The Washington times., 1909-12-07
New York Success Wins
Way in Heart of Wash
ington Audience.

THE Climax" after a successful
New York run, won its way through
laughter and tears into the hearts Of a
large Washington audience at the Co
iumbia last night
The play is appealing. its story is
that Of a girls ambition and every
day human life. and it is all so nat
urally told that one forgets at times
that it is only a lesson from the stage.
Love. music. and mental suggestion are
the three elements woven In such fasci-
mating manner through he three acts.
Were it not for the introduction Of the
latter, one Of the modern sciences, the
plot might be called simplicity itself
AS IL is. however. THE Climax is
great mainly because its appeal is a
pathetic one, because il pictures hui
manity at its natGral self and because
all through the piece there are lines and
| little scenes that bring tears
Four Persons In Cast.
But four persons are required for the
production Of what is considered to be
a remarkable play. That means that
these four must possess exceptional
merit and it can be said that the cast
/ last night was a satisfactory one. The
entire action takes place in the modest
apartments Of Luigi Golfani, an hum
BILE music teacher. in New York city
/ The play does not appeal scenically,
/ therefore, but this seemed but to
/ heighten the impression made.
In brief, the story IS that of Adelina
Won Hagen, poor Western girl who
comes to New York with her dream
/ OF some day being a great operate
star. Her father had been a violin
player, and her mother a fairly sue
] before in &c
! the latterS voice. In the East she
meets Golfani, an old friend, and a
distant relative OF her mothers. Be
cause she is poor, she becomes a
member OF his family, consisting of
GOlfani and a temperamentaI son a
day dreamer, named PietrO. Under the
| daily tutelage OF the old music master
I her voice improves and her ambition
increases.
The little family of three awaits i'm
patiently the moment when her voice
shall have come fully into its own.
/ In the meanwhile. Pietro, filled with
I the hope of some day becoming a
/ great composer himself, strives daily
/ 10 put In concrete shape some of his
| composluons-effo that come near
/ est of fruition when Adelina is near.
( Tor PietrO has grown to love the am
bilious little girl.
Enter DR.. Raymond.
Then there enters upon the hopeful
/ existence Of this trio, DIR. John Ray
/ mond. He, too. loves Adelina. and has
/ followed her from the West After a
/ while. in the presence Of them all, he
/ heatedly declares that he is opposed tC
| the stage ambitions Of the girl. He
brooks no dispute of his assertion that
/ il is a life of immortality and Iooseness
and that nine out Of ten who enter it
come TO evil Realizing that the cir
loves her art more than himself, thu
| young physician obtains a reluctant adj
mission from AdelIna that If her voice
were gone she might marry him.
For little imperfection in her throat
Adelina finally is induced to consent TO
an operation by a specialist friend OF
| Raymond. The girl is not permitted to
/ speak for one week. At the end OF
! that time, declares Raymond, her voice
will have become perfect, there being
/ just one chance in a thousand against
/ such a Ionged-for boon.
/ One Of the big situations Of the play
| comes when the moment for the try-out
/ arrives and the girl with her dream OF
| an opera career finds that her voice is
/ gone. The physician, a ridiculed be-
| lever IN mental suggestion. is the only
one Of the four who stands by unmoved
/ during the ordeal, made the more effec-
! tive while the old teacher and his son,
/ PletrO, take turns at the piano and pray
! In turns for the return Of the voice upon
which all had built such hopes In the
/ despair that follows, the temperamental
/ youth discovers the lost chords TO his
/ Song Of the Soul"
/ The natural sequence follows the
! weeks Of disappointment The final act
/ finds preparations under way for the
/ wedding Of DR.. Raymond and Adelina
| Won Hagen. Love and not ar seems TO
l have won, for love his been REINFORCED
Z nv a. GfTfrpau-
/ ton. II is not until within a half hour
/ Of the wedding that the conscience OF
/ Raymond OvercOmes him. He confesses.
This is a bit melOdramatiC. 1t is true,
but the manner In which the scene is
I handled renders IL logical one.
T II T