The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-09-26
ON AND OFF THE STAGE.
BY HAROLD ORLOB3


New York, Sept. 25.-The immoral
tide is still very high in New York,
and somebody has got to begin wailing
over the vicious tendencies Of the stage
or the whole institution will become a
sewer, 1t is the duty of the New York
critics TO sound the note of alarm and
let it echo through the outside press so
as TO save the grace Of decency which
is stronger over the country than it is
in the metropolis.
THE Revelers" is a play full of ten
derlCin" types, and the life ii pictures
is not particularly interesting to tran
silent patrons Of the theatres, and New
Workers themselves have these charaC-
ters showed under their noses so much
in restaurants and other public places
that I should think they would get sick
of seeing them and their lives glOriied
on the stage.
One evil is that many dTamatists live
too much I'm the atmosphere of the
'tenderlOin." The theatres are all there
in the best lighted district in the city,
and its dOings occupies the greatest
space in the papers. These things give
the impression that its life is the most
important and most typical of any.
IAN American Widow" is billed as a
farCical comedy by Kellett Chambers,
but there is nothing in the title that
suggests the intensified lines and very
TisqUe situations that one sees in this
play at the Hudson theatre. The hero
inc is the young widow of a rich old
man, who has particularly provided
that in a second marriage she will be
deprived Of all the advantages of his
wealth, but he had failed to specify the
same penalty for her third marriage.
When she falls in love she seeks to null
Al 81
temporary second husband, who will
submit to a divorce as soon as It can
be secured after the marriage.
In the interim. while the second mar
riage is still in effect, all the characters
find themselves, either by accident or as
guests, at the faraway bungalow Of a
bachelor friend where the sleeping
rooms are too few TO supply each with
a separate one.
The situations arising from the pres
ence Of the lover, and the fact that the
servants do not know that the husband
and wife are not really husband and
wife, can readily be imagined.
This situation may be called funny,
but the expense to prOpriety is too
great.
I was at a professional matinee of
1.-THE Girl From ReCtOrS." considered
the funniest Of all the recent farCes. and
saw several well known actors and ac-
tresses leave the theatre disguised at
seeing their fellow professionals in such
roles. I remember that Eta Protor
OTIS at one time one Of our foremost
actresses, played a very suggestive part
in that farce which certainly cheap
ened' her even in the eyes of friends
And, by the way. THE Girl From Rec
tors" is playing IN that piOus city Of
Philadelphia to $4,000 on the week; in
fact, this farce is making more money
for its owner than any piece this sea-
son, and the managers VIII continue to
produce these vicious plays and the
dramatists will continue to write them
as long as the public viii patronize.
I saw the new Hippodrome perform
ance the other evening, and must say
that it Is unquestionably the greatest
show Of is kind in the world. The
critics have exhausted sUperlatives in
praise Of this, the latest Shubert-An-
derSOn production. Seeing the previous
HippodrOme shows, I wondered how
under the sun they could give a greater
entertainment than that was, and how
they could find anything new: but they
have done so, and with bewildering sue
cess, for the HippOdrome has never in
its history had such crowds.
1.-THE Chocolate Soldier" Fred Whit
ney's first production in some years,
now playing at the Lyric, is the only
standard comic opera at present in the
city.
oscar Strauss, a relative of the Waltz
Kings, has given US some real music
in 1.-THE Chocolate Soldier" His solo
and concerted numbers are DELIGHTFULLY."-
melodiC, and his harmOnies and or
chestrations are most pleasing, and get
well away from the beaten path
The book is an English version of
Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man"
but IS not amusing enough for comic
opera, and for that reason "The Choco-
late Soldier (Which takes its name
from the comedian who is very fond of
chocolates) did not set the town on fire,
and viii probably not pay back the $780,
600 which was spent on the production
Down at the old Academy Of Music
they are having a season Of grand Op-
era, sung by italian artists at popular
prices-s150 for the best seats. This is
a great thing for the many students
who are being educated in New York,
and who can't afford to pay S. at Ham
merstein's and the Metropolitan.
SALT LAKE THEATRE