The Washington herald., 1922-07-09

"A lures into discussion Of summer stock
4 Particularly summer stock in a city
like Washington where summer stock frequently
reaches its Iow-water mark drama
Washington. in the first place. 10 mig
gardly investor in summer drama. largely be-
cause Washington sees more than its share
perhaps. of legitimate drama In the winter and
is rarely satisfied. a theatrical city, with the
makeshifts and expedients Of stock.
In the second place the business OF vending
summer stock particularly in a city like wssh-
ington, is a business of selling drama 81 .
seat and this business sooner later resolves
itself into mere analysis OF the tastes OF
u-a-head audiences, which run, in 81 cases
of 100, toward door -slamming farce with
salacious overtones
1t matters little what may be the cultural
the technical the artistic equipment Of .
stock producer his associates IN Washington:
in the end he is either forced to cynicaliy and
shamelessly pander to the dramatic tastes OF
the average stock audience give up the strug-
gle in disgust The better his dramatic pro-
auctions the more liable they to failure,
largely because critical and Intelligent theater-
goers have dislike for the crudities OF stock.
The Belasoo Players seem 70 have grssped
the psychology OF summer dram. In its full
meaning The BeIasco group. although laying
great stress upon their production advantages.
ind their GUNNER stock successful
largely through their cynical indifference TO
every other theater consideration the one
fact that Avery Hopwood's saiacity is CONNER
cialy valuable.
The Garrick Players. the other hand.
have taken a more commendable but hardly
profitable production course They have at
tempted. at frequent intervals. TO offer such
plays IS Enter, Madame" Bought and Paid
For and The Boomerang" They succeeded.
technically but not to any great financial
tent Now in a species Of box-office panic they
offer Brandon Thomas farce, Charles Aunt"
in effort to successfully sound the 81 stock
taste in laughter.
y YNDER such circumstances there
nothing else do but offer q sugges-
tion-a suggestion, be II known. that
- includes all the essential principles Of
so-called constructive" criticism, In brief. The
Garrick Players herewith are asked to make at
least one experiment in the field OF musical
comedy. Assuredly harm should result from
trying It and the results may prove most favor
able
Suppose, for instance. they attempt the
repertoire production of such comparatively
easily-mounted productions as Leave II To
Jane" Very Good. Eddie" oh. Boy" ''oh
Lady! Lady!" MARY" and half dozen other
musical comedies Of the same type. Exists
there theatergoer with soul so dead who
never TO himself hath said: I'D like to
hear those old tunes over-when Jerry Kern
in his primer"
Take. for example the matter OF produo-
ton Leave 1t To Jane" a musical version OF
AIDES college Widow" should offer phenom-
email difhculties 20 the ordinary stock produc-
ton forces. "oh. Boy" ] remember. is a
classic of simplicity and the same largely APP
LadyF 1t is true that oohan produced Mary"
is very elaborate fashion but not all the
Conan hub-dub is necessary In stock
The business Of getting actors-both musi-
cal comedy and dramatic-has probably never
been easier than at present with summer
theatrical conditions anything but promising in
New York. George Marshall has had little DIM
Guilty in assembling Baltimore repertoire COM
his with praise. In the forces already
at the disposal of the Garrick producers 10