The Washington times., 1912-04-10

"Whv didn't some one think of 1t be-
fore?' .....,..
That was the thought which kept run
nIng through nv head as the action OF
THE Red widow"-Raymond Hitch
cock, star-progressed at the National
last evening.
been racking their brains to find some
new business and authors rehashtng
lack of good new material said 10
myself "while right at their door lay
the key to the great novelty of ala
big, live hit-'kidding' the audience,
That Is II in a nutshell-"kidding the
audience. Not ''joshing" them or FOOL
ing" them; but plain, straight kid
ding" for tiis Is one place when only
the English slanguage (as one of our
British cousins once called the American
tongue) Is sufficient unto the occasion.
Those who saw Raymond Hitchcock
In The Man Who Owns Broadway
last season will remember with much
joy his occasional slips from the stage
to the pit, as 1t were, wherein he took
the audience into his confidence and
made them laugh despite themselves.
Such, for example, was the the time
he prevented the detective from arrest
ing the villain because its only 1880,
and you can't grab stage villain be-
This Hitchcockism has been expanded
| and played upon in THE Red Widow
which is the joint work of Claiming
Rennold wolf--until last nights audi
ence fairly shrieked at the antics of the
star in casually mentioning affairs
| which bore no relation to the play, but
their effect. At the end oft]one par
| ticularly funny diversion Of this charac-
| ter the star, turning away from the
audience, remarked: And now, return
.@1A ..,tA 1.
his lines, clever enough by them
selves, but which, taken in conjunction
with the asides, came near producing
several cases of acute Mysteries.
idea for his interpretations l do not
know, but whoever originated them
ought to get credit on the program, FOR
they come pretty nearly being the best
pieces that has visited here this winter
a season marked. If one remembers. by
such such successes as The Spring Maid, "
The The I'LaR Pink Lazy Baron Trenck'
Dut the Hlchcockisms are not the
only new thing about The Rec
widow" Another of the novelties fl
the opening scene. laid in the foyer OF
where the chorus is first seen standini
with it's back to the audience lis
tening to mimic performanc,
tend my congratulations to the maj
who put on the last scene in the Winte
Garden. 1t is beauty, and the cos
tuning elected some of the 'redundenc.
of applause" Of which the star spok
so fiuentlv in his politico- curtain speech
But enough of the scenic beauties o
the piece-there were others and NOR
charming ones of the female sex. no
tably Flora Zabelle, who in private If
Is Mrs. Hitchcock, and little Ann Pen
nington, of whom more anon.
Ladies first Miss Zabele-or Mrs
H., as you wish-has lost none of tn
magnetic charm which marked her las
appearance here some three season
; ago. and her rendition of the four songs
which fall to the role of the hectic
hued widow. was all that could be aske
= for. Taking the role Of a nihilistic con
: spirator, Miss Zabelle paved the wa
! for some OF the funniest plotting
; scenes that have PLAYED here sine
Jimmy Powers Vas invsisled sna.3 into til n
ways in faultless taste, in gowns whic
fitted her like the proverbial glove an
provoked the admiration and envy Q
,, captured the female honors OF the even
ing and, together with her husband
} cornered pretty nearly all the laugh
in the house.
, Hitchcock himself is-just Hitchcock
Dry, droll. serious. witty. he continue
to convulse the audience from the tim
( he enters, clad in an evening coat G
black NelVet, untll the curtain IdiiS upO
I his immaculte white uniform and pill
. box hat Pollock and Wolf may hav
y written THE Red Widow" but Hitch
q cock Is the real author of three-quarter
a of the laughs in it, for his spontaneou
I humcr and unique stage business defie
: WHITING in cold print and must depen
! upon its originator for its appeal.
= rs in former years, the star make
no claim upon a singing voice. but lei
a Theodore Martin do all the trtllin
n :, necessary to the male contingent. How
ever he does inform the audience in
. distinctly satisfied voice that he Is :,
Wonderful Man In Yonkers" and ado
g another bunch of verses in the secor
= act. with a little thing telling why !
$ Again" The chorus business in Il
3 latter number is decidedly out Of II
i ordinary. which. musical comical