The Washington herald., 1919-02-17
BcInsco-"Tu mble In"
BY EARLE DORSEY.

SuCCuTnDeO 10 lLt uIichl NOeht lOI
that species Of theatrical entertain
ment known as bedroom farce" "
Happily for the rest OF US, however.
Mr.. Hammerstein has decided to
freshen up this tiresome. time-worn
and often stupid type of stage mer-
chandise with an innovation or two
which makes it quite supportable.
Better still. when Mr.. Hammerstein
decided to he had to produce a bed
room farce he decided to purvey a
musicalized version of one OF the
great granddaddies of all bedroom
farces. to-wit, that famous Avery
Hopwood comedy. Seven Days"
Otto Hanback, was the adapter Sc
lected by Mr.. Hammerstein to sand
paper and revarnish Seven Days"
for the early 1919 spring trade. Har-
back has done. we must say. a fairly
creditable piece of work, but We can
hardly assign to him more than
90 I-3 per cent of the credit for the
finished job. The other two-thirds
should be rather unevenly divided be-
tween Mr.. Hammerstein's able tune
Joiner, Rudolph Friml. and another
gentleman named Bertram Harrison,
who has staged several exceedingly
striking stage numbers.
Mr.. Friml. we note. is again writ
ing music for Mr.. Hammerstein. and
in Tumble In" he has contributed at
least half-dozen melodies which
help remarkably in passing these long
winter evenings
The cast. IN addition. contains no
glaring examples of misplaced genius.
though it is possible that Tumble
In might attain even greater effec-
tiveness should Mr.. Hammerstein
elect to transfer the chief comedy
roles to more finished players. For
instance. Mr. Charles Ruggles. who
plays the chief male comedy part. is
really amusing. a nd Miss Peggy
O'Ncl. with a similar feminine role.
seems to come up to all ordinary
standards OF funny acting, but both
parts would be funnier. OF course. II
Ruggles' role were entrusted to some
one like Walter Catlett or Ed Wynn,
and il someone as funny as Charlotte
Greenwood were given Miss O'Neirs
part. No reflections. however. are in
tended. for there was no fault to find
with the work OF either of these two
performers. It's simply a matter OF
now FUNNY Mr.. Hammerstein wants
to make Tumble In
A good idea. Mr.. Hopwood had in
Seven Days" most OF which has
been preserved intact in the musi
Called version:
James Wilson is entertaining at his
riverside Drive home. Dallas Erown
and his fiaucee, Anne Wilson, and a
lot of other PEOPLE including A
burglar. are there. Jim is suddenly
thrown into n PAM, ~ the news that
his rich j.
being one of those oII La It's ,yIo
hate divorces, bIA:tchei hair anC
something else. Jim, lriuy divorced,
pos uades KitIH. McNaH. one OF his
guests. to DlIy Wiz until Ann:
Selma can finish her hours visit. The
Jap chef. however. develops some
kind of a disease. the house is
Quarantined and surrounded. aod all
hands. for Aunt Sclina's sake. have
TO play that Jim aaI Kitty are mar
ried. In the meantime, Jims di-
vorced wife drops in and gets
Guarantined, too, and she has to pre-
tend to be engaged to Tom HARRISON,
who obliges, although he loves Kitty.
Wilson's alleged wife, Tom HARRISON
getting to the party too late to learn
of Kitty's deception.
Such is the situation at the end OF
the first act and it requires another
act of three scenes to disentangIe tho
whole business. This is accomplished
by harassed burglar whose petty
thieving is laid TO spooks. but they
harass the burglar too far and he
comes out and tells Aunt Selma the
whole story. Auntie is pacified. how
ever. by the fact that Jim has fallen
in love with his divorced wife and
they want to get married again.
Around this plot pivot, Mr.. Friml
has wound such tuneful numbers as
I've Told My Love-" "The Wedding
Blues" Limbo Land" "Snugsle and
Dream" Wont You Help Me OUT
and several numbers not program
med. Two of these should attain
victrola notoriety.
Bertram Harrison has staged a
number or two that are superb. One
of these at the close of the first act
"a representation of a slumber
party in honor of Anne Wilson'S
a notable novelty number that is
more than aIliterative in its lure,
Another that one cannot help prais-
ing is a kind of a gown review
called THE Trousseau Ball"
Edna Hibbard, recruited from the
ranks of "Rock-a-Bye Baby" has
been intrusted with one of the prin-
cipal parts-that of the counterfeit
wife. Here we have Miss Hibbard in
sprightly, sunshiny role. rather the
opposite of the exotic part of a child
hating wife she played in "Rock-a-
Bye Baby" Peggy O'Neil has been
given a comedy role. the possibilities
of which she will doubtless realize
more fully when she has had time.
Charles Ruggles' part has been com
mented upon already. Roland Hoeue
is a better barytone than actor as
Tom HARRISON. but he is not dispIeas-
Ing. Zelda Sears competently as
sumes the part of Aunt Selma and
Virginia Hammond does the same
with the role of Jim Wilson's divorced
wife. Olga Mishka. disguised as a
maid in the first act, drew thunderous
ehcores with her classic dancing.
both alone and with Ivan Stogoff.
Miss Maxine Robinson. although not
selected for a prominent part in the
production. adds an audacious dash to
the ensembles with her grace and
pleasing voice.
Summing up, then, we can conscien-
tiously say that in giving the stage
his idea of bedroom farce, Mr.. Ham,