Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-28

cast 1t was a sure-fit hit-a singularly
entertaining little comedy with a good
deal of what is called heart interest"
The last act was a little weak. but that'll
be hammered into shape all right before
the show gets into the big towns. In
general, though. the play was q certain
winner and It constituted mighty tidy
little evenings entertainment
All right. The management Of the
theater got busy They were kept busy
at the telephone. They were rung up
every three minutes all day following the
frst nights production by friends of the
house who wanted to know how bout
The Fortune Hunter"
THE Fortune Hunter was bully, the
management of the house replied to these
calls from its regular patrons. Fine
show. Funny all through. Come and
see it. You'll like it. Your women folks
will like 1t. Clean, wholesome. How
many seats did you say?
That was the system with q show that
really was worth while
When THE Fortune Hunter went away
from here another first night production
Englishman's Home You've no doubt
read lot about that thing-how il reused
the British nation 10 a fury of patriotic
Iervor. got EN- enfsting in the army.
mace EN- rig up new battleship plan,
and all that sort of thing
Well. An Englishman's Home NAV be
all right for England. although after see
Ing it you'd be amazed to think that
the civilized globe who could or would
tolerate such an inanity
because. you know, An Englishman's
Home" Is just rotten. I mean rotten in
the sense of it's being oh SO hopelessly
dull, SO foolish. so involved, so incoher-
ent. SO vapid. so vacuous. so OPAQUE. so
obtuse. and again. one million times. SO
Internally stupid. There's no possibility
even Tor Philadelphia lawyer-and there
were many OF EN- present at the pro-
duction-to make head or tall OF the thing.
You sit and sit and squirm and squirm
and walt for something TO happen thatll
eluciaate the thing to you. that'll give
You glimmering ray of understand OF
what its all about But you never find
out what it's all about Nothing hap
pens to enlighten you. 1t just rambles
straight lines compared to It. IT Is
meaningless. silly and utterly impossi-
BILE The prediction is hereby made with
the greatest confidence that this show
i never VIII get into New York. much less
INTO any other town where intelligent
human beings live and have their being
to it,
mat maybe you've heard OF when a show
mats a rank failure is produced therein?
On, we'll, YOU know all about the boosting
agencies and things that are got to work
inStanter In order to make the corpse
seem alive. There'd be no use descant-
ing upon that part OF 1t, because the
scheme is all too noisomely familiar
But what dye suppose the Apollo Thea
ter did about An Englishman's Home",
IL tell YOU 4 lot of beated folks an
peared al the theater 30 apply for seats
after the first act was over
You don't want to see it," said persons
connected with the management of the
mouse TO such applicants for seats 1T
begins pretty rotten and it'll probably
wind up that way"
After the show was over the manage
ut fle haa
Atlantic City papers TO this general es-
Sence:
If you've got any laudatory STUFF In
type about An Englshman's Home
knock ii down. The show is idiotic and a
frost Don't say otherwise. We want our
patrons TO be properly informed about
these things. You can't state too plainlv
that this show is no good"
LaUdatory stuff there was in type-stuH
nxed up in advance of the production by
the industrious press agent. But press
agent stun doesn't go in Atlantic CITY
when the local folks direct otherwise. The
production consequently was rated Just
where ii belonged.
Folks who didn't read the on-the-level
notices. however. kept phoning into the
seats.
Don't want your money, sir or
madam" was what the management re-
piled to the regular patrons of the house,
and everybody was tipped of in time TO
avoid mean evening of a.
III that isn't novelty, and a mighty
fragrant. refreshing one, then l never
heard of one.
CLARENCE L. CULLEN.