Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-30
W.WEQBEWT NLAKE

= / went to handy few gentle COM
monplaces with Murray and Mack be-
hind the scenes at the Grand. Those
tempestuous Irishmen have such a
careless habit of carrying unexploded
Jokes and Jim Jeffries uppercuts about
with them that the retiring corpse
seldom knows just what hits him.
And 1 was very much adverse to the
idea of acting as referee in any fusil-
lad of Celtic wit
1t was with a very humble and timid
spirit, therefore. that 1 sided into Muir
rays paintshop and massage parlor
somewhere southeast of Finnegans
Flats, and earnestly entreated a few
kind words concerning the future OF
the Teutonic drama on the American
stage. MY anxiety had been aroused
bv the report that my host, with the
fendish assistance of Little Ollie, was
planning the utter discontinue OF
Hauptmann and Macmillan Dill by
yodeling right into the middle of The
Rogers Brothers in Harvard with
divil a care for the consequences to
the fatherland.
Herr Murray was removing REM
brandt landscape from his placid brow
as | entered, while Mack fingered
puffy boxing glove in the corner.
Plainly, it looked like the German in
vasion.
I'VE are just quitting work, OBJ
served Murray, calmly as watched
him ruin the pror Using Rembrandt.
"It's a good hour S job for us to lay off
even for supper. It's come in with
the dinner bucket and exit with
lantern, twice a day, seven days
week. and as much overtime as the
crowds fancy"
and vet you're not satisfied" I sug-
gested. land so you're going Weber
fields one better by turning German
comedy into Irish"
"Call it German tragedy" said Muir
ray, land I'll believe you. I'm up 10
my ears in it now. l surprise my par
her and the policeman on the beat by
chatting in Hungarian with meselt as
the victim. It's eat, drink and dream
German from now till Sunday matinee
an I can hardly whistle Killarney
without slipping the key into Die
Wacht am Rhein'
And he hurdled the German accent
like a true Berliner.
'.You see. we figure what is good for
the Dutch is good for the irish, with
a few twists in the patter while IT'S
on the way. 1t wasn't just because
the Rogers Brothers Tipped their gags
i'm German that they had the country
with them. 1t was the quality of the
stuff itself. And the laughs that they
cot by way of Strassburg will never
go astrav in Armagh or Cork, be sure.
Inst a few new cuds and the chaW
H;s tha Como N PvS~f n or - 'NtSP'
man forgets his country when he
feels the laugh coming. There'd be
ma scare over d German tHVaslon II the
English could only take joke.
But it's like shooting hop INTO race
horse TO force myself into the PAGES
he Continued "It isn't like translating
one language into another. You might
urn the German words into their
irish American meaning dozen ar
ferent WAYS, and still miss the chuckIe
II isn't translating words at all. It's
rinning omen the whole idea and then
sewing it together again on diner
And little Mack assented, absent
mindedly rubbing a swollen souvenir
of the last boxing match as he ala SO.
How about your new entrances?
I ventured with visions OF posslple
airships and submarines
We've got the best yet put in
Mack. Frightening. Wen spring it one
of these days, maybe Sunday. Muir
raw comes in on a sofa and l saunter
on In a bathtub. It's rough on the
sofa. but we're going to stick until the
property man prizes US oft ana out
There's nothing Ike little ingenuity
to ease a hard working actors life.
That's true" agreed Murray. 1t 5
twenty-one years now since Mack and
hooked it up in front of the foot
lights, but we're always glad to wan
der back to little old Los Angeles
You've got the friendliest crowds and
the most loyal crowds i'm the country
right here. The east never takes to
our impromptu stuff the way the gal
lery at the Grand does, I believe I'd
burlesque Romeo to please that gal
lery."
with me as Juliet" gurgled Mack.
eve fought shy of the east in hot
weather ever since / had to store my
grease paint in the ice box of a bar TO
keep it from melting. one fiery Fourth
of July in Chicago" Murray went
on L found the frequent trips to the
saloon most annoying" he added.
"Pll bet he gava the barkeep heart
disease" murmured Mack very gently,
but so l could hear.
That worried me. 1t sounded so
like the stage. and I was still afraid
that boxing match might start any
time
"Do you ever fight off the stage?"
/ ventured.
sure an it's all battle for laughs,
off or on" said Mack. with a grin.
But we're peaceable enough now an
have been for long. Barring two
years when we didn't speak to each
other on the dark side of the footlights
we've never had a word. And those
two years
Were all caused by the woman
question" put in Murray Women
relatives in the company who could
not bear to see US happy and busy, It
was Murray this and Mack that till
we packed them off, and since then
we limit it to the prize ring in Act
IL"
I thought of Weber and Fields and
their unexplained estrangement, and
then of those other entertainers, play
ing their parts of jest and song with
only enmity underneath the gayety
for two long years. No wonder they
could afford to laugh at quarrels now.
cts this way with team" said
Murray. judicially. Have one good
row and clear the air. and ever after
you'll be friends, And as for adding
sister Katie and cousin Lii to the cast.
don't. Those family shows simply do
not belong.
"We've staged just eight plays in
twenty-one years. We tried vaude-
Vile for three weeks once, condensing
our act. | had to run nineteen miles
IN eighteen minutes, and we quit
since then we've stuck to the old game.
polishing up our plays from year to
year and now and then springing a
new one. Every mans his own dra-
matte critic at the Grand and he does
~ 1-OaG when he thinks