The Washington herald., 1910-02-08
LAST NIGHT AT LOCAL PLAYHOUSES
THE NATIONAL.
Elsie Janis as ''The Fair Coed"

Elsie Janis az "The Fair Coed"
Well. she is here at last. We had heard
reports from other cities that she had
visited how good she was and how witty
and how pretty, but It remained for the
fair young lady to introduce herself TO US
last night at the National for US TO rea-
He how really excellent THE Fair
Coed" is.
The Fair Coed has all the attributes
that make for success in the musical
comedy line 1t has catchy songs. lines
that fairly bristle with wit, and-Elsie
Janis The latter star would pretty near
" be the making Of any play, but she
did not have to make the Coed
George AIDE and Gustave Luders have
done that for her, and they did it well.
The lines OF the play and the situations
remind enc somewhat of the authors
first success, The College Widow" In
deed, the scene OF the play is the same
as that of the earlier piece. Bingham
College" and they yell for BIZ Bolton
just as they did in that success. But
there the resemblance ends. The latter
play is even brighter than the first; and,
then, it has the advantage of Miss Janis,
the chorus. and the songs.
The plot Of the piece Is wound around
the only coed in Bingham College, and
the time is the week preceding the class
day exercises. Davy Dickerson, an al
most-senior," is in love with the COED
so are the rest OF the college, for that
nfatter-but the difference lies in the fact
that she loves him. But there arrives on
the scene the guardian, bringing the will
left by Cynthia's father, in which he asks
her to marry only man who hes re-
ceived his degree from Bingham. Alas
for poor Davy! He has not passed a
single class since he has been in the col
| lege and has all of the work Of four
years TO make up in a week. But he sets
manfully to work-resolved TO win the
coed.
In the meantime that young lady has
decided to absent herself from the mill
tary ball. but she means to be there-dis-
guised as her cousin from Annapolis On
| her arrival at the bail she proceeds TO
make love to all the girls and win them
away from the boys. The latter get
angry and proceed to haze the sup
! posed MILDLY Numerous complications
/ follow, but all is Strengthened out before
the fall of the curtain and the coed and
the senior, now fully graduated because
of lucky answer 10 an astronomy qUes-
/ ton. are left 10 each other.
The part gives the young star a chance
( TO show that she has lost not a particle
/ of her magnetism and attractiveness. She
| sings several songs, the best being
/ Leave Her TO the Boys Of the Navy.
/ and. Of course. interpoiates some of hei
/ inimitable limitations. What would an
/ Elsie Janis show be without her imita-
tons? But this time they are different
/ Instead OF the old. stereotyped ones. she
/ gives US a series of perfectly delicious
| glanCes into the future at different actor.
/ and actresses as they would play the
parts that they would like to play I'm
| agine Anna Held as a coon singer, George
/ Cohan as Romeo with rag music. Ed
die Foy as Hamlet, and Harry Lauder
llSlAE W " lit y LUllU ~ AAt AuAAi'
try" and you will have the droll humol
of Miss Janis latest set of limitations
or, at least, a part of it, for one has Il
see her TO get the benefit OF her art
The last one Of all that she gave Wa!
herself doing several different kinds o.
dances, and it gave her an excellent op
portunity to show how graceful and nov
good a dancer she really is
But Miss Janis was not the whole
show, though it must be confessed tina
she was a good part Of II. There were
Arthur Stanford, as the Almost-S Senior
and he had an excellent song about tn,
almost college man; and Sidney Jarvis
as the old grad who contributes tive
rousing songs, The Fair Coed" ant
The Football Came" and Edgar Hal
stead, as the professor. Indeed. Their,
wasn't a college type that the autho
omitted TO include. But one that de
mands especial notice was Harry Depp
as the freshman with the passIonat,
socks" who later disguised himself a
the ChaperOn. His dancing was excel
lent, and his conception Of the part In
lmitable
Last, but by no means least, comes
the chorus. Not the female one-the!
get plenty of notice in the other plays
but the large and spIendidly trained
male crowd who really succeeded in look
ing like college boys 10 q degree tina
was surprising. The management de
serves especial credit in gathering to
gether a number of men that can SIM
so well, dance so well, and at the sam
time look like college boys. They imbut
the play with an atmosphere that make
one want 70 get right up and join then
in giving nine 'rahs and a tiger for 'Th
Fair Coed"