Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-15


artificial romancer. musical
comedy. once content to hoat
To success on continuous ripple Oh
laughter, now digs a ponderous oar INTO
melodramatic depths and comes up Win
great chunks of unexpected material.
When The Enchantress'' scores the
success so confidently predicted by all
who are interested In It. no one Will
know exactly why it has done So There
are so many things in 1t that please eye'
ear and often the intelligence. that II
the auditor can but persuade himself 10
consider the entertainment piecemeal he
will be well repaid. Like the moving
picture lecturer who undertakes to con-
duct his audience tour through
varied scenes without the fatigue or In
convenience of travel, the Enchantress.
with an orchestral baton as her magic
wand. takes you for a rapid view OF all
that is going on at all the theaters.
dash of burlesque a glimpse or the
special talents employed in vaudeville,
the spectacular variesation OF Dig
revue" the musical charm Of an Or
ches:ra recital and for a moment the
vibrant sensationalism OF melodrama.
Despite the manner in which the gates
ter of pecuniary expenditure, the melo-
drama is the quantity striking feature Of
the performance. Miss Gordon makes no
effort to the vivacious allurements OF
the conventional comedienne. She Is
slow and sinuously hypnotic. as becomes
a proper Enchantress. Her personality
and methods are favored by the later mu-
steal tendencies of Victor Herbert to con-
cede less TO the voice and extend more
opportunity to the orchestra. While the
bits of song have all graceful rhythm or
the accomplished methodist. the orchestra
is supplied with wealth OF material that
relieves the singer of more than half the
responsibility and supports the story att
or the manner of Massenet opera IN
stead of interrupting and Overwhelming
II in the spirit Of the older Italian COM
posers Miss Gordon is therefore at no
disadvantage with voice whose hmfta-
lions are quite obvious. These limitations
she is too much of an artist ana TOO
clever technically to transgress She Is
con+ant with the climax developed by dra-
matte situation and emphasized by or
chestral treatment, and does not strive
for the bravo compelling high note
Her gowns are superb, and as she moves
through the plot enchanting everybody
concerned in il, the entertainment appears
to be a small but striking bit of dramatic
tspestry with a most extensive vaudeville
fringe.
To the mind that resents sudden ana
extreme contrasts the presentation Will
offer a succession of shocks In time you
get used to them and find them stimuiat-
ing instead of irritating. The creation is
novel in the assemblage of ideas battered
Of de-
vice BY which the papers are obtained
from the war minister's pocket is crude
compared to the devices of later-day ex-
perts in crime. as shown in our crook
and detective plays. The humor suggests
Mark Twain-not as author. but as the
inventor of a scrap book. When one
character suggests that woman is
eonundrum that keeps him guessing-but
he will never give her up" and that
money is something that doesn't care
who has if, your thoughts drift back to
lit of long ago. and you long to hear the
gIee club sing again. Il Believe 1t, For
Nv Mother Told Me So" However. these |
little episodes may disappear-perhaps
they have already done so-along with
the cemented kiss and the chorus OF in |
sufficiently clad assistant enchantresses
in evidence, for one appearance only, |
Monday night. The performance, which
at the opening ran until nearly midnight.
Is now over at about IL o'clock
The presence of the vivacious dancer,
Nellie Mccoy, even though she is not
much concerned with the events of the
story. is easily explained by her dancing,
Just as that of other performers is &C
counted for by singing or good looks
But the appearance of Arthur Forrest,
even in uplifted musical comedy. must
remain unexplained, unless, perchance,
you get look at the pay roll. which
must be enormous. 1t is pity to men
ton such a sordid consideration in dis
cussion OF high art, but Joseph Gates.
the producer should have some word Of
recognition for carrying his lberality be-
yond the customary limits Of scenery
and costumes, and considering the i'm
portance of the cast on a money no-object
basis Mr. Forrest Is not a singer or
dancer-shades of Marc Antony and
Petronius forbid, But he is a capital
actor; the plot at certain junctures has
need of real actor-and there he is.
Madame X" tearfully intense. a drama
without moral, an appeal to sympathy
without reason. a character study which
asserts realism without apology, demon
strated that il is not play Of a single
season, but one of vital and enduring in
terest The Girl In the Taxi proved
farcically Hvacious as of yore. and the
modern play-one Of the numerous great
American dramas which appear each sea-
son-was in early evidence at the Acad-
envy Of Music In The Man Between"
another effort on the part of the play
wright 10 assist craftsmanship in solving
the difficulties which arise among capital
lists. walking delegates and others. While
rhe entire economic mystery may not be
solved by the dramatist, Rupert Hughes,
the elucidation OF certain of it's phases
provided spirited action.
-
A little Shakespearean reunion occurred
during the past week. when Charles Il.
Hanford, r ID. Mclean and Arthur For
rest met Mr.. Mclean and Mr. Hanford
had been associated on tour in Shake
speare- and Mr.. Forrest and Mr. Hanford
were members of the company which
under Lieb ct Co.'S management pre-
scented Mary Magdala." Without delay a
project was formed to present Julius