Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-16
me Apotheosis
of Vaudeville

r,,s review really ought to be under
.,..,a.vi,le'' But tnat might make
v.aA.s peevlsh over all the good peo-
rho have deserted to "Fads and
r..c,es" There are, of course, few
n. "legltlmate" in the big review at
N. K,orrest But Frank Moulan and even
n.,othv Jardon's gowns are nowhere in
lsn, Nv the time the vaudevillans get
ss,ansb AS for the book, two weeks
"a he press agent thought Glen Nc
n.noish was the author; last night any
-, could see that a producer had at
eO1 diseoyered the secret of really
kinny lioretto-le' INC '"'he''''0 Twins
a the work.
4sSss comedians that always come In
..trs- -fseorge Lemaire and Frank Con-
Albert Raymond and Frank Cla-
r.,;v for instance-may not be the least
NJ, hnny in the way they say thing.
IN the fning they say is usually about
rrs ,lnes as amusing as anything n1u-
.,ssI comedy jokesmiths can produce. And
N. natural thing was to hire enough
~ thsm To lay out the huskiest book"
,yor written. That's how "Fads and
rancles" has discovered the long-sousht
perfect iibrettist.
Glen Mcponough did have a plot. 1t
s,arted with gloomy Professor Glum up
n mountains, WHO htDJ llib DpiliN VI
PLEASURE under lock and key Sntil
,,odern Pandora set her free. There are
ndIcatlons that the rest was originally
hs,orv of how the Pandora was tempted
+, ire process of trying to recover the
snIrlted lady. Along toward the end
f.l,im confessed that he had followed ner
md fallen for the temptress himself. And
Llhs,ev was a socie 7 lady looking Tor n
4 nav thrill and going to such desperate
yanl An income tax collector wandered
,cnnd-on the program-looking for
, ,,rlsstnr sol 100000, but that was all we
evsr heard of It, The rest-as Shakes
ntare might have said of the world in
some moment of unusual penetration-ls
Vaudeville
And what good vaudeville! There was
that nomencatural "Reminiscences OF high
6nance. Paul Morton, with his excessively
Violent feet, and Doc O'Neill giving his
excellent imitation of popular magazine
writer. Likewise John Miller and James
Mack who dance, and Albert Raymond
I and Frank Claverly. who Weberheld. And
Ieniaire and Morton. Then. too. Leo
Carrillo gave his Italian comedy with the
perfection of monologue Tyler Brooke
and Stella Hoban danced well enough to
have come from vaudeville, and Laura
Hamilton sang badly enough.
These vaudeville librettists have so
much more self-control than the Harry
B. Smiths. Right in the middle of
fashionable auto salesroom young lady
said something about mot being able to
afford something or other-and nobody
mentioned profit sharing. But right after
ward Lemaire and Conroy lugged in one
Of the cars that made Walsh's commits
sion famous and pulled that "rattling
good machine to pieces till doors fell off
of themselves. And yet 1t will be pretty
safe bet that no matter how diligently
"Fads and Fancies" entertains the coun-
try for the next two years, the gentleman
from Detroit will continue paying five a
day.
OF course, there is lot more to "F'ads
and Fancles" or 1t wouldn't be such ex-
cellent entertainment. There is Lydia
Lopokova, youngest and most vital and
charming of Russian dancers, with not
half as much to do as she ought to have.
And there is music built on the best mod
els. "The Same Sort of Girl still echoes
IN the Forrest from the engagement of
"The Girl From Utah" But now 1t is a
song with variations all trimmed up
With new endings that make Mr. Hub
BELLS version a good better than the
original
AS for the chorus, they revel In all the
eolors OF the rainbow and all the furs of
me Canadian Northwest. They are all
ieNng long steps this year-most OF them
nave the new wide skirts, and in the case
q rest there is nothing at all to prevent.
As You drift up the aisle while the prin-
sipals line up to show it's all over, you
nave to admit that the theatre can be
very CHEEKY place II there Is lots OF
eolqr and dash and good spirits and none
el the stupid vulgarity that has so often
made other shows, less discreet than
tads and Fancies,' so self conscious.
Most remarkable feature of all for first
production, 1t went through on an ex-
press schedule and finished at II.
The War at the Walnut
It's quite the cuHton al the walnut