The Detroit times., 1908-12-01
N LOCAL pArhOU5t5
psTRolr opeaA HOUSE.


dramatize slang. the theater-going
public has a new standard by which
TO judge shows OF the character or
The Talk NJ New York." In which
Victor Moore is appearing In the De-
roit. AS the piece bears the author
mark OF George NJ. Conan, one must
iook for that familiar Cohan recipe
slang, catchy songs OF very elemen-
tdry build, plenty OF pretty girls.
fright lights and motion. always hust-
ling. rushing. romping motion and
,inger.
The present production has all the
sual features of a musical comedy by
Is prolific author, but IL can hardly be
lassed with previous efforts. II is a
second edition OF "Forty-Five Minutes
From Broadway"-and the dizziness OF
1 twlce-told tale is proverbial. That
s the handicap which Is never over
come.
The whole action builds around
kid" Burns, race track plunger.
and the theme OF gambling Is present
Ill the time, even In the designations
that follow the big winnings. The
asy gaining OF big sums by Burns are
s!orifed and his reckless champagne
Juying becomes a virtue. His best
friend Is New York millionaire. who
is made hero because he turns from
his wife and son TO cultivate the
friendship OF the illiterate kid" and
who encourages his daughter to enjoy
the same familiarity.
Such plot as the play possesses Is
the yeriest melodramatic rot. How
ever. 1t Is saved to a large extent by
the number of songs that have been
injected throughout and by the slang
OF the principal character The songs
are the kind that you can remember
easily and whistle next day, the slang
Is really witty at times and always en-
PERTAINING.
II can't pick nothin' in this bunch
OF trained animals" says kid" Burns
when asked for tip on race. III
any OF these skates wins. It's an ac-
cident that he couldn't prevent"
He has the center OF the stage al
most all the time and. II he happens to
be talking slang, We are glad of 1t.
The first act shows the club house and
we see Burns taking toll from the
bookmakers In large sums softer
than lemon meringue'' as he tells.
There he quarrels with the million
aires son and meets his daughter
without the formality OF an introduc-
ton.
The story thus begun develops until
Burns, TO save his millionaire friends
reputation, retires from the turf to 60
back TO New Rochelle. At his retire
ment party, the caddish son of Burns
wealthy friend shoots a sweetheart
and the slangy hero grabs the pistol
himself for an effective curtain. In
the last act, we see him again In the
familiar scenes at New Rochelle which
the former comedy made known to
us.
The chorus is deserving of mention.
for 20 girls OF variant styles of beauty
and grace frolic constantly and sing
well. There Is chorus of equal mum.
bers OF the other sex which Is equally
busy. Any time that the full company
is on the stage. there Ia much hap
pening and the costumes of the fe-
male portion of the cast are worthy
of the critical attention OF any stu
dent OF modes.
Among the songs that caught the
crowd are: when We Are M.a-dou-
ble-ri-e-d," Follow Your Uncle Dud-
ley" and When a Fellows on the
level with a girl that's on the SQUARE"
They are In the best Cohan style.
Meritorious or not. the comedy and
songs pleased and there were curtain
calls at the close Of each act, the star
being called upon to make a speech
at the close Of the third act. He told
a short but humorous tale of his
struggles to rise In the profession and
cordially thanked the audiauca for
their applause-and their money. The
house was jammed for this perform
ance and the prospect Is that the Co
han craze will be sufficient to fill 1t for
the remainder Of the week.