New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-28
Vaudeville Bill Enlivened
by Stars Of Varying
Magnitude.
PASSING COMMENT
ON a SWANS DEATH
Debt Of American Drama 10
Cheese Considered and Pickle
Heresy Discussed.
By HEYWOOD BROUN.


Whenever a dancer rears up on her
toes and begin. TO nuke gestures it is
10 to that ~he is eadeayoring TO kick
story across t1e foo,lights. One has
only to look at the programme 20 find
tha, he is watching the death Of sum
mer. the flight Of autumn leaves. the
birth OF steam heat Or some such sea
sonal tragedy
Muriel Worth. al attractive and emf
nently efficient young woman. danced
me Passing o! the Swan" at ihe Pal
ace Theatre Yesterday out We liked the
rest Of the bill very much. In fact. We
enjoyed the work Of Miss Worth until
she took to her bird imp, rsonat!on.
The swan died hard. For a long time
We thought the whole affair was one
Of those royal and ancien, things about
It cobra. but then the realization came
that although Miss Worth wiggIed her
arms Il great deal there was no emerald
ring on the forehnger. Tha, disposed
Of the snake theory. and the programme
set rs right.
After Miss Worth finished one dance
she stepped into a centre stage dressing
room and allowed the audience 20 watch
her change her gown and shoeg. No
announcement of time was made and
undoubtedly no records were broken.
For our part we hate to have anybody
iutrude privacy upon Us. Every
Action has a right 70 choose his own
brook and every Tom his peepiug place.
FRITZ Schef. Ralph Herr. and Alex
ander Carr in his play, AN April
Shower" are the chief performers on
pleasant bill. \ man who knows told
us that Miss Schef was sometimes off
the key. but for our part we never
heard Dreamy Chinatown" sung bet
ter, or Honey Wait for Me or thal
other song about San Francisco. Fritz
on or of" il our motto.
Ralph Herr is at his bes. in song
in which he impersonates an old actor.
who finally turns to the movies TO make
a living. Asked by th director what he
can do. the actor begins TO be or not
to be, that Is the question" only TO be
interrupted with Not on your life.
What we want 70 find out is how long
YOU can stay under water
4 foOrwalker j. another amusing
CHI racteriZation. and the narrowing
ricture Of man failing 10 fill a
straight fash is done with adequate
emotional appeal Alexander Carr. who
is seen for the second week, has an
u1usual!v good skctch by Edgar Allan
WoClf AID himself. An April shower
gives AIR. Carr character drawn with
much skill. and the dialogue throughout
IS excellent.
Frederick Y. Bowers sang any MN
her Of songs with and without the
ether members OF quartet. and LII
liam McNiel and Perry Black. in the
same number did well in dancing spe-
cialties nc ac- received the warTest
greeting Of any on the bill.
Frank Fogarty. the Dublin minstrel.
James Diamond and SibY Brennan,
he three Du For Boys and the Color
Sea" were other numbers on bill 0t
diversified entertainment.
When the history of the American
Theatre IS written at least :hap,er
should be devoted to cheese. Ieta-
Lhorically speaking. II Is the churn
which rules the hand which rocks the
audience. Il would be unfair 10 give
credit TO any single author for putting
cheese in our drama. but certainly the
finer phases Of IT, dramatic develop
.nent are due 10 Harry Smith. Their"
was time when no libretllst couId
rise above Limbuf2er. while in our day
the comic possibilities OF 6oth "a
membert and RoQuefort have been test
cd ard proved
Smith in particular is constantly
tapping new fields. Gertie GOrgonzoia
is the name he mas chosen Tor one OF
the characters Of Town Topics Inc
ingenuity of the cheese school Of au-
thors has nowhere been better Illus
trated than i'm the case OF Swiss cheese.
Here is a curd which distinctly violates
the unities. but the dramatlStS nave
made il their very own. Scoring ma
terialism. they have seized upon not
only substance. but lack Of II, and
among our best loved theatrical Jokes
to-day are those about the holes IN
Swiss cheese. ,,
There was time when the pickle
seemed destined to supplant cheese Dut
this heresy has been repealed, as wen
"a the bologna schism and the spa
ghetti heterodoXy.
Cheese owes its dramatic Strength 10
its vigilance and it's sheer weight II
all the lines written about cheese III
American musical comedies were placed
.nd 70 end they would reach from here
~ the San Francisco Fair and back
Those who see all the musical come
dies. burlesque and vaudeville shows IN
Tew York this season. will fancy, per
haps. that they are making that return
Journey. tor the motto Of librettist IS
much may be made Of a cheese II II +
be caught old"
Billv X. Wells, according TO the press
notice from the Columbia Theatre, has
written a two-act burlesque for the
Roseland Girls. in which he has en-
desvored "to advance this type OF per
iormance to position among the
worthy things Of the stage
without sacrificing those distinc-
tive features Of burlesque.' the notice
continues. that include broad. spirited
comeJy. lively musical numbers and IN
terpolated vaudeville specialtles' Mr.
wells is credited with having succeeded
in completely eliminating those ele-
,~ents Of coarseness and pointless dIa-
Iooue and incident that have always
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