The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-04-12
THE BELAsCo.
..The siidnight sons.s


The title of the new Lew Fields review,
which was shown at the Belaseo Thvates
last night does not tend IN the least 60
disguise the character OF the perform
ance. From It one gets the idea, IN
advance. that The Midnight sons who
ever they are, are in for a rafting good
time. And in truth they have g.
After the manner OF most folk who
spend their substance in riotous llvleg,
the midnight sons of Senator Constant
NOyes suddenly discover that their ca
reer as FOUNDERS must be cut short in
other words. father is ION. and u is
up TO the boys to get busy and show the
old man that they can do something
with money besides burn g. Unlike
Harry Bronson, Of ''The Belle OF New
York" who was cast of without penny
by his stern father, the sons of Senator
Noyes each get a chunk OF money. with
instructions to double It within a certain
time. Then the Senator goes away for
year and a half,
Tom, Dick Harry. and Jack are the
sons. Dick opens a shoe store and loses
his money. Harry builds a theater for
chorus girl. and drops his wad. Then
Tom and Jack open a hotel IN Florida,
and would lose theirs. too. except that
Harry and Dick work for them as bell
hops. and the cash they collect in tips
Is divided with their brothers, and thus
one enterprise is saved.
The musical comedy opens with a hur-
rah and a dash. and the speed limit is
kept up to the end Several stage set
tings out of the ordinary are shown. the
climax being. of course. the interior of
Merri Murrays theater, in which the
auditorium issshown packed with real
audience. with a genuine vaudeville
show in progress. The observation end
OF a swiftly-mOYiag train. with a flying
landscape TO make 1t realistic; the court
of the Hotel Pounceuponham; the ban
quet hall OF the Hotel Insomnia, anu
the interior of shoe store are among
the best Of the scenes. all worked up
with elaborate detail and a wealth Of
taste and ingenuity. There is a constant
flow of sartorial changes, too, the cos
tunes from prima donna 10 pony ballet
being effective and costly.
There is almost too much OF THE
Midnight Sons" to enable one 10 pick
out just what IS best It presents such
a wide diversity of attractions. vaude-
vile acts, low and high comedy, good
singing, extraordinary dancing. and even
acting-a quality usually not to be found
in musical comedyl At any rate. there
is something for all tastes-the most
capricious cannot claim that il is lacking
in any particular feature
One thing about THE Midnight Sons"
which deserves 10 be set of in a para
graph by itself, and that is that II Is
point of being side-splitting, yet not a
single word or gesture has an atom Of
suggestiveness nor IS there a song or a
dance that would give the slightest Of
Tense No wonder il has been so enor-
mously successful.
The cast is an able one. George W.
Monroe is a scream" as Pansy Burns,
and Harry Fisher gives him splendid sup
port. Clara Palmer is the dainty Merri
Murray; Maude Lambert is the gay
widow. Mrs. Margin; George A. Schiller
is the Senator Moves; Marcia Harris is
Lily Burns, a different sort Of a cook
lady from her sister Pansy: Alan Brooks
is Souseberry- Lushmore, and James
Spottswood, Denman Maley, and Joseph
NJ. Ratlif the Senator's sons. A number
of other people come and go in the ever
passing show. including a capable pony
ballet, the Marvellous Nillers, whirlwind
dancers; Maize King toe dancer. and
Mile. De Leon, the human pinwheel.
A hewildering array of song hits com
prise the musical part Of the entertain
ment some Of them sufficient in them
selves to carry the average musical com
edy. But THE Midnight Sons" is some
thing different from the average. and
therefore it offers MY Sist' Tetrazin."
Rings on Ny Fingers ELY Riley"
''The Billikin Man" and "Amina.'' sung
by Maude Lambert; Carmen the Sec
ond" and THE Soubrette's Secret" by
Clara Palmer; The Little Mary Gard
ners," by Florence Martin; 'The Cynical
owl, THE Firefy Lady," and The
Yankee Honeymoon" besides a variety
of chorus numbers, not forgetting George
Monroe's inimitable monologue and Harry
Fishers train OF talk. Nothing seems out
or place, everything is just the right
length, and scarcely have you enjoyed
one thing before the next comes along.
There Is no chance for ennui or any
form OF boredom.
The Midnight Sons" was destined to
cut a figure wheresoever offered. It took
Washington by storm last night, and
somehow has the flavor Of something we
have all been looking for, but didn't
know exactly what it was we wanted.