The Washington herald., 1912-04-23
THE BELAsCo.
Mask ana wis Club.

-
Before what may fairly be termed a
Representative washington audience''-
most OF the world and his wife being
present-the Mask and Wig Club. OF
Pennsylvania University last night paid
their annual visit TO this city. bringipg
with them their two-act musical COM
edy, Miss Helen OF Troy"
To remark that they scored triumph
and Wiggers always do that-but one
may safely say that last nights sue
cess was big enough to rank with the
hits OF Alice in Anotheriand," "Mr.
Hamlet Of Denmark" and Merely q
Monarch"-which is only another way
Of saying that Miss Helen OF Troy
ranks with any "alI male" production
ever staged in this city.
Despite the title the present Pennsyl-
vania piece does not deal with myth
ology. Not a god or goddess is men,
toned throughout fits entire length, and
the locale being Reno, New, insures its
dialogue being OF the world. worldly. Ac-
eording TO Edwin NJ. LAWN. who is cred
tied with the authorship OF the piece,
the plot of the play concerns itself with
the fortunes and misfortunes Of one
Dick Morrison, a budding playwright.
who. IN order TO get his play before the
public. makes love TO an actress. and Is
discovered by the real object Of his af-
fections. Like all good musical comedy
plots. however. the story OF Miss Helen
CT Troy does not obtrude unduly nor
does II clog the real action OF the piece
The singing and dancing-by being too
apparent. Like all good musical comedy
plots. also, II ends happily.
Whatever else they may study at coll
iege. the members OF the Mask and Wig
Club evidently neglect Shakespeare. The
plays the thing Is emphatically not the
motto Of the organization: ''on with the
dance" comes nearer the mark. As IN
former years, nearly every other line in
the Pennsylvania piece is the cue for a
song or dance-or both. And such dane
ing! Truly It Is a good thing that the
Mask and Wig men come toward the end
Of the season when most of the other col
lege organizations have appeared. for
their ensemble work Is so far ahead Of
any OF the others as hardly TO be placed
In the same class.
Last nights production included no
less than twenty-five musical numbers
OF which a dozen were written by
others lifted" with due credit from
''Oyer the River" THE Wall Street
Girl" and other popular hits OF the day.
Even in these interpolated numbers
however the words were new, being
written into" the spirit OF the play, a
custom which might be followed with
excellent results by professional com
posers and score writer's.
Among the ensemble numbers which
AROUSED the most enthusiasm were The
Chopstick Rag" and The Carnival
Glide" both of which occurred In the
last act. and the business OF both was
as novel as It was clever In these, as
in the Song of the Pipe" and the
"Argentine Tango" the chorus girls
showed 20 especial advantage and dis
played q grace and ease Of movepent
obtainable only after long efforts.
r @. Norris. Is. In the title role; j.
H. McFadden. tr., u, as q bogus French
count; z. H Rogers. II. as Helen's
mother, and d. A. Hogan, II, as a tele-
phone girl. were the recipients Of the
principal volume OF applause. but each
Individual effort was encored several
times. I'm Better Than the Man from
Cooks" Come and Take Breakfast
with Me-" IF should Marry You" and
THE Up-to-date Millionaire" were some
of the catchiest songs, while the arrange
ment OF half, dozen popular rags In
the Carnival Glide number elected
much favorable comment.
As usual. the performance concluded
with the singing Of Hail to Pennsyl-
vania" and the college cheer, IN which
the audience Joined