The Washington herald., 1921-01-23

II Is not surprising that this idea is firmly hxed
Ninety-seven cent the cub-reportinE that
passes current criticism takes sopho-
noric glee in fostering the notion. And where
called dramac analysis of, superficial observa
Non usually begins and like not the thing under
observation is succulent piece Of music|stage
Roauefort of the type of Love Birds" Peggy"
Not since Noah invented vaudeville have two
better examples Of the general and specific medocrity
OF Plotless musical been offered than Peggy"
and Love Birds" And never have two musical
SHOWS revealed more clearly the real cause for their
msdiocrity than this Neither had story
enough to beguile the fancy of chambermad. In
the case OF Peggy far-fetched thrust sort
OF tale had been made in the beginning The build
ers Of Peggy" shockingly frank in implied
desire to tell not stage story with music, but to
spin, instead, of moth-eaten plot clothes
line on which to hang the tattered remnants of Joe
Ainer's joke-book all the antc hokum and
shipping-clerk comedy that i bunch OF inept mines
could manufacture as the thing developed The
story, nothing than collection of bur-
lesque paper hoops the gestcuating and postur-
ing Pat Rooney to leap through at will
In looking back the musical comedies of
the past two years, three productions arise most
agreeaby in the memory. The first Of these is Irene
the Edith Day hit of here and abroad. The second
was Frank Craven's Richard Harding Davis adapta-
ton, The New Dictator" The third was and is,
George NJ Cohans Mary"
Consider the part that the story plays in musical
comedy:
Irene was-possibly unintentionally so-a very
slight variant of George Bernard Shaws "Pygmalion
For all its frothy investture OF song dance,
Jams Montgomery worked out the theorem of hered-
ity in the development OF charm in girl. IRENE"
you will remember, had two of the biggest song
hits Of the past two years-@Irene" and Alice Blue
Gown" Its cast was good and its scenic investture
excellent Yet today, the story of Irene" holds
stage in with the single exception Of Tier
ney's two melodies s.a ~" -'&i-
so profound perhaps; nsvertheiess as fn=
o II E Da siG5y as w 1sm afa p1
ducuon, marked by all the stage properties and in
in 9qsifsI eGP@Sdy cast sfs you'd reflect credit
S0gF the oastsndns note Of the Whole aaS 10 'hS
tEene oeRtRrs u housing @ oSe
8ee to 0 great I rSs so6 yet S ne ne
ths shOw: -Ths s LSys Nest was REedicatsd the
nssts-foT loving couples, ali America, oppressed
S 5sS S S f @ 6vs
ne nd 1s5e ns OF bs gear Of his S
tive wen oiled was evidenced IN the steady, unfalter
and eostuinE hung over the Wheels @ Of fSs the
S,Isj"h SsSS
sBus Eyes that wound up the past week with optics
sSaT aR Sgs Herr 6 play
sirsctIng, had been committed and which was add-
the most Changing SslSs Of
eH s 5ooR to ay aH @
dozen Ss sss 95 taf tyPe yet for
stt9g good gsG9l Tf 6aFse that may may evsnTsy
laugh to audiences in coming months What Is it,
Eyes: Eye good show? .N' 81 O'i'y me Diu'
a
% pFobaby Helped with the addition U~ Of
Ana has Blue Eyes" those favorable adiuncts at
score that L B Kornbuin turned out is about as
sasF To- @ fens @sg iSPi the in R:
Ss free verse in Deb9rau Yet for m tSese 6and Gt
sa muss @ o2g aaS 1t ss
sssyS SSgS 3:
6nvi at taf Pffk @ Of muca skfsl saR
effort but 6D the n0undstGn a the the
farce cSught il the Rain One might wander back
earlier ana later Dillingham; ehorts the Vsunted
8S 5Ps e b mgsiGs a
ton that every ot these masicstsge milsstoesss
Musical mus aVoF as mere added sttrsctioa Its
sRS s Ruia a! 8.
p precise opposite Of plotless In seven cases
found range in direct proportion to the sturdiness
sy,ssnSs TO- e the 6s,: same ssst that gains
Just ooayiaSing one rarely rarely 5smemSsFs
and few other potisss ones viii give an iGea
of the usually hopeless nature Of show, that at
Siaesaksd stupid story is SoffsS%G tSToRn
ey may be pied novelty to fSs vast enfsrtaiH
S .sne Gt PS fsnsT saR E1 as 6
BarIssaus frequently ATTEMPTS temp to predicate
a narrative value even lower than farce, and bur-
rarce-in its preponderance of speciality dancing
specialty comedy and ballad and topical song sing
s The idea though, that musical comedy needs
Ss ds s sS the hasT q EFFORTS q
hinteriand millionaire who acquires taste for the
i+-h life finances couple theater office bows
IN a producing venture.
" such producing talent is more Ingenious
frequently than the journalists froshes who commit
and It IS this immafere produeing element. Usually
SgdSoo gtSso Quite 1a
~ rake in the shekels with "a good road show"
70 The prevalence OF the fallacy in such producing
circles, also explains why money is invested in
nsnseous diststons of hokum and jazz that usually
last abount forty-hye days and spend the rest Of
sternty in the storeho9se Certainly IL is the main
ssXs prejudice against producers. They know
a~-t new production magnates usually get them as
- south Baltimore and then close hopeless
Land usually plotless-show=