The Washington herald., 1919-08-04
Garriek-aThe Only Girl


Pretty girls, lifting music of the
type that only Victor Herbert can
write actors who can sing and
dance. an augmented orchestra and
oOdles of pep" swing The Only
Girl" under the wire as the out
standing hit Of the Garrick Players
season. at the Shubert-Garrick The
ater this week.
Not satisfied with the excellent
original libretto of the only Girl"
its present producers have added vari-
Gus interpretations in the dialogue that
put 1t in the up-tO-tomOrrow class OF
musical comedies. In fact, II they
kept on with their interpretations
much further. it would be we'll head
ed in the direction of the bedroom
comedy. However. they desist most
considerably before they quite reach
that stage.
The plot OF the comedy. which IS
very consistent by the side. deals
with the ravsges OF matrimony
among an unmarried bachelor quar-
tet. The mortality reaches the ar
pallinE rate of 75 per cent during
the first act and an actual clean
sweep of the unfortunate youn=
men Is only postponed to the thmd
act finale by the fiEe determi nation
or Kim. played by Earle FoNe, VINO
nights To the last ditch against the
lnsldlous peril. only to sucCumb
iEnobly himself to tears and a pa'r
OF those so appealing eyes just as
soon as the combination is flashed
on him effectively. The domestic
tragedies of his friends do not act
a. deterrent on the rash young
man who plunges on to his doom IN
IL" SJrangIe hold OF the last act,
usually miScalled the happy end
ing"
But the happy ending in this YER
sion or The Only Girl" really does
look mighty blissful, due TO Miss
Laura Arnold. who is pretty enough
tn make any one man happy and
Possesses a very charming sOpraTo
voice in the bargain. Miss Arnold
p.INS opposite Earle FoNe as Ruth
Wilson, the girl composer. who DEM
Onstrates to that young Lative Of
Missouri that a woman iS every ii,
as good as a man and about - per
cent more FoXe is. Of course. very
good in his role. He couldn't be
ANYTHING else If'he tried, and he Is
letter perfect in "iuveniie' parts.
having not only 4 bOvish face and
voice. but arms and legs that just
won't aC' as though they had seen
over eighteen years of this great
world.
Lynne Overman as dOur Scotsman
is rather a novelty. but he's a nice
novelty at that. and he has plenty
of wrinkles pceplng through his HaiG-
and-Haig face. Also he can sing.
and demonstrated it a couple of times
to the audiences genuine delight. par
ticUlarly in the When You Wear
Ball and Chain Around Your Ankle
number, which was encOred four or
five times. But OvermAn and Miss
Arnold do not possess a monopoly OF
the singing Iaurels. because Eileen
Wilson blOsSOmed out last night as
musical comedy daisy, wild and free
and everything. you know. Would
you believe it. her dresses were just
as short. and she almost shimmied
sometimes. In fact, if Miss Wilson
weren't a most competent young
leading lady. We believe that she
would be a Knockout in the Winter
Garden Ard she knows just how to
put over a song: witness. The
Land We Love Personality and
The More I See OF Others, Dear. the
Peter I Like You" where she ran n
the Eamut from the martial, patriotic
so0E to pure sOUbretterie.
But about two seconds behind Miss
V-iI-o on came Doris Sheerin. who was
the queen of the telephone sirls last
week. and this week has progressed
up the ladder 10 the wifeship of "a
N0v York man and has acquired the
kind Of thirst for dry Martins that
WI soon he legendary. In fact. the
way that the various characters drink
their wav through The Only Girl is
most disturbing No situation is COM
pIete without a cocktail or at least a
hi-h hall
o.
IS 4 dams,I of really remarkable abil-
itv and an even more remarkable
smile it must be remarked that for
sT of her cIeverness. she does not
carry her cocktails on an even keel.
20 20 speak In fact. she contributes
ore # ~" cutest Little near-iagS to the
rr01uCr:On that can well he imaG-
ined. And when she is two Martins
in the wind. she proceeds to tell friend
husband just where his stOppinG-place
oCcrIr~-
To- offset all tins unpurit4nical con-
duct thor, arr needed tw" WIS Of
the other kind. p"rzonified by
Eleanor Griffith. q little Washington
EirI. and Grace Peters. who has been
imported from New York this week
to fill h~r role Miss Griffith. in ad-
ditIDn to knowing a great deal more
of thu rudIments than would be eX-
pected from su young 4 girl. pos
saS-eS a most charming personality
and sings with real feeling her one
number. Tell IL Al over Again"
being one of the hits of the produc-
tiou.
consistently -oOd work was per
formed by the rest Of the company,
although the dancing Of Camille Lit
lie which held the true Gallo dab
leric. and II" acting of William
I'riu2Ie. in the butler part. was in its
finished JoChnir. one Of the best things
and the plraSautest to remember in
the production.
T-onaId Macdonald Walter Morrison