The Washington herald., 1918-07-30
BeIasco-~why worry.-


Well. don't be surprised il you hear
Bert Williams has quit the Follies.
Take Fannie Brice, for instance
Fannie OF the Follies. Fannies a
nice girl who can sing a pretty fair
soprano and who isn't bad at all
with lot Of Yiddish dialect COM
edy-but whoever thought she'd leave
old Doc Ziegfeld?
Well. she's quit him, all right.
Fannie and Al H. Woods got a
new show tried out at the BeIasco
last night There was a considera-
BILE flock of regular frst-nighters out
front-people like Rex Beach and
Monte Bell and Frank Morse and
Frank Godsol-and while the returns
were not all in at an early hour this
morning. Rex Beach was understood
to have voted the straight ticket.
and Frank Morse was compiling the
returns.
why worry" IL the title OF this
Fannie-Al vehicle. OF course, why
Worry" is just as ineligible a title
as its Yiddish equivalent Meme
Dayos." but what's a title got Ia
do with it? The thing that makes
this show unusual is the show itself,
as Socrates once originally remarked.
1t starts out to be a pure out-and-out
Second Avenue comedy, then II starts
getting melodramaic. next they throw
in little Of the old burlesque and
wind-up with a thimbleful of pathos,
a little love and very, very much
American nag,
What show wouldn't go with a re-
cipe like that?
Coming down. though, to the old
cold-blooded autopsy. one can not
help querying childlike. just why an
American army officer, spying on Ger
man spies, should struggle through
three acts trying to evade arrest after
his spy confederates had decided to
sacrifice him to the law and when
the wen-known game was JULY vel,
up in the first minutes of play.
OF course. hard and dificult ques-
tions Of dramatic verify and technique
Of that sort are passed along to Mon
tague Glass and his colaborer, Jules
Eckert Goodman. Like as not they'll
write 1t into the paper tomorrow and
say: We'll, we couldn't end the show
In the first act. could we, and let Al
Woods panhandle along Broadway this
winter?'
Here's a thumbnail sketch of II:
Fannie appears as a little Second
avenue waitress who's in business with
her mother and with another perfect
lady named Stella-that's May Boley,
OF 80 Long, Lefty" fame. Louis
another waiter. Is a German spy and
\ when he discovers one Of his spy asso-
ciates in danger Of arrest, he helps
arrange the arrest to throw the law
| on his own scent. Then, through
three acts, this confederate lodges the
Secret Service men. places his own life
In danger by threatening to "squeal," "
and winds up by jumping out of a
raincoat-a United States army oficer.
One would imagine. from all this,
that why Worry" is a real thrill
Ter. devoid Of comedy. It is a real
thriller, but from the comedy stand
point. it is almost a burlesque. Mon
| tague Glass and Goodman have
made up for their SHORTCOMINGS OF
plot by investing the vehicle with a
rich assortment of Potash and
Purlmutter humor and as IL that
were not enough, they have even
engaged the services of the Avon
Comedy Four, to further enhance
the hilarity. OF these four-there'.
only a minute left for mention OF
the cast-all are good, though Joe
Smith and Charles Dale go over in
grand, comic style. Vera Gordon
is commendable in her portrayal OF
| the Yiddish mother, and Fannie
Bice-gosh, We almost forgot her
-Faanie is all right, but one can.
not forget Fannie of the Follies.
The honorable mention medal
goes to George Sidney, a comedian
of more than passing note; to Ed.
win Maxwell. who truly acts mys.
terious, and to Jack Sharkey, as
Devlin. a secret service chief
Sharkey. however. will be a better
performer when he comes to realize
the value of repression. a..
Still and all, why Worry" will