The Washington herald., 1909-01-10

chief Of which was perhaps, the opening
OF the new Maxine Elliott Theater, which
beautiful little playhouse was dedicated
with The Chaperon," dainty play by
Marion Fairfax Washington theater-
Goers saw this first, so there is no need
Of my reviewing the story here Much
favorable comment was called forth by
the elaborate and beautiful way in which
the play is staged. The critics seem to
be divided as 10 the merits Of the piece,
but the public evidently liked il, and the
piece seemed 10 be a so.
On Monday night Digby Bel came 10
Weber's in George Broadhurst's latest
comedy. An International Marriage" It
has been seen in Washington and a few
other places. and took Annie RusselFs
place after the latter closed her run there
on Saturday night. I fear An Internal
tionaI Marriage" is not long for this
world. There was a remarkable unanim-
ity among the critics the next morning.
and their composite views were anything
but faJteTing. The whole thing is a
clumsy strinsing together Of the Ger
familiar details Of the Abruzzi- EIkins az
fair, with incidents from the CasteIlane-
Gould case, and odds and ends Of other
painful international marriage scandals
The central character is Bennington
Brent. a vulgar Self-made laundry mag
nate from Omaha, played by Digby Bell,
whose money Is supposed 10 be the means
Of enucing the Duke OF Baritz 70 demand
The hand Of BTent's daughter. Florence
With the adveuturer. Count Schnetz-
hoUrg, the duke forms an understanding
70 have the latter confer his title on
Florence by a convenient marriage 70 be
soon dissolved This for the purpose Of
prOpitsting the royal relatives Of the
duke. who are opposing the match Brent
furnishes The money for al this and
meanwhile amuseS himself teaching the
European barkeepers 10 mix American
cocktails. telling everybody how much
better things are done in Omaha than in
Europe. and making an ass Of himself
generally The two noble conspirators
are as drOu as the two low comedy vii
lains in Fra DiavOlO. and the count is
direct steal from half a dozen comic
operas In the end Florence learns from
the lips Of the deserted wife Of ''the
dock that he is unworthy Of her. and
she gives her hand 10 q bright young
American, described as the young Eagle
OF the Platte The villains are foiled.
and the tension IS over Some papers de-
scubed the performance as the most
stupid that has been seen on Broadway in
a long time The whole treatment IS
awkward, and the comedy merges into
farcical absuTdity.
Mrs Brown Potter (she now Insists on
having her press agent omit the James,
Is the latest distinguished arrival in
vaudeville She made her debut Monday.
afternoon ar the Lincoln Square. Many
Of the critics went down and devoted
good space 10 her the day after. In a
general way she proved a disappointment.
Instead OF tearing a passion OF TWO 10
tatte-s. she came out very docilely in
modern attire, dressed TO the limit Of ex-
travagance. and recited- II there IS any
thing q New York vaudeville audience
VIII halk az 70 IS this. Ms. Potter Is lust
as vote and just as exotic as she was
years ago. As she stood on the
stage she looked Ike some super
naturally glorious being. But II is
doubtful whethe- anybody In the
audience relished her programme Of reel
tatiOns- i lacked action" and left the
audience becalmed- II remains 10 be seen
what the effect OF her reported recon
citation with her daughter Fir viii
have on the four hundred. who may vet
make her the vogue Fiji IS Mrs. Spill
man. dGUEhter-in-laW Of one Of the
Standard oil magnates. He has been Op-
posing the aprrochement Of mother and
daughter in conjunction with her father
All objected when Mrs Potter went on
the stage But through mutual friends
Mrs Potter this week met her daughter
- n
heavy rain, and they afterward lunched
together ar the Plaza. Il is said And
that night Fiji and some Of her friends
went 10 the theater and saw Mrs Potter I
do her stunt.
Several important changes are SEIZED /
uled az the thesters-
Mrs Fiske viii bring her engagenent /
in salvation Nell 10 close Al the
Hackett Theater January Is Before she !
begins her regular tour OF the country, /
however, she viii play two weeks in /
Manhattan al the West End and the
Grand Opera House. Her travelling tour
viii open IN Philadelphia February |
The HaCketJ VIII be Occupied by The
Vampire which has created considerable
talk since il was produced in Providence
q week CT 50 ago Il was written By
Edgar Allan WOOlf and Sylvester Viereck.
The former has been successful in writ
ing some clever vaudeville sketches. and
the latter created considerable attention I
not long ago as the author Of some ax-
tremely erOtc verses in German and Eng
lish. He Is one Of the editors Of Current
Literature That same night Mrs. Leslie
carter IS scheduled % open in her new
at the Lyric. succeeding Via Wireless -
Frederic Thomps0n's spectacular pro5Uc-
ton Another important opening for that
night viii take place at DaIv's. where
William Faversham VIII bring ont The
Barber or New Orleans BY ChiIds Car
pentsr- the second play in his repertoire
The night after Frances Starr viii take
Blanche Bates place al The Stuyvesanr
IN The Easiest Way" by Eugene Wal
ter Miss Bates VIII be transferred tn
the BelasCo, where she viii follow George
ArIiss in The Devil which goes on
tour The end Of Miss Billie R1lrke's en-
NJ The LyCeum Is also in sight
and she VIII go 10 Boston in Love
Watches, and then 10 London. Her
place viii be filed by Eleanor. Robson
and The Third Degree" By Charles
Klein, VII follow Ethel Barrymore at the I
Hudson
Down to the present date the dramatic
made in New York since Au-
gust % last foot u total OF ffty-Rve. J
md Of this number the only survivors are
The Travelling Salesman which is still {
-unning merrily at the Gayety; The Man
rom Home" al the AstOr. where Il was
presented for the first tine August Is;
The Devil" with George Arliss, at the ;
Seiasco, and Love Watches" with Bill :
ie Burke. at the Lycem. Only thirteen q
musical comedies are embraced in the I
ist, Of which no more than four or five
AVE won popular approval
Marie Nordstrom has taken the place