Evening star., 1918-01-13


lie Theater. New York. and at the Re-
public and Forty-eighth Street Thea
Barrymore. as Peter Ibbetsen. and
Miss Collier as the Duchess of Tow
ers." have enjoyed unusual personal
roles in the play.
made twenty-five years ago. and he had
the assistance of George du Maurier.
cident. and presented 1t in London
three years ago. Important members
OF the cast are Edmund Elton, Wallis
Clark. Alice John, Mercedes Desmore,
Alice Butler. Jules Epailly and Emily
Mclean.
William Gillette-More than thirty
Ave years elapsed between Gillette's
first play and his last. and. as that
pointed out. he was the first writer sue
cessfully to make use Of SO fine
theme as that offered by the civil war.
as evidenced by his Held by the
Enemy and Secret Service,
William Gillettes laconic directness,
both as actor and playwright, and a
touch Of grimness that gives his work
peculiar tang very typical of his own
magnetic personality are abundantly
evident in his latest vehicle even. "A
Successful Calamity" in which he Is
to be seen here at the Belasco Theater
this week.
1t is interesting to note that William
Gillette in his time has played up
ward of one thousand parts, but in re-
cent years he has appeared in only four
plays other than those from his own
admirable Crichton." Bernstein's Sam
son. in the adaptation of which he had
a great deal to do; Sardou's 'Diplo-
macy" which he, too. may have
brought up to date bit. and his niece,
Miss Clare RUNNERS "A Successful
Calamity"
Unquestionably. Mr.. Gillette has had
a great influence in advancing the
stage. not only as an actor, but in all
that pertains to stage effect and the
gotten that he invented the sound of
the "galloping horse, heard off," and
was the first technician to insist on the
fourth wall on the stage being con-
stantly kept in mind, regardless Of the
fact Of the audience sitting there). And
the humor of his dialogue. as DR.. Bur-
ton also remarks, comes from its idio-
matte flavor in relation to character.
To revert to William Gillette's play
of Secret Service" which he has only
recently given permission to have pub
lished in an anthology of the native
drama, and by which he will no doubt
derive posthumous fame far beyond the
reach of most actors or even play
wrights. Gillette is said to have ac-
his inspiration for this
particular play came from his reading
in a newspaper a cabled account-an AS
sociated Press dispatch, to be exact-of
the story of Russian revolutionary
who had broken into a telegraph sta
had gained an entrance by stealth;
the operator and sent dis
patches right and left. greatly to the
of the government. (And
bolshevik regime.) The incident did
not take place during war, even, but
it occurred to Gillette that it might
very well have happened in war time:
and with momentous results-at all
events during our own civil war time.
Anyhow. from that incident he wrote
backward and forward until the play
was finished. What an opportunity Tor
the playwright of today on war!
Held by the Enemy" another OF Gil
form in his mind. too, not as a philo-
sophie thought based upon the idea Of
a man devoting himself to his country
at all hazards. but as particular drama
tic action: That Of a spy crossing the
lines by so clever stimulation OF
death that his is nearly passed by the
officer, when. to make
doubly sure, the officer orders his men
to fire at the PROSTATE figure.
1t is not generally known tnat. ny
Hooker, who drew up the first civil
for the commonwealth of
which afterward was
taken as a model for the Constitution
father was a senator Of the United
States of America. ...s -r
MariIynn Once Played "Little Eva
Marilynn Miller. who will appear In
Fancy Free" once played Little Eva
in a transforming "Uucle Toms Cabin"
troupe out in Indiana. That was some
wears ago-not SO many years ago
either. for Miss Miller was nineteen
wears old on the 1st Of last Septem-
her debut on the Goth Of August. 1903.
at The Lakeside Park. Dayton, Ohio.
Miss Miller's parents and their daugh-
ter Ruth were appearing in vaudeville
under the name of the Columbian
Trio" One day little Miss Marilynn
sian danseuse. On returning home,
Miss Marilynn discovered that she
could dance round on her toes almost
as well as the artistic she had seen in
was so delighted with his little daugh-
ter's efforts that he had his wife i'm
proyise a ballet dress. and that night
Marilynn Miller, under the name of
Mile Sugarlump. made her debut with
the Columbian Trio. Being a regular
actress now, at ten. Marilynn Miller be-
gan keeping a scrapbook. She lately read
over her Little Eva notices and culled
out some of these pleasant lines from
the criticisms:
"Tncle Toms Cabin was presented
at the Opera House last night by the
Excelsior Tommers. The dogs were
"The Excelsior Uncle Tom troupe
that was at Rushville last week has
gone to the dogs"
"The Excelsior Uncle Tom troupe.
with two Ohio rivers. played. at the
MeIodeon Hall last night"
'"The Excelsior Uncle Tom company.
last night. was the best dog and pony
show that has been here in years"
s@The Excelsior Uncle Tom troupe.
otherwise The Denver Danes Beauty
Show, played Uncle Tom at the Opera
House last night. The show looked
lied under lamppost at South Bend"
when Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote
Uncle Toms Cabin she little dreamed
that II would be the stepping stone
for 10000 blonde children"
Finally. the Excelsior Uncle Tom
troupe broke up. and for peculiar
reason. When playing at Rushville.
Ind, the treasurer absconded with the
funds. They set the bloodhounds aft
er him They trailed him to Craw-
fordsville The treasurer fed the dogs
and started a new "Uncle Toms Cabin"
troupe.
Early IndIcations.-"Patric Collinge
was always an actress" says her