The Washington herald., 1909-10-19
THE COLUMBIA.
Lillian Russell I'm "The widows
Might"

Might"
Although Lillian Russell. the singer. 1:
silent. Lillian Russell the beauty. is still
a delight 20 the eye. and there is now
still another-Lillian Russell. the actress
who makes bid for attention. and gets it
At the Columbia Theater last night. Lii.
Ian Russell, the beauty, and Lillian Rus
sell. the actress, appeared In Edmund
Days fouF-act comedy, THE Widow.
Might" and the temper Of the audience
was to like both Lillians. The beauty
they have worshiped for more year.
than one would care to remind so fair
lady OF. but the actress they have only II
the past two or three years begun {
realize.
When first II was announced that LII
liam Russell would leave of singing anC
become a legitimate actress. the wis,
ones wagged their heads and merely
smiled. being OF the opinion, avowedy
that the marvellous gift OF persona
beauty would carry her anywhere, and
totally obscure any histrionic deficiencies
which she might possess. In a measure
this prophecy has been fulfilled, in that
tnf
extent of being sufficient tc dazzle the
eye TO aught else, but the deficiencies OF
talent have been proved to be but slight
The grade OF acting done by Miss Rus
sell IN 1.-THE Widows Might" while hard.
ly realizing the extremes of emotion or re-
quiring OF her a complete exposition OF all
the shades between, az least affords her
m cfa h,t l. Al.
oughly at ease In a straight acting part
and able TO convey across the footlights
a full understanding OF the character she
portrays.
The Widows Might is a simple and en-
pertaining comedy. In which love and
Wall street are mixed In the inevitable
fashion Of the hour. The present-day
pIaywriter cannot get away from the at
egphere OF stocks and bonds and high
9nance' so there Is hardly any use calling
attention &c the fact. It is getting 10 be
accepted as a matter Of course.
Miss Laura Curtis, the widow Is a
charming and naive lady. whose husband
has left her as sort OF charge
unknown to her. OF course. upon his
-FOUR trusted friends. II IS understood
that the entire four are in love with the
WIDOW. and her husbands estate being
practically nil, the quartet OF admirers
make up a pool for her. which they call
the widows mite" each one hedging
himself 10 add a certain percentage of
any stock gambling profits to this fund
The widow. fancying herself rich. though
she knows nothing of business. her estate
being in the hands OF the four friends
makes ducks and brakes OF their money
and their heartstrings.
The favorite In the running. however.
Is Mortimer Wall, q railroad rnaauate
and 1t is he who circumvents the widows
swindling old uncle, Silas Grierson. and
makes him disgOrge when he attempts to
gamble away the widows money In re-
turn for this. Grierson undermines Wallis
standing with the widow By means OF
forged letters, and persuades her To use
her money in grand coup which Is 10
destroy the financial power Of Wall and
his cOterie. The widow. stung TO the
quick by Walls supposed treacherv to-
ward her late husband. allows Grierson
20 conduct a bear raid on the railroad
stock held by Wall. The widow. however.
learns the truth just in time and per-
sonally helps TO bull" the market ana
saves Wall in good old melodramatic
style.
The almost childish simplicity OF the
play would make Il impossible as an in
teihgent entertainment were Il not for
the brightness Of the lines and the "a
pidity OF action. and, above all. the
radiant personality Of Lillian Russell
While Miss Russell does not seem 10
work hard in her task. yet il is perfect
~ patent that the burden OF the plav IS
upon her shoulders. She is the keystone
OF the structure. both I'm her character
and in her own right. She acts earnest
~. and with a large amount Of discre-
ton. Her acting is impressive. regard
less OF what may be said about retired
prima donnas and their comic opera
methods And, by the way, when Miss
Russell was known as the Queen OF
Comic Opera" who ever heard any OF
these wiseacres attack her acting them
On the other hand, credit must be given
her FOR a decided Improvement in her
art Her three seasons In "Wiidfre ."
piled on top OF a ripe experience on the
stage In wide range Of operate and
musical comedy characters. have given
her finish and aplomb She IS. Of course
a Coincidence first. and. as such. does her
very best scenes in "The Widows Might"
and the serious touches are not frequent
enough to count
If teSre is any handicap in the per
formance. il is not in any way due to
Miss Russell. It Is rather the fault OF
the author. who has not proved resource
ful enough TO give this good artistic a suf-
fciently clever vehicle for the talents she
possesses What there is to do is done
very well. indeed. but the obvious the
atrical tricks, whereby the turning poln+
in the plot is made by a listener at the
door, and the transforming the ticker
as II tells off the fluctuations Of the stock
market into a sort Of horse-race effect.
do not impress one as altogether neces-
sary. The scenes. however. in which Miss
Russell, as the widow. finds herself fairly
deluged with proposals, are the best.
They occur In every act, with variations.
and are extremely funny. The characters
are all well acted, and require no strained
imagination to reconcile to natural typess
Miss Russell receives the best support
from the men Of her company. Frederick
TruesdeH. as Mortimer Wall, the success
full asprant 10 the widows heart and
hand. proved Just such a fine, clear-cut
chap as so brilliant lady might prefer
He had very close competition however.
in Walter Hitchcock, Sidney Booth. and
Walter V. Pennington. This quartet.
measured by their impulses and their
ideals are strongly reminiscent OF the
guardians in when We Were Twenty
one"-all big, warm-hearted, loyal men,
each striving to win the great prize. but
each generous enough to clasp the hand
OF the winner in the end, and wish him
good luck
Joseph Tuohy and Ellen Mortimer made
an interesting pair OF juvenile lovers, and
they carried quite a bit OF comedy. Miss
Susanne Westford had an amusing role
as Mrs. Puffer. which might have been
elaborated still more without harm 10 the
play. AS It was. Miss Westford made
a distinct hit. John d. O'Hara's make
up was not careful, but he was satisfac-
tory as the villainous uncle Of the