New Britain herald., 1916-02-08
ALFRED GROSS AND
 JULIE HERNE STAR
Bought and Paid For" Gives LyceuIn Players Great
 Opportunities

Years and years ago, well, 1t was l way back in the late sos, there Was
 a sob song going the rounds which { had something to do with "A Bird in 2 Gilded Gage Brought up to date and put in the form of present day l drama the old song is playing this week at the Lyceum under the guise of Bought and Paid For' There are slight differences, of course, for in the song it was "an old mans gold" that purchased the maid: in the play it is the gold of a young man.
 It is doubtfuE if the Alfred Cross players were ever seen to better ad- vantage than in their performance last night There was not a hitch in the entire four acts and every per- son on the stage carried out their parts we'll. Contrary to local belief. there was not slip of the tongue, not a line twisted out of shape, not faux pas. Everything went along as if the players had been handling their characters for ages
 Alfred Cross and Miss Julie Herne in the lead roles could not be inn proved upon. As a man who has fought his way from the lowest rung on the ladder to the topmost pinnacle of wealth, and who then takes unto himself for a wife a telephone girl earning "ten per- MT Cross has a part that well suits his particular style of acting. The big, generous, good-hearted Robert Stafford fares we'll at his hands. And in his big scenes, notably the portrayal of the drunken millionaire, he measures up to high standard. Following him all through this, Miss Herne also makes a notable impression. She rises from the depths of poverty to the heights of riches with an ease that is well becoming, and then nlunges back into the moderate life of a shop girl only to be reconciled and taken back by the millionaire husband whom she left because she realized she was Bought and Paid For'' with so much gold
 Philip Sheffield gets chance this week he never had before,-a chance to work throughout almost every portion of the play and to be ;n the llmellght at all times. As the slangN, rough d-tumb1e James Gllley, the mechanic With "big ideas,'' h1r. Sheffield is we'll cast He has many good lines and handles them we'll, putting over laugh after laugh. Playing opposite him is a new mem Der of the Cross Players. Miss Dora Booth, who got away to a reasonably good start last night
 J. Irving White, while he has not nj uch to do in this play, gets chance to prove his value and versatilitv as an actor by playing to a, finish a Japanese servant After seeing MT. White work through numerous and various roles this season, from the Irishman in "Nearly Married.' down to the Hermit in "Seven Kevs," and then this Jap, one begins to wonder if there is any character he cannot rortray, and do it well. He is a valu- ahle member to any stock organiza- tion, having the faculty of shaping his physique to suit the Occasion,- that is as fat man, a slim man, a tall man. or a short man. Verify, he is a wonder.
 Another newcomer to the Cross Players was presented last night in the person of Miss Anna Reader who took the part of French maid and played, what there is of the part, very well. This is really the play in which the Alfred Cross Players shine.