Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-01-05
THE CAST

Joe Lacy, owner of the HOOrah mine.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Lewis S. Stone
Dave Lacy, his brother and partner.
Bud Young, JOe's friend and partner.
Charles Ruggles
H. Van Rensselaer, Kelly, from the east,
a foreman for Joe. Richard Vivian
Livingstone Winthrop, from the east,
a friend of Kelly Burke Clarke
Bill Ferguson, half owner of the Kill
bear mine .............. Ben Graham
Gus Ferris, sole owner of the Dixie
ranch ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Harry spear
Doctor Whipple, a physician.
Observation-Disclosures James X. Applebee
Hush, JOe's Jap. Harry Cakes
Morris, imported butler. .....--...
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. Bennett Southland
Mrs. Joe Lacy, JOe's wife. ......-..
.......A Miss Florence Oakley
Mrs. III. j. L. Kent, her mother.
Mrs. Kate Brandon, owner of the Katy
did mine ........ Miss Leslie Preston
MRdge Casey, maiden aunt of the
Lacey's ...... Miss Beatrice NOyes
BY LEMUEL PARTON
The "Heir to the Hoorah,' the week 8
bill at the Belasco, is an eloquent refu-
tation Of that sage observation that
1.-The plays the thing" Paul Arm
strong, the author, is westerner, a
native Of Wyoming, and lived in
Cheyenne before he wrote the drama.
When on a visit to New York he an
nounced that he intended to write a
western play and was told by friend,
wise in stage craft, that the real west
ern atmosphere is very bum stuff
and that the local coloring must be
gagged carefully according to the ideas
of the Broadway audience which would
he the first judge. Accordingly the
western slang carries a strong tang Of
Forty-second street, and the talk OF the
character actors in the piece is more
suggestive of the conversation of Ii
bunch of young Blocker street gorillas
than of a western mining locality
Certain it is that Paul Armstrong never
saw any such persons in Wyoming, and
it is almost as equally certain that the
play would not have succeeded if he
had Just the real westerners into 1t. New
York passes on new plays, and the New
Workers. world is bounded by the Bat
terry and Harlem and the North and
East rivers. If a playwright knows
anything about the west he must forget
it. and then, like the famous writer of
western stories who posed for a photo
graph with his chaps on backward, he
may be successful.
The plot deals with a young west
erner, Joe Lacy, who has made for
tune in mine and gets in bad with
his aristocratic wife's family, eastern
ers, because they think him uncouth
The mother-in-law makes trouble and
the wife tells her husband she hates
him, and he goes off to Europe. JOe's
old friends stick by him, and when Oh
his return the heir to the HoOrah
is born, they are the means Of patching
up the trouble between the husband
and wife Lewis Stone, in the heroic
role Of Lacy, is at first a fairly good
westerner, but the character gradually
slips away from him, and before the
play ends he is an exceedingly finished
cosmopolitan, saying "eyther" and
'neyther," and doing all sorts Of re-
presensibly gentlemanly things, with
out any explanation of what caused the
change having appeared. He is making
a strong play for sympathy when his
wife turns against him, but his first
regret afterward is that he has spent
so much money on her and that she and
her family are ''grafters.' The loss of
his wife's love seems secondary.
In every character part of the play
caricature is demanded and it is sup
piled admirably by the Belasco cast.
De Witt Jennings, Ben Graham,
Charles Ruggles and Harry Spear fit
excellently into their roles. Miss Be
atrice Noyes has shown a steady i'm
provement in the plays in which she
recently has appeared, but in The
Heir to the Hoorah'' as a girl just out
u VI SSdI sic Is So IpIISlnSIy SOOo
that it is apparent either that she sud-
denly has found herself or else she has
been at a disadvantage in her other
roles.
Miss Florence Oakley's opportunity
comes in the last act, when the recon-
citation between the husband and wife
takes place. She accomplishes a strong
bit of acting in her confession that
love for her husband has been born
anew.
The audience liked the play. It's re-
ception in the east has shown that.
from the managers standpoint, it is
one of the best of recent dramas. If it
is to be judged from the viewpoint of
realism or of faithful portrayal of
Character-burn rag!
By virtue of the prerogative of the
English tradesman to announce that
he is pickle maker to his majesty,
the king" the management of the
English sketch, Motoring" on for the
week at the Orpheum, gives it out
that the sketch was played by royal
of England" The audience does not
seem to care whether the august Ed
ward ever saw the piece or not, but
it likes it and the Englishmen get a
good hand at the vociferous fin
ish where the stranded motorists get
into d rough and tumble fight with
each other and a policeman who is
trying to arrest them for speeding. 1t
IS interesting to note the way for
which the audience falls for the York
shire cockney of the irrepressible
youth who stands by during the trou-
bles Of the motorists in attempting to
start their machine.
81 say, lad, it's good job you broke
down." says the young man; 'I need
mir hropOhnc
how it seems funny.
Barring one or two blanks, the bill
is an unusually good one. Gus Ed
wards blonde typewriters make you
forget all about fog and rheumatism
and strap hanging on your way home.
They are an extremely attractive
galaxy of calcimine blondes, with a
string of happily arranged songs and
nonsense. Mr. Harry Linton and
Anita Laurence have added several
new features to their Married Now
sketch, which add greatly to its at
Effectiveness. Mr.. Bert Towards piano
playing is among the best features ever
put on on the Orpheum circuit, es-
pecially the imitation of a music box
number. The followers, including
Happy Jack Gardner, FeIice Morris
and Miss Ethel Green seem not to have
been lessened in attractiveness by their
second week. The men hold their
breath and the women squeal with ex-
element when the CaStellane brothers
do their hair-raising cycling feats,
with the loop-the-loop stunt at the
finish.
Carl Hermann. "the electric king. -
presents an ingenious act at the Los
Angeles theater this week Yesterday
afternoon the largest Monday matinee
audience of the season gathered to