New-York tribune., 1918-05-15
Drama
Burlesque of the New School
Still Retains Echoes
of the Past
By Haywood Broun

"0Sohs dEo tHe producers be
gan to call it refined burlesoue. +,
They declared their allegiance to all
the rroprieties and repudiated the bur
lesque manners of days that were gone
AS it happened we quit the burlesoue
houses just about that time. We want
ed to keep our memories.
There was Pat White, whom we used
to see at the Old Howard in Boston.
Probably there were other pcople who
could explode slarstick against the
lower part Of PERSONS back as humor-
ously as Mr.. White, but not for us
We used to laugh before the catastro-
phe occurred. In fact, much of tho
humor was in the preliminaries.
Then, too, the prodigal use of stage
greenbacks chimed in extraordinarily
"ell with the contempt Tor money
winch we had in those days. III most
SHOWS huge rolls of yellow bills
changed hands. The comedians we're
always being entieod into trick bets
and losing. When they sought to re-
coup by playing an identical trick upon
third party they invariably got the
conditions muddlcd in some wav and
lost still more heavily.
One OF the wagers which invariably
trapped the low comedian was, "I'll bet
you haven't got a whole shirt on your
back. The two parties to the wager
would pile their money close to the
1ootlights. and then the sharp man
would say: "No, half Of the shirt is on
would exit then, laughing derisively.
The low comedian was not a trained
observer, and to the next rasserby he
stated the wager: ooh, I'll bet YOU
haven't got shirt on" We omit the
dialect. because in those DAYS it was
usually German. After accepting the
wager, the stranger took off his coat
to prove his point and walked away
With the money, leaving the low come
dian wailing in his most broken accent:
mo, but half of the back is on the
front"
And so the shows went minglinc
tragedy and comedy with indiscrimi-
nate generosity. We did not discrimi-
nate much ourselves, and were willing
to accept old jokes and leers and things
as true wickedness. "Ah, but we have
ilved,. was our state of mind when we
left the theatre after an Old Howard
performance. 1t was with some miseiv
lngs that we went yesterday to the
Columbia to see Hello America" :"
whlch IS set for a summer run. We
must admit that burlesque shAws are
not quite what they used to be- They
are not, we fear, as wicked rs Port Said
or as gay as Shanghai. And vet it did
not seem to us that refinement had
been stressed. to an oppressive degree.
IN our Judgment the principle of free
speech was adequately maintained in
banterlng scene between the low come
dams and tall young person in pur-
pie tights.
Sam Lewis and Sam Dody are the
stars of the piece. Lewis a a Jewish
comedian ard Dody an Italian. For
the most part they are amusing de-
spite the fact that there is mo slap
stick. Money changed hands with the
cnventlonal carelessness, but we were
surprised to find that now we resented
this feature little. 1t made us think
of the price of beef and shoes and
coal. Thus does materalism hamper
art.
We are in some doubt about the
plot OF Hello America" Burlesque
shows have greater freedom in the
matter OF plots than even musical
comedies. The authors are permitted
TO begln story and abandon it in
niidcareer. We listened carefully and
1eel certain that no information was
given as to just what became of the
conspiracy between Bud Baker and
Miss Della Ware. AS we understood
IT. she was to get an engagement in a
theatrical company by pretending to
be an actress and then steal all the
5ewelry. of her fellow players. Bud
Baker, her accomplice, pretended to he
h stage-door man. Long before the
scheme could reach fruition or failure
a patriotic finale began, with BELGIUM
in white tights
All the Allies wer9 represented and
applauded, with the unfortunate ex-
ception that neither Siam nor Monte
negro happened to have a friend in
the house yesterday. The final proun
Df girls wore American flag costumes.
and by an ingenious device a flag was
shot to the roof of the theatre. When
the second act commenced we discov-
cred that the Jewish and the Italian
comedian had gone into blackface and
were now Captain Liver and LIEUTENANT
Bacon. This puzzled us for a time.
until we learned that the old plot had
been abandoned and a new one begun.
Nothing much came of it.
Hello, America" indicates that
good deal of money has been spent
and pains taken in preparing the show.
Of course, there isn't pennyweight Of
,aste in the whole performance, but it
Will serve to entertain all who are
sophisticated at heart and naive in the
head.