Evening star., 1920-01-13
BELASCO-"My Golden Girl"

Blessed are those who, in these days
of insistent demand for musical COM
edy, go to such production in a spirit
of small expectation and high appre-
citation for whatever is to be had. for
they will derive the greatest of pleas
ure for whatever they do get in the
way of play and music. The librettists
and composers are kept too continual
ly at the task producing materials for
the quality of their work to be con-
tinuously excellent. To look for more
would be to exact the impossible.
In MY Golden Girl" the librettist,
Frederic Arnold Hummer, fares, it
must be said, better than his better
known and more experienced col
laborator, Victor Herbert. This newest
of the Herbertian offerings was pre-
sented last night at the Belasco for
the first time with all the profusion of
scenery and costume that one has
learned in these times to expect in a
first-class musical show. There are
good-lookiES girls, who sing well
enough and dance well enough to
carry along any "operetta." There is
story of really exceptional merit, in
that it is bright and not too seriously
hampered in its development by the
! lyrics and occasional choruses. 1t
turns upon the mutual desire of
young married couple to be divorced
| in order to wed their respective affini-
ties, who quite naturally, in the musi-
cal comedy order of things, proceed
to spill the beans" by falling in love
with each other, and so the play ends
through the effective mediumship of
| a butler who is on the job for the sake
, of keeping his job. with normal re-
| lationships restored.
| But Mr.. Herbert. usually so sue
| cessful in producing at least two or
| three whistling or humming accom-
| paniments to the final exit of the at
dience. has now barely come across
with single tune which has a
| haunting familiarity that bespeaks
! the strain upon the composers fund
| of inventiveness. Last night on the
| first production, there was not such
! perfect rendition of the music by
F. the orchestra. led by the energetic
| Philip James, as to give the show the
swing and Tilt that are usually to be
| found in a Herbertian melange Time
| will improve this. but new material
| is still much needed with the best
| work in front of the footlights.
! The personnel of the company, un-
der the management of Harry War
dell, is excellent and fully meets the
requirements. Robert O'Connor COM
| mands first attention not only by
, reason of his initial appearance as
the butler, but from his excellent
! work. his dancing and his happy
| dominance of the situations. Prin.
Emmett keane and Laura Arnold
the discontented couple. Mr.. Kean,
and his bassoon furnish fund o.
amusement. A striking feature O.
the cast is the eccentric presentation
! of one of the divorce lawyers by Net
A. Sparks, who, combining some o
the brightest lines of the play Will
! Il remarkably stole aspect, bids 70
| stellar honors in rivalry with tn
| central personages.
| 1t is a tribute to the instantaneou
| appreciation of the musical coined,
audiences of today for anything EN-
phatic that the most spontaneous an,
| persistent applause of the evenin,
was bestowed upon nameless youn,
woman of dancing quartet, who TO
| fifteen seconds of exceptional gym
nastics was recalled five times.
my Golden Girl' will amuse an,
entertain in successful competition
with its contemporaries of the light
diversion stage, even though it vii
| not endure in the memory as addin.
to the worlds store of gems.