The Washington times., 1914-09-18
FRITZ SCHEFF A BIT
MORE So THAN EVER"
Role of the Pretty Mrs. Smith
Fits Star and Gives Good
: Chance to Display Voice.

Most Of the reasons why the NOV
Ing picture is not to seriously affect
any other form of legitimate amuse-
ment Oliver MoroscO and his numer-
Gus assistants have done into the neat
little package of comedy and music
they labeled The Pretty Mrs. Smith.
which Nine. FRITZ Scheff and an un-
usually capable corps of players pre-
scented as a souvenir of the opening
Of the regular season of the Belasco
Theater last night.
In leaping thus lightly onto the
very diaphram OF a large and windy
controversy We not only hope 10
knock the breath out of 1t, but to
give some faint idea of the debt all
the rest Of the theatrical managers
will owe Mr.. Morosco If they will
only follow his lead with the kinds
of productions that assure theater-
Eoers the spoken play is still the
thing.
the fact that adapted from the
French" need not follow the title of
lively comedy 1t is of the same type
Of what we might call the honi-soit-
Qui,mal-y-pense school Of stage lit
erature, and it has been written en-
tirely by native talent.
lust Bit More So Than Ever.
As Mrs. Smith, FRITZ Scheff is just a
little bit more SO than she has ever
been before. We put it this way be-
cause since her first appearance in this
country this sprightly young woman
has created type that is all her own.
She is more FRITZ Scheff as Mrs. Smith
because she is more human. Nine
Scheff has four excellent musical num-
bers which display the voice that Sc
= f1H nf
opera honors and which has lost none
of its uuality-just as she has lost none
of heT ability to utilize that quality IL
the fullest sort of measure AS a
comedienne, her audiences see her in a
new form, and speaking of fornls-bul
1t LIS unnecessary to refer to Nine,
Scheff in such terms.
with all due respect to the star and
without detracting from her single
scintillation, Charlotte Greenwood was
like any one else who ever appeared in
a play. That is the reason she Is
brought abruptly into this review, and
~ II were not for the fact that the
star of the production is so exceedingly
bright, the satellite might frequently be
mistaken for the central figure of the
constellation. Miss Greenwood is the
first person to present the true feminine
of the kind of comedy De Wolf Hopper,
Frank Daniels. Francis Wilson. ct all.
There is more to her than to most stage
figures-both figuratively and literally
and more will be heard of her.
Lifting Melodies In Choruses.
Charles Purcell won third place in
the hearts of the people who saw
him last evening with a case of in
Icxication that has seldom been du-
plicated on the stage. AS a modern
poet with a taste for spirits that
was overpowering he presented u
Clean-cut bit of work that was con-
Histent and entirely satisfactory. Sgd
ney Grant, Theodore Babcock, Claude
Fleming. James A. Gleason, Lillian
Tucker and the very well dressed
group of men and women completed
the cast and furnished the choruses
for the lifting melodies that are a real
part of the piece without being alb
solutely necessary to the action. The
production. under the direction of
that capable son Of the National Cap
ital. T. Daniel Frawley, was all that
could possibly be desired.
GARDNER MACK.