Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-13
q[klQSEl1 TENTS
Belasco.

Belasco.
Mr.. Lazarus" the new four-act Gem
edy by Harvey O'Higgin and Harriet
Ford. althors of The Dummy" and
The Argyle Case" seems to be the
real comedy find of the season. 1t kept
a large audience at the Belasco Theater
last night until IL o'clock highly
amused and entertained. and then re-
1uctant to let it go. A sort of type OF
The Passing of the Third Floor Back,
ii wins with its real humanity where
the latter overwhelms with the super.
natural. Simple types, common ones OF
daily life, furnish the characters, and
their perfectly natural experiences
make the laughter continuous, even
when one feels ashamed of apparent
heartlessness as the pathos. just as nat
urally, comes into the story.
John Malloy, long before the play
opens. in the early weeks of his honey
moon with a young. pretty and dlfhdent
girl wife, is injured in a railroad accl-
dent and mysteriously disappears. After
the birth of a girl child, who becomes
the slavey of the story. the wife re-
marries widower. who passes as Dr.
Sylvester. He has 'the paternal smile
and the benignant jolly" but employs
1t to cozen. caJole and finally TO force
from the wife not only all the life IN
surence left by her former husband, but
the proceeds of a mortgage on the home
which she had inherited from him. HE
laviShes the money upon daughter by
q former wife. and lives in comfortable
idleness. while his second wife and her
child, Patricia Malloy, stint and slave
and struggle to make ends meet by
keeping a lodging house.
At this time when Patricia is a young
woman of twenty. MIR. Lazarus ap-
pears as prospective ledger. He
wants back room, away from the
noise and hustle. and he has the means
to pay generously for it, His wants,
however. dislodge an 1mpecunlous
Young artist, much in love with Pa
tricia. who is willing to share the
money he owes. but not the room with
a north light" In this room the late
Mr.. Malloy one time lodged and he had
instead of in the bed. A crayon pic
ture of him enlarged from cheap
tintype" adorned the wall, and it sug-
gested to the young artist, William
Booth by name. the hint that the ghost
of the original haunted the room, in
order to scare the new ledger, Mr..
Lazarus. into a front room.
DR.. Sylvester is now much in need of
$500 to have his book, THE New Sci
ence of Scognostaci sm and Instructive
Therapeutics" published that millions
may flow into the impecunious house
hold 1t is a new ruse, but it serves to
develop the plot. Patricias mother
finally sells her equity in the house,
tricia. who defes the willy doctor, and
he LAYS violent hands upon her, when
in enters Mr.. Lazarus. From this point
the story quickly approaches a climax.
Mr.. Lazarus buys the house and re-
deeds il to the wife, speeds the romance
of young Booth and Patricia, leaves a
sufficient fund in the hands of trustees
both for Patricia and her mother and
quietly disappears again. The family
who had begun to believe him Mr.. NAL
10y brought back to life, are speculat-
ing at the fall of the last curtain Just
who he is, but the audience has little
doubt.
Such is the story, but it bristIes with
comedy and laughable dialogue and
situations. all unfolded naturally and
In sequence, without forcing point or
artihce of any kind. 1t is this which
really makes the play so delightful.
OF course. Henry E. Dixey, equally IA
nous as "Adonis" Dixey, received an
ovation and had to make a little speech,
which he said often helped to spoil a
play. 1t was not his achievements of
the past, however. but his wholesome,
forceful. natural portrayal of the role
or Mr. Lazarus that won anew the ad-
miration of his audience. and he passed
out OF the scene with the tender hearts
aching In sympathy for him because
years had SO changed young and
pretty wife, and also because a daugh-
ter whom he had never seen until she
has reached young womanhood could
not really give daughters love to a
father she had never known. Therein
lies the pathosEthe empty reward of
Mr.. Lazarus.
But such is the play that it cannot
bear a weak spot in the cast and Mr.
Dixeys support was perfect-a strong
word. but nevertheless the right ol>s
Florine Arnold's Mrs. Sylvester was as
big star role as Mr.. Dixeys, and it's
contribution to the natural comedy and
the humor of the play was invaluable.
No less artistic was the work of Will
liam T. Clarke DR.. Sylvester. an
Ideal character creation of it's type.
Eva lie Gallienne was delightful as Pa
tricia, and Tom Powers William Booth
was refreshing and satisfying. Marie
Ascaraga, as DR.. Sylvester's daughter,
made the most of limited opportunities,
but helped to make a perfect cast.