The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-12-25
With Alan Dale at
Mem York TheaterS

ally useful diversion, I don't beheve
you'll be wicked enough to miss
such a gem a. The Chocolate Sol.
disr'-a gem Of purest ray ssrepe. !
don't believe that you'll let . work
Of such rarity and radiance sluds,
you. Here u music that gtGs DO
meath the skin; here In musDc that
must have remedial qualities; here
are hit and rhythm that would cure
anything from crouch to q pesyish
liver. That - to say, n you really
have any interest in light tschnic<'
CUNTS to explain. But adors real
nourishing music with body to IT,
with bouquet and with originality.
/ want to hsar The Chocolate Dol,
der Q dosen times yet. even II I
have to beat my way in. I am poor,
but not q bit proud"
That savored Of WHIST We may
aptly call ''gush," didn'titr
THAT was ovsr twelve years ago.
I am twelve years older thar
when / wrote the lines quoted above.
They say We grow wiser. They say
that We change every seven years.
Everybody has suffered from the
change Of opinion inst the ysars
seem invariably to bring. think
that it 10 q frightful thing to change
ones opinion. ''Hia love grsw cold"
as Laura Jean would have raid.
Well. that's trasicj don't you think?
Monday evening. December IL,
1921, ''The ChocoJate Soldier" IL an.
nounced in revival by Lee and J. J.
shubert at tho Century Theater.
am hidden to the fray. This has
been q season OF rsvivals. some sue
cessful and some rather otherwise.
Pathetic things = revivais! Can
storied urn or animated bust back to
it's mansion call the fleeting
breath" quote from Gray's
"Elegy in a Country Churchyard."
The revival IT q popular favorite Al.
ways recalls. TO me 0ray's "Elesy."
Revivals ara % elsgiac.
II go Win many q qualm to the
Century. In fact. am slightly
turtured. 4 read the views quoted
above Def ore venture forth. and
they malne mo even more despon-
dent. II have changed my mind
in twelve short years then what's
the good Of the human mind? How
can q work of art in 1909 cease to
be Q work Of art in 1921? Yet-Tvs
seen 50 many revivals.
No. a. I entered the profoundly
aolsmn portals of the Century. re-
GREETED prohibition. I'd have liked .
nip. as 'twere.
EETEEN minutes later the old
thran has asserted itself. The
exquisite strains of the Straus
musAc in a theater beautifully fitted
to receive such strains. captured me
as potently as they did At the
Theater des Westerns in Berlin. They
fin the Century with their quaint
phraseology, and their originality.
They are just a. lovely as ever.
And nothing quite a. lovely has
been heard in the wide interval be-
tween their first reception here
and now. realize that swiftly.
Then the Shuberts took no
chances. They knew that THE
Chocolate Soldier" was a thing of
beauty, but they also knew that 1t
must be irreproachably sung and
acted. recognize the wisdom of
their cast Immediately. Miss Tessa
kosta sings Nadina as I have never
heard it sung before. Her voice IL
purity itself. 1t IL clear, bell-like.
and remarkably cultivated. She
has done some excellent work in this
burg before, but never has she
triumphed as she triumphs in the
role Of Nadina.
Then listen to the dancing gsn-
tIeman. Donald Brian. and I realize
that he is that no longer. His
Lieutenant Bumerh IL q capital piece
of acting. It is smart. alert, clever.
magnetic, and humorous. In I'd.
dition hear Mr.. Brian's voice.
which has developed marvelously.
He 10 now an acceptable singer, and
only occasionally do I recall the
fact that he once had legs that
pranced and oavorted and waltzsd.
This twain makes for the renewed
success Of The Chocolate Soldier
rs q matter Of cast. The opsretta
Itself is every whit as delightful a.
IL ever was. I sit entrancsd. I am
delighted with myself. I feel like
little Jack Horner who sat in . cor
ner-even moro 10. "Oh. my tudx.
ment-how perfect 1t was!' 1 say
1oyously to myself. Every line I
wrote when I was twelve years less
old II true today. Oh. feel perfect
ly content with myself. Isn't II
nice TO fed selfsatisfisd? The rsiisf
Ia immediate. The odious sensation