Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-19


love 70 magnify the romantic uh-
certainty of theatric career ~
sneak in reproachful accents OF 'ne
tickle public" 1t is a tickle pubic
trn1v. a public that welcomes an orator
with rapturous applause one year anu
laughs at him the next: a public that
makes heroes Of unsuhstantial clay iheie
IL for the sake Of seeing its own handl-
work melt and crumble into grotesaue-
ness put 10 the actor 1t remains Won
oarfuTy loyal The success of the states
man. earned by a lifetime of hazard
ana toll. this strange public loves to de-
nolish in a single hour OF resentment.
The success of the player, bestowed at
the dictate OF the merest fancy, Is some
thing that the people insist on cherish
ing even when its possessor seems
recklcSsIy disposed TO squander IT, II
survives many mistakes. 1t is founoeo
only on impression, and yet Is more SUD
stantial in It's rewards than the e1orts
10 60 actual and enduring service 10
mankind one bad speech may wreck an
orator: but here comes Mrs. Leslie car
ter with i play which for her purposes
IS wholly unsatisfactory, and the puphc
still fiocSs to see her.
Two Women" with Mrs. Carter as It's
chief inspiration. IS hopelessly artlh-
cial creation. What other actresses
might have done with il can be only
matter OF conjecture; the keynote of the
work Is a whimsical naivete manifest in
both the woman or the poverty-stricken
home and the woman of the Bal Taba-
rim The mood OF the tigress at bay is
not there, and the situations, even In the
utmost stress OF circumstance. do not
call for the tempestuous emotional dis
play which is the very vital spark of
Mrs. Cartcr's playing. She introduces
demonstrations OF characteristic force,
and for these her public thanks her.
even though the plot OF the play does not
fully support them.
One OF the most difficult features OF the
! FAY Is Tie wedding cake.
il simply cannot be swallowed. The
idea of an antique bit of high-art pastry
being made the basis OF a tragic scene
involving death itself IS worthy Of one
OF those little French stories which de-
ASAt IN revelations of quaint patnos with
out attempting TO sound serious depths.
The idea OF the spell which a cocotte's
resemblance TO his dead wife casts over
the sentiments OF an artist appeals to the
imagination as bizarre conceit rather
than situation calculated to stir the
sympathies OF common humanity. The
treatment of the play is nsincere. The
atmosphere. which is essentially Partisan
is marred by the introduction of humor OF
a purely American type and ~ mad
revels Nhicn aim TO- show not what exists
but what the management believes its
"a,
is a palpable concession to ideas of Paris
that prevail on the Medicine Hat circuit
Yet Mrs. Carter falls under 10 lasting
resentment in the minds of her public
with whom the actress is the first con-
sideration ana the play but a vehicle
The piece may fail. but Mrs. Carter is
always a success.
II all Indians were Robert Edeson In
dams the western work OF the United
States government would be vastly sim
plifled. Where the Trail Divides makes
the Indian more of sentimental hero
than any yet undertaken, and the keen
interest manifested in the bit OF modern
romance was a distinct tribute to a good
piece of acting and some excellent stage
management. The play has one great
advantage in being unusual in it's central
character. If not especially original in the
treatment of a domestic situation which
must impress thea tergoers as having be-
come Interestingly frequent.
PHiLANDER JOHNSON
MRS, THOMAS WHIFFEN AS BUT
TERCUP-In United States Ministe r
Bedloe.' William II. Crane and Mrs.
Thomas Whifen. who appears in the
play as the minister's wife, indulge in
little duet in one scene, singing u verse
from a we'll known Old hymn. The sing
igG IS meant TO be funny, and 1t is, es-
Pecially when Mr.. Cranes voice breaks
on one OF the high notes. But really'
there is no reason why MIR. Crane and
Mrs. VI nilten shouldn't sing If they want
to. They began their careers on the
stage as opera singers.
Mir Crane was an apprentice in the
Holman Opera Company when he was
a COY. and the Arthur Holman who
play il small character part in United
states Munster Bedloe is the grandson
OF the HOLMAN who. years ago. was the
star master. And Mrs. Whiffen-she
came 10 America first in 1865 at the head
ol her own opera company-was known
then as Blanche Cation, and her COM
pany sang all the light operas of the
day. Later on when III. NJ. S. Pinafore'
was produced for the first time in New
ork she was the "Buttercup." Thomas
'HiiIeH game over WITH her In her opera
company, and he. too, appeared in that
nrst production of ''Pinafore' as the
ruler OF the queens nav-e-e."
The light operas didn't pay in nv
Gay, says Mrs. Whiffen, and so we
my husband and went into drama
ABOUT 1881 We both Joined the old Madl-
son Square Theater Stock Company in
New ork, and ii was then for the first
LIME that L appeared as Mrs Thomas
" nlHen. The manager thought IL would
4ooh well TO announce us as MIR. and Mrs
iaonas " hiHen in the list of players
Mercy Kirke. in Hazel kirke.'' was
the first role Mrs. Whiffen PLAYED Mt the
Old Madison Square Theater, and she has
Deen paying sweet-faced, gentle old Ia
.ales ever since Only once did she sten
out or that class OF roles That was
waen she played Sergt. Shooter in ..rhe
Amazons at the old Lyceum Theafer
New York. And she made a hit in The
part, too.
WHERE is THE GALLERY GODa-
william Faversham asks. What has be-
come OF the American gallery GoA?'
It Is matter OF deep concern" saws
MT FaVersham. FOR the American man
aser TO discover the whereabouts or Tho
gallery boy, so long a feature NJ orr
playhouses Some think he has found
more congenial entertainment in tho
movlng-picture houses. while Others are
of the opinion that. as a fuli-blown
American citizen. he is too proud RI 90
heaVenward, with the result that IL no
home. a.
Anyway, the working girl, who nigh,
be called the goddess aloft. has taken
his place. In almost every city VIZ, Mi