The Washington times., 1909-03-16
New Life Pervades I'm Pan
anna" Columbia Thea
ter's Offering.
Max Rogers Supplements
Merry Melange of Song
and Dance.

"In Panama" at the Columbia this |
week, is finished burlesque with polite |
vaudeville trappings.
Had this offering pretended TO more |
IT would have been an artistic failure |
Since it merely aims at furnishing an /
evenings diversion it Ellis the bill ana |
from the first night audience, the en- |
gagement here should prove rouslng |
financial success.
Washington has seen I'm Pana ma |
before. Then Gus Rogers rounded out !
the Rogers team. On this accounS an
anxious public is probably waiting to
be told whether Joe Kane acceptably |
fills the new role of the late Gus Rog- !
ers. Maybe we know, but we are not
going to tell the answer
Perhaps q chop suey sundae is better
than lovers delight. but it would be
hard to prove it without the eating.
Anyway, this job of filling another
mans shoes has its drawbacks If his
methods are like those Of his predeces-
sor he is sized up as a poor imitation,
and if they are original he isn't in the
same class.
Mr. Kane has enough Of gift for pro-
voking laughter to merit judgment on
his own case. On that score the YER
dict of fun house last evening
was a hearty Endorsement Of the new
Hugo Kissen And, even If the present
combination falls short of the original
pair. the extensive Improvements II
the show strike a balance
Little Fellow" All There.
ANY way the Little Fellow" is on
the Job. Max the Worried. with his
ouerulous tones and his breadth Of mis-
understandings, is still guaranteed 10
produce a laugh a minute. Though the
German comedian number stands out
head and should ars above all other IL
walls as the most abused privilege In
burIesque and comic opera, Max has all
his wonted power To bring a smiie-a
smile that would be hard to explain
but a smile that won't come off until
, II p m.
Perhaps the American habit of finding
| a laugh in the ridiculous for no appar-
/ ent reason should he discouraged-some
! eminent authorities tell us so-but II
| surely can not lie harmful TO take
little mental flyer once in long while
! TO laugh through IN evening without
taxing the brain. Max Rogers is es-
! DeciaIlv. recommended for our care-worn
| business men find Ibsen and Maeter-
llinck too depressing. and jump 70 The
Queen of the Moulin Rouge by way OF
| diversion.
| ers type OF entertainment, and Max
/ Rogers can wei afford 10 play the
| goat The effort TO bring the dialogue
up 10 the minute IS highly c9IIlIileu no
able But we do object 70 having cur
I rent topics dragged in by the ear TO
! supply a sad Jest at which most OF Us
! feel compelled 10 laugh lest our neigh
bors think We have not been readlhs
the days papers
In Minor Key.
Certain distinguished Congressman
were thus forced to smile at merry
little tariff quip in the cry haven
where they anxiously sought sHrcease
from the subject With two weeks OF
The Merry Widow" behind as
Merry Widow burlesque was discour-
aging, with two months of the tariff
ahead a key that is big enough TO
open the, tariff, is pointless; but even We g
that might have been passed over had
Max himself not introduced Alexandria
into the discussion with all que re-
spect TO that respected suburb we wish
TO state that IL has done time enough
as joke and now deserves 10 be taken
seriously.
With this very minor complaint pro-
tests vanish. From every other stand
point the program is timely, clean, en-
pertaining and is carried through with
/. a sparkle and dash that gives evidence
Of a capable corps of entertainers.
MessrS Rogers and Kane ar by no
means the Whole show. George I4y-
! decker has an excellent singing voice
and Il is to be regretted that he was
not more in evidence, HIS two songs
/ In Panama" and Adorable Tore
ador." were the most musical numbers
of the show.
Miss Marion Stanley carried off a
goodly share Of the honOrs- Her sole
/, Each one Has a Way OF His Own
, added to her own wholly adorable ways
, IN terms Of thc matinee gil, won fol
her major share Of honors.
, deliberately Staged.
In Panama is deliberately staged
and this feature is all the more com
! mendable in view of the fact that none
Of the other requirements is sacrificed
A manager who sees TT 10 vary tn,
: back ground of his production with fiv'
scenes where three would have beef
, enough deserves announcement and j
IS not too much to say that the scents
and electrical effects in this Offering
I are equal TO anything that has beer
4 seen here this season.
To round out this estimate it is onl,
l fair TO mention a noteworthy chorus
4
IcomeIIness and singing ability. Il
- Where the White Lights Shine thi
same chorus did itself proud, but per
/ haps it kicked up. the most dust il
Meath the Old Palm Tree" which in
a cIuded some novel properties.
! Only those who did not occupy seat
in the first ten rows OF the OrChestr
, last evening will realize that this ques
! ton Of raising a dust was not fgura
tive But Mr.. Berger announces tina
he will have the stage swept by thi
evening
And. by way Of a happy ending, i
should De said that Miss Avita Sanche
was among those present. Whethe
, she is the "only and original girl frOr
some out Of the way place we do no
profess TO know, but She proved he
. right 10 be in washington in Just on
1 song. MY Cigarette which weathere
"A SaIome prelude on the safe side O
propriety and turned out TO be one o
the hits of the evening.
j. r. HIBDEBRAND.