Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-11

pheum twice q DAY, is tndL Ihe AOh-
mer require faster action"
MIR. Anger was a vaudeville per-
former for ten years, being one-half
of a German dialect team. Up to the
time of his appearance in THE Gay
Hussar'' a few months ago he never
had appeared on the stage in anything
but a comedy dialect act. Therefore,
after a few weeks experience his tes-
timony on the subject OF VaudeVlle
versus legitimate work Is interesting.
81 find a legitimate audience much
easier" said Anger. "In musical
production they are more patient FOR
their laughs and the comedian is as
sisted by a score of others VINO are
developing a story around MN anu
aiding him. vaudeville audience nus
no patience. 1t will not listen to eX-
plantations. You must get right at the
kernel of the thing at once.
Another thing, the vaudeville per-
former is entirely at the mercy OF the
act ahead OF him. l recently mad
place on program tohoWlns a..,I Iwo
tragic acts. The curtain went down
upon a death scene. man mad
dropped dead in chair and his wife,
who was a butterfly creature and had
ruined him, was chatting merrily 20
him while she was dressing to go out
to a ball.
''The curtain went down with the
audience shocked and thrilled and L
had to step out and try to get jokes
across the footlights which they SIM
ply could not laugh at, stirred as they
were by the recollection OF the pre-
vious act
I'm legitimate play nothing of this
kind happens. Everybody is helping
one another, and il there is a bit OF
sentiment the comedy is more keenly
enjoyed, coming right upon the heels
of it.
his audience at the start or he can
never get them. [ have been used TO
doing an act which, in the technical
knowledge of the theater, is called an
act in one That Is, l usually stand In
front of an advertising curtain covered
with signs while delivering my lines.
In Philadelphia the principal adyer-
tisement upon this advertising drop
curtain reads as follows 'Blank' un.
dertaker. We will bury you for 500.
Imagine trying to make an audience
laugh while reading that sign!
For the sake of those who saw and
we're not greatly pleased by the initial
production of 1.-The Country Boy" the
following review" of the play Is
quoted from the New York Herald. In
Inanv respects the review states con-
cIusions reached by local critics Evi-
IDENTIFY "The Country Boy" has been
rewritten to some extent put not
enough to make the New York Her
AIDS critic believe that the play Is not
unside-down, as 1t were. Note what
is said about the character of Merkel
the newspaperman, played by Robert
McWade Here's the review:
"The Country Boy" came to the
city last night and won his way
right from thes start. The new
comedy by Edgar Selwyn proved
that a good actor can be a good
playwright, too. Henry b. Harris
brought the play to the Liberty
theater with little advance fuss
and feather ami the substantial
success it achieved was somewhat
of a surprise to many in the big
audience that crowded the theater.
1t is about country boy who
came to New York to make good
and succeeds in making a mess Oh
his life generally along Broadway,
with the help of a pretty member
of the chorus There's an excellent
picture of New York theatrical
boarding house life in 1t. The din
ner alone was worth a dollar
The country boy is near to sui
eide when a sterling newspaper
man reaches out and rescues him
and the two go back to the old town
and work out their salvation to-
gether with the help of news
paper.
Mr.. Selwyn has written some of
the most amusing lines that have
come across the footlights this sea-
son. It's not all uniform, but the
virtues so far outnumber the faults,
that the latter aren't worth talk
ing about.
Forrest Winant was the country
boy and he was earnest and APP
pealipg most all the time. Miss
Willette Kershaw was the actress,
and she was a good one. Miss
Geraldine OBricn was the sweet
l. AvRk hnO
to, and Mrs. Stuart Robson was the
boarding house keeper to the life.
But it was Robert McWade, Jr,
as the newspaper man who was the
real star of the evening, and Ar
thur Shaw won in the role of re-
formed ticket Spectator.
John Blackwood seems determined to
carry out his decision made several
months ago to put an entirely new
set of faces in the Belasco company.
new leading woman, Eve Kelly, will
make her debut tomorrow night For
several weeks past Monday night has
been debut night at the Belasco, so
many new members of the company
have been engaged. Players may come
and players may go, but Lew" Stone
will stay on forever. You see he owns
some of the capital stock.
Following "Seven Days" the Mason
Opera house VIII be dark Tor TWO weeks.
Then will come Rose Stahl with her
inimitable characterization of Patricia
O'Brien, 'The Chorus Lady"
Seldom has public interest in any
concert or benefit event been so largely
manifested as in the forthcoming tes-
timonial to the Jewish orphans home,
which will be given under the auspices
of the home management, by Ellen
Beach Yaw and associate artists, at
the Auditorium on the evening Of Sep
tember %.
Mrs. BerthoId Baruch and her asso-
ciates have worked valiantly to make
this testimonial a success, and the re-
suits are splendidly shown in an al
most unprecedented preliminary inter-
est. Letters and kilograms assuring
financial support have been received
in large numbers every day during the
last week.
The proceeds from this concert will
be utilized at once on the rebuilding
fund. The home was entirely de-
stroyed by fire the night of August 1,
leaving siXty-two dependent little
charges quite without shelter other
than the makeshift temporary quarters
provided for them during the rest of
the warm season. 1t is to make this
phalanx of little boys and girls COM
Portable for the winter that these
charitable folk are toiling.
Los Angeles society is taking a