The Detroit times., 1916-11-14
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE


relodrama. even II that drama is
treated IN an unconventional man
DER aud very well acted. is not .ex-
sctiy what the Detroit opera house
patrons enjoy most This was made
apparent Monday night. when Henry
". Savage offered Fate Decides
which he terms play OF parallels.
Come really fine acting and some
exceptionally clever lines won con
siderable applause but there Sas
little in The way OF a demonstration
that might be construed as enthusi-
Rsm.
II takes a long time 20 tell The
little story. because II is all done
over twice. The tale Is unfclded IN
two Acts. each OF two scenes. The
two acts. dialogue and all. are al
most identical save for slight al
teratiop At the nnish. which involv-
cd a suicide. Az the end of the hrSt
half one man shot himself and then
when the story Was rehearsed u Vas
another man who sent stage bul-
let crashing thru his heart
The deadly parallel IS designed 20
show that fate rules IN this life and
that one cannot know what IL best
unfit n IL too late In this case
drink Of sherry that had been drug
ged was suficient 20 change ne
whole future for all the characters
and TO send one schemer 90 death
instead OF bis victim
Jack Hilliard. played by Paul Cor
don, went 20 New York from Akron.
O., 70 make good go that he could
marry Mary Norweil. who IN the
person OF Nina Gombel WAS very
attractive and well worth making
good for. Things don't break right
for Jack and he II about 20 commit
suicide when some of HE old Akron
friends reach the metropolis In
the first rendering % the play they
discover Jack IN bis tenement house
room In the lower east eide. and
take him 10 their hne Apartm srt on |
Riverside Drive. where fate makes I
Jack the victim of circumstartl2l /
evidence and drives him 20 death
when the story is told over Jack, /
under the influence ~ the drugged I
liquor. goes with pair OF burglars
90 rob the apartment of the Akron |
folk. recovers his senses In time 20 4
betray his supposed Acconphce. who l
IN turn exposes tho man higher up 1
and drives him IN suicide.
In other words. Fate decreed that
the man who was strong and resist
cd drink and other temptations was
ruined. but when he weakened and !
took 20 the bottle IN desperation \
Fate guided him thru devious paths
20 happiness. The moral would ap- /
pear TO be that Fate saves the weak /
and unworthy and gets after the \
strong and manly with cruel lash. I
The story has this other weak.
ness. that Il In quite obvious from l
first 10 last One anticipates every /
thing and sits quietly waiting for |
Il TO happen just "a he had foressen |
that II would happen.
Gladys Bowen. whose voice is the
voice OF Fate. endows that interest
ing spirit with a truly splendid yo-
cal equipment; Earle Mitchell and
Pauline Lord. burglar and burglar
ess. do some very good work; Frank
Mills. as the real villain, 10 highly
appreciated for his fne acting. and
the other parts are all In good
hands. including those OF Guy Cor
don. Elizabeth AriAans. Kathleen
Comegys, Charles Hallock and J. B.
Hollins.
incidentally. Fate almost decided
20 give the audience a thrill that
was not on the program. A short
time before the hnAl curtain those
IN the audience began 20 detect The
odor OF something burning and
many began 20 get nervous Soon
one man picked up his overcoat and
hurried out In a moment another
followed. and soon perhaps a dozen
or more had left The audience was
plainly excited and women were
urging their escorts 10 take them
away. Finally. as II by common I'm
pulse. most OF those IN the front
rows got 10 their feet and started
for the aisles.
Paul Gordon was IN the midst OF
pretty little love scene with the
object OF his affection AZ this tins.
but be gave up wooing for the mo
ment while be calmed the audi
ence.
please keep your seats he call
ed Some rags were burning on
the stage. but they have been taken
out and there is no danger"
This satisfied the timld ones and
they resumed their seats and ssw
the remainder OF the play. sltho the
last act was spoiled by the incident
Gordon had not been on the stage
after the odor reached the nostrils
OF the audience, but his presence o.
mind In giving an explanation stop
ped what appeared 20 be en- incip-
tent panic. II was later explained
that cigarettes which were used Ia
the preceding scene bad been tossed
into pile of rags and caused
small blaze.
GAaRicK
Irene Franklin was wise than
Chauncey Olcott when venturinK
into new stage pastures this sea
son, and while Chauucay left hts
sentimental songs behind him in the
romantic Irish drama and found dis
aster. Irene iugged her aerio-comic
diities right along from vaudeville
into her frst starring venture "The
Melting OF Molly" seen N the Car.
rick theHter Monday evening. and
undoubtedly saved her popularity
and her fortune.
None Of Mr. Oicott's faithful fol
lowers wanted 10 see their iavori's
Irish singing actor In any other Kind
of play than tho sort they we're