The Washington herald., 1919-11-03
PeIi's-The Magic Melody
BY EARLE DORSEY.

PsIi's-sThe Magic Melody"
By EARLE DORSEY.
Few musical shows of pretentious
magnitude require quite 80 much al
teration and diagnosis as The
Magic Melody" the extravaganza
operetta that Sigmund Romberg and
Frederic Arnold Hummer pleaded
guilty to at Polls last night Rip
plIng along over the keys at this
post-midnight hour. one has but q
brief moment to specify certain of
the more obvious DEFICIENCIES that
affict this extremely afflicted Sc
lection.
ducing partner. Max r. Wilmer. had
best decide. as soon as maybe.
whether they will offer an operetta
Garden type under the title OF The
Magic Melody" The frs act of last
nights performance strongly re-
sembIed the conventional musical
comedy vehicle. bound together with
a rather loose plot The second act
promptly repudiated the character
Of Act l, and became q dainty. at
mpspheric operetta, which tone 1t pre-
Act 3, however, the piece returned to
the realms OF hokum and jazz and
the theme and plot evaporated
through the skylight.
It Is not proper to say that The
Magic Melody Is a bad bit Of light
opera, and it would be an utter mis-
statement to aver that 1t fails as q
pretentious bit Of musical variety.
The whole trouble lies in the fact
that IL thoroughly contradicts itself
h each succeeding act and each
entertainment element completely
neutralizes the other. To put the
thing more succinctly. somebody has
inoculated a musical romance with Q
shot of jazz-hokum and the darn
thing has broken out in spots.
The biggest disappointment of the
evening came in Sigmund Romberg's
lamentable failure to give the piece
more than two songs that have any
chance of popularity. Only one Of
these seems to bear evidences of whis-
tleability-"Little Church Around the
Corner''-while the other, Take It
From Me. We Will Take II From You, -
appears to a magnifed advantage
through the lack of proper compari-
son Much OF the incidental music Is
lnOu8h lnC lHGIIlt 10 OIly
ordinary bit Of composition. OF the
twenty-three other numbers one can
rrot. justifiably rave.
Charles Previn. who directed the
orchestra comes Mighty near being the
most prominent member Of the cast.
Miss Julia Dean. however. essays the
role OF q woman who, twenty years
before, has been cruelty deceived by
a he-vamp while trying to help her
husband sell an opera Hubby
thought impossible things carried OF
their youngster, ned for parts un-
known. was shipwrecked. died. the
boy brought up by an Englishman,
and the story opens just as mother
discovers his identity through the
medium of fathers opera To COM
piiCate matters, the lad Is in love
with the daughter of the he-vsmp
whose mother has been seeking
twenty years. but for her sons sake
she foregoes vengeance on the ira
dIre- and things ends tOleTably
happy
As a musical romance, this would
not be 50 bad 1t probably would fall
sorI OF the sweetness Of "Naytime''-
cons derzbly. but it's development Is
rather skilfui and were n stripped Of
itS JAN sccoutrements. II might be al
together possible
Miss Dean. however, does not get
under way until the opening of the
second act Here she begins to lend
some authority to n part that is
rather well placed with her but one
wonders what Miss Deans future
career win be in The Magic Mel
sdy-- when it is fixed" as twill
sssuredly be. there having been ex-
pended altogether too much money
on costumes and settings to make
likely an abandonment Of the pro-
duction. no matter how poor its
present form MISS Dean, one re-
calls. worked with our local Gar
riCkers last season. Tom MCNaugh-
ton handles the comedy burden Of
the performance with a dry wit and
a skill that is creditable.
Carmel Myers. the movie star.
emerges in the last act in a. song num-
her with Earl Benham. the Juvenile,
though the carly action gives her lit
tie chance. Lois Leigh did some dane
ing that was extremely dainty and at
tractive. though Bertee Beaumonte
carried away the dancing honors with
long freak numbers that were novel.
Fay Marbe was unusually attractive
in several numbers and il is unfor-
tunate that time prohibits a more de-
tailed mention OF this big cast The
staging is exceptional