New-York tribune., 1920-01-11

Concerning ''Zaza" at the
Metropolitan and Elsewhere

"z.sa"-the original xlAy 10y fie.re
hertcn .nd chafles Sim on-wAs :
complete Aasoo when produced in Paris
twsGsy.two ~. hyxt;r. years ago, And Rejane was
When David Belasco Arresented Mr..
Leslie Carter in his adiStAtion Of The
piece at the Garfick Thsater. New
YORK. on Monday evening, January 8.
1879. 10 was = triumph Tor al con.
cerned, including Mr.. Bslasto, Mrs.
Carter, g: A. Stevenson O. Dufres in q.
MARX smith as Cascart, Marie B1tes 40
fresne's little child Toto.
Indeed. 80 great VISA the New York
tss play 'nas nearly va So lTss s ss .su
try and in England. and snHsa6u 1it sntYv
Nine. Rejane took h11tt ana sev;v4d
"zaza," which became one of enc rn6at
Important items in her re1SftViYe a.
we'll as the repertoire Of ajtnoat eyAt.v
emotional actress in every civiiisAd
country. -,
"Zaza" as translated to the opty4tic
stage BY the late Ruegiero Leoncavaiio
will be presented by General Manager
Giulio Gatti- Casazza for the first time
in New York on Friday evening. Janu-
ary 16, .et the Metropolitan opera
House, with Miss Geraldine Farrar in
the title role. -
=, Now. David Belasco was presenting
Heart Of Maryland" it in Lonao'n o' when hee
"Zaza" had its premiere in Paris. He
learned of its failure. but waited until
the Paris papers reached him 50 that
ne could discover in what tho plot con-
sisted. Meeting his partner, the late
Charles FrohmAn, he remarked:
There's something, after all, in that
play. I'd like to know why it failed,
even with Rejane!"
my advices from Paris tell ME it ia
hopeless" replied Frohman. II had
the rights, but surrendered them. So
did. Augustin DAILY afterward. Don't
bother about i'll"
"Well," said Belasco, ~ don't care;
l am going to see it for myself."
Ihen:" said Frohfnan, you have no
time to lose, for it won't run, very long
III wire over to Paris renewing my
option"
Good" replied Belasco. "lri start
for Paris Sunday morning"
Which Belasco. did. When he reached d
the French capital he had no difaculty
IN securing most excellent seats in the
second row. "There weren't $50 in the
house" he said, "and it was announced
az ths last night Of the play-whsch it
was for the time being"
Belasco followed the Performance
with lntense interest. When it was
over he had made up his mind as to
"Zaza's" possibilities. He WAS con-
,ysncced that it had big idea in it, and
ne lost no time in securing the rights
for Charles Frohman and himself.
For eight months he worked on his
adaptation and then began rehsarsais
with Mrs. Carter and her confr1res.
The rest is history. The performances
was one of the high spots in Beiasco's
esreer, not only as a play adepter and
producer, but as .SvenxAii-lik4 pro-
ducer Of dramatic artists, for in "Zaxa"
ne repeated with Mrs. Carter what he
had accomplished with her in "The
Heart OF Maryland" "ZaAA" was the
talk Of the town-indeed the entire
ttheaterfoing public Of America-Awhile
the original authors accepted Belasco's
adaptation and thereby achieved fame
and fortune.
And all this was but q little more
than twenty years ago, when Geraldine
Farrar, who now il called upon to re-
incarnAtA the French provincial cafe
chantant STAR who loved, dreamed
and lost still was wearing her hair
in braidt down her back.
Lsoncavalle. who made his own H.
bretto for his operate "zaxA," fol-
lowed the Belaseo version, but omitted
the fifth act. So that the curtain
falls on the opera witk zasa tugkine
less favorte Of the music kail when
frst you see her in her normal element
"behind the scenes; then receiving
her new sweetheart Dufrsene n hAr