The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-01-26
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE.

DETROIT OPERA HOUSE.
As delicate and fragrant as its
name. that comedy OF early Victorian
life and manners, Rosemary" was
revived In the Detroit opera house
Monday evening. with John Drew In
the role OF Sir Jasper Thorndyke. and
company OF players whose superior
abilities In the. delineation Of the
characters assigned to them made
the play one of the most artistic and
delightful offerings of the season.
/ According to Mr.. Drew's stage
diary, 1t is 20 years since he first
played Sir Jasper. The Dorothy on
that occasion was Maude Adams, and
the maid, Priscilla. Ethel Barrymore,
the latter In her fourteenth year, and
the choleric Capt. Cruikshank. Harry
HARDWOOD, the same admirable actor
who impersonated the tempestuous
old sea dog Monday evening. Rose
mary" was fast presented in Detroit
about IL years ago, on the stage OF
the Detroit opera house, with Otis
Skinner as Sir Jasper, and that per-
Torrance Ia perhaps the only one
within the memory of the present
generation OF ldygOerS.
II must have been a keen delight to
Mr.. Drew's large circle of loyal ad-
mirers who assembled In the theater
Monday evening to see aim lending
his acting gifts to something more
worthy than the philandering bache-
lors and inconstant husbands OF the
smart society tribes he has appeared
In for so many seasons. AS Sir Jas
per he puts to rout the oftrepeated
statement that "John Drew could not
act anything but q tailor's model,
society chap anyway" The fact that
Mr.. Drew has impersonaaed the per.
fectiy-mannered. impeccably-d dressed.
well-groomed society man for so many
years has made this comment seem
only too true. To be sure, recently
he tried Shakespeare and the public
would have none Of him. But Mr..
Drew can and does enact character
roles with surety OF touch, the tech
.nique Of long experience, the grace
and the resource of the accomplished
actor. His Sir Jasper Thorndyke is
proof positive Of this.
Whether as the Dickens-reading,
absent-minded. good-hearted. hospita-
BILE country squire OF the first act Of
the play, the rejuvenated, impetuous
would-be lover OF the third. or the
doddering old man with nothing left
to him but memories and q crumb-
ling spray OF rosemary and yellow
scrap of paper to recall the love
dream OF middle life, Mr.. Drew did
admirable work.
Alexandra Carlisle, young Eng
lish woman of beauty and charm and
q lovely speaking voice, made Dorothy
a delightful young person.
Mr.. HARDWOOD offered finished
study "a Dorothy's irascible father,
whose explosions of temper always
ended In loss of voice and the i'm
potent whisper to his long-suffering
wife OF Finish II, Hannah, finish It,"
which, of course, Hannah always did
with gentle words and manner and
which, Just as inevitably, made the
captain more wrathy than ever.
Mrs. Thomas Whiffen, who carries
her years with the grace Of queen,
and whose clearness Of enunciation In
speaking her lines should be lesson
to every aspiring young actress, was
the sweet mother Of Dorothy and the
patient Hannah.
Hubert bruce was excellent as the
pompous, pedantic professor. and Miss
Francis Landy brought more than US
ual talent to the part Of Priscilla.
The four servants were In the cap
able hands of Lewis Edgard. Walter
Soldering, Fred Goodwin and May
Galyer.
The play Is prettily staged, and the
whole performance one of pure de-
light to the man and woman who has
not been 30 stepped In modern stage
realism. as to be incapable of appre-
ciating the sentiment and romance OF
youth, the chivalry, and honorable
mode Of thought and life that existed
In the years Of yesterday.
ELLA MAE HAWTHORNE.
oARRIcK.
"The Blue Bird" opened q weeks
engagement In the Garrick theater,
Monday night, and men and women
for whom the fairies have long ceased
ITO exist joined hand with little chill
dren and followed Tyltyl and Mityl
in mutual understanding, In their
search Cor happiness through many
lands.
For the little ones, Maeterlinck's
beautiful stage poem was a realiza-
ton Of all the fairy stories they had
ever heard. They went home know
ing that In the homely things of every
day life. fire. water. bread, milk,
sugar, the cat and the dog, lie q world
OF romance, more wonderful than all
the creations of Hans Christian An
derson or Andrew Long. For the
grownups there was the lesson that
beauty lies In the eye Of the beholder,
and happiness In every day life, for
those who have eyes to see and
brains to comprehend.
And interspersed with the wonder
fully beautiful symbolism are bits of
shrewd worldly wisdom, which strike
tellingly at the self complacency of
mankind.
Although the slue Bird f. an old
friend OF Detroit theatergoers, Il has
apparently lost none OF Its appeal.
The theater was filled, Monday
night, with young and old. and II was
apparent that many In the audience
were renewing a former acquaintance.
The scenery Is as gorgeous and col.
orful as ever, and the tiny tots who
officiate as star beams, Joys, firefiies,
glow-worms, and other like characters
are as winsome and appealing az on
previous visits. An Improvement IN
the cast IL found In the selection OF
Jack Davis and Harriet MandeI az
anI Affwl [Th..< ~ tat. a =