The New York herald., 1921-01-04

"Erminie." probcbly the most famous
Of al operettas. came back at the Park
Theatre last night after many years TO
world which had managed to fisht its
way back to the tuneful piece through n
barrage Of jazz Last week Witnessed
the revival Of "The Begg3r's Opera
called BY the cognoscenti the mother Of
musical comeA'-" thor~h John Cay
miehtnt claim for it the title if he could
see some Of it's latter day offspring. 1t
was bur fitting that George c. Tyler and
William Farnum should present its most
winsome daughter. so the cognoscenti
could decide whether To weep or re-
joice.
Farnum Is said to have made so much
money in acting in motion pictures that
he decided to do one good deed for the
world before passing on. SO he had helped
Mr.. Tyler give a nest elaborate pres
entation Of the piece that more than
made up for some of the Wild West
thrillers in which he had glowered.
Marc Connolly had brought the book to
tune and Norman-Bel Geddes, who had
surrounded grand opera voices with
scenery earlier, did the same for light
vocal artillery.
The audience was full of folks who
had known "Erminie" when it was
growing uD. and consequently the air
was fun OF reminiscence. The patrons
almost wept as they recalled that Fran
els Wilson, who smiled his way back
to the Gootlights last night, had played
the same role of CadedHI at the first
presentation, on May 10. 1886, at the
Casino Theatre. Last night Mr.. Will
son had De Wolf Hopper to associate
with him as his companion in crime,
RavenRes, and, incidentally, to help
hi .7Ff otfr xvtaf
his professional friends presented to him
despite the Volstead law.
Since he last appeared in a revival
of 'Ermlnle.' in 1908, Wilson had been
busyng himself in building up the
Actors Equity Association. and its
members had raised funds for the cup
for their ex-president by general CON
tribution of twenty-five cents, which
numerous actors were able to afford
despite being stranded on the road so
often Many of them were also on
hand to raise the long rebel yell when
the presentation was made.
The presentation occurred toward the
end Of the third act. when CGdeGur and
RGUeHnes, the two rogues who had been
masquerading as noblemen so that RdUUD
might win the hand of the beauteous
EtBShie, were finally caught and trussed
up Just when it began to look as though
the Park would have to apply for an
all night license
For the bestowal of the gift the first
battle line OF the Equity was on hand
Frank Bacon appeared on the stage
having been snatchel from "Lightnin
in a taxicab Miss Laurette Taylor was
there as Peg; John Drew. who had been
enjoying himself immensely with the
audience throughout the performance
explained that he was "a society man
well known around the town." and Fred
Stone in Tip Top costume said he did
lot OF Globe trotting. Then John LIN
erson, president Of Equity, rushe1 ir
with the cup for the ex-president, de-
clared II was all a mistake and they
hadn't stolen the mug-and Wilson car
ried the meeting by acclamation
The performance. indeed, abounded In
such intimate. seemingly informal
touches snrewdlv thought out. Hopper
and Wilson delivered together a de-
lightful and well rehearsed impromptu
curtain speech. in which Hooper pointed
out that Wilson had such a silly first
name that people thought he was
nor's wife And in the midst of the
elaborate dances OF the glittering ball
room scene while Wilson was singing
the interpolated What the Dicky Bird
Says" by Marc Connolly and James T
Powers. he suddenly sprang verse