The Washington herald., 1916-03-05
Across the New York Footlights
By George Jean Nathan

from the old guardian-who-faIls-ir
love-w ith-his-ward whimsy. The stage
Says under the tnsistent molasses
drippings of the text Very probably,
such exhibits are vastly pleasing to
the majority of native theatergoers, bull
so far as am concerned they seem to
work in exactly the opposite manner
/ to that which their creators intend for
them. And, as one Of the consequences,
the villain of such manuscripts Is to
me the real hero. This is particularly
true in the case of Mr.. Tynan's piece
"a piece wherein the platform is sedu-
lously burdened with cherry trees In
bloom, soft golden suns and cloudIess
blue skies, harps played on the green's
ward, the sound of birds singing and
general and protracted explosion of
honeyed phrases and saccharine sigh
| ings.
Mr.. Tynan's talk is of "the toast of
Dublin" who, at the height of court
ship by dozen SWANS, lays eyes on
her bashful guardian, a divinity stu
dent, and of the amours of the twain:
ending, of course, with the hussy's
marrying the wrong man-which Is to
say, the hero. Lily Cahlll Is Ill suited
to the central female role and her per-
formance goes long way toward de-
letting Mr.. Tynan's play Of popular
qualities. w. J. Kelly is an heroic viii
lain. Among the other actors are
George Giddens, William Harrfgan, and
Florine Arnold. The scenic investiture
of the play is highly attractive.
Robinson Crusoe, Jr."
Robinson Crusoe, Jr.," is what they
call the newest Winter Garden show
The masque has at the head of It the
jocose AL Jolson and is successful in
providing extremely good entertain
ment. This Jolson is a catchy zany, one
of the best, indeed, in the native mu-
steal shows. Possessed of an electric
vitality, the fellow literally drives his
lines and songs over the orchestra pit
and yet, at the same time, deftly con-
ceals the fact of his excessive striV-
ing in an innate and contagious humor
Although Jolson is the only pantaloon
| of talent in the show, his co-workers
have been sufficiently we'll trained to
assist him in getting the best effects
out Of the material The scenery Is
not so opulent as that disclosed in for.
mer Winter Garden shows, but is de-
cidedly attractive, probably more SC
! by virtue of this very reticence. The
! dances have been picturesquely ar
ranged and the hitherto unlovely knees
| and limbs of the chorus misses have
on this occasion, been tastefully en-.
cased.
| The nbretto follows the familiar
dream idea and outlines the episodes
of a gentleman's nightmare, wherein
said gentleman imagines himself upon
Robinson Crusoe's island with Mr.. Jol-
| son as his man Friday. In the latter
role, with a goat yclept Morris as his
| companion, the Jolson is exceeding
droll. And this comedians song, Where
Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday
on Saturday Night?" is the one funny
lyric of the evening. The balance OF
the tunes and lyrics are less insin-
uating.
! Assisting Mr.. Jolson are Lawrence
DOrsay, Helen Shipman, Kitty Doner
Claude Fleming. and Harry Lupino. A
passionate Spanish damsel named Rod
rigueZ provides an attractive dance
speciality consisting of wiggles big
little, and medium. All in all, a very
good harlequinade, very much better
by all odds, than the shows of its sort
one used to see in England and on
the continent