Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-23
THE CAST
BY w. MERBEKT BLAKE

by w. HERBERT BLAKE
Having originated the musical mel
odrama," George NJ Cohan has pro-
ceeded to burlesque his own creation.
In "The Yankee Prince" which de-
lighted big audience of Cohanites at
the Mason last night the versatile
composer-author-a has possibly
written his last play of that familiar
type. There are indications that the
Cohan method is changing. 1t began
by being audacious. 1t is now satiri-
caly polite, with no loss of the dash
ing vitality which has helped him to
rise in a decade to the position of
Americas most widely popular musi-
cal comedian. 1.-The Yankee Prince" is
well enough as a vehicle of amusement,
and a close observer of its author S
acting can detect no evidence of SLOW
enliness or distaste for his role. He Is
acting every instant of the time, even
when responding to recalls. But it Is
the precision of experience, not the
zest of spontaneous creation.
If his admirers would let him, VEN
ture to say George Cohan today would
be assuming a legitimate role in some
not too serious comedy of American
manners. A just source of complaint
against his present vehicle Is that 1t
let's us see too little of his ability as an
actor We revel in the Cohan dance,
that grotesque thing of jerks and
twists which yet has a sort of geomet-
ricaI perfection of outline, and We
placidly admire that fair silvergray
suit of his, with the shining black and
white "spats." His voice, worn little
and tired from a long journey, carried
readily throughout the house by its
singular clarity and force of projection.
Every song he sang was warmly re-
ceived.
And vet one felt that he might have
been kinder, dramatically. to himself
when he wrote the piece. A really
strong bit of acting at each climax
would have enabled us to see what
Cohan, the actor. could do Cohan, the
comedian, the composer, we know. The
other we suspect would be worth know
ing, II Cohan, the author, would but
introduce him.
But with all his reflnements of man
ner and method, George Cohan has not
forgotten that the best jokes are the
simplest ones. From beginning to end
of this preposterous yarn of an eXiled
American millionaire who coins laughs
as readily as the mint coins his dol
lars, the most primitive turns in dia-
logue or situation win the tribute OF
our mirth. Such are the case of the
man who runs off with everyone else S
hat, the mystery of an Irish peace
maker between warning British earl
and an American prize fighter. The
travesty on a familiar scene from THE
Witching Hour" was a laughabie bit.
The company averages fair as %
looks and very we'll as to singing and
dancing ability. The polished acting
of Jerry J. Cohan is a pleasure to wit
ness. Age appears only to ripen 1t.
Tom Lewis and Sam J. Ryan do two
good comedy roles admirably. The
songs are snappy and fairly well writ
ten, in some cases revealing rather
too obvious patching of meter and
words to fit the exigencies of the
musical score THE A. b. C.'s of the
u. S. A." I'm Awfully Strong for
You" and "M-o-n-e-y" were perhaps
the most joyfully received. The mill
tary parade and drill which opened the
second act were well executed. In
general the company evinced an esprit
de corps which reflects the popularity
of Mr.. Cohan with the members of his
profession, as well as his ability as a
manager.
Today is the first anniversary of the