mildly interested, cheerful, jocund and
finally hilarious.
Until last night had not seen Pow
ers since the days of san Toy" in
Days theater, New York; and until
last night l had not realized what Mrs.
Malaprop would have termed my de-
".
describably funny. His methods, sub
jected to analysis, appear merely silly,
but they are more than that. They
are productive of good, hearty, UNI
ashamed laughter Sometimes an au-
dience laughs and then goes home and
wonders why. But with Powers at the
business end of the joke nothing OF
this sort occurs. If you see him to-
night you may very possibly laugh
o.Ir hn oh n
boiled egg tomorrow morning ana IL
won't be because it was funny crack,
either.
a Vivacious Maid
As for Clara Palmer she is the kind
of a ladys maid that no well regu-
lated family should be with and no
well regulated musical comedy should
be without. She Is good to look at,
she can sing-enough to serve; she
can dance sufficiently well to make her
dancing attractive, and she knows how
10 aim Joke or a comedy situation so
that it carries over the footlights I'M
erringly.
OF course, there are other people In
1.-THE Blue Moon" but with the eX-
ception of Phil II. Ryley as an idol
maker, juggler and marriage broker all
in one, they don't much matter. Ry-
larger opportunities. He is on thu
stage a considerable part of the time,
but the men who are responsible for
his being there haven't given him
much of anything to do once they get
him before the footlights.
Nanon Jacques sings the title role.
She is pretty girl. slender and with a
flower face, and her voice serves her
very we'll in her opening number, the
strains of which, by the way, are car
ried through the music of the comedy
the Blue Moon motif, if such an eX-
preston is permissible when applied
20 so light an affair as this piece. Miss
Jacques, however, is not quite up to
The moon Dear" song of the second
act.
The numbers which went "big' with
last nights audience were Clara Pal
mer's "Why Don't You Take One, Lit
tie Boy?" her 81 Shall Marry Him to
Make a Home for Mother" Powers
20, Be Careful of the Crocodile" and
Don't You Think It's Time to Mar
ry?" sung by Leslie Leigh, Ed Earle
and the chorus. This number has been
deliberately staged. 1t is sung, in part
upon a dark stage, the singers lighting
up their faces from time to time by
means of pocket battery lights The
effect is good
In addition to the musical numbers
Mr.. Powers and Miss Palmer con-
tribute an old fashioned specialty-old
fashioned, that is, in the manner of its
introduction, but sufficiently down 10
date in matter. They present series
of limitations of amateurs, appearing
at an amateur night performance III
the east. where the book is called FOR
and used unsparingly. The number Is
funny and the audience, last night,
couldn't get enough of it, Then, too
there is a toe dance by Jennie Prayer:
interesting largely as an exposition or
what is fast becoming a lost art.
1.-THE Blue Moon" has been hand
somely staged and automatically cos
tuned. The chorus is large and is
largely attractive, but its singing is
joke and the joke is on the house.
However, Powers, Palmer and Ryley
are funny. Whether they are worth
the price charged depends upon two
things: First. upon how much you
like their kind of fun, and, second
upon how much value you place upon
two dollars,