Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-12

eoment, oliver Morosco' Auelpnl Auf6tIe,. T5.,,.
Iehas. .,osIog nBsseSeriy Moon ~ James DUNN
Mrs. Lillian Boardman
Psglins PIrry summerheld. ........ Charles Ruggless gls
Betty N{osssr.'............... sr Herbert corthe
ME- and Tuck Trixie Fpgsnns
blanche Moss''''''i,;C:rr'ii''''i ct ir''0 '''Sa"AA
canary Cottage 3 O'Clock in the afternoon.
ACT II
scepo 1-Upstairs sleeping porch of Canary
cOs9gs' cOsoags "a scene in California. -
Scene Scene 5-2n orange grove in California
o,,yer Morosco is going to masculinize
-,,,ool comedy for the effeminate East,
:. rnow why. The Los Angeles producers
~.,,scuIar touch has already been felt in
,s. long Lefty" Canary Cottage" is, II
ihIe eo lust a shade roughe9 just bit
yS,,er slightly more wild and woolly
~ "Ietty." The East, at least Phila-
ssInbia. it seems, is taking kindly to the
Worosco treatment, in spite OF a certain
sssniIsritv of dose For Canary Cottage"
s.s its firtatious young things. its infor-
nsl California life, it's amiable, aimless
sSorpses its mistakes in identity and its
,nebrlated comedian, Just as Lefty" had.
put the gentlemanly souse of Hal
stsIlv in the earlier show Is far outpaced
tv the bacchic antics Of Herbert Corthell
a. the later one. Canary Cottage" Is
hnu, over a vat and filled with hrewater
EaH of its wit stems from that innocu-
ans and agreeable disease, delirium tre-
mems. 1t takes a brave manager to dram
s,lza "the horrors" but Mr.. Morosco
with his clear, open faith in laughter at
All costs, is not the man to sidestep. Not
ony has he placed the drunken person in
tIl view half of the evening, but with
touch of almost mystic beauty he has
taJ ha alcoholic INNS that
nsrson sees in the bodies of a couple Of
seile dwarfs. There is now nothing left
N lIbrettists but the madhouse and the
sbambles, and we aren't certain they
haven't seen duty before the footlights.
Canary Cottage" leans right heavily on
o. the fat lady, her jag and her tumbles; on
the movie stunt Of laying the time of Act
II prior to Act / of all the harmless vio-
iences of farce. Also II brings forward a
composer somewhat less indebted TO Ros-
sinl and old ragtime than the Mr.. Earl
Carroll of the Lefty" period There are
several real tunes in the show, of the sort
denominated by critics in 1907 as likely
10 be whistled everywhere"
But the music will not do for Canary
Cottage" what the word-of-mouth reports
on the book will. For one thing, the latter
is slightly open, frankly indelicate Here's
loose moments" exclaims Charles Ruggles,
opening wine in Act IL. "Canarys two
hours aren't all "loose." Time has accus-
toned us to much. But there is enough
good-natured vulgarity to go around 1t
Is all natural enough. If there's one thing
the Morosco shows are, it's unforced. Not
for them the daintiness of the Caryll-Mc-
Lellan colaborations, nor the satrc bite
Of "The Follies" They make no claim to
the refnements of Very Good Eddie" or
'Tonights the Night" What they do
thrust forward is enormous self-enjoyment
boisterous content, an innocent and almost
childish faith in obvious fun.
This sort of fun is sometimes justified (ii
Il needs thaD by some admirable artists
In this line of endeavor. Corthel would
defy any role to floor him, so rich and thick
his humorous sense, so we'll oiled his method
Ruggles a juvenile new TO this CITY, in
trenches his pleasant preliminary reputa
ton by some deft playing, spoiled only by
too much force and eXplosveness. And
there is Miss Friganza, buxom and bouncing
as usual and up to her mark when giver
anything worthy to do. Perhaps no woman
In rough farce can be as funny or as de
pressing as this lady. For samples of boil
see her skillful impersonaton of tht
"plckled" wife in Act II and her tediou
horsepay before and after that. Doroth!
Webb, looking like a blond Edna Wallac
Hopper, dances with precise grace and eX
hbits the background of training and crisl
charm. A young man, Arthur Burckey
shows what repression can do with small
material. His work is neat, quiet adroit.
At least one reviewer enjoyed the orang
fight that closes the show more than any
thing else. It's lots of fun to hit stag
people after they have started something
But there's the symbolical side, too. Fo
Canary Cottage" is orange in color, scream
ing orange. B. d.