Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-01-24

fumNu.s W Hl'll HuNN 4NihN h''l'' N.''F
ter, Uncle BIN and Ma into farcical
activity, varied by tunes. will be next
week only novelty. 1t will be shown
nj the Walnut Browning aud Gra-
ham, "thc living cartoons, - present q
side splitting burlcsQuc Of a burro, one
of Smith 'mouutaiu canarics; that
Is said to provoke more hearty laughter
than anything ever seen of its kind
since the day when Henry Il. DiXcy
made his first hit as tho hind legs of
The Acadiau maid $ beautiful hcifer in
"Evangeliuc,
CTILL another week remains for our
~ theatrcgoers to taste the quality, or
the lack thereof of the four new shows
which had their premiercs last Monday
night. There is seldom such wide
diversity of opinion about a week ;
Theatrical offerings rs marks the views
both of press and public concerning
these still current attractions. Some
liked some of them, some liked all of
them, and some liked none of them.
with all possible combinations of favor
aud dsfavor in between.
The consensus seems to be that
Drew back on the stage in any vehicle.
"'rhe Cat Bird. which Rupert Hughes
wrote. is not really a comedy in sub
stance. structure or spirit. Major
Hughes is Il very clever fiction writer.
with knack of turning cpigrams with
81 tang, aud much of his dialogue is
OF the wjttiIy sIttcriug sort. SO the
c,"ning is not wasted III seeing thiS
play, although some commentators thluk
1. l., Ilnn.hpr n
.'Ilitrhy 400. the third of the Ray
mond Hitchcock series of intimate re
vues, lust seems to miss striking fire.
The stars pecularitiCS Of humor are
capitalized to the utmost. and some of
the specialitics are novel aud coortul.
One song. The Old fashioned Gar
den with its attendant business, Is
sweetly melodiouS to the car aud at
tractive to the eye.
Alice Brady's migration from the
screen to the stage has not been very
fortunate in the means of tranSporta-
tion from some accounts. There Is
nretty sentiment IN the piece. but the
Inverted method of presentation IS
rather taxing Admirers of Miss Brady
in the films are hockiug to see her III
person. 1t was at the same theatre,
the Lyric. that she made her protes
sioual debut few years ago as Hebe
in revival of 'Pinafore.
Victor Mapes has made no now
thematic discoveries in The llotten-
tot in which Willie Collier is success
fully appearing. Much Of the tun Is
guaranteed by the droll methods "f Mr.,
Collier. who has the gift OF turning
the tables on others in the plot with
simple sentence expressed in his oWn
drily humorous and quiHHical manner.
However difficult the situation in which
he finds himself. he always manages
to twist out of his prcdlcamcnt aud
come il laugh winner.
The underlying theme of the piece. The
complicated difficulties which snare the
feet of man who poses as an expert N
line in which he is a dub. has often
done service in this city before. but
never before on both sides of Broad
street simultaneously with variations. In
.'The Hottcutot'' at the Broad. Mr..
Collier imperSonatcs man afraid OF
horses, who rides a fiery stccd to victory
in a stceplechase. In Nothing But
Love at the ShubCrt the scene is Il
motorcar race course. and the hero Is
famous driver. afraid of death by
drowning. although constantly taking
the most desperate chances in auto
races. And yet the heroine believes
that he saved hcr from a watcry grave.
But he could not swim stroke. Then
the fun starts.
This central idea will be remembered
rs the same rs that of lanes Mont
gomerys THE Aviator Of several sea
sons back. which was successful here
last season in the muSicalized version
"Going Up" In all these cases lying
about his sporting prowess. though in
different fields, plunged the hero into
hot difficulties aud furnished plots for
farces.
TITO BE a quick study is an asset
i that most actresses long to possess
Thanks to several years Of training in
stock companies in every conceivable
sort of role. Frances Carson is quick
study 1t is no feat at all for this
talented actress. who is appearing in
the leading role in The Hottcntot." i" to
learn a difficult part overnight and then
when it is changed or modified at re
hearsal, to adapt herself to the changes
Mt once. And William Collier is noted
for changing business and lines con-
Etantly, at that,
Miss Carson is Philadelphia girl.
and her first stage work was with the
Drpheum Players at the old Chestnut
Street Theatre. She attributes her
ability TO learn role quickly to her
stock experience.
Il would strongly advise any girl who
plans to go in for dramatic work TO ioiD
reputable stock company Miss Car
fon conhded, The work is hard
While you arc playing one role you are
learning another and rchearsing a new
play at the same time. 1t means work
Eork and more work from 9 in the morn
Spu until ut ivIt 81