The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-01-16
THE OLD SOAK"
HERE WEDNESDAY.
DULUTH ORPHEUM PLAYERS
WILL PRESENT THIS PLAY
OF LAUGHS.

Frank Lozar Post No. 24S,
American Legion will bring the Du-
luth Orpheum Players to Ely next
Wednesday evening when this group
of talented players will present
1.-The Old Soak" to the people OF
Ely at the Washington Auditorium.
The engagement of the popular
players will make it possible for
the people of Ely to see one of the
better class of stage productions at
popular prices. The attendance at
the Wednesdays performance will
also serve as a criterion to the Le-
gion boys in their efforts to furnish
the better class of entertainment
to our people-the spoken drama in
Ely having been strangely missing
for some time.
The securing of other popular at
fractions will hinge in great
measure on the results of the ap-
pearance here of the Orpheum
Players next Wednesday. The play
ers have an open week and are
embracing this opportunity to visit
the range towns and will appear in
Ely, Hibbing and Virginia. The
company comes in it's entirety and
will give the same rendition here
as given in Duluth insofar as stage
facilities will permit. The High
School Orchestra will play between
the acts.
The Duluth Evening Herald in
speaking of the play said:
You may visit many playhouse
on Broadway and see many big
road attraction before you see any
thing quite so entertaining as "The
Old Soak" the pungent, pithy and
overwhelmingly funny play that en-
cages the efforts Of the Orphcum
Players this week Don Marquis,
the newspaper columnist who wrote
this delectable opus, lays himself
open to grave suspicious. How
could he have conceived such rare
situations regarding the curse of
drink, where could he have found
such rare characters, and how all
this inside information as to the do
ings of the traffickers, silent part
ners and bibulous partakers of
"hooch"? He. must have beer a
close observer of things before and
after Mr.. Volstead revolutionized
the liquor traffic.
Now let us not get Mr. Marquis
wrong. Every deacon is not a fell
low who prays on Sunday, fore
closes mortgages on Monday, has a
dry cough, and finances baotleggers
Sc ~ of p,,& thic
play, Mr.. Marquis introduces us to
a deacon with a skin tougher than
cowhide boot. On the other hand,
every man who keeps saturated with
liquor isn't bubbling over with
human kindness and generosity and
is the paragon of virtue But in
Glenn Hawley, known as The Old
Soak, he introduces one of the most
likeable and engaging personalities
that the stage has given us in a
long time. The playwright doesn't
preach or dodge conditions. He
merely gives us squint at people
as he sees them and the audience
can make its own deductions. When
we see "The Old Soak" we don't
have to go home and read "Ten
Nights in a Barroom -. We like
Glen Hawley in spite of his faults
and not because of them. Liquor
makes him see the happy side of
life rather than to make him vicious.
The Orpheum Players did an ex-
cellent performance last night be-
fore large audience that thorough
ly enjoyed the entertainment. 1t
was the best performance the COM
pany has done here and the in
dividual players deserve much credit
for intelligent and conscientious
work.
Glenn Hawley is character some
what after the fashion of Lighnin' ,
but one hardly expected Gene Lane
to equal Thomas Jefferson in his
portrayal of the bibulous, boastful
old yarn-spinner. Comparisons are
odious anyway, but it is safe to say
that Mr.. Lane does bit of natural,
unassuming and artistic acting chat
qualities him for the big league.
S. o. Gordinier as a canny old
hypocrite, Cousin Webster Parsons,
does an equally fine characterize
ton. Alice die Lane is convincing
as Mrs. Hawley, wife of the inebri-
ated husband. You will all like C.
James as Gap. Gap is the fellow
with the crimson tie and horseshoe
pin who peddles the ''hooch". His
characterization is a study in color
and verbal artistry. Ruth Friend is
the hired girl with a penchant for
conviviality. Adrienne Earle is of
the specie vampirus, very artistic in
her vulgarisms. Wally Grigg is
amusing as the snobbish boob SON of
Glenn.
James Billings and Miss Mento
; Everitt are the engaging young
couple who carry on the affairs
d'amour. They both did very cred
liable work.