The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-03-07

at the Garden we have Meyer & Son.
william Gillette has gone hence after
playing Samson" for many weeks at
the Criterion. and his memory is being
supplanted by little Marie Doro in The
Richest Girl" the Herald Square Theater
has risen improved from its recent vista
ton Of fire. and Kathryn Kidder is there
in "A Woman Of Impulse" And thus
the whirligig OF time. sc. &c.
Neither Of these three, 1 seriously ap-
prehend. viii long bask in the electric
glare Of the Great White Way. There
is not a Knockout success among them,
and the critical fraternity was exceeding
busy" sharpening pencils and whetting
their scalpels all of Tuesday. Yet you
can't always tell by this. THE Lion and
the Mouse" The Belle Of New York"
''F1orodora, and others too numerous
TO mention, attracted the public to the
box Office. in spite of what the critics
had to say in derogation OF these emf
nently successful theatrical offerings.
One calls The Richest Girl" a papier
mache Ollendorf comedy. She is the
daughter Of the chocolate king Of Paris.
and her name is Benjamine Nonnaye.
As Messieurs Paul Gavault and Michael
Morton have set her on the stage. she
is sort Of compound Of eau succre and
chocolate cream. and apt TO give you
indigestion. Paul Gavault wrote that IN
teresting and lively piece. MY Wife"
which John Drew played last year. and
which ahrust Miss Billie Burke forward
into stellar distinction. But, apparently,
he has been unable TO duplicate the sue
cess Of that comedy. and has not done
so well by Miss Doro as he did for
Miss Burke-for Michael Morton. after
all, is only an incident TO the authorship
But Mr.. Frohman knows the public well
enough 10 be able 10 rely for some time
on the spell which personal beauty, in
Miss Doro's case, exercises on the rank
and file OF people who may be generaIized
under the title Of a following" and by
the time they cease coming he Will have
new comedy ready for her or course.
Miss Doro is charming and does what
In her lies TO redeem the cloying sweet
ness Of this rather feeble French parior
comedy from proving indigestible.
The Herald Square play served 10 bring
back to the stage. after a considerable
absence. Kathryn Kidder. who proved so
N-AcNbAAS a nEiHDAiIltLN III LuS american
production Of Madame Sans Gene.
About four years ago she came out in
play called The Embarrassment Of
Riches. That play was written by Louis
Anspacher, and II was Mr.. Anspacher
again who wrote "A Woman Of Impulse.
her present venture
Mr.. Anspacher is well known in aca-
demic circles as a lecturer on aesthetic
subjects. has a great following among
academy people and the friends Of Column
bia University. and incidentally Is Miss
Kidder's husband He is still young.
the opening night Of his latest play fall
ing cOincident with his thirty-irst birth
day. His standing among the learned
served to I'll the theater with a select
audience. which included the brightest
members Of the literary down to the
humblest rUshlight OF a magazine writer
or department editor. II started out with
every prospect Of becoming a gala event.
but before the evening was over settled
down to a personal triumph for Miss
Kidder. And that is about the best that
can be said in connection with the play
II IS intended 70 show the incompat-
Utility Of the relationship Of a profession
al wOman-in this case a noted prinna
dona-with a man who rebels against
the odium Of being considered merely
a tail TO his wife's kite. II is a fitting
subject, but in the treatment the author
lost himself In a maze of attenuated
theatricalism, and the press is unanimous
in its unfriendly attitude toward the pro-
ductiOn
The husband grows jealous OF his
cousin. an Unconscionable rake and wOm-
an-hater. After rebuff from the prima
~, I
thariO forces himself into the sleeping
room. where her sister is writing a let
ter late at night, and is first stabbed by
the girl with jeweled dagger and imme-
diately after knocked TO the ground by
the Jealous husband. The villain is killed.
but the husband rests under the belief
that the unconscious form Of the girl on
the bed is his wife, and thinks he has
avenged his honor on his wife's para
mOur. There Is a long inquiry by the
coroner, who ultimately establishes the
truth. Both the husband and the sister
believe themselves guilty OF manslaughter.
and, to add to the confusion. La Vecci, in
order to protect her idolzed sister from
the consequences of her act, declares she
killed the man. It Is a terrible muddle
and when the truth comes out that the
responsibility is divided between the hus-
band and the sister. and the act was OBJ
vioUsly justified. La Vecci refuses TO for
give her husband for doubling her virtue
Another act is tagged on TO show the
reconciliation
It provided a good role for Miss Kidder.
and she played with all her old spirit
and scored a decided hit. She looks as
young as the night I saw her in the first
English performance of Sans Gene" at
Albaugh's Opera House. in Washington, a
dozen years ago, and the splendid gowns
she wears In the piece added nightly TO
her attractiveness- She demonstrated that
she Is one Of the best actresses we have,
but it did not avail in saving the play.
The third Offering Of the week is Meyer
& Son." which was produced at the Gar
den Theater Monday night. II deals with
the intermarriage OF Jew and Gentle,
which has been extensively canvassed
here Of late by eminent divines on both
sides OF the question. But we think it
was Augustus Thomas who inspired the
present tendency 10 discuss this subject
in dramatic FORM He declared at an af-
ternoon function some time last spring
that the great play Of the future would
deal with the Jew as a mighty force in
our commercial and social relations.
Within six weeks there were at least six
authors in the field with plays on Jewish
subjects. Louis Mann got one OF them
and is playing It under the title of THE
Man Who Stood Still" but in that the
marriage question was but lightly touched
upon as a side issue. Thomas Addison
has brought the question fairly into the
limelght In Meyer & Son." in which two
fathers who have always been congenial
in middle Western city, one Jew and
the other a Gentle, and both prominent
fall out over the proposed marriage of