New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-23
THE WHIP IS CHEERED
Manhattan Opera House Excit-
ed Over Train Wreck.
MELODRAMA INDICATED
Spectacle Could Not Have Got
a Bigger Rise" Out of
Drury Lane Audience.

AS a grand finale to q. week of first
nights nothing could have realized It's
mission better than the big Drury Lane
melodrama which shook 34th street last
night and caused false rumor OF earth
quake to pass through the city. THE
Whip should be used as an ending TO a
wild life. 1t would make a capital climax.
Last nights audience came to smile and
remained to yell. As they struggled forth
into the quiet streets little before dawn
they felt emotionally very much as one
feels physically after a Turkish bath
purged.
Statistics are sometimes entertaining.
There are thirteen scenes in The Whip"
Also. the manipulation OF one Of these
scenes made It necessary, according 10
the solemn assurance OF the manage
ment to tear out the side OF the opera
house. These preliminary facts stimulate
imagination. And the working out of the
plot fulfils all hopes. Seldom has such a
personality as last nights plot walk I'd
the stage. II never lost It's grip on the
characters for a moment Sometimes Il
crouched In a corner for a tense spell
and watched them play about a little In
their poor, foolish way. But no sooner
had they played themselves into a bit OF
Observation-Disclosures than the plot sprang at
them again and had them by the throat.
1t all happened on account Of The Whip,
slender mare, who was to run her first
race in the final act There were the
heroine, her father and her lover, the
Jockey; the two comic reliefs and the
populaee, all OF whom, being honest, want
ed The Whip to win. The horse belonged,
Of course. to the heroine's father. On the
other hand, there were the villain. the
villains female accomplice-who was try
ing all the time 10 pass herself OF as the
wife Of the hero, to the latter's utter dis
comfture-and an assistant villain, with
the villanous name OF Kelly. all Of whose
dirty little souls depended on having The
Whip lose. The goats who furnished In
formation, through love or weakness, and
afterward repented and turned noble. were
the Jockeys sister and a clerk (clark) IN
holy orders. With this splendid array of
clashing Wills there was no end OF "dra.
matte" action.
After half dozen or more scenes of
pleasant English exteriors and interiors.
including the kennels, gardens, loggia and
great hall at the estate Of Falconhurst,
the horse show and the chamber OF hor-
rors at Nine. Tussaud's Wax Works in
London. the big scene came. In this The
Whip is put safely on box car at the
station at Falconhurst, tended by her
groom and jockey. The car is hitched to
passenger train and dispatched for
Newmarket, the scene OF the race. The
train whirls through the twilit country
and approaches the tunnel just before
Manifold Junction. AS soon as the train
is buried In the darkness OF the tunnel
the villain creeps out OF his compartment,
crawls along the running board at peril
Of his life, reaches the box car, creeps
along that to the back, unhooks and
throws away the red light pulls himself
back to the rear OF the passenger coach,
unhooks the box car and leaves 1t to It's
fate in the tunnel. In few minutes the
passenger express for Newmarket will
come along the same track, crash into
the box car, kill The Whip, and - But
no. The Hon. Mrs. Beamish-comic re-
lief and best actress In the piece-is rae
ing from Falconhurst In her eo-horse-
power car to signal the express at Man
field Junction. BY this time the accom-
panying music has become maudlin. But
nobody notices il because every one in
the house is practically in the same con-
dition. The scene changes In a flash OF
darkness, the box car is seen quietly
awaiting destruction at the mouth Of the
tunnel, the distinct whistle OF the express
is heard, and still no one. except a few
hysterical souls In the audience, TO warn
The whip that she is abou, to be made
glue Of. The long shaft OF light from the
approaching engines headlight begins TO
illumine the tunnel. She is coming at
sixty miles an hour Just as one has
nearly gone blind from despair and can
hardly see. the 9o-horsepower car flashes
in, figures run 10 open the car, trot out
The Whip, cross the tracks with her
when, crssh the passenger express has
ripped out Of the tunnel and plunged into
the box car. AS The Whips dainty heels
cleared the wreck by no more than a
and shrieked with delight and nerves. In
all the thirteen scenes Of pulsating plot
and action there was nothing that quite
equalled this.
The Whip" is we'll mounted and played
by actors who understand the broad lines
along which such a piece must be
handled. They are for the most part
English actors. among whom the favorite
Coincidence. Marie Ellington, made quite
hit as light comic relief.
The 1000 Guinea Race, with which the
spectacle ends is well played by a num-
Der OF slender-thighed, willing beasts,
and. of course, The Whip wins But then
the plot OF the piece would be enough to
lash q clothes horse to victory.
THE CAST.
Hubert, Earl OF Brancaster.....JohnH Halliday
Rev. Werner Haslam...............Lu nsden Hare
Marquis OF Beverley. Herbert Jarman
Captain Greyille Sartoris.. .... Charles Blackall
HAIRY Arson. ..........'..'...-s.Dlo n Iltheraage
Tom Lambert. AMBROSE Manning
Joe Kelly. .Jcnn Il. Snlne
Sir Androw beck.................-.... w. Croit
captain RayneF........s.''....... horace PoilocH
LORD Clannore. Basil west
Bunting Fraser
Tomlln Joe render
MI. gutter MI. Raymond