The Washington herald., 1911-11-28
THE BELASC0.
Grace La Rue, in "Betsy."

trace La hue, IN "betbys
Through the maze Of music and through
the conventional, albeit gorgeous. trap
pings of operetta, the familiar props and
plot of farce comedy loomed across the
footlights of the 'Belasco Theater last
evening. The disguise was thin enough
perhaps no disguise was intended what
soever. George NJ. Cohan made a bold
stroke when he set melodrama to music,
but he was not half so radical as Grace
La Rue-and her husband-are in fitting
out a rapid-fire farce with songs, duets,
and ensembles much after the fashion
acclimated on Broadway through the me-
dium of THE Chocolate Soldier and
Nine. Troubadour."
Betsy" which is the title of the piece
through which Miss La Rue romped with
more or less piquancy and dash last even
ing, is the proponent of several new ideas.
To begin with, II is a chorusless com
edy-operetta" and this in itself was
enough to make a washington audience
gasp with establishment, for there Is no
denying the fact that when this staid
Capital goes in search of light operate
entertainment IT does demand its full
quota of coryphees. Betsy however,
would have been hailed with much ac-
claim had it supplied some novelty just
as good as the strangely missing ladies
of the chorus, but this II did not.
The element of the incongruous first
laid it's hand on the piece when the au-
dience discovered the fact that straight
farce and music did not mix. Opera
bouffe is in an entirely different meter.
In its original form. Betsy" was un-
doubtedly a farce after the manner of
Seven Days" or Baby Mine and the
speculative mind may we'll spend an idle
moment or so in imagining the result II
the high-fown absurdities of these pieces
were sung instead Of being committed TO
racy. piquant, witty dialogue.
Betsy" has a plot that moves with
farcial consistency, and It is quite con-
ceivable that the farce-operetta might
achieve success in the hands of some eX-
pert theatrical doctors" But in its
present state neither the comedy element
nor the cast OF principals can assure 1t Of
long life II is all hard, brisk, rattling
farce, with a well-handled dash of ro-
nance in the final act. which wins far
greater success than all that has gone
before. Furthermore, the farcical ele-
ment is somewhat obvious and fiat at
critical moments in the play. The cli-
max to the second act is in some re-
spects amateurish.
The effervescent Miss La Rue. whose
retrousse nose threatens to become quite
as familiar a footlight favorite as the
Julie Marlowe dimple, has a role which
reveals her effective powers as CO.
medienne to full advantage. and gives
ample scope to her agreeable vocalism.
She sang The First Gray Hair and
My Impressions" excellently. Her ter
sichOrean and technical DEFICIENCIES are
not Unduly emphasized. Inherent in her
personality are certain nervous, brisk,
and piquant mannerisms, of which her
following heartily approves, and her
keen sense OF fun is a potent aid in pro-
jecting certain scenes across
OF the supporting cast. Cecil Jervis
Ryan, in the role Of Jasper Mallory, and
Miss Juliette Lange. as Mile. Abaloni.
were the most effective. Miss Lange's
Dream Love" song is by far the best
number in the score. which Is. as a
whole, one Of the most colorless heard
in Washington in many a day. Alfred
Deery, as the Earl of DeXminster, had
Cne extremely humorous songs assigned
to him, entitled THE Day Before the
Morning After" and works hard in some
impossible scenes.
But Betsy" may, after the pruning
hook is judiciously applied. win out on
account of its novelties. Both the score
and the book are susceptible of vast
Improvement and the cast will undoubt-
edly have an entirely different look when
the operetta is launched on the perilous
seas of Broadway. A. VI. J.