Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-03-20


Found-the first bright. fresh now pulse
quickening light melody of the current foot
llsht season. This rare specimen Is in
captivity at the Adephi Theatre. where the
large audience that last evening attended
the performance here Of oscar strauss
The Beautiful Unknown" was so delighted
with the irresistible charms and dashing
rhythm of marching song entitled. keep
Repeating It." occurring five minutes after
the curtain rose, that the highest cxpccta-
tions Of subsequent alurement were enter
tanned
Had such hopes been realized Herr
Straus would have written another "Choco-
late Soldier That, as a whole. he has
achieved no such distinction a second time
is partly the fault Of insufficient librctto
material. monotonoudy wound and un-
wound. and rgrtiy duo to the peculiar type
| Of musical play which found favor in
Vienna just previous to the war.
It seems II have been the fashion in the
Austrian capital to deck the slendercst
! dramatic substance with deliberately orches-
| trated song numbers. very economically dis
| tributed The finished product was thus
neither exactly operetta, as Americans
understand it or a music play strong enough
| in its essential interest to pass as drama
| Turning offerings OF this Curiously hybrid
| sort into musical comedy for transatlantic
| consumption has neceSSitated the introduce
| tion of additional song Numbers, out of key
| with the original score and spectacular
| featuring of costumes and settings and
| that have tended to make n somewhat
| fragile thing rather ponderous Further
| more the labor of many hands in "The
| Beautiful Unknown is altogether too evil
! deht Hungary was the oriEina! locale oi
| the piece and Magyar military lie. treated
| in the conventionaly romantic way was its
theme For obvious political reasons. the
entire action has been transferred to France
| witp results that carry no conviction on
| the score Of atmosphere or characteriaa.
| ton, and even occasionally offend as tc
| appropriate I; stunning.
| Leopold Jacobson and Leo Stein ,vho
made the German book, have tod the very
elementary story of n yoang army officers
pursuit of a fair unidentified maid from
| whom he has received an Anonymous letter
| Edward Paulton, an experienced librcttst
who once wrote the English tent of "Er.
| mimic" has trcked out this primitive ia.
| brio with alleged humor of often doubt.
| full value. lie has, however, in part. atoned
| for these such transgressons with a string
| of lyrics. betraying expert metrCaL skill
| and capable of producing a sprightly lifting
effect. when the interpreters become accuS
| toned to these clever jingles.
| Apart from the one peculiarly deleCtablt
air already cited, oscar Straus has writer
melodious measures, which, however, con
| ventional at times, are always Gracpfulll
| orchestrated, and never descend to the plan,
of musical vulgarity. Indeed. as Il whole
the score is worthy of n far better lbrStto
At intervals it even rises to the level o
THE Chocolate Soldier" "A Walt
Dream" Sgmund Romberg has furnished
additional musical numbers, The program
does not identify them.
| There is some excellent singing in th
performance especially on the part Of Lo
Ewell. n recruit from the grand opera il
English stage and John II. Goldsworthy
the military hero. Maude Odel Charlie
Judels and Sam Edwards and Ned Monro
furnish comic relief Einora Kirwin por
trays the title role.
| No apparent attempt at pronounCing th
French names was made. Neither wa
there explanation of the presence of Bel
gian 1ags-at least they seemed to be Bel
gian in the yellow light used-which deco
rated the first act setting. Perhaps Teu
ton hint at the alleged ante-belum secre
agreement between Paris and Brussels wa
implied H. T. c.