The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-16

contract and who will make her appear
ance in New York under our manage
ment in the autumn of next year. Re-
minds one rather of Gertie Miller, doesn' t
she?' he went on "And in my judge
ment she is just as talented. Sings like
bird and has a singularly good notion
of acting. BY the merest chance l hap
pened to see her play as an understudy
some little time ago. The manager of
the theatre popped into my box with all
sorts of regrets that the principal could
not appear on that evening. l told him
Miss Aldar was quite good enough for me
and that / should like to have a chat
with her. Later she came to my hotel
but as she could not speak a word of
English and my German leaves some
thing to be desired. we didn't get very
far. However, l tried to make her un-
derstand that IL she would only learn
English there was a contract ready for
her whenever she cared to sign it. be-
lieve she fancied I was joking all the
While. Certainly she didn't seem to rise
to the bait l was at such pains to dangle
before her eyes.
I'm Vienna, however, the other day, we
met again, and she greeted me in excel
lent English. I needn't tell you that
got a contract form out of my portman-
teau before she had time to turn round,
and 1t didn't take long for us to fix up
terms. SO America is going to see Miss
Aldar in the course of the next IS
months. She will make her New York
debut i'm Chinese opera called The En-
vious Butterfly music by Bruno Graen-
composer of The Woman
Hater,' and The Rose Maid The piece
looks to me like a winner, though of
course, you never can tell The heroine
is little Chinese girl; the hero also, is
a native who. however. has been trained
in American ways and ideas.
There is one play | saw In Budapest
that | would like to do in America. II is
called The Legend of the Wolf and
the author is the Hungarian dramatist
Molnar, whose piece. The Devil made
such a sensation in the United States.
The idea is very quaint and original The
action starts in restaurant where you
meet with a professor and his wife The
first is regular Othello, suspecting ev-
cry man who even dares to look at his
spouse. Near the couple sits a stranger
with his back to them. But the fact does
not prevent the professor from accusing
his wife of ogling the other. There is a
considerable row between the pair and
eventually off they go homewards as the
curtain falls.
''The two are in their own fat when it
best ready to go off to a big ball, but
there is still an hour to spare. The wife
profits by the occasion to confess to the
professor that the stranger was in real
ity man with whom she was passion
ately In love in her girlhood AS a youth
he had vowed that he would go out into
the world and win fame and fortune for
her and himself as a statesman, a SOL
der, a poet. or an artist, or If his at
tempts proved vain. sink to the level of
a lacky. The circumstances that she mar
ried the professor is sufficient proof of
the small value she put on such bombas-
tic promises. Tired out, the wife begs
for half an hours rest before they leave
for the dance. You see her place herself
on the couch and fall asleep. Then the
scene changes and you have wonder
full dream act A brilliant ball is supposed
TO be in progress: the guests, servants
and musicians, notwithstanding. all i'm
press you as walking In their sleep
Suddenly the figure emerges from the
crowd and, mounting the staircase, be-
gins to harangue the visitors in the most
language. II is the stranger
and he delivers the sort of rhodomontade
which all of us at one time or another
have given uiterances TO I'm our dreams.
That done, the professors wife moves
up to group of Iackeys and asks to be
served with an ice Behold II Is the
stranger. her old lover. who in n1enial at
tire answers her request. The solution Of
the problem is supplied in the last act
which brings the stranger to the profess
sor's fiat He is awkward, uncouth. al
most grotesque in his demeanor and adj