The Washington times., 1912-02-20
Julia Murdock ReUeLS in Melody
Of SuLLfVan'S Tunefn "Pnafore"

! succession of harmony. beautiful stage
pictures. hearty laughs, and enthusi-
astic applause.
"Pinafore" probably would not get
by If II were written nowadays, be-
cause there Is no star role in 1t. ut
would also probably be dubbed The
Girl and the Gunboat' were 1t the out
put of one of our .present-day school OF
operate producers) The roles of the
Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, X. c. b.;
Captain Corcoran, Ralph Rackstraw,
and Dick Deadeye, among the male
portion of the cast, and Little Butter
cup and Josephine, in the female por-
ton, all present opportunities for work
of the highest order, both as regards
singing and acting.
Many Thanks Are
Due the Producers.
Many thanks are certainly due
AIessrs. Shubert, Brady and Arthur for
securing for Washington such a splen-
did male, aggregation of singers for the
leading roles. George McFarlane,
Arthur Aldridge and Eugene Cowles
form a trio which would be hard to
surpass and last nights audience could
rot get enough of a number of their
songs, notably, McFarlanes Far
Moon, to Thee ] Sing" Aldridge's,
Light of My Life, Farewell" and
Cowles', For He's An Englishman. /"
The last named number had to be re-
comic trio between De Wolf Hopper as
Dick Deadeye, Richard Temple as Sir
Joseph and Arthur Aldrldge as Ralph.
had to be repeated until the singers
wore out the music.
In addition to these numbers, the
audience also enthusiastically" received,
I'm Called Little Buttercup," The
Ruler of the queens Navee," Refrain.
Audacious Tar, and Which OF vow
Twain Shall My Poor Heart Obey
wasn't a single number that didn't
strike the fancy of the audience to a
greater or lesser extent, but 1t was
noticeable that the male numbers were
far more faVorably received than were
those deliveed by the feminine portion
of the cast.
This, to a large degree, was due to
the superiority OF the male singers, the
women in the cast being rather out OF
place. Miss Elsa Won Bostcl
Josephine, while good in the lower
registers, left much to be desired when
she attempted to soar to nigh notes.
while Marion Ford's Hebe was not
nearly as good as 1t might have been.
Having seen both Marie CahiIl and Fay
Templeton as Little Buttercup, Viola
Gillette most of whom Is just padding,
was not as funny nor as good SINGER
as she otherwise would have been. Her
Hopper Carries Off
The Greatest Applause.
But 1t remained for DeWolf Hopper
to carry off the lions share of the
evenings honOrs with his unique. char
acteristic impersonation of the villain
Gus Dick His makeup, which was
beyond criticism, his eccentric actions,
and his general air of liveliness added
much to tire evenings enjoyment while
the Sir Joseph OF Richard Temple com
pared faVorably to that OF Robert
Graham, said to have been one of the
best VINO ever esSayed the role.
In addition 10 the. principals the
chorus, so essential in all the G. & :.
pieces, showed the effects OF their long
drilling and competent selection. The
male voices were excellent, while the
sisters and cousins and aunts" were
the fortunate possessors both Of looks
and voices The one stage set, the deck
OF the "Pinafore,' was very well built
ID, a semi-CirCular back drop adding
much to the attractiveness thereof.
In it's entirety II may be said that
"Pinafore." like good wine, has inn
proved with age and that the produC-
ton at the BelasCo surely lives up 40
the best traditions of the piece, both
from an artistic and laugh producing
standpoint.
JULIA MURDOCH.
Get Rich-Q Quick Wallingford," at the
New National will he reviewed tomor-
row by Miss Murdoch.