Evening star., 1926-05-02

TN a touch of burlesque on grand
i opera a Gilbert & Sullivan chorus
sings I'VE gol We go" After sew
eral repetitions the Major Gineral
patiently protests in mock recitative
"Ycsl But you don't go" So it has
been with the lingering season OF
1920. Its departure has been an
nounced time and again, and alter
each announcement has come the as
surance that there is material still
TO be offered OF highly important
quality.
Interest was kept alive, even in the
face of closed doors, and belated bill
boards, by a promise of The Two
Orphans" with cast whose reminis-
cences read like a series of chapters
from the Patmy Day Book, brought
a spasm of resuscitation. 1t was like
galvanic battery or a saline solu-
ton. But the spark of vitality flick
cred and went out with the decision
TO abandon the road tour. A curious
difficulty was encountered in making
the production, in which Leslie Car
ter was cast for the part OF Mother
Frochard. RecolleCtions of Du Bar
rv as typical of the roles in which
she shone make the thought of pre-
senting her as the underworld hag of
merciless nalevolence almost sac
rilege
1t is hinted that Mrs. Carter had
ideas of costuming which refused to
sacrifice feminine taste in modes to
the exigencies of artistic verSlmlli-
tude. At all events, she is credited
with the possession of private tor
tune which permits her TO do pretty
much as she likes. and. eXemplifying
the aphoriSm, Once an actor, always
an actor she announces that she IS
going to Californla-to die! 1t IS
the irresistible touch of drama. Any
one who has followed the boastful
faith in the sunshine of the Pacific
slope realizes at once that such a
thing would be impossible! The
glorious climate of California has
been a theme for the poets from
Joaquin Miller to the modern real
tor.
A chance to see Two Orphans
really we'll played would have been
worthwhile. Only experienced play
ers could have cast the piece success
fully. Partisan inelodrama is tricky
affair for the actor, depending upon
swiftneSs of contrast and an alert,
vet subtle, skill in taking advantage
of every little point without the in
trusion of mechanical emphasis. A
number of pretty good specimens of
melodrama in the French style have
been welded together recently, but
they were not acted convincingly.
X r. x
In holding the mirror up to nature
the stage does not reflect the merry
sunshine and the blossoming flowers
OF early Spring. The frame of mind
expressed by Mrs. Carter is season.
able. from her side of the curtain.
The glow of stage lighting subdues
and the mimic scene falls into the
neglected bleakness that denotes the
Winter Of our discomfort. For a
little while the mind of the veteran
is left to contemplate the splendors
OF the past, while the producers busy
themselves with preparations for an
other season, which always comes
forward with new opportunities for
everybody who can really do some
thing.
There is, however, an evident ne
cessity for delving into ancient ma
tcrial in order to provide show wares
for the current market. Rida Young
was the author in evidence for the
Little Old New York presentation
by the faithful players who compose
tho National Stock Co. The play
opens with a roistering scene in
which appear Washington Irving and
other figures of the carly days in
Manhattan The pictures seem
slightly libelous to the imagination
that views its past through a tradi-
tionai glamour. Mrs. Young also
wrote Brown Of Harvard" that has
been filming energetically and giving
satisfaction 1t was mistakenly sup
posed that without Harry Woodruff
there could be no Brown of Har-