Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-09-24
ADJUSTMENTS
"rHE ONLY GIRL" CLEANS
NTH NISl('. IIlI AND FIN

Whoever heard OF farce without
! low comedy. but with real plot ana
witty book" Whoever heard of II
musical comedy vita lyrics tina; not
| only scanned aud rimcd but sale
something" Whoever heard of 4 must
cal comedy farce that combined plot
| book and lyrics with music both
! mclodious and wcll-wr:tten? Answer
Nobody. or hardly anybody, until one
OF the few bright lyricists of the day.
Henry BLOSSOM. and Jne of the most
gifted musicians in America, Victor
Herbert. put their heads and their
talents together and evolved The
Only Girl"
And rs she was presented. all paniered
sinshcd. N-raycd, behooped, behipped
and generously Invested as to shoulders
and skirts. at the Academy of Music
last night she seemed, in the vernacular
of our people" something Il bit rarer
than the only Sirl-she was the onliest
girl She was adele" with Il cocktail
or TWO: less dainty, perhaps, though
she wasn't in the least coarse. but
tanSoinE i'm n cleared space without
bothering about the clock.
The only girl Is fou. gi"ls. and each
mas Il charm OF her own. 1t doesn't
matter about the farce from which
the story is taken: Henry Blossom has
told 1t in words that Frank Mendel
never even heard: Victor Herbert has
set 1t singing and dancing to melodies,
quartets. scXtets and ensemble mum
bers that need no words, and Joe
weber has dolled the whole thing uD
until ii shimmcrs Nen don't know
about these things in general bur any
man with half an eye could tell that
the costumes were the very latest
because they were the very scantiest.
If they had been any scantier they
would have beer too late
AS has been said. the story is full
of plot; but. better than that the play
is full of characters ana the east is
fuli of actors. Mr.. Herberts music
as so pretty that the augmented or
chestra alone would have made it
worth hearing. He scored a cello
part that would carry any musical
comedy, and MIR. Weber engaged n
celiist who does it full justice. The
singing. however, is quite up to the
average in musical comedy of the bet
ter class. Edna Munsey and Genevieve
lioushton the forme,. in particular,
CARRYING the burden of the legitimate
singing. Miss Munsey's very high
notes, indeed. are extraordinarily
B'h-and this brings us back to the
cast full of actors-the farce itself
takes lot of acting. and this il gets
from MI. WeberS exceptionally COM
petent company. Any good singer can
make Mr.. Herberts theme song a thing
W """uts, pul only actors can make
even small bits count in every line.
and this was done time and again
iast night y Wallets part. for example,
Is played by Afford Fisher in n man
ner completely in accord with the
standard set by the best dramatic pro-
auctions Again, whoever heard OF
such thing In a musical comedy?
Tom Burton makes the character Of
the scottish member of the bachelors
quartet consistently amusing per
son. rather than part; FRANKLIN FAR
mum plays straight part breeZily and
with full appreciation of Its dual value.
and the other two men are acceptable.
And the Siris-now we're getting
along,
Leona stephens, as near-tough
soubrette. would walk away with the
SHOW on her WEIGHING shoulders, but
Tor the fact that she was TO play with.
or against. Elsie Baird, an opulent
brunette. Regina Richards. a slender
but rather flaming young woman,
GencVieve Stoughton. an ingenue with
out a kittenish affectation and Janet
Mcllwaine-from the chorus OF six
VINO Is something of n wiggler her
sell The soubrette calls her French
"disusc,' without apology to Kitty
Cheatham.
The Only Girl will be here for two
more performances to-day-all four of
her-and for every boy who sees her
therell be one less lonely boy
Douglas Gordon
Comedy and Acrobatlcs at Lyric
Two teams OF two men each, work
ing in the two last spots on the bill.
divide the Lyrics show for the sec
ond half of the week between their