Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-04


"Wbere ignorance Is bliss'' and all
that sort Of thing Is quite true, and 1t
happens to be exceptionally fortunate
for the. audiences,
One Actress which are crowd.
Can Make Ing the Broad
Sho,o Different Street Theatre for
,, every performance
Of '"The Gold Uiggcrs."
For the fact remains that this BclascO
production of the Avery Hopwood farce
has lost much Of its sparkle and charm
since its run in New York. The an.
swcr is, beyond doubt, the departure
from the cast Of Ina Claire. The dif.
ference is astonishing, and only goes to
show, once again, what a single attrac.
tive personality can do toward making
u shows success. :.
l understand that when "The Gold
Diggcrs' first opened in Washington,
way hack somewhere in the Dark Ages,
the plot structure revOlved around the
played by Jobyna Rowland, but, little
by little, Miss Claire endowed the part
Of Jerry Lamar with such sympathy.
and still with such perfect reality, that
she became the leading figure, and re-
mnincd SO when the comedy went to
New York.
Gertrude Vanderbilt. who succeeded
her and Is playing the role of Jerry
here, is clever vaudeville artistic, a
hard working, sincere young actress,
hut she lacks the inherent personality
and the understanding Of Miss Claire.
She has made Jerry much more
vulgar, far Jess sympathetic. and Ger.
tainly nowhere nearly the outstanding
parsonage that Miss Claire outlined.
1t seems as If BclascO has purposely
aided in this cheapcning and coarsen-
ing of the part; as, witness. the
momentary and entirely supcriluous
appearance of the young lady In the
doorway clad In most intimate lingerie.
That doesn't gee with the type of per.
son Miss Claire created. Nor do the
little actions and by play Of Miss Van.
dcrbilt. which may make for reality
(since the character Is that Of the
much .abuscd chorus girD, but do not
help win the audiences sympathy.
Strangely enough, too. this change IN
their methods Of playing their roles. have
actually made Miss Howland's Mabel
less amusing. That Is probably explain.
able in the fact that, formerly, the
contrast between the refinement OF
Jerry and the exaggerated tough.
ness Of Mabel accentuated the
humor Of the latter. Certainly her lines
are funny enough. and her deep voice
and unusual methods are inherently
laugh provoking.
: :'The Gold Diggers" needed just n
strong, potent and attractive person
ality as Miss Clairc's, and suffers with
out 1t.
T7IERE'S more truth than poetry In
i the old story of the stage door
tender who had one day of in twenty
ycars and spent 1t visiting another
stage door tender. i found that out the
other day. -.
Eddie Cantor has nothing to do eight
times a week but sing in his new revue.
Make 1t Snappy," and listen to others
inpiny when he is changing his cos
tunes.
Sunday, supposedly day of rest for
actors, there came half dozen urgent
telephone calls for the star. but he
couldn't be found ut any OF his usual
Finally he was discovered contentedly
lolliny in an easy chair at friend's
house listening to radio phone concert
by another actor.
If that isn't sticking close to one $
job. what is?
yIyHEREAS Nep York IS IN the
W throes of a profound theatrical
slump, rc're having every indications
of q golden sunset to a very poor year.
The Broad. uith "The Gold Dggers !;
the Shubert. nth "Make II Snappy.
and the Garrick. pith "The O'Bricn
Girl" have been close to capacity.
Ercn so mediocre thing as DOG
Love" ,ras sold out to- the last scat of
the last ror in its final Tcek. Thry re
talking ot an unusually carly closing
this spring c'scmherc; but, unless the
boiton dr0ps ont, there seems to no NO
reason rhv the theatres here cannot
stay open un'H June as usual.
TNIIAT familiar name of C"han Is
l. shining again in the theatrical fir
mamcnt with It's accustomed brl!liahce.
While Philadelphia l.. getting an oppIr-
tunitv to SEQ his fast moving and dc'
livhtful "O'Brien Girl" Mr.. Cohan
has been busy with other plays.
MADELINE Of the Movies," in which
his daughter Georgette Is the leading
woman. opened last week in Atlantic
City and goes at once to New York. 1t
is described as a combination of Seven
Kcys to Paldpate" and "The Tavern
which sounds interesting, and. natu.
rally, 1t has reference, though only indi-
rcctly, to the much abused cinema.
speaking of "The Tavern" that
pleasing oddity Is again on the, stage,
under C0han's management, ana taxes
the road next week. The season could
come to no more delightful conclusion
here than by a glimpse Of this curious
travesty -melodrama.. The Garrick nus
always been lucky for Cohan; witness
"Tbe O'Brien Girl" and MARY
The successor to 1.-THE O'Brien Girl
is to be "Kitty Kelly" and Cohan ex'
pects to run it all summer In Boston,
So we probably won't get 1t here for a
Incidentally. the next few Cohan mu-
sical comedies ought to have softer beds
than '1The O'Brien Girl" The latter
was handicapped by following Mary
and being advertised as the. latter's
little sister," That reputation is a
pretty heavy one for any play; but, de-
spite that, Philadelphia seems to have
received Ada Mae Weeks, Kopinsoh
Newbold, Andrew Tombes and Elizabeth
Hines with distinct friendliness'
MUMMY thing that some actors pass
i us by year after year TIL tnelr up
pcnrance becomes q rarity and blg oc-
casion, while others make two visits In
one season. WV
In the latter category is Robert War
wick who evidently liked our recep-
ton of "In the Night Watch SO much
that he is returning next week. This
time he comes to the Adelphi,. and In
melodrama called "Driftings,' by John
| Cotton and Daisy Andrews.