New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-03-12

Tbs truth, OF course, IS that Gertrude
Jones will be starred only technically.
The advertisements Of the attraction
will be wordod In manner 70 feature
the name Of Miss Jones, and the name
will 20 up in electric lights outside tho
theatre. There will be-perhaps-a
clause in the contract which gives Miss
Jones a percentage Of the receipts. Miss
ZONES will have hand IN the selec-
ton Of the cast, and she will also see
to Il that any telling lines that fall to
The other characters are rewritten for
her own use. Furthermore, the play
will be changed to eliminate all good
si.uatiops. eYcept those IN which Miss
Jones is The central figure, and Miss
Jones herself will suggest new STU
alton which will give her an excellent
onportunity in the third act. Il IS true
fbat il will not have a great deal 10 DO
With the play. but the welfare OF the
play is secondary to the interests OF
Miss Jones.
The public. which has had but slight
opportunity to become acquainted WIN
Miss Jones. will not care greatly aDout
,he fact that she is being starred. lhey
arc directly affected only IN case the
MAY has been spoiled IN the process
OF bending ii 10 tho personality OF MISS
.Ionee But the greatst harm that the
.tarrjpo of Miss Jones accomplishes is
that j.. chiDs away Just a little more OF
tbe respect and esteem IN which the
word "star" once was held. The injury,
nc a matter Of fact. is less to the pub
lie than IL ia 10 the real stars the
rlavcrs who have earned their positions
i.-- wears O. work. instead OF months
or weeks.
The application Of The foregoing i
only 10 the legitimate stage. In inc
world Of pictures every one VINO play
- leading rart is star particularly
# he or she has once appeared on the
regular stage. The dlm world num-
hers its stars b. the hundreds almost
The thousands. s list Of them would
include innumerable players of whom
the average. fairly well informed the
.tre-cOer never has heard.
The result Of it all, Of course, is
that the star system-thc shooting star
system, 10 might be called viii sooner
or later pass away. A. the word star
cores 70 mean less and less, II VIII
presently nc longer be profitable TO the
manager 20 make use Of n. When II
;s no longer profitable. needless to say.
il will not be used. Incidentally, IT rs
"A matter Of considerable doubt if the
star system has helped the theatre IN
the least. Ii would be not unpleasant
70 have an utterly starless season for
q change.
When the final count is in II will not
l, ftsa
crangJ has fractured or nearly tract
ured the metropolitan longevity rec
ord. II is non-press-agented fact that
there has not been vacant seat al the
Belasco Theatre since early in Septem-
her. (The play opened in August In
clement weather, which from time TO
time has retarded attendance at other
uhdeniably successful plays. has had
not bit Of effect upon THE Boom
erang." Not only has the theatre been
consistently filed, but the number OF
stsndees has average thirty perform
auce. IL is now planned 70 prolong the
run OF the play through the summer
and the feat should not be at all diffi-
cult. II IL were not absolutely neces-
sary to install David Warfield In the
Belasco Theatre in the fall, The
boomerang" might hope 70 excel Lau-
2?-consecutive pegomyheart weeks
al the Cort Theatre.
Objection 10 the fairly common prae-
tee Of telling the story Of play in tho
~eview-F. P. A. recently voiced the OBJ
lection in The Coming Towers in
mart sound However. there are occa-
sions when reviewer can make clear a
critical point only when hen his reaoet rs
know the story Of the play Merely 70
tell the plot for its own sake is, OF
course, foolish, but The Tower errs in
stating that reviews would be short 4
plots we're omitted. II - not at all
difficult. if one has a friend in the com
posing room, TO write one, two, three
or four columns about play without
conveying so much az hint Of the
story.