El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-10
Is Among the Sweetest Of
Old FavOrites; Roof
Gardens Open.
lBy EMORY B. CALVBRT1

New York n Y, June 1O.-After
years and years OF intermittent SUM
Der, Gilbert and Sulliyans masterpiece
has again shaken off the dust Of the
grave and maue It's appearance before
New Workers We speak OF the PM
ianthrOpic Pirates Of Penzance-tnoSe
IudicrOus theatrical thieves. VINO snow
such a fatherly interest IN orphans ana
u-eep so cOpiOusly when their tender
hearts are touched by the rough, rude
deeds of the everyday world
1t has always seemed to me that Inc
Pirates of PenZance' was the best OF
the Gilbert and sullivan operettas, the
optimism of others NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Its
liltinZ songs and easy humOr seem 10
hunt the memory, and, no matter now
old and ancient the listener no matter
how many times he has seen the piece
before there Vet remains an all com
DllIine interest that WrinEs from him
.leartE applause and much laughter
This much, at least, OF our PERSONA
opinion is nightly borne out al ne
Casino, where both old and young gam
er TO do homage to this recognized
masterpiece Of English comic opera
One is at a loss to decide which IS
the most perfect me score Of the Cp-
eretta or its dibrettO. And the music,
TOO, fits its subject with naive SIM
pIicity that augments the cnarn O
he libretto. Ingenious to the point OF
CnIldishnes5. the score OF the opeIella
gives infinite CpFcrtunIty for the eA-
uressiOn OF musical humOr and YET re
fafns these flights Of scale that permit
a fun display OF VOcaLZauOn- me
score is beautiful. harmonious and the
masterpiece Of sullivan, that master
Chance Partnership.
Both Sullivan and his contemporary,
Gilbert were teammates Of chance
mating. Gilbert a young writer or
genius, shot across the literary SKY
like a comet in the fiftles OF the past
century. He wrote and MS WOrk was
recognized and so it was with Sulll-
van. the musician Of the team
Their meeting came about IN Lon
don, where mutual friends, recOgn lzlnS
the worth Of both men IN their sep
ate fields, proposed their cooperation
Together they proved themselves arr
lists OF the highest caIoers turning GUY
a series Of operettas that are destined
10 hold as high a place IN the world OF
comic opera as the works OF DICK
ins. -Thackery and Shakspere IN the
world Of literature
proved the best Of their writing years:
United they were lnFInclble puI parted
neither accomplished the success at
tanned through former etLOrts- II
seemed as though the genius Of one
was reflected with intensity by the
genius OF the other. II was as tnolSh
the simplicity Of the score held I'll
bert's librettO TO the bare thread OF
simple pOeticaI humOr, and as though
the charm of Gilbert's unassumlng
humor acted as p check upon Sulli-
vans music
Too Much TheatricaIism.
In fact, if any criticism may be made
Of the present revival Of The Pirates
OF Penzance" it would be that our lat
ter day artists, no matter how Wei !
they may sing, are prone to theatrical
ize in enunciatfOn. Arthur Aldrlcn,
who plays Frederick in the present re
vival, is an example Of this stilted, I
buried and unclean dictiOn. Aldrlch
has done his share toward winning sue /
cess for each Gilbert and Sullivan re- /
vivaI, vet his delivery leaves much 10 Z
be desired And so it is with Eugene /
-COwles, as Richard, and so on down /
the cast
Despite these petty defects, however |