The Washington herald., 1918-04-12

Special Correspondent Of The Washington Heran.
New York. April 11.-Throbbing
melodrama is what New York thea
ter goers really want. The pro-
ducers looking with critical eyes
on the theatrical world have found
that the melodramas are lasting
longer and bringing greater re-
turns. At the beginning of the
season the theatrical psychology
was that the world was wet with
tears and wanted light. music and
laughter as a surcease. The psy-
chology was wrong-the meller
drammer is the thing.
Most of the successes point to the
return of the old thrillers. The
French maid has come back into
her own. She is now a part of ev-
cry performance. The master of
the house always makes love to her
and she must always wear cap.
an apron and a short dress and silk
stockings. Oh. yes. she must wear
silk stockings. She can fill her
role indifferently. but not her
stockings.
The melodrama must have the
old but great Lust motive-the lust
for gold or the lust for love. No
melodrama can survive without it.
There must be that gripping mo-
ment when the misunderstood hero
inc Is about to take the compro-
missing letter from the silver tray
held by the footman-his first big
part: he was formerly in a Winter
Garden chorus-and behind the
50 tr;a " @
ready to tell all the next day.
And too there must be the little
child TO bring the erring couples to-
gether I'm the last act The child
actress is in great demand. She must
as the curtain goes down recite:
Now I lay ME down to sleep while
the reunited parents clinch over the
crib. Such things make people forget
the war and. too. the child actress is
convincing argument for birth con-
troll.
The musical comedies are being
packed in the storehouses. They do
not make people forget. Gone is faith
er in the conventional checks and the
property spats dancing with JOY at
having escaped from his wife and
being back again in the Latin Quar-
ter. OF course mother always, drags
him away just as he is going to pro-
pose to the Spanish dancer.
Melodrama is exciting and this Is
the age of excitement and thrills. The
greater the thrill the greater the box
office receipts. The majority of shows
in New York that are ringing the
bell are thrillers.
The word Dude used to be indica-
tive of a man who is just a bit better
dressed than necessary and just
bit more refined. The word is almost
extinct. The new word for Dude
on Fifth Avenue is Glossy. The
Glossies are those young men whose
manners, morals. speech. shoes and
finger nails are too well polished. The
Glossy Is invariably dressed for an
occasion just a degree more formal
than that which he is attending. He
sticks out like sore thumb. The
Glossy never works. He goes to
business" He does not dance. He
"dawnces." He loves to introduce
French phrases and watch the lis
tener superciliously to see il he gets
it. The average man in his burgeois
bluntness will say upon reading
war extra: 'Cfipee, but amt this
war hell?" But not the Glossy. He
will read it. lift an eyebrow at the
proper angle and whisper tragically
"Cest lie guerre."
1t is not unusual to see young girls
in their teens being escorted about
New York pleasure resorts by men
whose hair has burned white and by
men who have no hair at all worth
mentioning. All the young men are
away. The situation is expressed in
Broadway ditty: ''There'n be hot
time for the old men. while the young
men are away. When the young men
go to France, oh won't the old men
have a wonderful chance to raise the
dickens with the chickens. They'll
have everything their way. Now that
the young men have all disappeared.
every young girl grabs q man with
Q beard"