The Washington herald., 1922-05-07
Theatrical Season
of 1922 Closes
In Haze of Rumor
Stage Situation to Be Faced in
Autumn Still a Matter
Of Mystery.
By EARLE DORSEY.

by kAkLk DOkSkI.
TT is always a trife risky to announce the
i demise Of any given theatrical. season, par
III ticularly in these modern times when the
- business of purveying amusement seems TO
tend, more and more. TO all-the-year-'round
status On the basis. however. that the end OF
the Legitimate" marks the end a
itself. appears that the theatrical
Of l92l-ls22 officially closed in Washington
last night.
With the exception of a temporary reopening
here and there. such as the engagement Of Frances
Starr at the Belasco later this month. the Belasoo
the National and Polls may be regarded as out Of
the running for the season. At various times since
February IT has seemed that any or all Of the
three might close suddenly for the season. but
through means another il has been pos
sibIe to continue offering legitimate plays UP
the present week.
Theater conditions in Washington continue in
definite, and in view of the fluid Of
cumstances, it is. not possible TO speak with
authority concerning plans for the The
National will immediately begin the construction
Of new theater, but Polls needs general recon-
struction. If its gallery is to be utilized the
fall The United States government. which owns
the theater. has expressed desire assume
that expense.
1t has been rumored. also. that the Belasco
will once again become a legitimate theater in
the autumn and that Shubert vaudeville VIII be
taken TO the Capitol. The Garricl is additional.
ly argued. yill be taken over for mercantile pur-
poses next winter and theatcr must be
utilized in its stead. All these stories. howtver.
are plainly rumor and lack confirmation Of any
sort
The outlook stiII further complicated BY
nc recent amaiga'natfon Of the shHbert dud
erect Of pooling, through cleoring hoHse.
EhS b, ot,ro,f,oms S Sf @GnG0sTs rho here,oto-e
Gmasr such c,ronlas'anes' one e justified in
i" fOreooSti"9 condition. for the vert.
n row that both plays have come and gone.
IN it may be permissible to indulge the
! " mise that Rachel Crethers' play. Nice
People" possibly furnished tie indignant
Impulse that drove ]. Hartley Manners the com
mission Of his recent outburst, The National
Anthem" which preceded the Crothers' play into
Washington by several months.
Mr.. Manners terribly concerned with and
maGnifcently indignant those modern jazzistic
tendencies which underIie the development OF
his play and that Of Miss Crothers. His
indictment OF syncopated rhythm took on a
Sinaitc force and like a patriarch Of the Penta-
teuch, he Numbered his warnings Of the slide
trombone and its resultant evils Of bootlegtery
cigarettes and knee-length skirts
1t is possible that the indignant Manners had
long mulled over this subject in silence. only
awaiting the spark of Impulse that would ignite
the finder of his wrath. This spark may hsve been
the first act Of Nice People" in which Miss
Crothers reveals the new freedom one Of its
freer moments. with three debutantes and their
squires drinking Scotch. consuming cigarettes
amid display Of expensive hosiery that would
almost rival the rotoEravure advertisements.
Whatever the impulse that started Mr.
Manners. his wrath completely carried him away.
He waded into his shbject with dramatic tears
streaming from his eyes. He denounced the aber-
melody Of the time as the fountafn-besd ,r
all modern woes and practically asserted. by in
ference, that a return TO lonG-meter hymnology
would the world to rights
Miss Crotbers . woman .r5 r..., =,
more sentimental of the two, led into no
such hystercal sermonzinE She admitted that
fappers and Scotch existes bu, .ho ,,,a,. -, =
remedy and she attempted to sdyarce ~. ~,