The Washington herald., 1915-11-21
lets Showing How Women Counterfeit.


struction of the Madison Square Gar
den proper he turned his abilities to
laying out and decorating the interior
of the space at one corner Of the
building which had been left for what
has since been known as the Garden
Theater. He struck an entirely new
note in the way of a color scheme
for theater decoration. Red and gold
had been from time immemorial the
. favorite combination for playhouses
the combination standing for warmth
and richness. It was too garish for
private houses. but even yet 1t re-
mains the most CHEEKY surrounding
for an audience on pleasure bent, even
when modified into terra cottas and
reddish browns. After all, the expert
ments and novelties in greens, puppies,
and peacock combinations. when one
goes into a theater like the Empire
with it's red and gold it is impossible
to escape its festive effect, and 1t I'M
questionably has its influence on the
spirits and anticipations of the au-
dience.
In the Garden Theater. the architect
whose taking of in this very build
ing remains one of the most celebrated
of modern crimes. chose. for his color
scheme a prevalence of white relieved
only partly with pale grays and yell
lows. The effect was and always has
been distinctly chilling. Even the long.
white legs OF the semi-nude and he
roic sized allegorical figure that
spraddles the proscenium arch, con-
spicuously as they are shown, added
10 a certain tomb-like suggestiveness.
Audiences at the Garden Theater, un-
consciously to themselves perhaps,
felt this chilling influence. The at
Effectiveness of the place as a theater
was not enhanced by its being under
the same roof with the arena and its
varied attractions. The audience in the
theater knew when the circus was q
fellow tenant by faint aroma Of ele-
plant: that the horse show was going
on by the odor of the tan-bark, and
that the dogs were in possession by
the smell of the disinfectants which
seemed to penetrate the fireproof
walls that separate the two audi
forums. BY the same olfactory test it
has been possible to sit in the the
alter and almost determine whether
the Garden was the scene OF a Repub-
lican meeting, a Democratic meeting,
or a prizefght.
Norwegian Comedy.
The decorative scheme of a theater
cannot make a success or spoil the
career of a strong attraction This is
shown by the fact that the Garden
Theater housed the long runs of
''Trilby," "Chimmie Fadden," The Col
lege Widow" and 1882" But where
a play is hanging in the balance with
its fate to be decided by the mood Of
its early audiences, the difference be-
tween a cheerful theater and one
where the color scneme is chilly and
Depressing may well be a deciding
percentage one way or the other.
There have been SO many dreary.
and depressing failures at the Garden
Theater, and it is now So far away
from the theatrical center that it is
no wonder its doors have long been
closed. Nor is it strange that most of
those who werdad their way thither
see the opening of the series OF
plays of foreign origin to be given
under the direction of Emanuel Reich
er went with spirit of hoping for
the best, but fearing the worst Nor
was the spirit of expectation height
ened by past experiences with the pre-
sentation OF unadapted plays by the
modern generation of Scandinavian,
German and Russian authors. Ibsen,
Sudermann, and their
kind have been put to US very often
in as close adherence to their native
form as translation would permit and
have never been really popular.
very few of these foreign products
have managed to hold a place on our
stage, but even with these the appeal
has been to the few and not the many.
The initial venture of the Reicher
which proposes to do
other plays in translation. was when
the Young Vine Blooms" by Born
stjerne Bjornson, and translated by
Arvid Paulson. The story is based on
the saving that when the young vine
blooms, the Sld wine ferments." This
truth is illustrated by the remark
able reawakenina of the love-fire in
the veins of three of the characters.
all elderly. at the time when their
children have reached the age of ro-
nance. This makes the comedy. for
wegian waNbut the complications
were so complicated and 1T was SO
difficult to follow the mixed affairs !
Of the numerous persons engaged. that !
even the most experienced playgoers
in the audience found great difficulty |
in discovering or following any thread
Of the story. The difficulty was in |
creased by the fact that both Mr.. |
and his daughter, Hedwig. who |
have the principal parts, speak with
a German information and accent that
make the meaning of many of their !
lines most obscure. Mr.. Reicher is evil |
iently an experienced and<Vell trained |
actor. whose services might be val |
liable in some roles on the American |!
stage. He has been seen here before |
in more serious drama, and there is !
no question that he possesses the ease |
and versatility so much more common
among foreign actors, than among our |
OWN IN the large cast, made up OF
artists who. with the exception of Al
oerta Gallatin, are practically I'M
xnown in New York. there were some
who did clever bits in the realistic |
Ind natural method that seems to go
With the Scandinavian drama.
In its general effect, though, the I
playing of when the Young Vine
Blooms" gave no promise of popular
success for the organization headed
~ Mr.. Reicher and no portent of lift
nE the hoodoo from the Garden The
ter. This, in spite of the repeated APP
,earance on the stake of a black cat
hat evidently resented the intrusion
# an audience into what apparently
las long been its rat and mouse pre-
erve.
Secrets of the Opera.
New York has come to be very IA
niIiar with the stars of grand opera
If the stage as well as on. The
enors, barytones and bassos are ia
niliar figures or the streets and in
he more expensive resorts. Their
ostly fur coats. their Jewels and their
distinctive grooming. especially in the
natter of hair. make them marked
Igures wherever they are seen. II
las remained. though. for Leo Dit
ichstein in THE Great Lover" Of
Which he is part author in conjunc-
ion with Mr.. and Mrs. Hatton, to
xploit on the dramatic stage the in
er life professionally and personally
T. .