The Washington herald., 1910-11-29

And thoss Arcadian scenes that Marc sings.
And Sidney. warbler Of poetic prose.
And now comes another singer, or. rath-
er, collection of singers. and with that
proneness Of modern singers for mixing
things, the bright and Joyous scenes or
Arcadia are mixed with the foggy atmos-
phere of London: but Il is very clever
at that; and the large audience that at
tended the National Theater last night
must have departed with a feeling OF great
satisfaction feeling Of having been
amply entertained.
The play opens In Arcadia, with atmos-
pheric surroundings OF woods. flowers,
nymphs. and fauns, with everything per-
vaded by the air Of simplicity and truth.
A stranger from England arrives on an
airship, tells a lie, is dumped into the
magic well. wherein truth lies at the bot
tom, and energies with his nature
changed. a full-hedged Arcadian He is
dispatched. in company with two OF the
natives to his native land. there TO carry
on a propaganda for truth: but it is a
hopeless task. for everything is so deeply
dyed in polite deceit that the mission
fails. and even the chief emissary so far
lapses as TO tell another lie and is in
stantly, by virtue OF another WELL wherein
must lie deceit, although IL is not so
stated IN the brief, transformed back TO
his real personality. That is the story,
but, of course, there is a numerous series
of Incidents, mostly funny, and q great
succession OF fine songs, sentimental,
topical. and characteristic The thing is
not comic opera. nor is it yet ordinary
musical comedy. Ii would seem that
happy medium Is struck. for the music
is undoubtedly up 10 the standard OF
light opera. and the comedy. while of a
very acute type. never descends to the
cOmmonalty of vulgarism or even double
entendre. Taken altogether, il is
mighty agreeable form of amusement
AS the music is the best part of the
production. it would be, perhaps. best to
consider il first. Miss Ethel Cadman
and Miss Julia Sanderson are the stars
! in this particular, both scoring heavily.
Miss SandersOn appears as Eileen Cava-
naugh. a young lady with a delightful
brogue and charming personality, and
won hearty recalls by the rendition of
The Girl with a BrOgue" and Bring
Me a Rose" and in Charming Weather
in conjunction with Alan Nude. Be
sides, she pervaded the whole action, so
far as it related to real time, just as
Miss Cadman did as regards the mythical
period. The latter is a vocalist Of high
order, and was repeatedly brought out
after ali her songs, which were The
Pipes OF Pan" Already Is Ever Young"
The JOY OF Life" and Light Is Ny
Heart"
The comedy honOrs are divided among
trio, Frank MOulan. Percival knight,
and Connie Ediss, Mr.. Moulan appears
as the hero Of the play, James Smith.
when an English hOtelkeeper, and Sim
plicitas, after transformation into the
Arcadian missionary. He is a very funny
fellow. and made great sport with
sweet Smplcitas," Somewhere"
willy Of Piccadnly," and Truth Is SO
Beautiful besides furnishing an album
dant quota of humorous by-play through
out the performance. Mr.. Knight ran
him a close second, however, for he, too.
is a very droll person. He appeared as an
impossible jockey, with many funny say
ings. and a certain song, my Motter,"
which captivated the humorous side OF
the audience. FOR he was forced TO get
off a long succession OF verses; and he
has the knack of cleverness in changing
the business, as we'll as the decided APP
pearance of improvisation. Miss Ediss,
under the plain title of Mrs. Smith,
earthly wife OF the aforesaid hero. said
lots of funny things in her usually funny
way, and altogether added TO the merri-
ment of the occasion
Other good numbers were 1.-THE Ladies'"
by Harold Clemence; Il Like London"
by Mrs. Mary Mackid. and the ensembles
were unusually effective. while others as
sisting 20 an appreciate extent were
Laurence Grant, as Sir George Paddock;
Stanley Jessup. as Astophel. and H. II.
Meyer, as Reggie.
The three scenes used are beautifully
set and everything in the way of access
SORES seems adequate. The production
is a lively conglomeration Of music and
fun, with the musical features away
above the ordinary.