The Washington herald., 1912-01-21
GOSSIP OF THE NEW YORK TIIEATERS

the raising or lowering OF box office
prices waged with keen spirit and
while Jee Weber and Lew Fields were
rehearslng their get together" with
the original members OF the Old-time
company, winthrop Ames provided the
most notable event OF the theatrical
week by the staging Of "sumurun,'
the wOrdless play OF Prof Max Rein
hardt fresh from triumphs In Berlin
and London,
An interesting development ls the
announcement by Charles Frohman
that he has accepted from Henry Bern
stein, author OF THE Thief" the seem
sTio OF new play for the uso Of Ethel
Barrymore, The play win be In English.
with the principal figure an English
woman, wife OF q titled Englishman
in his country'B diplomatic service In
France, The wife becomes inneeently
embrOiled I'm the unexpected discovery
Of important French military dsou-
ments that have been stolen by at
taches Of the British EmbaFEyr Much
Is expected OF the play,
Six days have how passed since
Weber 4 Fields began In earnest
their preparations for q "eeme back"
and their two "wheezeE. which will
he known as Hockey Pekey" and
'Bunty Bulls and Strings" are already
assuming tangible shape, Edgar
Weber, Fields productions Of years ago,
msterisl.is being contributed by prac-
ticaliY every member Of the band,
which most Rssuredly resembles O re.
united happy family, Among other
shining lights that participated In the
= reheersals during the week at the
broadway were Willie Collier, lillian
Russell, Fay Templeton, Ada Lewis,
Helena Collier John T. Kelly, md
George Reban. While the principals
were warming up at the Broadway,
the chorus was gettiRs In trim down
NJ Webcr'E Theaterr
Taking the other side Of the ques-
tisH from Lee Shubert, who declares
that admission rates are due to rise.
Henry w, Savage has come forth with
m extensive explanation OF his cutting
the prices Mt his current productions,
Little Boy Blue" and "The Million"
adding a Representation that several
uther managers win have 20 follow his
example.
An empty room 1t 4 hotel II n
loss. he says. and so II an empty
seat a q theater, How much better
Il Is for mo to have the balcony at
the Lyric filled Rt 81 O seat than only
half filled at $3.50 In that way / am
keeping my plant working at full time,
by offering bargain that brings
profit not only to me, but to the the
consistently repeated is bound TO prevail
over that % big pTehtr occurring er-
Taucsuy."
II one would listen to both Savage
and ShubeTt, he would have to con-
clude one Of two thinEE-sithsr there
will be much huctuEtIen OF rates in
the near future. or there viii be no
appreciable change at all. In the mean
time, despite the seriousness Of these
two leading lmpresarios, genuine sue
Cesses have been scored by more than
the average number OF offerings along
Theatrical Row.
"sumurun."
When "Sumurun" was put on by
Winthrop Ames on Tuesday night at
the Casino Theater. a play with his
tory made it's American premiere. This
most impressive spectacle ever turned
out by Max Reinhardt was performed
first at the Deutscher Theater, Berlin,
IN April. 1910. In the following
August, Reinhardt carried the com
pany from Berlin down to Munich,
where the wOrdless drama was seen
at the Artists Theater and created a
sensation equal to its Berlin victory.
: In January OF last year ''Sumurun," in
a partially condensed form, began a
several months engagement in Lon
don. Last fall it returned to London
in Its original German form and was
welcomed more ardently even than
the first time.
It was the complete "Sumurun' that
was presented Tuesday at the Casino,
even to Prof Reinhardt's entire com
pany and the orchestra leader, Victor
Hollaender, who composed the music
for "Sumurun.' The stage manage
ment is under the direction of Prof.
Richard Ordynski, the personal repre-
sentative of Prof. Rcfnhardt. The
story OF "Sumurun" is told entirely in
action without the use of words. II is
a Persian tale, and all the color,
comedy, gorgeOusness. and animate
OF ancient Bagdad are revealed in the
nine tableauX of this drama of love,
romance. jealousy, and death The
story Of the love of the hunchback
Snowman for his dancing slave girl,
known as the Beautiful Slave of Fatal
Enchantment, and OF Sumurun. the IA
vOrite wife of the old sheik, for Nur-
al-din, the cloth merchant, and the
subsequent commingling of the two
stories. ending in the murder by the
old sheik of his son and his own
death at the hands of the hunchback,
is told entirely without spoken word,
but so vivid and realistic is the acting
OF the German company, and so dra-
matte the story that the spectator is
hardly aware Of the absence of words
EIOL at nrSt called
"Sumurun" a pantomime, but the Lon
don and Berlin reviewers thought II
such a new and startling variety of
pantom!me as to deserve to be called
new art form. Accordingly Prof
Reinhardt labeled it a "wordless play
with music" And, in justice TO the
composer, it must be said that IL has
real music. The whole thing is en- |
tirefy different from anything ever be- |
fore seen in New York
"T'he Return from JerusaIem."
Those who have witnessed Mime.
Simone's great personal success in her
new play, The Return from Jeru-
salem" during the week, could not but
deplore the fact that she had not
chosen 1t for her American debut. For
Nine. Simone has recorded a tremen-
dous triumph in this piece. after hay-
ing achieved only passable success in
her other appearances.
Maurice Donnay's play. which is !
showing at the Hudson Theater-
proved most delightful vehicle for
the great French actress In Paris il |
aroused a tremendous sensation. with |
Nine. Simone in the leading role. and
pTecipitated anti-Semitic riots during
the time OF the Dreyfus excitement.
But IT ran 400 nights.
But here not a spark of racial in
terest or prejudice has been manifested /
In the violent discussions of the social /
conhict between GENTLE and Jew In
stead, Its fierce clash of opposing ma
lures and wills and its swiftly culnI-
mating force stamped itself nm the a,,dy