Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-22

Mrs. Caroline BlOodgoOd Miss Ida Lewis
Eva (Mrs. Perry ....... Miss Grnce Gardner
Annie nIe.....................M Miss Beth Taylor
Luu.................. Miss Fay Crandall
Mrs. Halton, HaltOn's wife ........,..
...................., Miss Leslie Nirden
LOttie, cook at Perry's. Miss Jessie Norman
Mary, maid at tho Perry's. .:....,..
.....................M Miss Fay Balnter
Fanchon Armitage, cloak model at
Nine. Jolvets. ....... Miss Ethel Seigel
BY w. HERBERT BLAKE
Are You a Mason?", a farce con-
structed mainly for laughing purposes,
Is revived by the Belasco company as
its holiday week offering. The humor
is broad at times, and could easily be
overplayed to the detriment of the
production, but in the hands of a dis
terminating stock company this possi-
billty is mlnimized. AS revived last
night the veteran piece-most widely
known of the Ditrichstein Successes
contained much Of wholesome mirth
and very little to. offend the most
squeamish. Even the one scene in Act
II, which received some deservedly
adverse criticism on the plays pre-
miere years ago, while retained, was
handled with some discretion. The
legitimate and often rowdy humor of
the situations was preserved, but II
was a healthy and a fortnight merri-
ment at which even the somber person
woh insists on making tragedy of his
farce was compelled to chuckle
guardedly.
The story of the monumental and the
apologetic prevaricators whose sue
cessive fabrications involve them in
intricate meshes of perpleXing and
ludicrous deceit, Is tolerably familiar
TO theater goers 1t is farce of in
cident rather than sequental plot. The
entrances OF the music hall usher are
gratuitously thrown in. and as Mr..
Scott portrayed him. he was a most
amusing interludo to the main action.
Unlike the Hoyt farces, the Ditrich-
stein plots do not unwind. They sim
ply move on, with the casual uncer-
tainty of life. At every turn there is
a laugh, and ultimately basis Of
stability Is reached, we do not much
care how The interest is in the mu-
tual play of character and the recipro-
cal punishment of the clumsy conspir-
ators. There is q dramatic justice in
the surprising appearance of the long
missing Angelena and a quite human
satisfaction in the discontinue of her
aged admirer All the rest is contin-
uous and irresponsible fun.
Mr.. Nivian's female impersonation
was we'll done, restrained with a just
and simpering precision within the
bounds of jenuine and accurate bur
lesque. Mr.. Camp played the other
principal role attractively, and Mr.. APP
plebee made an amusing study of the
apoplectic old father-ln-law. Mr.. Glib
lyn's return to the company was well
come after his long illness. He es-
sayed the role of 'gentlemanly far
mer" and made the part laughable, If
not wholly rural in aspect and manner.
Miss Lewis was a thoroughly fascinat-
ing Virago--a stentorian and Veracious
type. of the stage mother-in-law Miss
Gardner was the puzzled wife of the
principal character-a parsonage rather
mercilessly treated by the playwright,
even in the interests of farce. Jessie
Norman's Irish cook was n treasure,
with rich, rare brogue and down
right disinclinaton to see anything but
folly in the goings on of that extra
ordinary household. The incidental
parts were we'll taken
If you like farce within certain rea-
sonable bounds and are immune to the
temptation to take it too seriously. you
will find many Joyous moments in Are
You a Mason?
Ten wildly whirling f1gures-half Of
them women-exemplify the exhilarat-
ing Russian dances at the Los An
geles theater this week. They are the
Godlewsky troupe-the best foreign
dancers seen at this playhouse i'm many
months. Pretty, tasteful costumes.
graceful movements, and the indescrib-
able zest with which the Slavic races
enjoy their celebrations, both solemn
and riotous; these are among the
pleasures of this act. At Christmas
time. especially, it is like a breath of
bracing air from the far and frozen
north. The sympathetic observer
somehow feels that this is the thing
for which these happy folk were made,
to dance and utter strange squeals of
joy and trip an exceptionally fantastic
toe 1t is the best of savagery which
these Russians have preserved for us
in their national dance. 1t looks easy
until you try it.
The rest of the bill averages fairly
we'll. Ernest Panther and company
an amazingly nimble dwarf and four
less timber grownups-do some clever
acrobatic work Morris and Morton
dance passing well, but perpetuate
some comedy which seems to need q
label. They are dubbed "the boys with
the flying feet" Personally, L pre-
ferred the pedal aviation to the ac-
companying converse.
Dick and Alice McAvoy gave us a
hearty and frequently witty comedy
sketch called Herald Square Jimmy"
A neWSboy and his sweetheart talk the
Bowery lingo fetchingly, and then
offer a sort of recitative hash of the
names of prominent actors-a piece of
useless ingenuity which appears never
quite to wear out it's vaudeville well
come. More verbal acrobatics follow
in the geographical account of cities
which the pair have visited, and where
presumably, they have sung the song
The sheer felicity and aptness with
which Hackensack and Oskaloosa and
Schenectady are metrically annexed is
the thing which captures the crowd 1t
is purely artistic pleasure in which
have never been fortunate enough to
share.
Then there is Dorothy Dahl, who
sings double entepdre and also fatty
suggestive songs in the most innocent
way. The innocence is mildly alluring,
but the songs are rather a bore. Sure
ly Paris is big enGugh to hold all this
sort of thing-noAto mention Broad
way
The concluding act yesterday was