Evening star., 1925-11-01
Good Old Music, But a New
Offenbach.
By Ph,1ander johnson.

as utilized for Blossom Time" that
in its so-cailed heart interest" the
story is little more than a mechani-
cal copy. There is no genuine idea
supporting the gorgeous1y elaborate
structure of scene. music and dance
enough equipment to provide en-
bellishment for dozen new ideas.
| X y
Scenery may be so stupendous as
to overwhelm The human touch is
needed to give the spectacle sym
pathetic appeal. If The Love Song
had offered little else. it would have
been worth while for its revelation
of romping comedy combined with
delicate artistry by Odette Myrtle.
Her flip of the stacy Offenbach
with her violin bow expressed in a
passing gesture volume of intuitive
criticism. Her sudden Charley Chap
linesque tran lsitions Of mood make
her another edition of Beatrice
Lilly-plus the violin.
X
Musical innovation busies itself
without restraint in adjusting old
bits of melody to the intricacies Of
current rhythms If radio could
reach into the tombs every composer
from Beethoven to Victor Herbert
would be turning in his cerements
as he listens to the jazzihcation OF
his most delicate themes.
There was nothing extraordinary
in finding the graceful flow of the
la Belle Helene waltz transmitted
into snappy two-four tinpan
allegro. The composers who supply
tunes by process of recollective i'm
provisation hold forth the gittcring
hope that they are creating a gen
une native school of music As
matter of fact this is the case; for
the music is of the kind which fol-
lows the demand of the time for
quick work. standardized production
and we'll capitalized system of ex-
ploitation for the purposes of
rapid cleanup.
X X
The new music is exemplihed in
an exceptionally good style in Lady,
Be Good" The songs by Ira Gershwin
and his brother George have several
turns of originality. and jump along
through the entire show with an ease
and agility that harmonic agree
a bly, with the footwork of the chorus.
The great difficulty about the new
music for comedy purposes is that
it has to be written for so many
people who dance but do not sing.
Perhaps the law of averages provides
for the manner in which as ragtime
becomes more and more the chit
fonerie of the chorus becomes less
and less.
There is luck in the life of a come
dian. Walter Catiett manages to get
10 minutes of irresistible fun into the
early part of the show, which makes
him a welcome incident throughout
the entire evening. Such is the graf
itude of audiences.
In the luck of the theatrical art
game, that hrst-rate player, H. B.
Warner, has not been consistently
favored. He has evidently been cata-
logued as a type since his success
in the o. Henry play. Alias Jimmie
Valentine Although an artist of
polished methods, he has CROPPED
along, season by season, through the
underworld play until he now ar
rives with prison pallor and dead
line dialect at the threshold of the
deathhouse Even an actor should
be permitted his relaxations, and so
good a one as Mr.. Warner ought to
have at least one Winters turn at
mingling in the easy atmosphere of
social elegance, As a man of lofty
station travelling incog through the
plot till he proves worthy TO rank as
the romantic ideal of the most exact
ing debutante. The theatric world
is but an imaginary one. and yet it
has its Fates, who pursue the player