The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1912-03-27

There are two classes of men, who, for
a long time, have had my ardent sym
pathy, the men who name the Pullman
cars, and the men responsible for the
titles of musical comedies. Getting new
names for the one, ] should imagine,
Is about as bad as the other. But the
sponsor of Anna Held's revived nut
steal entertainment, now appearing at
the National Theater, must possess a
bump of humor similar in size TO that
on the head of a man recently mas
saged with a brick.
To name a Held show Mile. limo
cence" is the height OF sarcasm, but
to tack the appellation upon the present
vehicle is adding nerve to irony.
Just a glance over the alleged plot
of the piece, which Is, as usual, but n
string to hold together the gems OF wit
and song, shows the possibilities of the
situation and believe me, none of them
are overlooked sighted or passed by.
Anna, whom the program informs u.s.
Is a model pupil of a model school, has
been brought up in total ignorance of
the genus homo. She has never seen a
man, and when Ezra Pettisill.. the
greatest detective in the world. bursts
stunned, and we'll she might be. for
Ezra In the chief comedian of the piece,
and his makeup is weird and wonder
full.
Anna, being some sort of an heiress,
is hastily transported to Paris, the
haven of all good Americans and mem
bers of musical comedy companies,
where she visits the Abbaye and other
naughty places of the French capital,
being shown the wicked sights which
IN aNrpnt In thn comic
operettas and by Americans who go
and have plenty OF money to
defray the expensAs of planted wicked
ness. Just before the curtain falls
Anna discovers her father and mother,
or IL least 1t seems that she does, but
the audience is too busy hunting their
hats and wraps to wonder
why the Duke of Pemerania and the
other members of the encourage happen
to turn up in the studio on the Rhine at
just Ave minutes before II o'clock
One of the Wonders
Of the Production.
The principal wonder of mile In
nocence" is why it took four men to
stage 1t. Certainly all of their time
must have been spent on the appur-
tenances, and none on the plot.
Some of the props are worthy Of
more than passing notice, particularly
those in Miss Ethel Kelly's II Want
To spoon to the Tune of the Slvery
Moon number. At the second encore
the chorus twirl parasols, wherein are
placed small music boxes, producing in
notes. At the third encore, a
of tune bells, all over the audi
torium are electrically played, and the
effect is as pleasing as II Is novel An
other effect not as new as these others,
Is produced in the middle of the II
Want to See a Little More of You"
when the artists models dis
play so much of their physical charms
as to thrill the audience with a For
goodness sake, / wonder what's coming
next feeling, all of which is lost in
step forth, fully clothed. This effect
was used in the same number of The
Partisan Model" but is still a sensa-
ton.
AS is always the case in Held pro-
ductions, the perennially attractive
Anna comes pretty near being the whole
show. Five songs fall to her share, all
of which she sings with her much imi-
tated but nevertheless inimitable In
here those who intend to attend Anna
performance this week: Do not sit too
near the footlights. II you want to
retain your decade-old illusions regard
ing the physical charms of the fair
Anna. Seats about the eighth row, or
even further back are preferable. OF
course, If you desire to see a little
more" of the Ziegfeldian chorus sit up
front, but otherwise, not.
Harry Watson. jr.. whom playgoers
remember as the trombone playing
is several of the Zicgfeld Follies, has