The New York herald., 1922-11-21
Amusing Role for
Jobyna Howland
in Zoe Akins Play
'The Texas Nightingale Is
Largely a Monologue for
the Coincidence.

Characterizations of various operate
divas have been lavished upon the stage,
but until The Texas Nightingale" ar
rived last night 1t seemed that never had
such song birds. outside of musical COM
edy. struck such a highly comic note.
While Romance" revealed the amorous,
almost tempestuously tragic side of the
prima donna, Zoe Aktns' latest play,
awarded to the Empire Theater by
Charles Frohman, Inc. swung to the
popular phase. that of evoking laughter
through a well nigh acrobatic tempera-
ment.
Since Miss Jobyna Rowland was fea-
tured in the title role it was inevitable
that the most emphatic impression should
be that of very amusing somersaults by
high strung nature. Miss Howland
played with rare gusto woman who
had achieved international fame on the
operatic stage-almost in spite of the
fact that she came from the Lone Star
state. This popular conception of the
diva was again limned when she was
made to be coy about her age, which
hovered annoyingly around 40. Again
this might almost serve as a composite
picture of operadom-various husbands
had been taken up and then filed away
by her en- route to fame.
Miss HOwIand's New Role.
Miss Rowland played with force but
a proper restraint from eXaggeration.
especially in the invigorating second act
in Nine. Cdndvd's kitchen In her New
York home, where she made divine
souffies herself, as all good prima
donnas should. When she hurled tin pans
around in a fit OF cosmic wrath she was
a speaking likeness of the type. But
she did not sound the great depths of
a woman who could move audiences to
a frenzy with her Brunnhildd- While
she strove to be by turns tender and
terrific. this singers chief emotion
seemed to be anxiety over her voice.
One faancied her playing Aida with a
cigarette.
Her personality was indeed a strange
mixture of grand opera and tinware.
She had all the ripe culture for an ap-
probation of Botticelh and she spoke of
silly young womans face as being
probably "of the kind that got Dante's
goat" This bizarre union of Texas and
Terpsichore led to some strong language.
Miss Howland uttered it so engagingly
that one young actress in the audience
was heard to use a tabasco expression
quite trippingly as she left the .heater.
MOnoIogue for Actress.
Miss Howlands method of suddenly
turning on the barytone accents when
she wished to score laugh was effec-
tive, though easily detected by the pho
netic ear. The play became mono
logue or triumphal procession for her,
while Percy Helton and Georges Rena-
vent were feeders. Indeed, the burden
of the story itself was quite simple. so
that by the third act 1t was wearing
through in spots.
Madame Candvd opposes the marriage
of her son, a willful. erotic and neurotic
poet, to vapid actress whom he con-
sidered beautiful and mysterious" al
though she had a mind fit only for mu-
sical comedy. He opposed her impend-
ing marriage to violinst prodigy Cob
viously named Sascha) because this,
her fourth husband. was only few
years older than he. To solve this inn
passe she turned to the best OF her
three former spouses, a struggling nov
elist-and. as done by Cyril Keightley,
he did little but look sympathetic.
The play indeed, revolved around and
around that focal point, but it did not
seem to have enough centrifugal force
even to go off at tangent. Miss
Atkins might say that this-and the note
| of uncertainty in the end as to whether
! the diva remarries her third husband
/ imply reality. But hardly any one In
| actual life could be so consistently anus
ing as Mdddme Cdndpd as played by
| Miss Rowland.