Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-12-28
From Sing Sing 10 Broadway

from Ding Sing 10 Broadway
sfV0 SING CHAPEIs-'si Sinners" n play
m four acts. by owen Davis December
~ 1914
THE CAST.
taN Hftrick II st.s.t ......t.. Ayerill Harrl,
Eenec worth +f.t.,,!-..,,s John Cromwell
WIllle Nofeau .s..3.....s..... Walter Walker
~ Simpson .4as.s.ast.s4...A -. Albert Brown
Mary Horton ...4...,. - ~. ..4l. Alice BRADY
Mrs Horton .............a.t. ,. Jean Adair
Hifa Newton ........t4...4. Gertrude Dallas
Polly Cary .................s.s. {. Irene Ror1oine
sadie s........s.. .3..,...... -. Frances Mcleod
thrietmns week was n lively week IN
She state OF Ncw York Brodway had not
only two drarnaa, one by Horny Arthur
JONES' and three musical comedies, In
tiuding n very amusing sstiricat revue
BY George cohan. but Sing Sing took
first page news honors With theatrical
production made In the prison chapel by
William A. Brady, preparatory to n
descent on Manhattan.
The play itself matters very little. II
was sinners" by that veteran Harvard
nelodramatlst, Owen Davis, and it told
a story OF bold, lad villainy There was
fair maiden from the country pursued
BY n ioy-rIding devil and his friends and
intimately saved very much TO the dis
1umfture OF the wicked gentlemen and
the Joy OF Sing Sing.
That was what really mattered-the Joy
Of Sing Sing, For there was joyl Fifteen
hundred conVicts. some OF whom hadn't
seen woman or play In years, sat
through the two performances. matinee
and night, with something that must
have been very near real Christmas cheer
IN their hearts. tom Brow" Thomas
Mott Osborne's prison name-has begun
what looks like n very successful mama
gefial career.
Cohan and Collier Accost Broadway
10 make room for New Years, George
colian broke two resolutions at the Astor
Theatre In Now York Christmas night
ons was his announcement at the time
OF 'Broadways Jones' that he had put
his dancing slippers away The other
was his retirement from the stage last
spring. hut nobody appears to care for
he has burst forth with Willie Collier,
Martin Brown and half OF the Dolly
Twins in the FIRST real trnvesty New York
has seen since the days OF Weber
Fields Music Hall
Like the "revues' that became so pop
ular in England last year. IL rejoices IN
an Explanatory title Hello. Broadwayl',
Fiotless itself. It burlesques the plotlcss-
meas OF musical comedy. The reviewer
OF the Tribune thus explains It: The
plot it was learned at the very Begin
ming, was concealed in Il hatbox. To get
at the plot (or the hntbox) the many
through a labyrinth of the most delight
fully clever travesties on almost all of
the current plays on Broadway. And
then, at the very end, the hatbox was
found to be quite empty"
The cohan review is not 80 much
matter OF satirizing acting and initiating
the actors-the methods OF the Weber
nelds--as a burlesque OF plays and play
wrlghts Even Mr.. Cohan's own
Miracle Man" comes in for ridieule
.'The SCENES" says the Times shift
with dizzying rapidity. The great court
room scene of On Trial for instance, is
proceeding smoothly enough when one
Of the witnesses rings the bell on his
wrist watch. The Jurors run off with
the Jury box and In the onfusion the
place becomes another room, where the
dreamer In My Lady's Dress goes to
sleep Then amid sudden darkness and
TO thunderous noise OF stage MAJ
chiaery. she Is transformed TO the day
dreamer in The Phantom Rival. brazen-
Iy inviting Leo Ditrichstein to come In
from the street. And in walks the
familiar fisure which turns out 70 be
Mr. cohan himself very thinly dis
gulsed). He Is inclined to admit that It Is
4 bad Imitation. but he thinks it's about
time for him 20 get even for the imita-
lions OF him that every one has felt
frea to give these many years past"
The reviewers agree that "Hullo,
t4t9i'ft WY - ms pcol AAh oiA AAAal
crowded thoroughfare,
Henry Arthur Jones Tries Again
Though failure after failure has piled
up since eThe Hypocrites." Henry
Arthur Jones keeps on trying. And man
ayers keep on producing his tries, The
latest Is called "The Lie'' and came to
tho American stage Christmas Eve,
when Margaret Ellington acted It at the
Harris Theatre. New York
As with most OF Mr.. Jones later
plays, "craftamanship" and all the
f1lderol Of the successful playwright OF
thu 18th century stick out far more
strongly than life and its people and
It's purposes IN the present case, he
seems TO have achieved some exciting
climaxes, but only by constructing an
elaborate and not very original chain
Of events.
The 10 is the lie OF a younger sister.
aho puts OF the motherhood OF her own
iiiVEitimate child upon her sister The
result according 10 Mr. Jones. Is the |
idas cf q Hnitor 70 the innocent sister. the
Hinning Of the same Huitor by the liar
and. nnally, Of course, great denuncla-
ton scene when the truth comes out.
The reviewer OF the Times. speaking
of the elaborate and cautious ingenuity
q 40 play, says: .The whole structure
faStz upon false statement and the truth
ia kept hidden from all those Il most
vitality and tragically concernss not mere
Is through the silence OF the liar. but by
s a1Eles OF unintentionally misleading