The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-20
NEWS AND GOSSIP OF LONDON STAGE "TwO Little Brides" Having
 Poor Success S4OOO OFFER FAILS Tree Seems Determined Not to Con- tinue in Vaudeville-Mystery
 About Mrs. Patrick
 Campbell
By MALCOLM WATSON

| London, October 9.-(Special. )-Mrs. Patrick Campbell's illness has proved Of much more serious character than any, outside her own family circle, anticipated | Nor has her condition shown any trace of improvement during the past ten days. This morning I had letter from her l secretary telling me there was really no alteration to report, and that 1t had been decided to call in another leading phys | ician. It may be mentioned that al- ready three are in attendance. What the precise nature of her malady is have not been told, and concerning it there | is an obvious disinclination to furnish particulars. From what I can gather, however, it looks very much like a case of peritonitis. On the other hand, as 1 | can vouch from personal knowledge, Mrs. Campbell is able to read her letters and to send kind messages to her friends We all hope that before long we shall have more reassuring news regarding her.
 "The Grass Widows" or as the piece was named on your side Two Little Brides" has made no headway with Lon don playgoers On the first night 1t hardly had fair chance as it manifestly suffered from insufficient rehearsing, while the company, although looking dis tinctly strong on paper, proved one and all regrettably disappointing in perform ance. From the effect of bad sendof | 'The Grass Widows have never recov- cred; 1 doubt indeed whether 1t ever pos- sessed any real vitality of Its own. Tom | B. Davis, lessee of the Apollo, takes his rebuff in a cheerful spirit; as a matter of 1 10 n of to do aftu a | the financial loss falls mainly on the | shoulders of his packers. Knowing well how useless it is to attempt to ship a dead horse into activity he has just made | arrangements to shelve his latest ven- ture in about three weeks time. To | this step he is in some way moved by an offer from Walter Dickson, manag-
 ing director of the empire. to rent the | theatre from him for a period of ten | weeks. And what do you think is the | price stipulated? No less a sum than S16OO | per week. But Dickson, who combines the business of theatrical manager with | that of wholesale butcher, is a rich man and if it pleases him to spend his money in this method, why shouldn't he? His | intention Is to present a kind of vaude- vile entertainment of which the Revue now running at the Empire under the title of "Everybody's Doing It," will form the principal feature.
 | | weeks engagement with the provincial vaudeville houses at the end of next week and will then return to London What he is going to do afterwards he hasn't yet determined; the unabated success of | Drake at His Majestrys leaves it quite certain, however, that the doors of his own theatre will be shut upon him up at least to the end of the year. He has received quite number of tempting off, fers from country managers to continue in vaudeville, but to each of them he has so far turned a deaf ear. Consider ing that during the last month he has been making S40O0 clear profit a week for himself some of his most trusted advisers are just a little annoyed that he should so obstinately decline to go on with variety. Tree, 1t Is almost super fluous to say is, however, extremely sen sitive on the question of his art and the most unimportant critic has only to whis- per the suggestion that he has fallen be- heath his own high level In order to set him all aquiver.
 George Alexander had, as usual a par ticularly distinguished audience for the opening night of his autumn season at the St. James, Lady Alexander invited a party of friends to her box, among the number being Paul Cambon the French ambassador, naturally keenly in- terested in the fate of a play which in Paris created marked sensation. In the opposite box sat Sir Rufus Iaaacs, the attorney general who. with his slim
 figure and clear-cut features still looks little more than a youth. His brother Godfrey, who looks after the financial side of the Marconi company. sat in the stalls where every second face could be recognized that of a leader of art
 literature, society of politics. Upon the merits of 'The Turning Point" as Alex ander has christened his version of Henry Kistemaecker's La F'1ambee." the critics are by no means agreed: some of them went for the piece baldtleaded, others if not wildly enthusiastic, gave it. at any rate, fair measure of praise. Certainly the adaptation is anything but master piece: much of the dialogue being dull
 rhetorical and vapid. Although I heartily wish Alexander all success I am afraid 'The Turning Point" is scarcely likely to develop into another Bella Donna" New
 York playgoers are soon to have an op- portunity of seeing it in Charles Proh- mans version called "The Spy
 At the Criterion H. V. Esmonds fare ica comedy, "A Young Mans Fancy
 comes off a fortnight hence. It is bad luck for Esmond who. as far as London Is concerned, has found little favor lately
 with the public. As intimated last
 week, Carl Level had at one time thought of following "A Young Mans Fancy
 with 'The Inferior Sex produced on \ your side by Maxine Elliott, and, or that scheme falling through, of joining
 forces with Louis Meyer and producing Gladys Ungers comedy, 'The Son and Heir" That scheme also has been aban- doned in favor of an entirely new play by Frank Stayton, named '"rantrums. ' The manuscript was only finished a wee, ago and so eager was Level to read il that he would not even wait until type
 written copy had been made. So much xVa ha ir,r,r hv ia z at once accepted it and two days age the piece went into rehearsal It's pro- duction may be expected about the end of the month.
 Meanwhile Esmond, I am glad to say
 has won the approval of the Brighton critics by another piece of his entitled Sandy and His Eliza, performed fol the first time last Monday in the little theatre erected on the pier of that fash ionable watering place. The story cir cles round the old question of woman's dress, but familiar as it may be Esmond seems to have developed 1t on clever lines To the plainly dressed heroine the hero says, Make yourself respectable ' Her reply is-and the answer should ap- peal with much force to large number of the female sex-"I am looking respect T able-t.at's what's the matter with me " Eva Moore. the authors wife played the leading feminine role delightfully."- so it lis said. while Sandy, part originally in- ltended by Esmond for himself, was capi- tally handled by Ben Webster. Arthur Bourchier invited several friends