The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-12-17
How About "Salome" Anyhow
Is the Opera as bad as It is
Painted by Folks Who Have
Never Seen 1t or Read the
Book?
BY RhuddIan Marsh.

flight. A Chicago police official
finds, to his horror, that Mary Gar
lden's dancing of the dance of the
seven veils reminds him of "a cal
rolling in a bed of catnip," and
straightaway prudes and puritans
preachers and policemen all over
the broad land send up a sympa.
thetic cry of horror at the aboln-
nation.
For, obviously, a cat rolling in a
bed of catnip is a dreadfully de,
moralizing and degrading spec
tacle.
So Chicago is denied a second
peep at "Salome,". Milwaukee is
scandalized, Cleveland and Balti-
more put on the anti-Salome lid
with trembling haste, and there
are alarums and excursions gen.
orally. Milwaukee gets the eXcur-
sions, for the Milwaukee authori-
ties refuse to put the ban on
"Salome."
Meanwhile a tittre runs through
the world of art. In Germany, III
France, where "Salome' has long
been accepted as a matter of
Icourse-like Hamlet or any other
monumental work of Genius--the
wise ones either laugh or stand
aghast at the strange and mystic
rious ways of America.
Meanwhile also, without outrag-
ing the artistic sense of the police,
THE Girl from Paris" beslimes
one Chicago stage with unspeak-
ably vulgar indecencies and THE
Lady Buccaneers" nightly panders
to the lewd and lescivious OF Cleve-
land.
Why policemen and mayors are
shocked by "Salome, which is I'M
questionably artistic at least, and
are not shocked by The Girl from
Paris which is unquestionably IL
artistic, is one of the mysteries OF
modern civilization.
And there are some people
for the most part decent, we'll
behaved, even respectable" folk
who will maintain that there is
nothing vicious about "salome" al
all.
But of course the testimony Ol
these folk (who, by the way
have read the play) is as nothing
in the balance with the over
whelming testimony of the mil
lions of folk who haven 't-and
probably haven't seen the per
formance, either.
What is "Salome" anyhow?
AS for the drama, the literary
critics of the continent, and now
adays most of the real critics OF
England and America as well
coolly tell us that the tragedy
"Salome," as written by Oscar
Wilde, is one of the dramatic mas
terpieces of the age - world
drama" of tremendous power.
Written originally in French,
which Wilde wrote almost as well
as he did English, "Salonre" has
been translated into English, Pol
Ssh, Swedish, Spanish, twice into
russian and thrice into German
It has been played all over Eu-
rope (barring England), and in
Germany it has been u standard
oIOCh pay III Ols3lJ cal
AS to the opera: The musical
critics of the world are almost b
unite in their expression of amoze-
ment at the power and impress
siveness of the musical setting
that Richard Strauss has given the
Wilde drama. They disagree, how.
ever, as musical critics are wont
to do on most thangs till they
have been tried out for a century
or two, on the question Of
whether the work marks an ad.
vance or step backward in mu-
steal form.
Then there is the dance of the
seven wells. AS it is danced by
Mary Garden, who is now sing
ing the title role of the opera In
this country, 1t hardly comes up
to the standard established by the
connoisseurs of the bald-headeG
row. Miss Garden comes on, bare
footed, CARRIED In the flimy fabric
that actresses customarily assume
in presenting such an oriental
role, with the addition of seven
long gauze scarfs which envelor
her shoulders. These look pre-
cisely like so many filmy automo
bile wells. AS she dances she
takes 'em off, one by one. Ire.
sensation.
Incidentally Miss Garden DOES,
in some measure, resemble "a cat
rolling in a bed of catnip." For
she certainly is wonderfully
graceful creature. She is always
reminding one of a cat of some
kind-of leopardess or tigress, or
some other female feline cres.
ture.
The story of Salome follows
loosely the biblical narrative Of