Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-18
THE THEATRE
Wizard and Sorcerer

w AHCNA VI ClllNA OOl NCl u
Last night, for the first time in many
years, THE Sorcerer' a comic opera in
two acts, by w. S. Gilbert and Arthur
Sullivan, was sung at the Metropolitan
with the cast as follows:
s'T Marmaduke. ..........,...H Herbert Waterous
DTv Day. nus vicar fS Of pcverlcah N''F''S0
John wellington Wells. OF j. ". Wells &
y 70! FAMILY sorcerers. ............. :. MIR. Hopper
Ane her dsurb,sr t,ss Msi tsig M2p'q qpaisrsso
MFs. Fartlett, pew opener, 60.
Constance, her daughter Miss gladys caldwell
Setting; Theo' garden Of Sir MsrmSdiufo. w
She is engaged to 50 and so."-The Vicar.
Again and again, as Mr. Cunningham
sang the above line last night, the holt
day audience which heard him shouted
Joyous shouts Why, in the name of
all that is sensible? There is nothing to
the line; it passes in daily conversation
without remark; 1t indicates only par
uonable vagueness in the mind of the
speaker concerning n very important ac-
cidcnt in the life of another person; 1t
is not funny; It is not poetic; It Is not
musical. Yet the audience laughed, and
that circumstance is hereby called to the
earnest attention of all writer's of musical
comedy now exercising their undeniable
right of trying out their talents on the
american public. Because behind that
line are two vastly interesting personall-
ties; the wizard known as w $. Gilbert
and the sorcerer Arthur Sullivan. The
transmutation of that simple line into an
instrument for the provocation OF clean
and heartfelt laughter Is the symbol OF
their whole prosperity in these forty-odd
years Of their work
1t is almost fOrtutous that this line
embodies the plot OF THE Sorcerer."
Alexis, son of Sir Marmaduke, is i'm
pressed with the power of love: he would
have people love regardless of wealth.
education, social distinctions. happiness
age. color. or previous condition of SER
vitude. To accomplish this high ideal, he
employs the services of one who intro
duces himself thus
My name Is John wellington Wells.
I'm Il dealer in magic and spells.
with great success. But Calas for re-
formersD some of the matches turn out
quite absurdly, and (alas for this
worldly some of the love Is not re-
Quilted. So the magician descends through
convenient trapdoor and all ends hap
PLY. "So-and-so," distressing creature,
becomes the right "parti' in the end.
To exploit this philosophical badinage.
De Wolf Hopper and his truly excellent
felow-workcrs were bound to become as
az frivolous as the piece itself. They
succeeded. Miss Caldwell, mobile Of face
and graceful of gesture, was splendidly
absurd as the maiden infatuated with the
Vicar Who CMr. Arthur Cunningham
was in turn delightful especially in his
singing OF "Ah me! was a valiant cur
ate then" Miss Patterson, coloratura
and all, was more lovely than In any pre-
vlous performance these two weeks Miss
McComb. Mr., Aldrldge and Mr.. Waterous
and the chorus were those raritles of mu-
scal comedy-singing actors.
And Mr.. Hopper! He recited Casey
at the Bat" at last, and apologl2ed for
bringing Mr.. Ernest Thayer into con-
junction with the greater stars of the
evening. But he didn't reCite half so
we'll as he played. His faker-magician,
clad first in satanic red relief, and in
remorseful black at the end, was an
OBVIOUS. but so fantastically and naively
obvious. characterization. His lines the
impossible lines of Gilbert, he ratified off
to their popular tune, with gusto and
facility. Whenever he thought of a
particularly unspeakable line said Mr..
Hopper. "he gave 1t to the low come
dian" AS u low comedian, then, Mr.
Hopper is something high and rare and
fine.