The sun., 1916-11-12

Bv LAWRENCE REAMER.

Century Theatre does not make
i that beautiful playhouse as pop
ilar ls il should lave been years ago
e, will be owing to physical drawbacks
over which. az til. phrase runs. the
mprcsariOs have M control. The
,uliic spirited gentlemen who have
.lready invested So much IN thai in
.titution h;tv" again put within the
each of the pubic an artistic enter
trlse uf great cost and beauty. Its
prosperity is for the tine assured.
Musical comedy Is certainly rtis.d to-
he nth degree % expense and rich
iess by "The Century Girl"
l. = Of course Idle to Icp,u. that Il
theatre intended for such "a different
purpose should hav. retired from tho
legitimate to take al, musical comedy
after such n brief Effort. liut after
"! IL IL In tho production NJ these
vast, gli:torins musical siccticlcs
Cat or stage cxcois. the skill 81
s,.ne painters and II; "a MANAGERS il.
tt its rest in th.s" pieces. 50 az an
,>anlp.e OF what is done best in our
then,res. tho new play IL not out ~
place IN The most prctrnti"us play
.'ousc of this country. To those wh"
ar. discouraged by til" presence" ~
"rhe century Girl" at this ~p,ayh"ns''.
however, Il ought to be Ii comfort ,!!a.
William Faversham's fine production
Of Getting Married" Mt the Booth
Theatre on the same cvcuing was at
tended by II large and distinguished
t~ldience. Each to his taste.
.heos!s Of vaudeville called The con-
tury Girl" was 50 astonishing 10 tho
writer the contribution &c 1'ranl;
Tinney TO the entertainment. He cer-
tain,y did contribute to the delight of
tie audience. to Judge from the laugh
ter which greeted him. lie talked shop
"a usual. He told OF the negotiations
nth his managers, how much tn"
show cost and would probably lose.
and Of his conversations with h other
actors In the company. Possibly such
p personal confession would have In
tere.ted a gathering at n actors
club or might have created fun at a
theatrical benefit. The audience. made
up Of persons who are usually at first
nigh. performances. laughed uproert-
ously. But what in tile world have
subsequent audiences been doing when
Mr.. Tinney told his extremely personal
,~Sner.ences? How many laugh when
10 calls Elsie Janis ny her real name :
low. many know Miss Jaiis's real
rane? How many care. moreover
What IL Il or what Mr.. Ziegfeid or Mr.
n.llinxham said to MIR. Tinney? There
seen,ed to he enough interested in the
natter 10 make a noise on Monday. II
would indeed no interesting TO know
how many have been laughing at those
tpeeches during the rest Of the week
Nothing is so well established by thu
visual appeal Of this ola podrida al
tho fitness OF Joseph Urban to adt
b1lliancy TO these musical pieces. III
wealth of color and canvas, silk ant
eat,n cannot crush the life out OF
musical performance such as this an!
more than they can out OF an opera
nnd Il was in opera that the Viennes
designer made his first success here
With nm orchestra OF q NOR
or lers, and as large a chorus. then
est OF singers, It Is impossible by IN
mos, liberal use of color and textile I
ovcrxhelm a work. But when there
only the spoken word and a East Of &c
.ors Mr.. Urban finds It easy to be tn
r~reronderaung part Of q performanc
% h irreparable damage OF IN
whole.
Blu. in the musical plays his parti"
ration IL always a source OF deiish
Tho backgrounds an we'll as the COS
tunes IN The Century OH" are e'
uuiStte. 40 ~iouA
,o- tho beautiful dresses OF the g''
Who represent tho colonies OK n
United s,a.es9 They were most 'naf
NATIVE ana tasteful. After all "
Hawaiian dresses that have been soc
.-e. II was refreshing TO see anyth'n
40 novel as the figure that represent'
I'm. island. Were these tho WORK
Mr.. McGeachy? They had much
II. da,ntine.s and at tho same tin
~. imagination that she Las 'mpart
=, some @. the dresses hitherto pr
AIRED for Florence ziegfeld's produ
IONS. The Century Girr' in spite
IS rapidly falling stars Is a great 81
cess. perhaps Joseph Urban " l
greater part OF that success
TIE current review at the "'n'
Garden 10 another example OF nati
dizziness IN the creation Of these br
rant and comic spectacles. NO p'
y,ous Winter Garden production II
ever had 70 much hurnor as "The sh'