The Detroit times., 1912-01-09
IN THE LOCAL PLAY-HOUSES

away Is the one she wants. he is
Duke Sergius. the son OF the man
oustsd from the pFiae4pality by Prin'
cess Stephanie's fathe,. tie spends
his time writing reasonable articles
against the government or the young
princess. Likewise, he hangs around
mostly Ia the Cafe Bohemian where
all the ladies have IAN awful crush
on him and one i'm particular soma
SEEMS TO be the running fayorlte.
When Princess Stephanie is told that
Duke Sergius refused 20 come TO her
little marriage mart for fear he actu-
ally would be chosen, she determines
TO teach him lesson he won't forget
and. in a way only possible in fairy
tales and musical comedies. goes 10
the Cafe Bohemian herself, meets the
gay Don Juan OF a Serglus, not know
ing his real identity. and promptly
falls in love with him She stands
on her outraged dignity however
when he asks for a toast TO the
downfall OF the Princess Stephanie OF
Balaria," and promptly has him ar
rested. OF course, in the end. all the
Misunderstanding are cleared away
and the curtain falls on what Humor'
list George Ade designates as the
strangle hold"
All this Is really quite tale for a
musical piece. II also seems 10 sug
gest that light opera. or operetts, or
musical comedy. or whatever you like
to call Il, seems unable to combine a
good story with pretty music and
lively comedy TO the extent that the
han
ly that il is satisfying in all three.
There Is the pretty story In The
Balkan Princess" and plenty of comic
fooling by three or four comedians
but and there is always the aggravat-
ing BUT-the musical score is the
poorest thing about it. There Is the
inevitable waltz tune. not very we'll
defined or haunting in melody in this
instance, and song called Dear De
lightful Women" whose refrain seems
TO be the nail upon which the rest
Of the score is suspended. The music
is thin az fine tissue and considering
the theme and the vivid colors other
composers have worked into these
operettas whose locale is placed In
the Oriental or near-Oriental imagin-
AIRY states. The Balkan Princess is
astonishingly lacking in what might
be called characteristic atmosphere.
To be sure there are only two persons
in the cast with any voice TO speak
of--Miss Cunning and Harold Crane.
who rlays Duke Sergius. The women
voices are almost not present AT all.
The chorus men carry the vocal bur-
den and for once are so good-looking,
numerous and we'll set-up as 10 make
one forget the rather Indifferent
chorus maids. The piece goes with
plenty of snap however. and the pace
is as swift as that behind well-be-
haved aeroplane- The stage groupings
speak well for yhe producer and the
ensembles are especially attractive In
graceful and apparently unstudied
poses. There is not tint known TO
the artists OF the palette that has not
been employed in the costumes or the
gay residents of Balaria.
Miss Cunning and her Titan hair
made a pretty picture and she sang
with excellent effect. The one mum
Der that gave her vocal opportunity
was the interpolated His Return,
from a song cycle The Wandering
One" by Carl Roma. This song per
mitted Miss Cunning TO show her
training III COiOldNuId NONaioh' SiAN
has improved in her acting and Is
easily light opera singer TO be reck-
oEed with Mr.. Crane has fine bari
tone voice and he sang with tiifttsttnt
taste and finish for the manner OF
work in which he is engaged.
Harold Robe, as the waiter in the
cafe, Teddy Webb and Harry p. Crib
bon as a pair OF high class two story
gents" provided the comedy and won
many genuine laughs.
The company is large one and
taken all in all The Balkan Princess
is merry entertainment and well cal
culated 10 please. The personal popu-
larity of Miss Cunning and the fact
that no one who buys a ticket is
likely TO feel that he did not get his
moneys worth, and little extra, will
be sufficient 10 fill the Garrick every
evening and this week and on We'd
nesday and Saturday afternoons.
Miss Gertrude Hoffman, and her
company OF Russian dancers will be
the attraction in this pretty playhouse
next week