Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-11

~ meat" In the theatres, will have to
I .ert week to find 1t.
Y A census Of the theatres shows Nv
\ !, s,odrama, which is certainly accenting
dsntslly, IT'S the first time this year Il
preponderance.
Tho two opening attractions, whic
,,th." are a revival Of "rhe Chocolate
u. "Iadies' Night at the Lyric, and
n, wood, following "Nfnin Street" at the
4 otherwise the local houses just about
.,sy "as is." with three Of them enter.
a. upon final weeks. The latter nre
%ihs Scandals" at the Forrest; 'The
Gold Diggers," ut the Broad, and
"Drifting." at the Adelphi. Eddie
!. Csntor's MAKE 1t Snappy" revue has
= week or so to go at the Shubert, and
sThe, O'Brien Girl" seems to be
!, housed in the Garrick indefinitely.
s,rTATIsTICs are sometimes dry, but
y often Illuminating, and It won't take
many of them to prove an interesting
I, Act. to wit :. that the ubiquitous musi-
! al comedy has been peculiarly absent
rom Philadelphia theatres this season,
= ss compared to former years. At this
Z. nsrtlcular date In 1921 a lineup Of
engagements atl nil local houses showed
,hirty .one shows with music to twenty.
ssren without. This year the tables are
tnrned and the straight" productions
have the call by the figures thirty three
TO twenty.
The fact Is that theatrical producers
arc thinking not once, but a great many
times, and wearing down their lead
nencils with some pretty thoughtful fig
.,lring before they put on n musical show
these days. When It costs as much as
sS0D TO send one chorus girl walking
scross the stage 1t takes a brave man.
aser to outfit whole show, and
sspesially to send 1t on the road.
Therefore, IL n musical show Is pro-
duced nowadays, 1t has to make some.
thing approaching a real sensation on
Rroadwgy before It is sent on tour. And
they're hot charging 81 and So tops for
them here or anywhere else except New
York. :.
Even the present influx Of musical
shows Is hardly likely to overcome the
lead Of the straight forces, which in
\ eluds dramas, farces and comedies.
last year, which up to the end was con-
sldered better season, found the musi.
csl shows winning out with total OF
forty to thirty seven. All OF which may
b explained by that expense angle. or,
Il you prefer to be optimistic, that the
theatre. going public is beginning to pre-
fer Barrie and Gnlsworthy ana Eugene
!, f1'Neill to the Frolics and Frivolities
and Follies. I'm from Missouri!
ar COURSE, it hosw't a thing to do
" ,cith the theatres. but .,
There once Dds a man named StokotcSEt
Who come out aud made rne oo"-
( And started Stra,cinski
Z But the follo,0tng din ski
/ Night be music or just a plain ro'c'sk''
ANOTE in New York paper this
"A week limited that William Brady
might bring his melOdrama Drifting
back to that city late in the spring with
new spectacular features. There's ker-
! mel Of hope in that. If this thriller were
! to be staged on a big, spectacular scale,
with special stage effects provided by
somebody who was a genius along that
line, and perhaps, above all else, with
some of the. newest and finest lighting
devices, it might prove to be something
of real interest.
Listen to what the Adclphi's program
says about the incident" as the scenes
are called:
Five years later in Shanghai. China.
at Mrs. Polly Woo Frances tip-tip Amer
lean cabaret. on the Bubbling Welr road.
at that misty time between tea and din
ner known to the city on the H'uang Po
astthe Whisper Hour
J, Or again:
Then to the far-away hills of Tung
NOw, on the unknown Tartar border.
where stands the Inn Of Perpetual Peace
and Plenty
And finally:
Aboard the tramp boat Hester Blount,
lying to at tho rivers mouth at Loo HI,
while Kwan Cho's day Is dawning."
There is certain amount of imagery
and beauty in those written words, but
when the curtain went up on the "in-
ridents' in question there were only
very commonplace stage settings, the
back drop generally swaying and wig
cling, nothing even approaching either
reality or picturesqueness. The light
Ing was BADLY cold and unsuggestive Of
time Of day, and even the scene in the
ruined mission. which should have been
tanse throughout. was ruined by stacy
rnreality.
| wouldn't be surprised IL effective
Staging would 90 a long way to supply
that undercurrent of foreboding and that
suspense which the sketchily written
Gnd utterly inadequate lines invariably
lail to do. Anyhow, I'd like to see the
result.
AND, opropos Of that Cokan sho,C at
the Gd.rick--
There Woo young girl named O'BrIen
Who toon all the guys Dtthout tryin'
And Ado Mac Weeks
;, When she dances or speaks,
h's en- stdndin' in line Just o.buyin'.
A SEASON that gives us The Last
"A Waltz" 1.-THE O'Brien Girl' and
revivals Of '"The Merry Widow and
The Chocolate Soldier"--ss examples
q ot high class musical comedy or oper-
stta-is not without merits. And let's
nope The Chocolate Soldier" 1922
version, is as satisfactory a revival as
was the Lehar operetta at the Forrest
last fall.
When Oscar Straus' musical version
VI shaw's "Arms and the Man" played
nnere before-funny thing, it played the
Lyric then. too-it had a cast that in
,,uded ticorgc Tallman Cn the role now
yMnSeG MS by Brian, Henry Norman and