The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1911-01-13
a. On The
STAGE

is the title of the chuckling. bubbling
song-comedy which will be seen In
Norfolk at the Auditorium on next
Wednesday night.
The piece is in two acts and four
scenes. Little Earl Knapp. the forty
two inch high comedian will be seen
as Napoleon" the baby, while Emsy
Alton and William Clifton will be
The Newlyweds," and Louise Auber
will be seen In the role of the nurse.
ID. l.. Don one of the best known Ger
man comedians in the country has
the laughing success of his career as
A. Nichol, the bucolic waiter. The
chorus Is large one and the song hits
are many. The production Is said to
be handsomely staged and beautifully
gowned. There are 60k people in the
company.
That Norfolk people will see an
excellent musical comedy In this piece
with clever people in the cast is indi.
Gated by the press notices the show is
receiving. F. w. W.. dramatic critic
In the Rocky Mountain News at Den
yer, gave the show two columns, in
Guiding the following praise:
1t would seem almost impossible to
make olav out > 80 nf the Sunday
comics. And yet it has been done and
| with considerable financial success in
the past.
The works of Kenyon Cox, of Out
cault, Of Opper, of Swinnerton and
McCay have been staged and with sat
isfying results.
And now comes the latest aspirant
for public favor, George McManus
with his "Newlyweds and Their Baby"
Out of the episodes, with which the
readers of the Sunday News are all
! familiar, a three-act play of song COM
edy has been constructed. It was pre-
scented at the Tabor yesterday and last
evening, to, of course, packed houses,
and / am somewhat surprised to say
that 1t is an exceptionally clever show,
one that is very likely to do the bust
ness of the town during the coming
week
The idea in the first place is good.
The pictures themselves have the
conquering human touch, being un-
doubtedly the best of all the funny
pages throughout the country. The
three principal people make their ap-
peal in a clean, wholesome way to
the family sentiment. Newlywed him.
self, so outrageously ugly, still has
good face, while his fondness for
"Lovey," his mad admiration for his
hideous baby, and his boundless pa
tience and good nature make him a
most likeable creature. And Mrs.
Newlywed! Always enormously pref
| ty, the antithisis of her large-mouthed,
sleek-haired lord, she rivals him in
tender affection and unreasoning adj
miration for the awful baby. The
three are the genesis, in caricature of
all family existence, while the element
of innocent goodness that encircles
them makes the trio q source of kind
ly, general Joy.
Many a conciliatory smile has been
given this young father and mother
by other young fathers and mothers !;
and many a time have other members
of families declared their desire to
kill that kid" who never seems to
justify the great love showered upon
him. and who is invariably doing the
contrary thing.
But the human note Is ever there,
while the fun is based on the false and
pernicious premise of insulting par
ents, or playing hurtful FRANKS on
those to whom the child or man owes
respect and affection.
That is the crying fault of the aver
age Sunday comic"
The leading characters In "The New
lyweds" are honest, sincere, kindly
and true to themselves, they offer a
wholesome lesson, while the smile
they create is the smile of geniality
of mate admiration and esteem.
You cannot but be fond Of Newly
wed for his alteration of his wife, even
If you imagine his devotion to his baby
Is a trifie overdrawn.
But here he has not been touched
by the live wire of experience-yet
There will come a time, however
when things will be different. He is
at present undergoing the process OF
feeling his oats, of being proud In the
reflection that he has provided about
all there Is to the last census of the
United States, and he is keen to have
everyone he can seduce into his house
hold, admire the terrible infant with
him. He accepts that admiration as q
tribute to his own taste, his own pow
er, his own merit, In fact; he being
| the 1atner anu the owner Oh the lnSat
liable one-toothed Napoleon.
The feeble whines and lusty howls
do not disturb him. however much
they may provoke the neighborhood.
Here is a case Of reflected self-love
On that hypothesis he regards Napol
con as another emperor-and the kinl
can do no wrong.
1t Is all very natural and true.
There are, and have been, millions
of Newlyweds in the world. May
, their tribe increase, and may there al
ways be a George McManus to pictor
tally present their idiosyncrasies, t.
make gentle merriment of their foible'
and vanities.
> Newlywed really points the way Il
that reverential glory and lovelines
of fatherhood, motherhood and wife
hood, and the priceless boon of mater
: nifty and paternity. Here absurdly, We
truthfully, is pictured the instinctiv,
, secret of the preservation of the race
) 1t may be a sort of animal founda
ton, but the Newlyweds are the tw,
. cornerstones and upon them Is bull
the enduring love, the companionshiI
the emotional aspirations, the beaut
of social life, which veneers that In
; stinct of savagery which lies deep Il
? all natures, be they gross or refined.
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