The Washington times., 1921-11-20
With Alan Dale at
Ne,v York Theaters

CONTINUED from Page ~
fun war paint. and the general pub
lie gazed awe-struck at the beauty
OF the new structure. But not to-
day. The nswness Of the theater
means nothing At all. The public
enters the new structure and appar-
emily doesn't even bother to look
around. We Of the reviving cult
no longer worry ourselves about
tho little architectural details that
once seemed necessary to describe.
All theaters look alike to Us! To
be sure. the carpets seem nice and
soft, and the seats have q spick-and-
span-ness that II impressive. and
there IL slight odor of paint (often
not even slight. a. the manager
can't wait till his house IL dry be-
fore opening IT. and occasionally
one senses a certain dampness. But
even these qualities are now 90 gen.
eral that one scarcely pays any at
tention to them.
Imagine asking for the address"
Of theaterl Honest, We should
have smiled at the mere idea Of
such = thing . few years ago. Yet
today look in the tsisphons book
quite frequently to So where the
thsater happens TO Be. Once I
spent ten minutes finding . house
that thought was on Forty-flfth
street and which turned out to b
on Forty-fourth street. remem-
Der that I asked q policeman at the
corner and no didn't know. He
guessed" that It was ''ons Of them
moo ones" He imagined that II
was in tho middle OF the block
but he wasn't certain.
I used to be able to name the at
traction et every house at the mere
mention Of tho house. But not to-
day. II 10 necessary for me to scan
the advertisement columns in the
daily papers to refresh my memory.
And II this is the case for a hard.
working theatrical critic. what must
1t DO for the public? Pity the poor
public.
" HE marvel IL that managers
are always able to fill their
theaters, no matter how many
new plays open on the Same night.
And this must be 4 genuine art.
have never yet discovered how It
IL done. There. at any opening.
is the self-same crowded house.
filled with people who applaud any
thing vociferously. No matter II
the play produced on the Monday
dies on tho Saturday. the applause
is tempestuous and the reception"
almost an ovation.
1t Is extraordinary. 1t is awfully
clever. Though I've been so close
to the game" for 30 long. I admit
that I have never been able to
understand how 1t II done and done
with such perfection. Sometimes
the applause seems almost real. and
although 1t may come from one part
OF the house. Y comes at the right
time. Actors stumble in their lines.
scenes go wrong in tho shifting.
even the curtain sticks and refuses
to behave propsriy, but the applause
melted out to the best as we'll AZ to
the worst plays never makes any
errors. 1t is always there. 1t IL
always there when the actor makes
his first entrance (sometimes an
actor perfectly unrecognixable to
the naked eye) and 1t Is always
there when he makes an exit.
How is it done? Why doesn't It
ever err? Even when the star comes
on In the Oakland I am unable
to detect tho identity Of the dark
ened actor-the applauders know
precisely. They may be at the back
of the theater. where 1t 10 quite
impossible to see through the gloom.
but they sense" the arrival Of the
star and break into applause. whilst
I am still wondering what 1t is all
about. Clever7 You bet It is, 1t
is admirably done. I am always
lost In bewildered appreciation at
the deft Job.
II the same energy that 10 eI-
pended upon these professional
tricks were utilized in the selection
of good plays for production the
stage would have much TO gain.
This would be q boon.