davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
THE WAYS OF FATE.

Florence Reed Is positive about her
likes and dislikes. There can be little
doubt, for instance. as to her JOY in
wild women roles. AS to her ideas on
life in general, she is so decided as to
be practically a fatalist. This, she
explained, is not merely because she
is starring in Roads of Destiny"
Claiming Pollock's play at the, Re
public. but on account Of the way In
which important events in her own
life have shaped themselves.
First of all Miss Reed wanted to
talk about her three roles in the new
play. which, she explained, were built
partly upon character motive and
partly as instruments of fate. In the
first act she tends a roulette wheel
in an Alaskan gambling hell, where
she IS held in thrall by a brutal adj
venturer. Next she appears as a
fluffy society girl with adventurous
leanings on her own account and
lastly she is a servant whose mind
has been affected by her betrayal
The second part was the one which
Miss Reed found the hardest TO make
effective, at least up to the point
l.
The last impersonation. she thought,
took everybody off their feet, for with
her own foolish hair, as she EXPRESSED
1t. and that brushed back, and in such
a lowly character, she was scarcely
recognizable as the same person.
Personally she liked the crazy girl the
best, possibly because the role makes
t..e greatest demands on her art. II
certain that she surmounts the diff
-ulties OF the part with great skill
Taking the play all in all Miss Reed
said that she found 1t one of the most
interesting things she had ever tried
to do. one OF her greatest handicaps
in the last act was the disadvantage
OF having TO appear as a 'scarecrow,"
which made every one against her.
whereas, just before, she had made her
self as beautiful as possible and came
on the stage in a stunning gown. Orig
inally there was a Mexican scene in
the play which required her to
change from a white skin to brown
one and back again to white, but fate
decided that the scene was not neces-
sary to its purposes.
All last season Miss Reed was
Chu Chin Glowing with ESQ camels
md donkeys, to say nothing OF Arabs
blacks, Hindus and Japanese The
Oriental spectacle appealed to her be.
cause she said. she was pagan of
the Orient at heart She had two
years as pagan in 1.-THE Wanderer. "
but thought that was too long to stick
to one part
Its the funniest feeling to be in q
play with only twelve people" said
Miss Reed. and to be in a small thea
tire instead OF in the Manhattan
Opera House. Really it is relief
to speak again in a conversational
tone and not have to shout at the top
Of my lungs, And IT is always inter-
esting when you can work in a small
way to get big effeCts-a minimum of
effort with maximum of effect. In
a big production you have to be at
concert pitch all the time or you don't
get anything over, It's like sitting in
the front row or in front of the drums
when you go to hear Wagner"
Miss Reeds first success was I'm
Seven Days" one of hcr most vivid
recollections OF the play was that the
sister OF the mother Of the young lady
she portrayed had a CAT named Slllna,
] She scored a triumph in "Typhoon,"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

n AYBE the time has to view with alarm Ound note Of
\/ warning feel anxiety otherwise indicate
apprehension the decline and fall Sas
would have of the British the United
imported which and indeed the quality the
supply the London boards all that the population demands
specimens exported for the Of the ound
indicate grave state of something somebody.
To think that the time would would
the of Maugm
supplying stage
sends the wfuy back the days of Sutro
his etateCapt Marshall Vchel
of the second raes Probably did appreciate highly
day. But that before the mad glad bad
Douglas Murray Austin Page Jessie Porter the other
summaries of the day. Such real damats Pneo
and Shaw are to-day almost among the unattainable
decline
century two Everybody has read heard that
drama has been sliding hill that nothing
the the bottom that the
saining of the of hearing seemed English
recently brought here for
that bang To judge from the dramas lately only
DUALITY is needed to insure in London
of the evidently enduring
be borne in mind that the
be reality
thonged the theatre the works Thomas Murray Mr.
Page Jessie Porter.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

Thirty-ninth Street Theatre by two
plays which could not possibly have
been accounted great successes. One
OF these was THE Long DASH" and
before it passed briefly mot With Ny
Money" While neither was to be
highly commended and both were
more or less promptly rejected by the
public. yet there were an inventive
ness and spirit. vivacity and interest
in both plays which were denied to
every English specimen recently dis
closed. Indeed, repeated inspection OF
these examples OF the English drama
Of to-day confirms the conclusion that
the priceless charms of "A Little Bit
OF Fluff" were placed before us too
soon. To-day we might accept them
gratefully in view of the course of
training in the British drama that
local managers have so unselfishly ar
ranged for US.
William Winter in his posthumous
account Of the career of David Belasco,
which is a Just and volumInous trib-
ute to the foremost manager OF this
period - indeed, to the most distin-
guished figure in the theatre Of this
country since the death of Augustin
Daly-traces meticulously the early
! struggles Of this playwright. actor and
manager, His unwearying energy in
every branch OF the professlon-act-
ing, adapting and writing plays, de-
! signing scenery, studying the meth
DDS Of this great actor or that as a
super, If no better occasion offered,
arranging spectacles for ephemeral
| existence in San Francisco in the '70s
| this was, Of course, his unprece-
dented preparation for the task which
he was to undertake later-for the
task indeed which he Is so brilliantly
accomplishing to-day.
II Is TO be regretted that everY ad-
mirer Of the performances at the the
aires under Mr.. Belasco's control
| and they number every connoisseur OF
! the stage-cannot read Mr.. Winters
book to see what heroic apprentice
ship the manager spent In their SER
vice. Those youthful years OF unre-
hitting struggle and study. achieve
ment and unsatisfled ambition, those
years were really spent for the sake
Of the men and women who can &C
to the Belasco theatres to-day and say
that II human perfection In any arr
exists it is most likely to be found
here. Without the drudgery and the
ploughing in such a hard field, with.
out the sweat and maybe the blood
there could never have been such G
beautiful Towering Of the art OF the
theatre as David Belasco now shows
to those who. seeking the best in thai
art, turn to his plays, his actors ant
his stages
| b In "a Place in the SUM- Cyril Har,
court apparently struggles between
glimpse Of the characters OF modern
men and women and a more or lesi
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
Where the Plays Change.

Robert Mantell's repertory at
the Forty-fourth Street Theatre
will be king Lear" Hamlet"
"The Merchant of Venice"
Richard III" and Macbeth"
Engenie Blair will appear at
the Standard in the famous old
play EAST Lynne"
THE Man Who Came Back"
will be presented by William A.
Brady at the Shubert- Riviera
with Laura Walker and Frank
Morgan.
Marjorie Rambeau will be
presented at Loew's Seventh
Avenue Theatre in where Pop
pies Bloom"
David Warfeld enters upon the
last week of his extended en-
gagement in "The Auctioneer"
At the Manhattan Opera House.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
THE WEEKS NOVELTIES.
The ZieefeId Nine O'clock and
Midnight Frolics-At the NeW
Amsterdam Roof

AHlSteFuuW nOOJ
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., will present
Monday evening at the Danse de Fol-
lies, atop the New Amsterdam The
atre, a characteristic new entertain
ment The nightly crowding for four
years OF the Midnight Frolic has con-
WINGED Mr.. Ziegfeld that there is a
great public which demands delights
of the Midnight Revue type without
having to remain In the theatre until
such late hours. To meet this demand
Mr. Ziegfeld has created the new en-
tertainment, starting at o'clock.
with girls, music and celebrated prin-
cipals, upon the basic lines of the
"Follies," which win close at 1l:l5
and be followed at IL o'clock by an
entirely new Midnight FTolic." This
plan permits of leisurely dining and
visit to the Danse de Follies for
coffee and cigars with the mine
O'Clock Frolic" and a dancing inter-
mission before the Midnight Frolic."
The entire New Amsterdam Theatre
Roof has been transformed and re-
decorated by Joseph Urban. Mr..
Ziegfeld has assembled for principals
such favorites Of the theatre world as
Bessie Mccoy Davis, Lillian Lorraine
Fanny Brice, Bird Millman. Lillian
Leitzel, Bee Palmer. De Lyle Aida,
Eva Lynn. George Price, Yvonne
Shelton. Jessie Reed. Dolores. Martha
Mansfield. Simone d'Herlys and Bert
williams. Mr.. Ziegfeld has gathered
together for his chorus thirty six
new beauties. and he is confident they
have never been equalled individually
or collectively upon any stage.
To further diversity the novel en-
tertainment Mr.. Ziegfeld has induced
Holbrook Blinn to produce and ap-
pear in a dramatic sketch with the
holiday spirit called MI. Valentines
Christmas Supper" Mr.. Blinn viii be
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

Specimens Of contemporaneous
British drama now visible are without
exception founded more or less di-
rectly on subjects dealing with the
war. They have so far been naive
and amateurish on one hand or stale
and inexpert on the other. Authors
who selected themes which were
known to be of stage value, such as
Mr.. Murray Of Perkins" left that old
idea badly free from all novelty Of
treatment or Righteousness of dia-
logue or characterization. The other
writers have been content to spin the
du1lest and most familiar yarns in the
most uninspired manner. Such is ap-
parently the war time theatre of Lon
don.
But Il Is not the theatre of New
York at any time. The most expert
OF these recent importations is by
Pigeon Post" which Is relieved by the
novelty OF the birds. But the FIRST act
of that play until within a few min
utes of the curtain is of an excruciat-
ing dulness. Betty at Bay" which
IS an amazingly naive product in a
dramatic way, wanders It's amateurish
course with not the slightest intima-
ton from the author that there was
ever any such thing as a technique for
the playwright. Berte Thomas, in his
play of mother and son and nobody
else but the stage hands, has supplied
seventy minutes Of spoken dialogue
with half the first act so dun that
nervous spectators must hold on to
their chairs to keep from screaming
then and there. perkins" was poi
sonous enough to stump such a skilful
actress as Ruth Chatterton, make
Henry Miller nervous and even close
up the beautiful Henry Miller Theatre,
(which in view Of its dramatists has
been excluded from the gaze OF New
sXork theatregoers. Only the veteran
sAie1ander Dumas enabled a few to
.inspect the tasteful interior of the
INV playhouse
Betty at Bay was preceded at thu
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

performers are announced for the en-
tertainment: Ed Wynn, Mollie King,
Gordon and William Dooley. Charles
King, Mae West, Jay Gould Rosie
Quinn, Rath Brothers, Frances
Pritchard, James Clemens, Airline
Chase, Paul Baker Julia Ballew and
forty OF the loveliest girls New York
has ever seen" The production has
been staged by Edward Royce. The
music Is by Harry Tierney and the
lyrics by Joseph Mccarthy and John
Henry Mears, Gorgeous costumes are
promised and new scenery. The per-
formance will start promptly at 1880.
Tonight at the Ncighborhood Play
house the Festival Dancers will give
their fifth performance of "A Festival
OF Tabernacles,' with music and
dancing, which has proved so DC pular
that additional performances have
been scheduled for December IA and
10. There are eighty-siX participants
in this production in addition to the
orchestral ensemble Of ten pieces
under the direction of George Bar
rere.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
PLAYS THAT LAST.

Aston. Little Simplicitv": Be
lasco, Tiger! Tigerl"; Belmont,
The Little Brother; Buop.
Sleeping Partners; Booth Be
Calm, Camilla; Broadhurs',
Ladies First; Casino, Some
Time; Central. Forever After;
Cohan. "By Pigeon Post; Cohan
& Harris, Three Faces East;
Comedy, "A Place in the Sun;
Cort, THE Better Ole;
Criterion, Three Wise Fools;
Eltinge, "Under Orders; EN-
pire, THE Saving Grace; Forty
eighth Street, "The Big Chance
Forty-fourth Street, Robert
Mantell; Fulton, "A Stitch in
Time; Gaiety, "Lightn.n' "
Globe, The Canary; Harms
The Riddle; Woman; Hud-
son, Friendly Enemies; Lib
erty, "Glorianna": Longaere'
Nothing But Lies; Lyoeum'
"Daddies"; Lyric, "The Unknown
Purple; Manhattan OoeTa
Maxine Elliott's, "Tea tor
Three; Miller's, Daddy Long
Legs; Morosco, Remnant
New Amsterdam, THE Girl Be
hind the Gun; New Amsterdam
Roof, Coordination Fro4c
Playhouse, Home Again , Fly
mouth, Redemption" Pr.ntss''
oh, My Dear; Re1@'Nl'
Roads of Destiny; Se.wIn'
THE Crowded Hour SaG.etL
The Bttrothal"; Thir,y,7'n'a
Street, 1Betty at Bay W ''e"
Gardenf" Sinbad"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

- In "a Place in the SUM- Cyril Har-
court apparently struggles between a
glimpse OF the characters OF modern
men and women and a more or less
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
Gle Gendre de NJ. Poirier"-At n
TieDkx COlOtnbier

Ftelir COlOmbier.
Jacques Copeau, director general OF
the French Theatre du Vieux Colom-
bier, returns to the French dramatists
tomorrow evening when lie Gendre
de NJ Poirier" of Emile Angler and
Jules Sandeau will be presented.
Henrik Ibsen, whose "Rosmersholm,"
the offering al the French Theatre last
week. proved to be one Of the most
successful plays produced at this
theatre. was a disciple Of Emile
Angler. who, with Dumas fls, created
the modern thesis play.
lie Gendre de NJ. Poirier" is not
new to New York, having been most
recently produced here by the French
company at the Century Roof
Theatre. NJ. Poirier. a wealthy bour-
geois and the father-in-law OF a mar
quis who married to pay his debtors
and live in luxury. represents the
large body of the common people. who
openly express contempt for the
nobility, and are yet willing to sacri-
fee all their earthly goods for the
pleasure OF being called my lord"
Mile, Yvonne Garrick. who makes her
first appearance at the Vieux Colom-
bier in this play, took part when It was
produced by the former French COM
pany.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

Florence Reed is tantalizing figure
IN the American theatre and obviously
destined to attain the post to which
her talents and beauty entitle her in
spite Of rather than through Roads OF
Destiny" She made her temperance
here Importantly as the unhappy hero
Inc Of "Typhoon" with Walker White
side at the Fulton Theatre. Then Miss
Re showed her present gifts in an
undeveloned state. although It was
predicted that she would be vastly
improved by a sojourn in New York,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
Jessie REED
IN zIEGFELD COMBINATION FeoLfc

while the metropolitan stage would
have every cause to be grateful for her
presence. Miss Reed stopped in our
theatrical midst and the result has
been as her admirers prophesied then.
Physically she Is more radiant in
beauty now than she was at that time,
and singularly enough she looks more
youthful in spite OF the addition Of
these few years. She is gifted with a
fine sense OF pictorial effect and Is
fortunately possessed of an uncom-
monty fine medium for its display in
her own loveliness. Her enunciation
Is clearer than one often hears. and
every consonant in her method Of
speech receives its full value. Then
she is always alive with the dramatic
sense OF the minute. Sometimes It
appears difficult for her to hold in
leash her participation in q scene
and in dramatic minutes she springs
Into the action alert as a tigress. It
would not be possible to say that her
effects are ever cerebral. But she has
the dramatic instinct In the fullest
measure and 10 a burning, vital figure
in every scene. It may be true that
there Is a metallic glitter about the
charm OF the whole phenomenon; it
is never coldly metallic. but the glitter
of steel that shoots its sparks into
the hearts OF the spectators.
Without the least knowledge as to
the original form OF Mr.. Pollock's
play. 1t seems probable that the three
or four characters enacted by Miss
Reed acquired their importance
through a distortion OF the earliest
scheme of the work. It Is plainly the
career Of the youth seeking the cross
roads OF his life and finding always
the signposts there that forms the
| theme OF the drama. Miss Reed. play
ing the occasional temptfess, has evil
IDENTIFY been provided for as a star by
increasing her share in the develop
ment OF the story. 1t is possibly this
change in the course OF the play that
has helped to add to Its obscurity
! In referring to the operettas of
Charles Lecocq in this country a CORE
spondent writes:
Like many others I know I GER
tainly did enjoy reading about the old
time comic opera favorites In your
very interesting accounts Of Charles
Lecocq and his works last Sunday. 1t
took me back to the New York loved.
/ Venie Clancy! What joyous memories
that name revives! Poor Venie died
far too early. remember well the
last time saw her It was at old
South Broad Street Theatre, Philadel-
phia, where she was playing with
Eliza Weathersby In a piece called
Hobbies" Nat Goodwin was In the
company, doing his limitations. So
waS Jennie Weathersby, Eliza's sister,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
Harry Lauder-At the Lexington The

Harry Lauder-At the Lexington The
dtre.
At the Lexington Theatre to-mor-
row evening Harry Lauder will begin
an engagement Of one week before
starting on a tour Of the world. which
he expects will consume about fifteen
months. To New York playgoers the
Scotch comedians return to this
country Is replete with interest be-
cause OF his recent close association
at the front line trenches with many
men of various New York regiments.
Much OF LADDERS new material has
been inspired by events abroad. but
he has retained a number of his bet
, ter known songs in his repertoire.
William Morris, under whose direction
Lauder is appearing, has assembled a
company for Mr.. LADDERS support,
and announces matinees on Wednes-
day. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08
MOLlIE KING
CENTURY E1IONiGHT Wfi1L
CENTURY ROOF.

supported by eight Of the most beauti-
full girls in the company. Ned Way
burn he's staged both the pioneer
Midnight Frolic" and the dlstinctively
different new Mine O'Clock Frolic."
Gene Buck has written the lyrics and
Dave Stamper the score. Joseph
Urban has painted striking scenes in
key with the novelty of the Zieg-
field conception. Danby's Syncopated
Orchestra will play for both shows
and the dancing.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

hopeless subsection to familiar stage
types. The study Of the young waster
in the play at the Comedy is, for in
stance. altogether of the present gen.
eration-one might almost say of the
future. He has been made by his
education, which is more or less the
education of his class in England.
worthless parasite, dependent on his
father. unable to make a living and
deflantly opposed to follow any other
career in life. He proclaims his pur-
pose to remain just as useless as his
world has made him. He Is not
averse to making a profession out OF
being a thorough waster.
His sister is also the product OF her
education. and her rebellion against its
teachings Is just as deeply founded as
that Of her precious brother. She will
show her father and brother how a
waster should act toward the woman
he has wronged She will point their
duty to them moreover in the most
striking way. SO she wanders to the
rooms OF the brother. who~has been in
vain struggling to assure right to his
sister, and there indicates so plainly he
cannot misunderstood her that she Is
not only willing but anxious to be put
in the same social and physical state.
1t is at this point that Mr.. Harcourt
abandons his extremely modern view
point and turns the development OF the
play in the direction Of his most con-
ventionai characters. Father relenting
makes 1t possible for the MASTERS vic
tim to dry her tears, especially as this
worthy shows the eleventh hour re-
pentance which turns him into the Or
binary reformed villain Of drama.
I Although Mr.. Harcourt's characters
/ show such a wide variety in their re-
! bellion against the purely conven-
/ tionai standards OF British drama and
iocile Difference to its most hidebound
conventions, they are unchanging In
one particular. They talk at all times
the idiom of the author. This Ian
guage Is ineptly literary. The author
plainly believes that fine writing, the
verbose and the periodic are much
more literary than any other means OF
speeches for the men and women OF
his creation. To speak as they would
in real life. to indicate character and
motive directly by what they say
rather than by carefully composed
phrases has been thought more truly
literary than all the efforts OF which
an uncuItivated author may be capable.
But Mr.. Harcourt's children speak his
own tongue under all conditions.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

1.-THE Midnight Whirr'-At the Gen.
tury Theatre Roof
The new Century Midnight Whirl
will open on the roof of the Century
Theatre Thursday night. This will
be one OF the most pretentious OF
after theatre revues The following
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

which she considered one Of the great
est plays ever produced. David Be-
lasco used to send his players TO 1t 10
see how a Japanese part should be
acted, she said. Walker Whiteside was
the Jap and the finest star, she
thought, that anybody ever played
with.
Miss Reed paused to puff her ciga.
rette and seemed somewhat startled at
the irrelevant question whether she
really liked the wild women so very
much.
Hal" she exclaimed with explosive
enthusiasm Her eyes snapped and o
little smoke bomb burst from her
throat with the defamation.
II like them the best OF all" she de.
clared. "They are so colorful But
they are not sympathetic. Nobody
says Isn't she sweet? Isn't she dearg
And that's what they must say if you
are to be a star. Abroad one can think
more about art, but here one has to
be very nice person. When played
TiShd, the Babylonian vampire IN The
Wanderer.' my milliner's mother came
as 1t was over she said to her daugh.
ter. Dear. I do hope that dreadful
woman never comes into your shop
The milliner insisted that | was a
very nice woman, but her mother
wouldn't believe that any one who
acted the way I did could be nice or
have decent instincts"
F'atalism seemed to Miss Reed A
dangerous philosophy because it made
people deny responsibility for their
acts. What she meant by her belief
in destiny applied to the great issues
of life, and she recounted how she had
to undergo a serious surgical opera
ton when she was just starting to play
in Under Cover" and how 1t led 10
her taking a part in another play
The Yellow Ticket" in which she had
one Of the greatest successes Of her
career.
The colored scenes ir "InfatuatioH
starring Gaby Deslys, it Is said marx
the highest point OF achievement o.
chromatic cinema display, in whlc!
the houes OF Pathe was the p!oneer
more than twenty years ago. The
scene Is a performance on the stag
of the spacious Casino de Paris show
ing the human flag" now reproduced
at the New York Hippodrome A COM
pany OF girls mount a gigantic frame,
and the arrangement OF their COS
tunes furnishes the color OF first the
French Tricolor and then Ola Glor"
The rest of the brilliant performance
is shown with its glttering ballet,
evolutions and grouping.
For faithful color production there
were no inconslderable problems TO be
met, but the lighting experts and spe-
cialists from the Pathe color studios
at Nncennes figured them out TO per
lection with the cooperation Of Dire
tor Louis Mercanton.