The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-09-24
ADJUSTMENTS.

70 s>S~pVtt ~~e"A
ADJUSTMENTS.
Aeademy-"The Quaker GixA" to-
night and Wednesday matinee and
Mig ht. !
BijOu-.A Fool There Was.' NATL |
nee and Night. |
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
Enpf1e-yaaAeville.
Luban-yaudeville. !
Little Theatre-Pietures and Songs. |,
~The Quaker Grip Speeds UD.
After a hrst act SO sedate As to
be almost solemn in its slowness. |
THE Quaker Girl" which opened an
engagement Of four performances at
the Academy Of Music last night. :
Frightened and "speeded up to such /
an extent that By tho time the Sec /
ond act was we'll under way. the
house was aot only sitting up. but
begging for more. |
The story is unimportant: little
English Quaker girl becomes fasci- !
mated by the charm Of men and wo-
men from the outer world who de- .
scend upon her quiet village and goes !
with one of the women to Paris. !
whittier she is followed by the man
who has. of course. fallen in love with
her at the mere sight of her race anu
sound Of her voice. There Is your
contrast and there your opportunity
for situations added to b the COM
plication caused by the marriage of
a prescribed Bonaparte princess 10 .
an Englishman. and her subsequent
return to France.
upon the music that the piece stands.
to a great extent-is often lovely. al
ways pleasing, occasionally intricate
and besides contains two tunes that,
the audience may whistle or hum as
il goes out: Thee Loves Ne ana
Love Thee" sung by Prudence. the
Quaker maid. in the first act, ana tho
waltz song. Come to the Ball, which
is introduced for the nrst time In the
second act by Prince Carlo and the
full chorus. AS 1t was played last
night by largely augmented
orchestra under the direction of Frank
Robb. 1t was well worth hearing even
had there been no singers. which was
fortunate, for of good voices there was
SON. thing less than scarcity. M hooo
had taught his principals and chorus
to sing in excellent time and with most
effective shading. particularly notice I
able when the big chorus was singing
softly-a feat in itself OF which any
conductor might feel Justly proud
but he could not create voices
Natalie Alt. who sings the title role
has a small. but smooth, voice Of good
quality. which she uses skilfully.
while Phil ]. Moore. the Prince Carlos.
sings his Come to ate Ball. song with
a full-throated baritone that met with
the enthusiastic approval OF the house. /
Besides these. none Of the other voices
deserves consideration
However. the orchestra carries
them all well enough. and. further
more, no musical comedy tenor screams
mis- way through the genuinely lovely .
music. That must be set down to its
composers credit Indeed, all OF the
songs and concerted numbers are writ
ten in q much lower key, or rather,
run less high than IL usual in music ,
Of this character.
Miss Alt not only sings pleasingly |
and dances gracefully, but also READS !
her part as II 1t were really meant
to be understood, instead OF merely
raced through, and with . speaking
voice that is . thing OF rare joy in
musical comedy. Amy Lesser plays
the awkward, country. louttsh maid, |
Phoebe. with utmost cleverness. while |,
And-ee Coruay. most apparently q,
French woman. makes the part or !
Madame Blum stand out by reason OF
her unusual eQuf. ment for such !
character role, as well as hU her own
ability, which II marked
Featured with this company . VIC |
tor Morley-and deservedly. Easy. |
graceful, and with q style Of his own, |
his comedy II infectious AZ well a.
unique. His wel1-.ememoered peffof-
nance In The Three Twins" ana his
work In The Quaker Girl" make SAFE |
the assertion that ~ an actor OF seri-
Gus roles he would also be successfui'
otherwis che could cot put owes" his !
t.Ikine songs ~ he does Almost al
his singing and talking b Of the
quick. fast. patter character. and II
a. all clever and amusing. but once o.
twice In . performances he SPEAKS .
serious line and he never fails 70 set |
away with t."
the chorus II large. freshly cos |
TUNED. and sings as has been inda- |
Gated: the principals are competent: |
the dialogue 10 witty az tines: there
"a much that - lauGhaole. ano. sftef
the ar.e act, the action moves brisk |
". with a few curious. unaccountaole
hats or intervals. And the soos OBJ
l,ss,o to Prudcnce's 6rss song ana
the trio for piano. violin and cello TO
one Of Mor!ey's encore verses se
enough In themselves 70 atone for
the chewing gum curtain. much more
90 Justify the recommendatiou 70 zee
..rne Quaker Cirv' Tonight, Tomorrow
night or tomorrow Afternoon
w. Dsussss osrass.
ov.sssos, 80 essssssa.a.G