Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-26

For twenty-five years." declared Fred
none, when the cataract Of applause had
made curtain speech inevitable, II trav-
sled with the best white boy fellow ever
had. and felt a bit shaky tonight" The
,lmsion to the loss Of Dave Montgomery
was touching and sincere, but as to shaki-
ass the reference must have had solely
t,mperamental application. Not one in the
vast friendly audience could have given an
ounoe of credence to any confession of ply
scal unsteadiness after the really astound-
ING exhibition of fantastic acrobatics fur
nlshed by the miracle-working star, who
now. for the first time in his stage career,
aeoes il alone" For Fred stones perform.
ance throughout a Kaleidoscope spectacle
was. to put it mildly, little short Of phenom-
anal It was not mere conventional
clownng, in which he so lavishly indulged,
but extraordinary agility informed always
4 by a legitimate sense of the whimsical, the
4 delciously fantastic and the spontaneously
droll
Coldly to catalogue the complete list of
his achievements would severely tax the
llmitatIons of space. Out of the whirlwind
4 Of refreshing foolery there stand his con-
vulslye buresque of Russian dancing, his
ffee-climbing somersauhs. his mock English
coon song" his thrillingly expert ice-skat-
lpg and his all too brie Characterization OF
The Ohio Jack o. Lantern, who is a bit
soft" pocket portrait with a subtle
sayor Of even so classic a simpleton as
Barnaby Rudge. He was, in short,
yeritable hippodrome Of healthy drollery
fully capable of carrying an entire enter
tanment on his tireless back.
The lavish management, however, had evil
IDENTIFY no intention of denying its star
AN pf inf Ntno
hppodrome personitied, Jack OLantern"
was n hippodrome in fact. Here was an
Extravaganza on the most dazzingly Opulent
scale as replete with specialties as a vaude-
vile show, superb in stage settings and
costuming as a Russian ballet, and gay and
breezy good musical comedy should be
and too often is not.
The embarrassment of riches delayed the
final curtain until 11:20. Cuts will have to
be made to fit the offering to the regulation
time schedule They could be employed to
beet advantage In act two, for any curtail.
rent Of the charming opening scenes. with
It's delightful fable of rowing, ingratating
Jack o. Lantern, friend and playmate Of
\ the most appealing kiddes, and savior of
them from the wies of ruthless guardian,
would mar the sunny nursery tale aspects
Of the piece that distinguish it from a
mere meaningless display of footlight gilt
ier. AS the special features. the saxophon.
lsts, the Russian skaters, the pigmy family
and Charles T. Aldrich's character changes
crowd upon each other, later in the per-
formance the slender thread OF story almost
disappears, but gratitude that so much of 1t
Is retained In the opening act deserves
recording. AS a production for children
the extravaganza, which in underlying
Structure suggests some OF the old Dave
Henderson efforts grown to gigantic stat.
ure, Is in many ways ideal What the
grownups thought of 1t was registered in
the magnitude of a triumph such as has not
come to any Philadelphia premiere in long,
long seasons
Ivan Caryl's music, without attaining
the champagne quality of his scores OF
Delphine" or THE Little Cafe" is tune.
iul and tinkling. The Urban and Emens
settings are exceedingly lovely in design
and artistry of coloring, while r. II. Burn
side's manipulation of the ensembles anJ
DIS conversion of pretty show girls fetch
ngly garbed into instruments of in
'elhgence that give a distinctive touch oi
character to every song number partakes Of
tne miraculous. Stage direction 30 expei
mas few rivals on either side of the Al
hntic
The long cast. which included Dougla,
stevenson, as the Juvenile an extremely
winsome Italian girl, Teresa Valerio Allen,
Crater CMrs. Stone), sound and authoritS
i've In genre role dainty little Kathleen
Robinson and Harold West, had been drilled
with as much thoroughness as though thu
performance had had years run "a
Broadway. That Is what is will undoubt
soly have after II leaves here. H. T. G,