Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-19

c,rNcE the days of Gilbert and Sulli-
vsn there has been no musical comedy
sonbInation to give to the stage pieces of
.uch high and consistent quality as the
works of the famous Englishman. The
..rA on this side of the water for mu-
.Jan and llbrettist who would at
,sin 10 the place so long occupied by the
,enIuses Of the Savoy has been an earnest
one but thus iar hol a''oset'er suecess-
ful
Out Of the wealth of names attached to
..rsical comedies, good, bad and indiffer-
.r, Of the last 20 years, only a few come
..sIIv to mind. Frank Pixley and Gus
ave 1uders. Reginald De Koven and Har-
y, smith, Victor Herbert and Henry
p,oesom, Ivan Caryll and c. NJ. s. Nc
t,iisn--these and these alone rise we'll
.hove the common level and remain pleas
inrly fixed In ones memory.
Nof all of these men, however, are
.stlye today. Luders and Pixley have
besn separated by death. Caryll and Nc
isllan have agreed to disagree. De Koven
md smith-the ever-writing, tireless
smith our most prolific librettist-have
dome much that is excellent but their best
Says are now far behind them.
This leaves only Herbert and Blossom.
And n lively, likable remainder 1t is.
Although he has worked with various
jIbrettists, with none has Mr.. Herbert
found himself more in sympathy and
more congenial than with Henry Bios
som. The two are recognized as superior
10 any combination providing entertain
nent for the musical comedy stage today.
and IL is no exaggeration to say that
they are the only American combination
that can seriously be mentioned when
the discussion, comparatively speaking,
shlfts to Gilbert and Sullivan.
Mr.. Herbert, who Ia the grandson of
Samuel Lover, the Celtic poet and novel
Ist, in boyhood showed unusual musical
talent. 1t was first directed toward the
mastery of the violoncello and as a vir-
tuoso on that instrument he quickly
ieaped to fame. He came to this coun-
Try in 1886 as solo 'cellist at the Metro
potan Opera House in New York, also
IS assistant conductor under Anton
seldl.
As composer Mr.. Herbert is the most
prolific writer of light music in Amer
lea. He has written more than 30 mu-
cal comedies and comic operas. Among
them are prince Ananias." THE
Ameer," "The Wizard OF the Nile"
Naughty Marietta" THE Singing Girl"
Miss Dolly Dollars" 1.-The Viceroy,"
mile, Rosita.' THE Fortune Teller."Q
"Cyrano de Bergerac," Babe in Toy
lBnd." 1T Happened in Nordland," THE
Red MILL" Mile. Modlste," "Old Dutch"
-Wonderland," "The Prima Donna"
TRabette," "The Madcap Princess"
rsweethearts." 1.-THE Tattooed Man." The
Enchantress." THE Idols Eye" 1.-THE
Lady OF the Slipper" THE Only Girl
and Princess Pat" In the writing he
bad the aid of many librettists. none of
whom has been quite such teammate
es Mr. Blossom.
Mr.. Herbert and Mr.. Blossom Joined in
Nlting together six years ago. Mr.. Bios
iom's career as n writer of musical plays
began in 1904. when, in conjunction with
Alfred G. Robyn, he wrote The Yankee
Consul" for Raymond Hitchcock. Other
operas for which he has supplied libret-
los are The Slim Princess" for Elsie
janis, for which Leslie Stuart wrote the
music. This was followed by "All for
the ladies'" in which Sam Bernard was
The hero. The music of this piece was
written by Alfredo G. Robyn, his first
eelaborator.
In the broad sense of its meaning the
,ascendency of Blossom and Herbert can
pe dated to the year 1910. when they wrote
The Red Mill for Montgomery and
htone. Then came mile Modiste" and
The Prima Donna," both sung by Nine.
FRITZ Scheff. 1t was after the writing
q The Prima Donna" that they agreed
70 md new associates, and although they
we're able to pursue their divided ways
WIN more or less success, II is we'll
Known fact that Dame Fortune did not
mile so generously upon them as when
iney worked together. 1t has been said
saat saat OF all the Herbert collaborators. Mr..
niossom seems to possess more than any
" tue others that versifying knack which