Omaha daily bee., 1918-03-31

III" the rush of the spring sea-
- son at the theater, the hurry
t&a and furry that intervenes
before the hot weather puts an end
to activities OF the stage. This is
not SO important nowadays as it was
a great while. ago, for in most Of the
large cities the theater runs right
along, regardless of the season. New
York and Chieage, for example, will
scarcely note the transition, and with
the swing of life will follow on
through the summer with shows that
Shave been successful, or with others
formed for the purpose, and carry
On till time to open with new attrae-
hons for the fall. Omaha does not
come in this list, though, and only
a few weeks from now will see some
of the dewntown houses putting up
the shutters for the summer. The
Boyd has booking contracts UP to and
Including the first week in June; FIVE
weeks remain of the Gayety season,
and the Orpheum will close late in
May, according to present ealcula-
tions, although the date has not been
6xed positively. The Empress, will
run through the summer, as it always
has, ar ~ the Braadeis-Hippo ppodremc
vaudeville will very likely be continu-
Gus. The sunf the Strand, the Hipp
and the Muse will present their NOV
.Ins pietufes as usual, and the Rialto
will open its door late in the spring,
so that the people will have plenty OF
olaces to go.
One of the offerings of the current
sfason at the Boyd is Neil TWoney's
dramatizatien of Gene Stratten-Por
ter's story "Freckies," which is an
nouneed for four nights and matlnees
today, Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Freckles" as a song play is stronger
than "Freekles" as story. The
characters live, love and have adven-
ture-one can see and hear=-there is
nothing left to the imagination. The
music for the play and the songs rem
dered by Freekles and other char
acters are by the Viennese composer,
Antol Friedland, and are a novelty
from musical point Of view. The
Woodland fantasy played during the
play is a MASTERPIECE.
One OF the treats is "0h. Bey,"
that bright musical comedy which
f. Raw Comstock and William Elliott
presented in New York tive seasons
ego. where it has been playing to ab=
sOlute capaeity business at the Prin
cess theater with no letup in sight.
'Oh, Boy" will come to. the Boyd
theater for a four-night engage
nent, commencing Sunday, April
7, with the special Chicago com
pany, which has been playing at the
LaSalle theater for more than six
months, with a cast headed by jos
seph Santley, Dorothy Maynard,
Lauranee Wheat Hugh Cameron,
James Bradbury, Josephine Harri-
man, Wilbert Dunn, Henry Dernton,
Lenore Chippendale, Lillian Brennard
and 80 others. The captivating tunes
of "Oh, Boy" have been whistled,
sung and danced to more than other
music since the days of "Floradora."
An original metropolitan cast, al
most in its entirety, is promised for
the presentation Of f'The Wanderer"
at the Boyd thester April IA, when
an engagement of one week will be-
gin. Prominent among the well known
players are Nance ,O'Neill, James
0'Neill, Charles Dalton, Frederick
Lewis, Lionel Braham and host of
pthers. "The Wanderer" is based upon
Aae Biblieal parable Of the predigal
son. Maurice V. Samuels wrote it;
William Elliott, F, Ray Comstock and
Morris Gest produced it. and David
Belssco staged it. Its success wher=
ever shown has been unprecedented.
In New York it ran through two sea-
sons and in Boston, Philadelphia and