Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-10-31

with laugh-provoking situations. Pos
sibly the best definite example of such
| plays is Seven Keys to BaIdpate"
which Cohan and Harris will present
for an engagement at the Illinois
| tomorrow, matinee and night.
Seven Keys 20 Baldpate' has been
/ played for a year in New York at the
tGaiety theatre and for six months at
/ Cohan's Grand opera house, Chicago.
/ These engagements are sufficient guar
antee of the worth of the play Itself
and evidence that the new type drama
I is what the public wants-a thrill and
a hearty laugh at the same time. The
old style melodramas were funny with
; out meaning to be so. Their chief
weakness was that they were meant
/ to be taken seriously. The same
. tricks Of melodrama which are but
mechanical " the audience is not per
mitted 20 laugh at them, may be made
TO appear PLAUSIBLE OF the author him
self laughs at them and invites his
audience to laugh with him. Laugh
ter IS tho safety valve OF the incon-
gruous We accept an incongruity IL
We lEugl, NJ il. but we cannot accept
II II wC are not allowed TO laugh at
and " hich the author has asked US to
ignore. Seven Keys TO Baldpate' is
constructed with the serious purpose
a. Producing rs many thrills as pos
Giblc But the audience is invited 10
l-ugl: n. c-pTy thrill rs soon as IL has
been r,:jc.icnced. And in the end the
whole play - turned into a huge joke
on the adLience. But the sheer shock
of the melodramatic incidents is in no
way diminished by the laughter which
accompanies 1t. The quickly shifting
moods of the play induce alertness OF
mind and thereby force the tired bus
mess man" TO forget he is tired. Mr..
Cohan has reached the zenith Of his
power as a play constructor in Seven
KEYS TO Baldpate" He has produced
a real evenings entertainment chuck
full of thrills and laughs. a play that
has express-train action and which
catches the spectator and holds his
attention every second. incidentally
/, may be added that Conan & Har-
rls have given the play setting which
is of the very highest artistic order.
You can't call "Forty-Five Minutes
From Broadway" which comes TO The
Illinois Nov. Z, a musical comedy, De-
cause # is not that If anything. IT Is
a hybrid. a musical melodrama. There
are five songs introduced, Mary Is
Grand Old Name" $50 Long, Mary
..Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway
being the best known of these. Mr..
George VI. Cohan, the author. lodges
all precedent. He throws comedy, !
farce. lurid melodrama and music into |
the theatrical pot and the result is a J
stew which you can't help enjoying |
although YOU know ii is not assembled /
according to popular recipe. In TACT. /
.sFrorty-Five Minutes From Broadway 1
is an utter anomaly. All the way |
through there is melodrama and heart /
interest. and comedy that makes the 4
,heatre-goer wonder why he sits riVet-
cd 10 his chair. It's the open sesame
which Conan has to the peoples
hearts. He introduces always the
Ieayen OF humor: he throws In lines
that are dazzlingly witty, he writes
music that swings along martiaily ana
keeps things hurrying. Bernard RIGGS
as Kid Burns. IS the part or the ex-
snort and prizefighter to the life. He
fe natural in everything he does.
"Corinne" has the role OF Plain Mary
the housemaid- heroine. who would be
a credit to any employment agency.
Her so Long. Mary" song is encored
time and again. Others I'm the cast are 4
w d. Fishter as Tom Bennett. The II
Little Millionaire. Susan Chisnen as
Mrs. Purdy. Clara Fishter as Flora
Dora Deane. Rose Stillman as Mrs.
David Deane. Also Eugene Mayer. w.
a. Pendercast. Wykoff Moore and Or
mond Garfield. \ big singing chorus
under the baton of Myrtle Ryan and
an entirely new production by the
Opera house studio.
makes this without question. one or
the most pleasing musical shows ever
sent on tour.