Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-02-23
ADJUSTMENTS
JOYOUS MUSICAL COMEDY
PRESENTED ny An'rISTS

JUST WAY thc0tre-Goors. professional
one ana occasional. permitted such
"a "elcions. Hitting and joyous blend
or comedy, music and artistry as
charles IL. Wuerz's production OF Lady
Luxury" to Glide into Richmond almost
unnoticcd is difficult to understand. ar
I yer iast nights performance ~ The
Academy OF Music.
Musical comedy the niece Is billed
ana doubtless properly. since the story
~ farce. ana much OF the comedy, If
/ not ALL Is That of situation. But. so
lar as It's music goes. IL is almost Il
comic opera In preparing music to
me book and lyrics Of l,ida Johnson
founS. William Schroeder wroi. sew
crni BITS OF synCopation 80 infectious
ma; the very threads of the -ag twist
themselves in sympathy: but, for the
most part. he wrote solos, duets quar-
, tets ana chOruSeS so pretty. so intri-
! cate and yet so sound that the :inklc.
tinklc. tinkie and the tum ;um. tum
OF the ordinary musical comedy be-
como mere banjo food in comparison
with them.
AIRS. founr's book IL farce. as has
Decn said. but ii is straight farce.
coherent aud actablc enough to be
played without music, and incident
piles upon episode so rapidly and so
logically that it's farcical nature is al
most lost sight OF in the rush of oc-
currcucc. Most of the fun rcvolves
uncle places himSclf--an actual, phy-
steal position. for he hides in Il secret
!"ccss above The mantclpiccc. Why
he HID there and what came Of il all
may too easily be asccrtaincd by see
ing Lady Luxury" tonight TO spoil
any o. ii in the telling.
It's true ;hc picc" might be played
ms Il legitimate farce. but il isn't:
it's played as - musical comedy. and
PLAYED III such - way as TO make 1t
about the most refreshing and unusual
musical comedy of the season Farce
players might put over most OF It's
comedy. but only company OF artists
could 10 II Justice in the form in which
IL is How presented.
And that Is just what Mr. Wuerz has
providcd-practiCally company OF
stars. whether starred or not Tho
leading woman Is Florence Weber.
who sang cxQuisitcly In The Climax"
some years ago. and later appeared in
Victor HcrbcrtS Naughty Marietta"
Her NiNacity and 'cuteness' have al
ways seemed a bit forced. and last
night she sang off pitch time and again.
but" ii is to be remembered that She
had sung in the afternoon. and was
probably somewhat tired.
II doesn't matter anyhow, because
she would have TO be a very glitterinE
star indeed TO outshinc the other nom
hers OF this lnarknblc cast. There is
Juveniles and principal men and WON.
on 10 half a dozen ordinary road com
panics. Why. the play begins with a
quartet sung extremely well by 'nen
and women who are not even listed
among the cast.
Forrest HUFF. OF Chocolate Soldier
and Merry Countess" fame, while not
in good shape as To his middle voice.
runs up above the treble Clcf with
the ring Of an Italian baritone, and
plays with def and easy comedy
method that must have made him an
ideal Bumcrll. Joseph W. Herbert, in
the principal character part gets i'm
Vulnerable laughs by the exercise OF
the art of acting, opposed 10 tho
employment OF slap-stiCk methods.
Donald Mcdonald, ono Of the most en-
Gag!ng youths seen here in many
day, sings nicely enough In pleasant
little voice, dances In Il manner To turn
the catc-boyS green with envy, hatred
malice and all ncharitablcncSs. and,
> furthermore, works as II he had just
happened along and had dropped In to
help the fun along.
Emile Lea is that rare thinE-a
dancer who IS also II singer. Her voice
| "a quite as good as that of the aver
! age musical comedy singer. and her
dancing Is literally wonderful In that
! il embraces nearly every st-ie--mod-
! crn, classic and acrobatic She omits
4 only toc-dancing. and nobody cares
{ much for that. except from Gcncc. some
/ Of the Russians and a very few others.
But the brightest star OF the cast
! IS Il young Russian tenor, Arthur AibrO.
! who Is so superb a singer that one
marvcis that ne is in musical comedy.
J In the first act, he has number with
! Miss Wchbcr that gives some indica-
/ ton OF his ability. but IL Is not until
! the second act that the beauty, power
and dramatic quality OF his voice is
/ disclosed. When | SinS in Grand
I Opcra" gives him an opportunity To
I display both his voice aud his art, and
he sciHcs it. Last night he sang this
/ cIevcrly arranged bit OF musical foolcry
/ with SO much Are and effectiveness that
4, the audience would not let him go.
l After bowling again and again he re-
/ turned and sang "k.di PaEliaccio." the
, famous 'Sot song from I'll i'agliac-
ell" and sang IL with great beauty Of
! voice and expression. If with more
I complete abandon than wc arc accus-
toned to. stu, he is n Russian and
q singer OF thc italian school. SO
doubtless he knows better how n
strciluG italian player would sing such
song than we DO. Even after that
the audience would not let him re-
tire; 80 he returned and sang AGAIN
this time n typical Russian folk song
the like of which many of us have
heard during Yiddish performances, a
gypsy song, called "TrOika."
There are other clever and compc-
tent people i'll the company, To say
nothing OF the chorus of singing men
and women, admirably trained and
directed by Arthur +. kaut2cnbach, and
n woman harpist who is a little
orchestra on her own, ana outweishs
: the violin.
And there's the chief trouble with
Lady I.uNury'; ii doesn't last quite
. "A N
doesn't afford sufficient opportunity "a
each artist quite TO satisfy the audi
encc. Unfortunately, IL viii be seen
here only once morc.to- night.
Douglas Gordon.
90 MEDN-nIiNMA AZ RLIOI