Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-05
TUNEFUL FRIVOL
IS MASON SHOW
"HONEYMO0N TRAIL" IS GAY,
IF NOT BRILLIANT
is LA SALE FACTORY A VICTIM
OF oVERPRoDUcTloN7
Frequent Laughs and Pranclng "5roil-
ers" Partly Redeem a Some-
what Hackneyed Plot.
New orpheum Bill

what Hackneyed Plot
New orpheum Bill
ssHoneymoon Trail" musical comedy b.
Frank r. Adams VIII NJ. Hough anC
Joseph e. Howard presented at the MasoI
opera house Monday evening Oct T. 1909
THE CAST
Mrs. Hemmingway, tho second. ......:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Margaret Lotus
Mrs simmons .........,.... Edna Hoffman
Harold Hemmingway. Edouard ir0u' 9
Mrs. Francis Hemingway Mabel MeNihs
jeffrey Page, manager Liberty Hall 81,
hotel .........- .......... George Afefu
Dr. Van winkle. proprietor of the Rest
Cure. ......-......- Frank bereshVtu
Nervous Old Lady ....... .Adrienne hroen nl
A Nervous Old Ma ......... charles haie'
Edna Kennedy, Mason's step-dHgghder Po+,.,
Do,nj. N5asop manufacturer of ''Mason's
Canned Reanss ......... Bert BAKER
Mrs. Jessie Templeton Mason. airline Boiling
Tommie Perkins, advertising manager
for ''Barlow's Boston Beans - -
.............. ..-......''' 'Louis s
Franz won Mohr. ...... ...''. - .OarA "eois'
Detroit" Charley, burgin7r, 7, u I,,or,s
1.,-,,,, stacls a constable Joseph West
Innumerable 'Broilers'
BY W. HERBERT BLAKE
Given a rest cure, a colony for di-
vorcees. a manufacturer OF paheI
beans and the salesman for rlNdi
brand; pile up many varieties Oh
"broilers' of all sizes; intermlngie
rnuch sound and fury. signltylng VII
of the punning variety when uttered
clearly enough to be understood; sea-
son all with a few tuneful airs, ana
YOU have Honeymoon Trail nlu-
steal comedy which promises rather
more than it performs, but wnlch mas
its moments of frantic mlrth at the
Mason this week. The setting is sort
of reductio ad absurdum of the divorce
evil with partners past and present
strolling together about the lawn ana
nerplexing each other with their rela-
fIonships until one wishes them all
hacked about their silly business, as
one very often wishes their prototypes
in life.
There is a feud in the last act, as
there is in all the La Sale pieces.
The bright, slangy young man eVentu-
allv gets the pert young girl. The
sbToiiers" pose and pirouette as an
infant class, a barnyard of fluffy fowls
and an assortment of Palmer CoXs
brownies. The color scheme Is toler-
ably artistic and the chorus sprightly.
and unanimous of motion. The show
Girls are prettier than the average In
a travelling musical show. There are
many chances for wholesome, whole
hearted laughter.
And vet one leaves the playhouse
feeling that the authors might have
done more with their material. The
thing is so obviously cooked up.
Everything moves like clockwork, for
the most part, and we long for toucn
of spontaneous, untheatric humanity.
We have found it in some of the La
Sale pieces. Airline Boling-graceful
and pleasant to gaze upon in her long
gowned perambulations-gives US a
hint of it in the momentary seriousness
with which she adorns a recall in one
of her songs-a vision of tender wo-
manhood which is good to see But
for the greater part of the evening we
feel too obviously that we are there to
be amused. We are so conscious OF
the production that we are unable TO
think Of it as anything but produc-
ton Realism blots out reality and we
wish all the beans of the rival manu-
factories in Boston, where they could
be appreciated at their true nutTitive
value.
In Bert Baker Louis Kelso and Carl
George the play has three capable
comedians. Mr. Baker lent genuine
quality of character acting to his
part, which would have been more
IedullY dCtGHLdB4b dL LAlE bCS5 iAAAAAAle1 VI
the performance if he had taken pains
to speak with ordinary distinctness.
The same criticism applies to the de-
livery of Mr.. Kelso's treatises on the
homely but useful bean, and to the
utterance of Mr. Beresford. In the
case of the latter there was the less
excuse, inasmuch as his lines are
spoken with a certain degree of de-
liberation. Perhaps this defect was
due to the novelty of acting on a stage
as large as that of the Mason; the
various players appeared to get their
bearings better after the first act.
Next to the incorrigible punning OF
the -Hough book, the best thing
in the performance was the work OF
the chorus-smooth, graceful and in
unison. Notable song hits were "You
Can't Be a Friend to Everybody" by
Bert Baker and chorus; Nothing to
Do but Nothing" Mr.. Kelso and
chorus, and "One Little Boy Had
Money" with its charming dancing ac-
compartment by Miss Mabel Melvine
The second act set is attractive; the
first was rather obviously barren. save
for the pretty costumes of the
chorus. The players in the minor femi-
nine roles are distinguished rather by
good looks than acting ability.
It's authors have done better things
than Honeymoon Trail" The charm
of their blended labors is in it, how
ever, and it makes an amiably frivol-
as, if not a particularly brilliant
evenings entertainment.
'Du Barry" entered its second week
at the Belasco last night. "O1d Heidel-
berg" is announced to follow next
Monday evening.
A criticism of the Los Angeles the
ater bill, which opened yesterday, will
appear in Wednesdays Herald.
The seat sale for "The Third Degree. .
Charles Klein's powerful play EXPOSING
the iniquities of police sweating meth.
ods. will open at the Mason Thursday
at a. IN. The play comes to thai
theater next Monday night.
TABLOID MUSICAL COMEDV