Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-27
MTTZI (HAJOS) STEALS
HEARTS OF AUDIENCE
p;ckpocket in "Pom-Pom," at
Forrest, Takes No Money
Under False Pretenses

gNSaashIon. score 6Y & Hugo EeS, b. BOOK and
Marion IysSs o' Scenery by Josef Urban. Forrest
De Of i0S the olympic fISssf ysTct
Evelyn, Panlette's maid d... Bessie De vole
SsersarS SsiSsnSp to NJ %snsger of the oypc ks
pss pssIstia sHn0f 1ffs appearance as Pom Pom POM,
the pckpocket Mary u,oi,cSKiss Mtz
fbss fbsftrnnd qTr''c Chief of municipal detectives ~
crolnius. burglar in. chief. Thomas walsh
Macache, burglar ..............B Ben Hastings
Fssrese. Tuaes a conddence woman Rita Dane
Jean, hod-up man............"..,A Hedge
The erstwhile star of "Sari" has split her
name I'm twain but n rose by half its name
Is lust as sweet. The piquancies of per-
aonality the clarifies of voice and the brisk
ness Of acting that characterized Mtzi
Haios that was were brought anew and
eboundingly to the Forrest by the Mtzi
that is In "Pom-Pom" Possibly the dainty,
demure and droll little star found that our
English-drilled tongues had a sad time and
5 made sad mess of Hajos. That might
4 once have been true. but the war has
brought so many jaw-fracturlng terms to
us that now we do not bat an eye or lose
A syllable of Przasnysz or Przemys and
the soft-sounding Hajos need hardly be
. bracketed as it Is on the program. = Some
: years ago theatregoers were besought on
the boardings Know me as Nell" the
same being Mabel Taliaferro but she soon
came back to being known as Mabel Tala-
ferro. Lotta is another matter.
At any rate. relieved of the Hajos Mitzi
Il as gracile and faclle. light and alert
as the bevy of fairies who attended Puck
Oberon and Titania. In "Pom-Pom" she
has medium that is a fitting environment
for her dexterity, dlablerie and quantness
Anne Caldwells book and lyrics do some
thing unusual and even extraordinary for
q musical comedy. They provide frame
work and incidents which might easily be
turned into a practicable" farce, thus re-
versing tho usual procedure which draws on
farce-and waters it for musical comedy
q libretti
The conventional review, which is handy
IN treating of musical shows, fails hard in
/. this case. One cannot say that the music
Is tuneful, the dancing lively, the special
ties unique, the scenery lavish, and let it go
at that One cannot say that a syndicate of
librettsts have been unable to aggregate a
plot. The solitary authorship of the book
confers unity on the plot of Pom Pom
that is as marked as it is distinctive. There
Is even originality in the motivation. Bal
kan Kingdoms are deserted, highfaultin' ro-
nance is foregone. Pom Pom" takes mu-
steal comedy into the realm Of the crook
plays, with a decided accuracy in detail and
p, plausible hints of characterization. Mtzi
Hajos) plays the part of an actress who is
cast as a pickpocket and through a genu-
iney comic contretemps falls among
thieves" Her, adventures have suspense,
snap and unexpectedness. They lead inevi-
tably to climax.
The narrative Is kept continuous and
strictly adheres to a preconceived design,
specialities introduced are not Interrupt
tons" of the conventional kind, but are in
tegral parts of the proceedings 1t is all as
plausible as at least. grand opera. That is,
accept the conventions of singing and mu-
steal accompaniment and everything is as
real as Howells novel-if you can accept
them.
The music is tuneful. the dancing lively,
the specialties unique and appropriate. the
scenery lavish and Urbanesque. Hugo Felix
new composer to these parts, has a nice
gft of melodc inventiveness, and the Vien-
nese faculty of varied and fitting orchess
traton. His settings for Miss Caldwel's
songs seem TO belong" to the story, as
well as to have all the "catchiness" de-
manded by musical comedy audiences.
Mitzi--if we may be so familiar-is a
rollicking little devil in her moods. with
= elusive hints of Mrs. Fiske and Laurette
Taylor in her delicious accent Tom Nc
Naughton is what used to be called the
chief funmaker, but he is never obtrusive
The comedians role has been articulated tc
the requirements of the piece Carl Cant
WORT, last here in robin Hood" now
minus his accent, furnished a superbly
voiced hero-not tenor, praise be. Rita
Dane has a well-acted and beautifully
sung bit The other members of the cast
have been well selected and well trained
Pom Pom may be a crook musical show
but it takes no money under false pre-
lenses. w. r. NJ