Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-25
: the revenges which the whtrii-
gig Of time brings In. few are
stranger than that recorded for
"Pfnafore."
= \


stranger than that recorded To-
~ ''Pinafore."
In the midst OF his persinagt
DewoIf Hopper interjects. a note of seri
BUSINESS. He pauses to pay tribute to the
work which held the boards at the Belasce
as something to be treated with defer
ence, as the product of a master Wher
..Pinafore'' first came out 1t was treated
with no such regard. 1t was in England
a tally imperttnence. and in America 9
ronaping assembage of rather anemie
word plays and jingling ditties. None
could deny that there was literary ability
in the rhymes and speeches and musician
" finish In the score; 1t was even ad-
mitted that genius might he present, but
il was genius of an irresponsible nature
perverted to the most trivial ends. II
recollectioh serves, ''Pfnafo1e' in its day
was regarded with about as much artistic
respect as one of the indefatigable Mr..
ZieRfeld's Folly shows is regarded to-
day.
How many blank vesse tragedies and
Grand operas "Pinafore'' has .outlasted!
1t comes touring the country with all the
freshness of youth and making the regu-
contract work from a factory running
overtime. 1t is almost unklnd Of the
Shuberts to put this clean-cut and spar
king musical creation forth for compare
son with the words. music and scenery
on which such lavish sums are adventured
with true sportsmanf1ke courage. There
is not a composer in the comic opera
field today who could not with profit
c4,,ay Gull ~ Sfa fuI cir in al
dating instead Of obscuring the humor Of
q librettists verse.
Another revenge is recorded for Time 8
whiriigig. Dick Dead-Eye is no longer
the obscure and skulkins seaman, who
gets into the plot merely because some
one has to play the satirilal villain and
sing bass DeWolf Hopper takes the old
fellow under his protecting care and he
is transformed. He Is Villain still, but
q humorous villain whose malevoience is
smothered by his grotesquely whimsical
personality, and redeemed by his genial
and fluent gifts as a speaker when called
before the curtain.
Extremes met in the audience. There
were white-haired playgoers eager to
renew the impressions of a vogue long
past and playgoers in their teens eager
to satisfy their curiosity as to who GIL
bert and Sullivan were that they should
be so great. The recent death of Gill
bert attracted such wide attention that
the extraordinary interest awakened by
this revival may be accounted for to
some degree by the demand for an
authors work which his obseQuies in
variably create. 1t may be doubted
whether .Pinafore,'' despite its wonder
fully enthusiastic reception, fully con-
tents the modern taste developed indie
pendently Of all serious standards. with
cayenne pepper for dialogue and rag
time for its essential musical appeal.
.'Pinafore" Is a gleeful reminiscence
rather than q current furore.
Get Rich Quick Wallingford" came
back to Washington for a new list OF
subscribers to his schemes of laugh pro-
motion. and got them in abundance. It
Is perhaps the first of George Cohans
productions entitled to be considered q
real play, for without questioning the
importance of Mr.. Chesters stories as q
foundation. the salient points both in
action and in the character picture Of
Wallingford are Cohan creations. The
Transformation of the title role from
unctuous maturity to breezy youth was
resented by many who had enjoyed the
Chester tales in print but results have
absolutely indicated the audaciOuS sub
sutution. PHILANDER JOHNSON.
A MAY MORNING SCENE.-Henry
Miller a past master of the art of stage
illusion. has perfected a scene in his
new play. The Rainbow which is the
cieverest counterfeit of lazy May
morning that has been seen in the thea
ter in recent years. The stage is set
for a fashionable bachelor apartment on
5th avenue, and the interior presents
dark wood co,or scheme But every win
dow and door is thrown wide open. and
the warm morning light pouring in
makes every object dance in the vivid
sunshine. Through window at the
right the audience sees an apple tree In
full bloom that Is a shimmering mass OF
pink and white blossoms. Birds fit
through the foliage. mingling their tiny
notes with the strident music" from
hand organ playing obsolete tunes a
block away down the avenue.
HORSES ON THE STAGE-The thrill
ing. spectacular manner Of handling
horses In Aborns huge production Of 1.-THE
equaled outside Of circus tent
Although horses have not been used to
any particular extent in grand opera, they
have been common to drama. One OF the
first plays in which horse was used with
striking results was in 'Mazeppa. an
adaptation of Byrons poem. The old
theatergoer will recall Fanny Louise
Buckingham in this stirring old drama
Ashley. the famous circus proprietor, at
his place near Westminster bridge. Lon
don, produced many spectacles in which
he employed as many as q hundred
horses. Boucicault ever an innovator.
saw the advantage of using horses on the
stage. and SO wrote The Flying Scud
for the purpose. Since that time the
horse has been feature Of all English
sporting melodramas. One of the few
greatest successes of this kind was "A
Run of Luck and here Irving rode Rosi-
mantle in Don Quixote." One Of the most
was the race on the whirlwind platform
in THE County Fair. The same de-
vice was employed in "Ben-Hur."
It will be recalled that no less a person
than the great Richard Wagner intro
duced q horse in his opera "Rienzi,'' an
adaptation Of Sir Edward Lytton Bull
wers popular novel Of the same name.
Then. again, In the Valkyrie Wagner en-
ployed mechanical horses, with astonish-
ing and thrilling results. The chase Of
the Valkyrie maidens through the clouds,
led by Brunhilde on horseback, is one Of
the most effective Of all mechanical de-
vices by the great German composer.
Real live horses will be used in '"The
bohemian Girl" They are introduced in
the finale Of the hrst act. In the huge
rAvfval Y,nadp the Ahorna noxyilaho<,F