New Britain herald., 1916-03-28
YOUTHFUL PLAYERS
 SCORE AT LYCEUM
Ruth Spissell, Age 5, and Doris Eaton, 8, Add to Success Of Play

d l New York, and he was in love with a princess, Princess Alice; but he was poor young chap, so he went out in the great world to seek fame and for tune. He took a boat for far off Lon don and left his princess on the shore 1 waving goodbye to him, and crying And when this prince chap got to London he studied sculpturing and made little figures out of clay: but the cr1tlcS froWned on his art and nobody came to buy. He was as poor as a l church mouse; but he had 8 kindly heart. So one day when a broken down model, sick and dying. came to | his studio and asked him to adopt her 1 little girl and save the poor child | rom starvation and give her a chance ] l Ill the world, the prince chap assumed l the obligation. He took the little girl | l who was but five years of age and l raised her to be a great. big, grown 1 1 lady. And while he was so kind to the l 1 poor little orphan, the Princess Alice l l came over from America and thought 1 ! the little one was his own, and left l | him and married man with lots of 1 1 money. And then death came to the ! l man who married Alice,-she wasn't ! 1 a real princess anyWay,-and she l l came back to the prince chap after he 1 reached the pinnacle of success; but he would have nothing to do with her, 1 because she tried to come between | him and his little girl. And he and l Claudia, that was the little girls name l were in love; and they married, and l lived happily ever after.
 Now, there, in the very first para | graph. is the synopsis of the beautiful l story that is set forth so completely in { 'The Prince Chap,' the play the AL l fred Cross Players are presenting at l the Lyceum this week. Of course, it is | more complete as told on the stage be- 1 cause there is such wealth of detail 1 that cannot be scribbled in the mar l row confines of a newspaper column.
 But it is wonderful story one that will bring tears to the eyes only to be chased away by the smiles and laugh
 ter that go with the comedy of the
 play.
 l Last night was a gala occasion at l the Lyceum because it gave New Brit ! ain a chance to see childhood in all it's
 glory. Two little actresses are re-
 Quired in the first three acts to DOT 1 tray the life of this little girl adopted l by the prince chap. Tn the first act, 1 little Miss Ruth SpisSell, a mere tot of five years, with beautiful flaXen curls and a sweet babyish voice and manner, won the sympathy of the aud l fence by her representation of the lit l tie Waif adopted by the artist. She is a, clever actress, this little child of ten ] der years, and undertakes her task as if she has trod the boards since the days of Clara Morris Taking up where
 Miss Spissell left off, another young ster of stage-land, Miss Doris Eaton
 whose right name is not on the pro- ! gram, showed how the little adopted 1 girl would look if she was eight years of age. Miss Eaton boasts of just that many birthdays She is eight, going
 on nine, and a clever reader of lines, i not missing one, nor making a mis-
 cue, which, all in all, is something
 grand for young lady of her youth
 fulness. But she is a busy little body and has much to keep her alert during ! the time she is on the stage. She plays 1 the second and third acts during ] which time there is much action, what
 with Christmas parties and all that. 1 Then in the last act, Miss Julie Herne
 assumes the role of Claudia who has i now attained the age Of eighteen. MISS ! Herne carries out the part to perlec-
 ton, making a graceful following ait
 CT the two little curly haired girls who , 1 preceded her in the part. u re- l uuires no stretch of the imagination to 1 imagine Miss Herne grown from i've
 years old in the first act to eight m the l socond and third and then to eighteen
 
 in the last.
 Alfred Cross is the prince chap in
 this unique play. He is the real prlhcc
 chap the good, kindly, generous, thor
 oughlv American, chap amidst English
 surroundings Alfred Cross was cut
 out for the part. It fits him like i glove There is omething ikabc
 about the prince chap, tne leiloW who , assumes so many obligations he could
 tn oSS III , 1 cnd wins out even over all the ob- , stacles set in his way. There are so
 many chaps who are princes that noth-
 ing this prince chap does seems inn . nossible or improbab able. He is right
 out of life.
 Supplying the comedy are J. Irving
 White and Miss Winnl1red WelllnS-
 ton playing, respectively, the Engnsh
 butler and the maid of all work. MT.
 White as has been always the case
 since his debut to New Britain audi
 ences is perfection itself. He appears
 from beginning to end in this drama,
 has control of many fine situations,
 and never misses @ chance to score
 laughs Miss Wellington is making her
 first appearance here this week ana,
 from the way her work was received
 on the opening night, will have llttle ! or no trouble in winning her way 1hto 1 the hearts of future audiences.
 Mrs. Adalaide Hubbard, Miss Dora l Booth. Eugene Weber Philip Shefheld,
 Frank Kent, Frank kimba1l, all nave
 minor parts. Barring the long wait
 between the third and fourth acts' ! when it seemed as if Claudia had plen-
 t1- of time to grow from eight to eigh-
 teen the play ran along smoothly. rms
 nrobably will not happen again. other
 wise ''The Prince Chap" is bully
 nlay. just as the prayer the little sir.