The Washington times., 1913-11-28
Billie Burke's Success
One To.Be Expected

Il
! opened her season In THE
Land of Promise" the brand-new COM
/ edy in which she is to be seen in Wash
week. 1t was the first performance on
| any stage, and the large audience
| voted 1t a success. There are several
| strong dramatic situations. and the
| character drawing is particularly good
/ Miss Burke scored decided hit in the
role of the heroine, which is the most
| important part she has yet undertaken.
| That Miss Burke was successful Is no
surprise to those who know this little
lady, for she is in the habit OF doing
this. She is one of those fortunate indi-
viduals who just will not entertain the
| idea of failure.
As child she didn't like TO be
whipped. and now that she is grown up
she doesn't like failures, which are
,, the whippings that srown-ups have to
take.
Speaking about whippings reminds me
of the story that Billie Burke told me
! the last time she was in Washington.
We were talking about her Childhood,
, which was spent here. and she told me
of her first whipping, which occurred
right here In Washington. and which
she remembers. as every man and
;; woman remembers always the hrst
punishment.
All On Account
Of a Snowstorm.
It was all on account OF Il snowstorm
which lured Billie out into the park in
front of the house where the Burke
family Iived Billie had watched 1t for
hours from the window, her little turned
I'D nose pressed against the pane. and
her little heart swelling with Indignation
bccause she had been told to stay In
the house and be good child. tWho
ever heard of being a gocG child any
way, when it meant staying indoors
while all nature was conspiring to lure
one out into the open? At last Billie's
chance came. Mother went away on
some erranG, and Billie "scooted" out
/ into the park, and oh! what fine time
she had, Fine enough even to compen-
| safe for the large sized spanking she
received afterwards.
After that Miss Burke said she didn't
run out into snow storms any more. for
she didn't like the spanking. and so she
| dNOlueu COdAlhS dhVthCi- NC S'iS hN@
grown Up she has looked upon failures
| as punishment of the same class as the
| spanking she received some years ago.
and she has avoided them, too.
That is why, quite likely, her new play
| will continue to be success. w.
Somerset Mausham wrote the play es-
| reciaIIy for Miss Burke, and it Is his
| first play that has ever been done in
the United States before London critics
| have had a chance at 20 say whether
| it is good.
Vaughan Author
Of "Mrs. Dot" Comedy.
Mr. Vaughan, It will be remembered.
| wrote Mrs. Dot" the bright. witty
little comedy that Miss Burke did three
or four years ago, after Marie Tempest
had made a hit with it in London. In
that play the heroine was a pretty
little widow with oodles of money. in
love with a handsome young man who
was engaged to some one else. But
Mrs Dot got him finally. 1t was an
entertaining play. full of funny situa-
! tions and clever lines. and Miss Burke
played it charmingly. although she
wasn't very convincing as a widow at
any time.
This is the sort of play that Mr..
Vaughan has made his reputation on
smart. epigrammatic, all about titled
people and that sort of thing. Lady
Frederick" which Ethel Barrymore
! played. was another. and there was
Jack Straw" in which John Drew ap-
peared, and Penelope" which Marie
Tempest played first in London and
then over here. Before these Mr.
Maugham had written a very serious
play, "A Man of Honor" which had
been given a single performance I'm
London. and which the critics had said
was the play of the hour" but that
no manager would produce because II
wasn't the sort of thing that the pub
lic-the tired business man and his
wife-woud pay to see.
Now Mr.. Vaughan has written