The Washington herald., 1921-05-01
q SOME MERRY PLAYS OF THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY W
New Music Styles?
By EARLE DORSEY.


muniqus from Polls telling of the advent Of new
Oscar Strauss operetts. The Last waltz"
Unlocking the telephone just az bIithely Tues
day afternoon my hopes of a and possibly
greater Chocolate Soldier" went glimmering
The Last Waltz" appear.
The returns however not all
By Wednesday morning another Polls bulletin
announced the appearance Edward Delaney Dunn's
Iong-heralded adaptation Of comedy
Quality Street" with a by Walter Kolo. a Eu-
ropean composer frequently mentioned in the same
breath with Lehar Of Merry Widow" fame. ana. for
that matter. with Oscar Strauss
Prepare. then. for Barrie a musical setting
Prepare, also for the possible discovery of another
Lehar. another Strauss another caryn. For the
music is changing its styles. and by Il
is highly likely that the viennese Influence
rather than the Broadway influence. will begin to
emerge once again. the dominant influence in
American musical production.
Looking closely the products destined for the
early fall observes symptoms Of an en-
bryonc but persistent movement toward that school
Of musical comedy expressed sforetie by
predictions like The Merry Widow" Algeria" The
Chocolate Soldier The Prince Of PfIsen- rh. Pink
Lady" 1t Happened in Nordlsnd." and half dozen
others lost memory.
All OF these pieces cours. were not strictly
Viennese in origin yet the distinguishing character
istics Of dantness tunefuIness ana above ALL Of un
forced. nghtsome comedy. evident and
outstanding in each that they may grouped prop
ery enough. under that classification
THERE is in evidence a manifest movement away
from the current vogue OF Broadway musical
comedy and its hallmark thai extraneous and
unrelated joke-form- the gag" this movement
is likely enough TO result in the evolution Of new
music style. type will Be neither Of The
Girl in the Spotlight The Chocolate Soldier or OF
The Pink Lady" but which may, nevertheless par
| take all three
II is almost impossible. Therefore to believe
that the music stage of America win fan to utilize
| the coming season in effort TO evolve
new standard Of musical production. And the stage
| itself always inveterste mimic can be intrusted
to adopt. instanter. almost any that seems
destined to win public favor
Only few short weeks ago the shuberts launched
interesting stage experiment in '.Blossoup
Time" The title. Of course. nothing to do with
| the story and probably a decidedly uninspired
EFFORT to walk in the ttuiar footsteps
| 'Msytme" For all that Blossom Time" was an az
| eeptionally interesting experiment in that Il at
tempted to tell in a semi-operAtc form the ufe-sory
/ OF Franz Schubert the composer. Il was an inpor-
tant-a most important link in the chain evidence
that the stage is persistently cropping for new-or
| for an old-musc form
OF Importance, perhaps is the decision Of ~,
producers TO withhold from public gaze for a little
longer period the Oscar operetta The Last
Waltz" which Poli's first booked then Cancelled
on the ground that -The Waltz" was unready II
difficult for one TO conceive OF Strauss operetta
that does revel in the frothy, delicate Vieunesa
style and the fact that producers are deter
mined TO withhold IL from presentation until u is
ready only augury their hone TO reintro
duce in the theater within coming months a truly
worthwhile example Of a previously popular stage
form.
Nor is the production Bsrries Quality Street.
current this week at Pos to be left entirely of
the reckoning in considering this tendency
/ dinerent standard have not before the findings
of the sesshore critics who have viewed the effort
Atlantic City but regardless manner in which
Quality musicalized the fnporta Mt
| fact is that we have in il story presumably
Of the first rank with a score by a who appears
to be contemporary Of Strauss and Lehar.
DERHAPS the most striking instance OF the belief
entertained by producers that the public 10
| ready for new musical styles is evidenced in
the plans being made for q revival Of The Merry
Widow" 1t is difficult, Of course predict the
ception that will be accorded this phenomenary sue-
cessful Lehsr operetta, the rejection Of Tn.
Merry Widow "Floradors" rejected would
not indicate, by manner of that the thea
tergoers America favorable to the type a
| represents.
In looking back over the ground come a
long and sometimes weary way since the days when
we hummed Dream, Dream. Beautiful Lady" and
| The Banks of the Saskatchewan" Somehow we slid
gently and unconscoUsly from that plane the
Kernw wodehouse-BOltOn sphere Of influence wth-
out really apPreciating it greatly. CaryeH and his
style Of tunenSking had been succeeded BY the
sprighty, rollickng measures of Kern such smart
sophisticated affairs Very Good Eddie oh. Boy
/ oh, Lady Lady" with The Girl From Utah" mark
ing the almost imperceptble dividing line Between
one type of play and the other.
! Then the war came and shut OF the Vienness im-
portations while the Kern Bolton wodehouse combi
nation shattered beyond all hope, For many a
weary month thereafter suffered Through so-esed
1 Broadway" comedy monstrosites. monotony Of