New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-07
THE CAST.

! II is rare occasion, indeed, in these
DAYS of hastily imported foreign sue
! cesses that New York theatreRoers have
an opportunity to see a French comedy
/ skilfully adapted and we'll played IN
all of its various roles. Generally the
supposition appears to be that the
popularity Of play abroad IS thlng
certain and inseparable from the manu-.
script itself, once it is acquired, and
that the only thing necessary to It's
publication in New York is legible
translation and some sort Of cast OF
plavers. Charles Frohman, however
was fortunate in his choice OF an
adapter for the comedy La Belle
Adventure" which PLAYED q successful
run at the Theatre du Vaudeville,
Paris, last spring. The fact that the
dialogue was carefully translated, so
that it lost none of its human appeal
and flavor of romance, was only one
of the pleasant surprises in the pro-
duction OF "The Beautiful Adventure"
presented Saturday night at the Lyceum
Theatre. And it is upon this indehn-
able romantic touch that the success OF
the play depends more than anything
else, as a deal Of the dialogue is eX-
pressly intended for the creation Of
this atmosphere ut the sacrifice of &C
ton and relieving incident. Such lulls
as there were in the action Of the play,
however. were so admirably concealed
by the finished playing Of the princi-
nal characters that habitual craving for
action is completely forgotten in the
interest of the scene.
Most refreshing, too, was the WORK
Z l.. IL - ka al haFn1nl
Her physical charm, combined with her
sincere and skilful conception OF the
difficult role, makes her an ideal choice
for the part. To those who had seen
her recently in farce her quiet control
and absolute lack of mannerisms were
particularly apparent. lt 10 her quick
sense of values in portraying the many
changes from whimsical humor to the
more serious demonstrations Of sim
cere devotion to her lover that holds the
interest in her scenes more than the
work of Charles Cherry, who, for some
reason or other, played with rather
more reserve than was necessary. The
appearance of Mrs. Thomas Whiffen as
the dear old grandmother was well
coined with round after round of ap-
plause by the delighted audience. In
deed, she deserved even more, for not
in a long time has she hit upon such
happy role, nor has her ability to charm
her audience in her quiet, effortless
way been more apparent.
1.-THE Beautiful Adventure" is a ro-
nance, quite pure and quite simple IN
its story. To be sure the hero and
heroine deal one of our pet conven-
tions a terrific wallop. but one hardly
svmpathizes with this particular con-
ycntion when the time comes for its
knockout. So convincing is the at
mosphere OF true love and accepted
right that envelopes the pair one only
remembers the troublesome conven-
ton long enough to lose patience with
il entirely and wish it we'll out Of the
way. Helene dc Trevillac is under
the guardianship OF her aunt. who in
sists that she marry one Valentin de
Barroyer despite the fact that she
loves her cousin Andre. Andre is
abroad and all is arranged for the
wedding. Just a few minutes before
the ceremony Helene becomes sud
denly aware Of the fact that she Is
on the eve Of giving her whole life to
a man she does not love at all, and
who is rather an ass, while she really
loves another man. The full slgnlh-
canoe of this realization, coupled with
her own helplessness, completely un-
nerves her. At this critical moment