Evening star., 1925-12-06

living. He has been represented as
everything from saint to border
bandit. and. being a good Snowman,
he has never made protest
against any mention Of his name in
print. even when his feelings were
deeply hurt. as they have often
been.
Speaking OF the stage trickery in
which Belasco exCels, Broadway
manager said: why are they al
ways talking about Belasco's art?
He's no more artistic than a magi-
clan pulling a white rabbit out of a
silk hat" Yes" commented an
other theatrical man, but he always
produces the rabbit
r !; =
And true it is that he has the
faculty of creating the element OF
surprise with material quite avail
able to other hands, but never yield
ing quite the results that are Sc
cured under his deft prestidigitation.
Whether his new play, now awaited
with great interest. will be another
rabbit remains to be seen. The
chances are that it will, for Belasco
has managed to reduce his failure
percentage to minimum. There is
d strong touch of sentiment IN his
reassemblage Of a number OF play
ers who have been with him in past
years. Represented as tyrant in
discipline, he has, in fact. an ex-
traordinary way OF winning the con-
tidence and the affection OF those
who intruSt their stage careers for
any length of time into his custody.
The stories of atrocity. such as
dragging woman by the hair OF
the head i'll order to make her more
emotional. are, OF course. exagger-
ated fiction. As a matter OF fact.
Bclasco treats actors as if they were
demigodS. humor, their whims, re-
JoiceS i'll seeing their fortunes in
crease. even when his own pecuniarv
tide is on the ebb, and seeks in every
way to cover the pathway of scnSi-
tive temperament with the rose
leaves of compliment But they
must ACT
When Belasco played his memora-
bic engagement over the h Street
Market in defiance OF the organized
ti1eater. he gave the greatest exhi-
bition of transforming ever known,
transforming. with electricians. fire
marshals, carpenters, mechanics en-
gagged in the task OF creating a sec
ond auditorium OF reasonable the
ater size under that enormous sweep
OF roofagc. In all the pandemonium
there was nothing to disturb the
regal serenity OF Leslie Carter.
whose dressing beautifully
decorated. handsomely furnished,
made spot OF complete luxury
apart from its surroundings She
seemed perfectly unaware that there
was anything going on which might
tend to interfere with concentra-
ton on what she herself had to do.
1t mas been a number OF wears
since Belasco has made one OF his
great pictorial productions, such as
Darling OF the Gods" or "Du Bar
ry"-tllat is, with the exception OF
his version OF "The Merchant Of
Venice" Some time ago he init
mated an intention OF reverting to
his earlier style OF presentation. 1t
may be that Salvage" will be d de-
parture from the simpler forms OF
scenic display upon which he has been
specializing. So far as any express
sions from his office are concerned,
no intimation has been given as to
the precise nature of the drama
This is in accordance with a Belasco
tradition. That the stage equipment
is heavy would be indicated by the
amount of time required for rehears-
ais in this city, it being his policy
to turn money from the box office
rather than risk lifting the curtain
on performance not thoroughly
rehearsed.,