The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-23
CHARLES KLEIN
In RETROSPECT
Stood on After Deck of Lusitania
talking Serenely to Charles Froh-
man as Great Ship Went Down.

Cnaries Klein. whose death when the
Lusitdnia went down, was described by
one or the survivors as very grave and
very sweet-he stood on the after deck
taking to Charles Frohman. waiting
with patience and serenity till his
chance Tor rescue should come; If it
came'-had been in America delivering
the manuscripts of three plays to Sell
wynn and Company, which he had writ
ten In the past year in London, and he
went back TO his London home with the
plans or two more in his portfolio, to be
delivered presently. And this. despite
the TACT. that his complete record OF
plays was almost incredibly large. ana
that. of them all. an unparalleled num-
Der had had great success. There had
never come to him the faintest ghost of
an idea that his work was nearing its
end He seemed to think of The Auc-
tioneer.' The Music Master" The
Third Degree THE Lion and the
Mouse" and The Gamblers" as the mere
beginning OF a career.
One of the most scholarly of the New
York dramatic critics once described
him as being the only playwright he
resent criticism
Il have heard Mr.. Klein say that he
thought sometimes a New York first
night was deliberately and self-con-
sciously hard to please" the critic con-
tinued. but wherever a piece of thought
full criticism was given him, he accepted
ii. took it away with him. and pondered
it. and seemed to find in it an honest sat
isfaction.'
One of Mr. KIein's ideas. which he
put into practice whenever his man
ayers would let him, was to have what
he called "a nervous first night" for his
plays. He was opposed to out-of-towE
performances. because he believed they
wasted the very precious tension which
actors felt on the presentation of a new
play. That tension was. according to
Mr.. Klein, the first cousin to genius
from it. he believed, all of the worlds
really great dramatic performances had
come.
His ambition was to write a great
metaphysical play. The mystic turn of
mind had always characterized him-and
his anxiety to place his own mystic be-
liefs credibly and convincingly before
the public was one of the reasons why
he would never cut down his working
hours. nor rest on the laurels of any one
of his many successes.
The Music Master" in which David
Belasco starred David Warfield, and
made fortune for himself. his author
and his star. was perhaps the play in
which Mr.. Klein always took his great
est pride-and he told an amusing
story of how that pride had suffered
once al dinner party where he was
by way of being lionized, to his acute
disgust.
The Music Master had been rum
ming nearly two years. so that auto
when one spoke of Mr..
Klein one spoke also of Mr.. Warfield
and Mr.. Belasco. and the other way
a bout. The lady who sat next to Mr..
Klein at dinner beamed around at
him. in the middle of course. and
with 4 very gushing manner said:
''Oh. Mr.. Klein. it is such very great
pleasure to meet you-you're the au-
thor of 'Heartsease.' aren't YOU" Into
the appalled, silence which followed the
remark, Mr.. Klein, with his eyes
twinkling. thrust the following reply: [
why, come to think of it, I suppose
| am"
Mr.. Klein had another theory. which
his experience amply justified him in. |
TO the effect that a man to be a fine