The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-02-17

of Marie's presence in the house. He
learns. also. that she has not been
married, and that her child is alive.
Spiege, too, learns for the first time
Marie's true relations with Frank. He
objects to her remaining In his house,
and Krauss calls her TO go home with
him. At this point MacFerguson ar
'rives, dragging Frank, a drunkard
and tramp, to make reparaflon. He
insists that his son marry the girl.
Frank, however. announces that he
lis already married. The final act
occurs in the jewelry shop. now dis
mantled with its stock sold to get
money Tor Marie. Joseph, who has
married Alice, offers Krauss the posi-
ton OF manager In his jewelry de-
partment, which the old man accepts.
He has not yet forgiven Marie. Her
child, however, works on the old
mans sympathy until his pride is
overcome AMI he gives in.
with better acting the play
would probably find the same vogue
las The Music Master which Il re-
sembles only to the extent OF having
a simple-minded German-American
as the principal character. IL has
human appeal. in spite OF the rather
commonplace story. and Its people,
so far as the author has drawn them.
are genuine. Intersections of melo-
drama and now and then strainings
for situations tend to detract from
the plays vitality at times. The In
,terest is not aroused until the second
act is under way-in fact, the second
act should be the first, by all rules
OF playmaking and logic. Two or
three extraneous characters-a realis-
tic Bowery gamin. and a couple OF
lovers-while they add to the ''at-
mosphere" OF the neighborhood, are
distracting. An attempt. before the
curtain rises on the first act. to repre-
sent the sounds OF the watchmakers
shop. is carried so rar as TO become
lndicrous. The pinochle game In the
third act Is an excellent piece OF COM
edy writing. and the earlier scenes
OF this act would be hard to surpass
in either dialogue or situation. The
play just misses being good and one
suspects that the writer's work has
been tinkered with to the extent OF
causing the miss. II is fairly safe TO
predict popular success for the piece.
however. 70. there is enough ineness
/. TO counterbaiance tie weaknesses.
Louis Mann as Krauss gives an in
teresting performance. better In the
comedy parts than In the emotional
incidents. in the latter he does not
seem 10 get beneath the surface. He
acts the pathos without feeling II.
His work at the conclusion OF the
second act, when he learns OF his
daughters elopement, is excellently
managed. and he succeeds I'm finding
sympathy in the final scene OF the
third act. Madame Mathilde Cottrelly
as Katrina. Krauss' housekeeper. Is
excellent. as always. with her sure
methods and great experience. Edith
Browning In the role OF Marie h
melodramatie to a degree and fails to
get anywhere near the meaning OF
the part Emily Ann wellman as
! Alice plays intelligently and with
talent. Her performance is one OF
the best in the play. Lillian Smnott
performs the role OF Bessie, Bowery
tough child. with perfect realism. so
well done as to be disagreeable.
Gladys Malvern Is seen In a bit, and
little Corinne Malvern. in spite OF
being absurdly dressed. Is natural as
the four-year-old Emma. Robert A.
Fischer as Spiegel is the type to per
,fection. and gives a clean-cut repre-
sentation that comes close to sur
passing the star. James Vincent Is
.youthfully dignified as Fred Spiegel
and acts agreeab.g. j. s. Barrett
gives a vigorous performance OF the
role OF MacFerguson. More reserve
in his acting would make the part
mort convincing. III. A. Lamotte
keeps on the surface OF the character
OF Frank. Indicating neither the at
tractive nor the bad qualities OF the
seducer. Godfrey Stein as Joseph
gives a gooJ performance. managing
the rather 'apid trasition from the
peddler to the store proprietor with
skill. His reading is generally good.
7 though he let's a touch OF the me'o-
dramatic creep into his long speech
in the third act. The play is set with
much attention to detail.