The Washington herald., 1911-09-24
COMING ATTRACTIONS.

The Belasco Theater opens next week
with Maeteriinck's famous fantasy, The
Blue Bird" It Is a story Of the quest OF
the hearts desire, and the hearts desire
for grown-ups as well as for children is
happiness. No recent play has made
quite SO profound a sensation in America
or Europe. In New York, where It was
| produced at the New Theater, this So
called literary drama scored the greatest
commercial success OF the season. 1t has
| been estimated by the directors Of the
theater that approximately 10000 people
saw the play in that city. In England,
France, Germany. and Austria It has
met with the same huge success.
In Russia alone a dozen companies are
now playing The production which
| comes to this city for a special engage
ment for the week Of October 3 Is that
OF the New Theater, together with many
! Innovations which George Tyler has
brought from London, Paris, Berlin, and
Moscow In addition to the wonderful
poetry Of the piece, the play makes a tre-
mendous appeal through its magnificent
| stage pictures So intricate are these
| scenic effects that nearly year was
spent in the preparation Of them. Beauty,
fantasy, wisdom. poetry, tenderness, and
delightful humor are all blended into
one.
This is the first appearance Of The
| Blue Bird outside OF New York, where
| II ran over a season. The production of
| The Blue Bird is so massive that It
will not permit extensive tour: in
| fact Il will appear in only three cities
this season, Washington, Boston, and
Philadelphia. In each OF the latter cities
It is booked for four and five months
| runs The engagement at the Belasco
| Theater is for one week only and in
cludes a popular matinee on Wednesday
and a regular matinee on Saturday
| INTO Chases polite vaudeville orbit
| next week will come, 1t is promised, sew
eral of the stars of novelty. and the
| merry whirl OF these luminaries should
draw into their vortex immense throngs
| Of amusement seekers. Foremost OF all
will be the eminent Anglo-American CO.
median, William Courtleigh, former star
of The Third Degree The Woman"
| &c, who, with his own versatile COM
pany. will appear in George Hobart's
| rejuvenated and refreshing comedy OF
| the paddock, Peaches" The extra add
ed attraction will be the latest preten-
tious production by the distinguished
vaudeville impresario, B. A. Rolfe. Mr..
| Rolfe will present The Colonial Sep
tette." in "Ye Olde Tyne Halloween
| Party" Third among the special and
original offerings will be the worlds
greatest ragtime pianist. Mike Bernard.
and Americas foremost character
singer. Willie Weston, the most success
full pair OF the present. An act OF rare
| daring and skill is the Dunedin Troupe
described as England's marvellous ag-
| gregatIon OF acrobatic cyclists Fred
| Warren and Matt Keefe are specially
included in their hodge-podge OF humor
and harmony, and Carl Mccullough has
been secured to give his inimitable dit
| ties and drolleries Queenie and May
| nntrrur N1yflI Nhafr ,,Eo
| act.
| Henri Gressitt comes TO this city as the
special ambassador for Henry w Savage
| to assure us that finally we are to have
the pleasure Of hearing Puccini's last
great work, The Girl of the Golden
West" and. better still, we are TO listen
to this wonderfully beautiful grand opera
in our native tongue. Mr.. Savage has
| spent nearly one year in selecting the
artists for what he considers the crown
ing achievement as an impresario. The
Girl OF the Golden West"
1t Is expected by many who really know
that the engagement Of Icilio CalIeya, the
tenor, who created such a furor at La
Scala, in Milan. will start a rivalry In
| this country with Caruso. CaIleya, de
Souza, and Sachett will alternate for the
role Of Johnson.
William Beck. of the Paris Opera, also
the Covent Garden and Hammerstein' g.
will sing the role of the sheriff. alternat-
| ing with Carl Gantvoort, who was heard
here in Madam Butterfly"
Possibly the most important engage
| ment, from a musical standpoint. is that
| of the first conductor Maestro Giorgo Po-
| lacco, who was selected by Puccini him
self
Some others in the cast are Vernon Dali
| hart. Charles E. Gallagher Richard
Parks, Richard Backing, Cecil D. Mastin.
George Dunstan. Austin G. Hughes, L.
| d'Angelo, Siegfried Phillip and Ivy Scott.
Alma, Where Do You Live?" the bril-
liant Joe Weber musical Offering, with
its bevy of beautiful girls, its enhancing
music, its irresistible comedy, and its
mastadon aggregation of musical comedy
artists, headed by Truly Shattuck and
Bernard Daily, is to be the attraction at
the Columbia Theater beginning a week
from tomorrow night. 1t comes here
direct from the Forrest Theater, Phfla- |
delphia, where II has sustained its claim
Of being the foremost attraction of its |
kind before the American public. with |
sustained business of capacity propor- |
tions.
Alma, Where Do You Live%' is p |
French vaudeville. by Paul Herve. ar
ranged for the American stage by George |
V. Hobart. The music. which is one OF !
the most distinctive features of the show, |
is by Jean Briquet. Popular approval of |
the Alma waltz is no less pronounced
than was that bestowed upon THE Merry |
Widow"
Following the Star and Garter show at |
the Gayety, The Bellies of the Boule-
ward" will be the attraction for the week
Of October 2. The company is headed by |
Florence Bennett, known as the CoIum- |
bia Girl, and formerly the leading woman |
with Irwin's Majestics. The music for |
the burlesque was written by E " |
o,,.bor ssTyba CoIiaoa 81