Omaha daily bee., 1921-06-05
George Cohan Is
Sponsor for His
OuOn Burlesqu ue Hit
By JAMES WHITAKER.

M. Cohan took It out and put him
sell in. Mr.. Conan is specific 70,
what THE Tavern hoped to be
which was q romantic fool-thrillel
OF the first order. If Cora Dicl
Grant, had sent her fervid story O
the Maiden Betrayed, the Proue
William, the Romantic Vagabond anc
the Evolutionary Governor to Davie
Wark Griffith, it could have beer
taken as seriously as way Dowr
East" and Mr.. Griffith might hav,
made another million dollars. Bu
not for a million dollars can Mr.
Cohan take pathos seriously.
Mr.. Cohan played lone hand with
THE Tavern" None but himself
rIry understood what he wanted
done to it. Arnold Haley, who wa:
the original vagabond OF the play
tried. He tried to forget that the
vagabond, if played for all the tears
and heartaches that might be squeez.
ed out of it, could be very tempting
role for romantic actor. He tried
to forget that the vagabond's
speeches were inpressively sonorous
mouthfuls if elocuted just right and
remember, as Mr.. Cohan had told
him, that they were as funny as
grandma's hat if elocuted just wrong.
Mr.. Daily temporized. He elocuted
some lines just right for his souls
satisfaction and others just wrong,
for, Mr.. Cohan's.
1t was not entirely the public s
fault that the first audience to "The
Tavern" did not perceive its enor-
NOUS satire Immediately. Those au-
diences failed, but Mr.. DAILY helped
them.
Now the audiences in the Hudson
theater are great success. Mr..
Cohan helps them magnificiently.
Lest some dull wit fail to perceive
that this play is not being acted,
but murdered, he has sharpened the
barbs of satire and weighted the
clubs OF burlesque with which the
deed is done. AS it is now done with
Mr. Cohan in the cast, there is only
one person in the world who could
doubt that the production of the
play is lampooning of the play.
That is the author.
A story of the origin of "The Tav-
ern' has grown up which is anus
ing, even if true. At the first bene-
fit show staged by the Actors FIJI
deity league, several years ago, CO.
han did a burlesque of mystery mel
odrama in which all the characters
were killed. The only part of the
plot which is remembered is the
fact that the heavy always made
his entrances carrying a corpse. A
year later a play turned up in Mr..
Cohan's mail, the reading of which
caused him merriment which could
not be accounted for as it was in
intent a sober tragedy. But he had
discovered a character in the. third
act who carried several corpses
around Cohan has a theory that
laughs are are communicable. He
decided to try to communicate this
one. His first snicker at the expense
Of the worst play that ever was sub
mitted to him has taken long time
to grow into an epidemic. But
wish had written that tragedy |
had in mind and had sent it to Mr..
Cohan one day before "The Tavern
was mailed.
Negro humor is better in print or
in the synthetic face of Frank Tinney
than coming from the mouths of its
originators. Fifty negroes have
banded together into musical COM
edy company which is playing to
white audiences in the 63d street
theater. Shuttle Along" as it is
named, makes brave attempts to en-
tertain the white folks in the inter-
walls between its gorgeous songs. 1t
subscribes to the musical comedy
formula. that when you are not sing
ing song you must be acting a joke.
But racial genius grips the cast
and you when the songs begin. At a
grand piano in the orchestra pit sits
Eubie Blake, composer of all the
music. He is surrounded by IS help
full harmonists. Miss Lottie Gee or
Rager Matthews comes down to the
footlights and sets a metronomic foot
to beating rhythm. It travels down
the expectant spine of Mr.. Blake into
his and his helpful ISIS fingers. In
two semi-quavers you are quiv-
ering to the same magic that has set
all these spontaneous musicians to
reelinp mefodiously, You NAV re-
sist Beethoven and Jerome Kern,
but you surrender completely to this.
1t is perhaps fortunate that there are
dead intervals between the songs OF
Shuttle Along" because some Of the
music is as insidious and heady as
absinthe.
The Broadway musical comedies
get along nicely with one or less
song hits. "Shuffle Along" has 20.
1t has more than its slender reason
for being can stand. 1t is probably
no more than sale of numbers to
next years music shows. The audi
ences indicate that they are audi
ences of song pluggers, elegant
vaudevillians, inelegant managers
'tin pan alley" composers, stage di-
rectors and all the rest of the wise
acres of the Longacres. Before ]
suspected their purpose in attending
the performance, I refused to check
my hat. But their predatory in
stincts are musical. Eubie Blake
has probably made tremendous ef-
fort to bring his little city song mas
terpieces down from Harlem as far
as 63d street. The remainder of their
voyage to the musical 40s will be
easier. They will be carried right
down to the music factories in the
audiences memories.
All Aa;La