Evening star., 1909-05-23

ferior. Many of these men who made
the old Lambs famous have passed away,
but those familiar with its present men,
bership and capable of measurement are
confident that the club today is living
in golden time which needs only a
mellowing perspective to make Its recol-
lections deservedly historic. Goodwin.
Crane and Lackaye are still there and
about them are gathered the trenchant
wit and the gentle humor of Gillette and
Collier, MacDonough and Hobart. Hopper
and Bell. Harrington. Hodge. Lew Fields.
Ed Kemble, Augustus Thomas and scores
of others.
Some Noted Members
The LIMBS lCub is strong club be-
cause with it's artistic and musical ele-
ment there is united that Of the dramatic
writer's. There Is no American drama
tist of prominence. and hardly one Of
successful record, who is not a member
of the club. A roll call of its play
wriths sounds like a theatrical hall of
fame-Gillette, Belasco, Klein. Broad
hurst. Royle, Presbrey. Greene. kidder,
Ongley. De Mile. Thomas, Hobart, Mac
Donough, Collier. Manners, Rose, AIDE.
Blossom, Herbert, Backus. Carle, Cres-
sey Dazey Davis. Dietrichsteinr Dunno,
Fitch, Fyles. Higgins, Hughes, Mapes
Harrington, Osbourne. .Rallton.. Pixiey
Pond. Selwyn. Edgar Smith, H; B. Smith
At the head of its musicians are Victor
Herbert and de Koven. accompanied by
such names as Harry Rowe Shelley, Vic
tor Harris. Theodore Bendix, Louis
Gottschalk. Henry X. Hadley. Gustave
Kerker, Gustave Luders. A. Baldwin
Sloane, Arthur Weld. Benjamin Hap
good Burt, and others.
The scenic artists of the country are
on its rolls. and majority of the ia
nous colorists of America. with Robert
Reid, Metcalf. Simmons, Finn and Rem
ington at their head.
1t would be singular if this array OF
talent supplemented by an equal number
of men in sympathy with their allied arts.
should not be an organization of power.
1t is not going outside Of the record to say
that the Lambs Club is the strongest
single factor in the American theater
today.
It's Conciliatory influence.
In its managerial department not only
the men who control the so-called syndi-
cate, but those who oppose them are men,
bers of the club. and it is an open secret
that the recent reconciliation between
Messrs Klaw & Erlanger and the Belasco
forces was made possible through the
kindly spirit invited by the participation
of both these sides in the preparation for
the Al-Star Gambol of 1909.
distinctive feature Of the club is its
monthly entertainment. in which, in addi-
ton to some excellent foolery, there is
generally dramatic skit too much Of
an innovation and too problematic for pro-
duction by the regular theaters. Many of
our greatest dramatic novelties have had
their tentative presentation at the Lambs !.
THE SquaW Man" was an amplfhcatiOn
of one-act sketch done at one of its
gambols. When managers thought THE
Witching Hour too wide a departure
from the accepted subjects Of the play
house. a performance Of one act i'm the
Lambs and the quick seizure of it by
that diversified audience proved it's right
to a wider hearing. Some Of the most
audacious musical experiments that the
theater has seen were first tried at the
Lambs Club. Many an actor condemned
by precedent and habit to one line Of
character finds his emancipation through
some bold essay before this generous and
keenly appreciatiye audience. 1t is this
side of the old clubs activity that comes
somewhat near justifying the claim OF its
members that the Lambs Club is. and al
ways will be. the real national theater of
America no matter what palatial play
houses may be built with that intent
The ''Twelve O'Clock Verdict"
In the old coffee house days the opinion
Of its habitues expressed Immediately
after a premiere presentation was a seri-
GUS barometer Of the success or failure
of a play, and today the II o'clock COM
ment in the Lambs is the most re-
liable verdict upon the fate Of any New
York first night Here the criticism is
not only expert, but sympathetic; not
only literary and artistic. but also tech
nicai It is made up of impressions from
both sides of the curtain. from all por-
tions of the house. most sanely edited
by the ripest business judgment The
Lambs, moreover. is the plexus of what
might be termed the dramatic panic
calls for FIRST aid TO the injured" A
dramatist of whatever ability. dulled by
long association with his own particular
manuscript and tagged by three or four
weeks of constant rehearsal stunned by
the trying ordeal of a first night. is
worse than helpless in an emergency
which calls for repairs: but when he
reaches the club and has passed the
gantlet of personal consolation and COM
miseration he finds an inner rank cf
men of his own craft who with the sure
skill of the trained diagnostician. point
Immediately to the weakness in his play,
and if the weakness is not vital are ready
with the proper remedy. Nor does this
stop with suggestion alone, for there
will be half dozen ready to write in
new comedy scene. strengthen a dra-
nfatic situation or suggest a new effect
In music or movement.
Advancing in Ethics.
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