Evening star., 1917-03-18

ALA MISUNDERSTANDING was born
in the Russian Crimea- in town on
the shores of the Black sea, but as a
child she was taken to Switzerland and
in Geneva was instructed on the violin.
AT twelve she returned to Russia and
made her first public appearance by
playing a violin solo at a Christmas
concert in her native town. She then
went to Odessa to continue her violin
studies. but took dramatic course in
stead, and after her graduation became
leading woman in stock company in
Kostroma, playing nearly 200 star
parts in a wide variety of productions
in a single year.
Ten years ago Ala Nazimova played
to an. audience of Smith College girls
and went to their dormitory after the
play. Sitting before the fire. she an
swered their amazing and multitude
nous questions about the stage. She has
had deep interest in college girls. The
little group whose friendship she then
formed has remained loyal The girls
have wed and have become stout ma
irons with fixed ideas. advance or 9TH
erwise. in that decade. But they al
ways go to see Nazimova- They see
her, whether in Bella Donna" in Ma
rionette," in That Sort" or In vaude-
VILE in War Brides
A Dashing Critique.-A Chicago critic.
in facetious mood. has generously con-
tributed to the gayety of nations by the
following comment on 1.-The Cinderella
Man:
after seeing three acts of The Gin
derella Man. I consider Edward Chils
Carpenter a blushing violet.
1.-The Cinderella Man is more than
the essence of romance! 1t is the dou-
ble-distilled, rarefied, sun-dried quintes-
sence of love itself. It's a sweet, sweet
play, and l was glad that j had to go
at IL o'clock. because if / had seen
any more ! would have kissed Ashton
Stevens or Dick Greiner. or the saddle
colored person who calls the automo-
bile in front of the theater.
1.-The Cinderella Man is tied up In
lavender ribbons and surrounded with
lilies of the valley. Young things will
go mad over it and cry and kiss one
another. but it's no play for tough old
geezers. I saw Smiley Corbett after
the third act rushing around on Clark
street, eager to kick a blind man or
throw rock through somebody S
plate-glass window. But if you like
nut sundaes and rnarshallows and all
day suckers you'll simply go crazy
over The Cinderella Man
There is only one person in the play
who is not sweet-Florence Pendleton.
She made a cross, nasty speech in the
third act, and said that Marjorie Gamer
was not all as she should be. But
sweet Mr.. Onslow talked harshly to
Florence and said if Florence didn't
beat 1t at once he would just push her
right out of the house, so there now,
even If it broke his wrist watch all to
pieces.
But what was young and beautiful
millionairess doing up in the soiled
Hold a bottle Of perfumery to your
nose and tickle your chin with a
feather and sit in a violet ray light
and 1 will tell you.
"Marjorie did not tell the sweet young
poet that she was a millionaress. be-
cause the poet just hated girls who
had money; he was afraid they would
sneak up on himSwhen he wasn't look
ing and make him ride in an automo-
bile and go to the opera and play bridge.
So Marjorie said she was the com
panion of the millionairess and quite
poor and, to keep up the deception
she never wore to the poets attic a
gown that cost more than $500 or ?4uV.
"Eyerything was lovely and Marjorie
and the poet were just crazy in love
With each other until Landlady Flor
ence Pendleton busted in, and, not
knowing that Marjorie was society
debutante and could commit murder
and get away with it. said that Mar
iorie was huSsy
(which brought us up to IL o'clock.
Reviewers of the drama must go when
the clock sounds the fateful hour of ] !
or their big fur-lined oVercoats and
their sassy evening clothes viii turn
TO rags, because they will lose their
jobs
Tree Urges National Theater.-An
ardent believer in a national theater
for the United States is Sir Herbert
Beerbohm Tree.
at is strange" he says. that the
English speaking peoples are the only
ones who do not recognize the neces-
sity of a national theater. 1t is to be
hoped that the state may turn it's at
tention to this aspect of education, and 1
notice already a tendency in the uni
versities of this country to devote their
consideration to the drama
ITO me the greatest tragedy of the
modern stage in America was the he
roic failure of the New Theater. 1t was
started in a splendid. noble spirit. ] be-
lieve, by those who gave New York its
opera, and what would New York be
today without it's opera? The necessity
of a peoples theater will proabbly not
make itself felt to the full extent un-
til the supply shall have created the de-
mand, Just as the necessity for a great
man is not realized until he has made
himself felt.
IT do not think that the powers that
kt,,t1 80 1te1,