The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-05
6t fheGheutres


 of the Bourget Divorce" she depicts an anguished sufferer from being two live mems wife.
 As the Bourget story goes. this wo- man was reared Roman Cathoiic, put on divorcing herself from her Catho, lis husband, she was united by ciyli service to an Agnostic, and tben she renounced her former faith for love or him. When, at length, she would re- pent her defiance of the church, anu be absolved, the priest says she can never return to the fold while iiV'hs In what he calls concubinage With paramour, although notary mas ie- sally married them. Her first huspand dies oprortrnely. leaving her tree .o go to tho altar with her second: but he won't do that. because itl could be construed as an acknowl- edgement that their beloved daugn- ter was born illegitimately out or wedlock. The parents love each other fondly. but their religious beliefs are at odds and the final curtain goes down on uncertainty as to their tu- ture.
 That. though, Is not the only phase of the communicated case. The wi1e has a grown-up son from her ori- ginal marriage. and he Is madiy eh- amoured of a girl who. being hrHi believer in free wcdlock without cere- mony, is not ashamed of having hvcd with frec-lover and given birth 10 child. Those sweethearts are play ed by Maude Fealey and John Vest lev: and so their affair of young hearts, with its shock to tho fellows proud family, is enforced upon tho au- iience as a factor In the exposition of looseness in marriage ties At the plays end. they start for Germany to live there as husband and wire without the sanction of either church or state. You see that like most problem dramas. Divorce" sets fort social disorder without precrtbing a cure.
 Ada Lewis and valeska Suratt are enacting showgirls of the extreme Tendorloin type. Ada dates back to Edward Harrigan farces of lowly life in New York and she personated tough girl for him. It was nothing like the smart type of toughness now notoriously numerous but girl tough CT in her bowery manners than in real disrepute. Ada has kept at her speciality. with variations but Is not among the off-stagers tenderloin ex- hibits of that short of life. In "old Dutch," the new Smith, bart-Herbert musciai farce for Lew Fields, she is Viennese soubrette who goes to the Alps for an escapade with confld- ence swindler and there they take on the name of a celebrated scientist | under which alias they have festive bout as honored guests at specta- | cular supper Ada gets tipsy, her an tics become hilarious after the man. | ner of three o'clock in the morning | at Rector's or Jacks
 It is a question for dispute whether | player is warranted in heinz. even in stage assumption. disreputable person. Of course, drama cant get along without scoundrels; not to men l ton the various gradations of vici- l ousness, from peccadillo to misdemean or; yet to see Ada Lewis wanton In mimicry. while her reputation Is clean | makes me vince. I observe. too. that in "Old Dutch." the extravaganza | with Lew Fields making an ambitious | advance as a character comedian-as described last week--he doesn't appear at the riotous supper. But Ada figures as a jolly thinker, going from the light fun to the heavy jag. and fn- ally leaping and bounding the length of the table. landing in fat royster- CTS lap, throwing her arms around his neck and declaring hazily that she'd be damned.
 valeska Suratt has been aided and abetted by Paul Potter to cause commotion In the central whirl of this town. Potter Is the author as you know. of "Trilby" in play form. "The Conquerors'S and many other pieces. His new one is named The Belle ot the Boulevards" Valeska- as you likely know is more than any other -H,,I u& Rn n n the Tenjerloin. I first saw her in Broadway restaurants after-the- theatre smart crowd--a dark beauty l dressed in flowing robes-quite orien- tai in aspect as she slipped her wine and smoked cigarette. Could Il be? Was this Valeska Suratt that oriental creature? Sure enough. The l picture that the dealer had asured me | had been taken in Turkey. and for which I paid a goodly price. was this New York showgirls portrait More l over 1t had been enlarged from a nega- | tive made to advertise brand of cig | arettes.
 That attests Valeska's beauty. The | use that she makes of 1t in 'The Belle of the Boulevards" is so bold that the police regard it as an offense, and she l has retired for amendments to be made | to the play. The belle is a prohigate | Parisian chum of a degenerate spend-
 thrift, who puts modish gowns and | brilliant gems on her. while sne Tn re-
 turn inducts him into the reckless life l of Paris Valeska has figured as Gibson girl and a Brinkley girl; now
 she Is called Sata nella.
 | For an easement of her vicious vim, she breaks out emotionally in a wild dance supposedly melted by some drug | in the cigarette she is smoking. Her 1 favorite eXcitant, though, is '-perfumo" a drink made of any alcoholic liquor
 handy on her toilet table, and under it's influence she wildly sings an invi- tation to Come and sip cologne with me- The scene is in her boudoir and rival admirers get into action. And decorated! Why. her covering at times may be too decollete, but one of her
 fingers Is warm with a pearl billed-in the program-at $10,000, although "the
 jewellers of the world have endeavored in vain to duplicate it at any cost ."
 How amazed Valeska would be If she found 1t to be wax. Truly, though.
 this half hour play in vaudeville Is
 presented most Iavishly as to costum-
 ing and scenery. It Is to be given again. I believe, with the badness of Its morals abated.
 The American author might beat the
 Frenchman. if he tried to. in the in- vention of wed'ock oddities for farces. but what's the use when a sufficien y of such things are made in Paris for the whole worlds supply? I can't prove
 that the plot of the extravaganza used bv the Gay Gotham Girlies Chats like