The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-03-29
THE STAGE
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE.

When a 20-year-old boy, thirsting
for his first taste of life as the
game is played on Broadway, steals
out OF his home in the dead OF night
| to keep an appointment with mar
ried woman in a notorious resort fol-
old FOUNDERS of both sexes, while his
| trusting mother innocently believes
( he Is enjoying the sleep OF the just
that's cute, isn't it?
| When the boys father, who poses
as saint before his devoted help
meet, sneaks out of the house In a
similar manner. leaving his wife
wrapped In slumber in separate
apartment, and seeks the companions
ship of painted women IN the same
cafe where his son is burning up his
dads coin and any other loose change
that he can beg. borrow or steal.
that's deucedly funny, don't you
think?
And it's still funnier when a nephew
of the "old man. who is guest in
the latter's home, uptoes out on a
similar mission, believing that the
rest of the household is sleeping. And
there is the very duece to pay when
circumstances bring them together
in the cafe, and. TO cap the climax,
the husbands of the women involved
in the little escapade, turn up unex-
pectedly.
These are the principal incidents
in The Girl in the Taxi" which AL.
II. Woods has brought to the Detroit
opera house this week for the edifica-
ton of a public which Is now suppos-
ed to be wearing sackcloth and ashes.
this man Woods, by the way, Is he
who made his pile as producer OF
thrillers of the blood and thunder
type before he took to farce comedy
as a means of making a living. His
ideals never were very high and GER
tainly he has not overreached himself
In producing the Girl in the Taxi.
In IL vice is Haunted and virtue tram
pied under foot and the participants
glory in their naughtiness.
Yet a packed house, Monday night,
laughed itself into Mysteries at the
antics OF BERTHE Stewart and his gay
old dad. One Of the big screams Of
the piece comes when BERTHE removes
the cloak from the bare shoulders or
dimple OF which he has heard a
great deal but has never seen.
"Oh, you dimple," cries BERTHE as
he brings his hand down on the bare
back, with as much gentleness as a
man usually shows when he is beat
ing a carpet in his back yard.
Yes, you will laugh in spite of your
self II you sit through The Girl in
the Taxi" You can't help il, for,
apart from the atmosphere that per-
meates the farce. the situations are
really amusing. IL may be that some
OF the men who guffawed SO incon-
tinently at the discontinue OF old
Stewart when he recognized, in his
new butler. the former head waiter
of the Broadway cafe where he had
entertained the painted ladies'" had
been III the same boat themselves at
one time or another.
Carter De Haven is the principal
comedian of the cast As Berthe Stew
art he gets out OF the part all that
there is in 1t. He has a sense OF humor
and I'm addition to acting ability, pos
sesses skill as dancer OF the George
Cohan type and as a singer of rag.
time songs. His two songs and dance
numbers In the second act, met with
vociferous approval, and were real.
ly the most entertaining features OF
the performance. Fred Bond plays
the father with fidelity and with full
appreciation OF It's fun-making pos
sibilities. The presence OF Miss
Kathryn Osterman as the trusting
wife and mother is refreshing, and
her tender devotion TO her boy, in
whom she believe implicitly, presents
rather a striking contrast to the scene
I'm the wine room. Miss Julie Ring
presents a stunning appearance as
Mignon, the girl In the taxi" and
both she and Miss Osterman show
some exquisite gowns. Others in the