The Washington herald., 1909-11-16
THE NATIONAL.
MontRomerr and Stone.


II the constant applause OF a very large
and fashionable audience shows its APP
| probation of a play then The Old
Town" with Montgomery and Stone
and many others-at the National last
night scored one Of the biggest hits OF
any musical comedy seen here in long
time. From start 20 finish the perform
ance was grand success. and typical
| first-night house showed how much they
appreciated it. Time and again they would
encore the numbers until the performers
were tired from responding, and could
only bow and bow automatically.
! Il is only natural 20 compare this new
play with "The Red Mill" II may as
well be said at the beginning that the
! songs are not as catchy as in the prior
piece. but, on the whole. II is a more en-
| joyable performance The music is tune
full, and 1t IS safe to say that a good
many OF the numbers, especially Mont
gomery's "Jippee-Jaupee-Japon IN the
! last act. will be heard on the streets for
for some time to come The characters
are well taken and there are good voices
in the cast. and. last. but by no means
least there are Montgomery and Stone
There is something doing from the very
! first minute that they enter as the pro-
! prietOrs OF the stranded circus. and some
thing keeps doing until the curtain falls
on them as the japanese diplomat and
the cowboy. Through all their many and
numerous DISCUSSES they succeed in
| keeping the audience in gales OF merri-
ment and laughter. and 70 say that the
house could not get enough Of them
would be putting il mildly
While the two stars were funny every
moment they were on the stage, they
were especially so IN their songs. Each
| Of them had one solo. and then they gave
three as duets-with an occasional chorus.
| The best OF these latter, MS far as the
song itself went was their number in
the opening act with the Hengler sisters
entitled. When / Think OF You" OF
course, their eccentric and highly original
way OF dancing made as much, II not
more. OF a hit than their song.
While speaking Of their dancing, es-
| pecial mention must be made Of the
/ Lasso dance. introduced by Stone in the
4 last act. As a combination OF dancing
skill and agility with the lasso. Il has
| seldom been equaled The things that
! Fred Stone did with the lasso made the
house sit up and watch him wonderingly.
and the roar Of applause that greeted
4 the termination of his act testified 20
their appreciation OF his skill and agility.
/ To support the two stars the manage
/ ment had gathered together a splendid
company OF supporting actors. Espe-
cially strong Is the cast in dancing abil-
/ ity. In addition 10 the two principals
! there are the two HengIer Sisters. who
quite captvated the audience with their
| clever and exceedingly graceful work
! Ethel Johnson had the part OF a Swed-
| lsh maid. and. I'm addition TO her two
| songs, which seemed 10 please very much.
| she took advantage Of her opportunity
/ 10 show that the persons above men
/ toned We're not the only real dancers
/ in the COMPANY. Associated with her
/ in the dances were two very clever girls
/ as the French maids-their names were
not on the programme, but from the work
/ they did they certainly deserve TO he
! The plot OF the play-but who cares
about the plot OF a musical comedy when
/ the book is funny. the songs good, and
the chorus good-looking and well trained?
/ This was certainly the case in The Old
/ Town" and especially the case with the
/ chorus. They were many. gOOd-lookinR
and deliberately costumed. Indeed, so
stunning an appearance did they pre-
! sent in the song The Sunragette" that
q round OF applause greeted them on
/ their entrance.
! Altogether the performance was a grand
/ success for every member Of the com
pany, with the exception Of Dave Mont
| gomery and Fred Stone: with them 1t
! approached veritable triumph.