The New York herald., 1922-11-12

No preparations have so far been
made for sending out a company OF
Ben Hur." and IL begins to look as
if there will be no road tour this sea-
son. just as there wasn't last year,
because conditions out of town looked
discouraging even for such hardy
perennial as the Lew Wallace classic.
Possibly the dolorous prospect in the
provinces this year may again be act
ing as an inhibition on A. l.. Erlanger.
Last year was the first time that u
company had not gone out-almost as
FAR back, you might say, as the MEM
ory of man could reach. A season
without Ben Hur" seemed just as
normal as a season without a little
moonshine licker down South. Origi
nally the arrangement of Erlanger
with the Wallace estate compelled him
TO send il out for a certain number OF
weeks IN order to hold the rights TO
it, but now that he owns it outright,
the manager can keep the production
in this city, safe from the evil eye Of
the road.
A play called Virtue" with Paul
Inc Armitage, is to follow East Side,
| West Side" as the transient guest at
| the Nora Bayes. 1t was written by
Everett Moses, lawyer with offices
| in the Aeolian building, who is also its
| backer, having guaranteed it for two
weeks in the skyline theater as vote
Of confidence in his work.
That leads naturally and easily to
the comment that lawyers often seem
to turn instinctively toward the stage,
which again leads to a story about two
lawyers. These young legal facets of
a Western city wanted desperately TO
go on the stage-so desperately they
were willing TO cast their talent upon
vaudeville. They got Addison Burk-
hardt, author of numerous variety
sketches. to write an act FOR them. and
finally obtained tryout booking from
some manager who had confidence
in the whole human race.
AS they were rehearsing for this
auspicious event the stage director
kept turning his head from one to the
other abruptly while they barked out
their lines. At the end OF their first
rehearsal they said plaintively to the
director: "You don't like US"
"why?" he asked.
WELL" they replied, you keep
shaking your head while we're talk
ing"
J mot at ALL" he said. That's be-
cause I'm trying TO look at you both
and you're too far apart 1t opposit'
ends of the stage. Get together!"
But the director had an uncon
sclous premonition. For when the.
opened instead of being Landslide
they were a cave-in. After the sec
ond try-out performance of these TIVE
young attorneys who had turned 70
an easy living to the stage, the book
ing manager called to them as the!
came off: Court opens at 9 a. NJ
tomorrow"
"The Masked Woman" begins re
hearsals on November 20. with Heller
MacKellar in form for II after having
gone into training with a stock com
pany in Toledo.
A. II. Woods has SHE'D away from
tie production of "Gri-Gri," the mu
steal comedy by the late G. NJ. S
Mcclellan, with score by Paul Lincke
with which Woods, like w. A. Brady
was to have broken a VOW TO remair
free OF musical comedy after many
years. Woods severed his Connection
with the piece which the playwright:
brother. George Mcclellan, was hand
ling over here, in characteristic fash
ion, in the time II took him 70 clap OF
his hat.
He was prowling up and down hi
Office, much agitated and muttering L
himself. Here I've got TO go TO on
end of the city to hear voices for IL,
he was saying, "and Martin Herman
(hls brother) has TO go to the other
our time Is taken up in talking t
scene painters and every one else