Evening star., 1926-04-25

TIE SOlenln ana NlSnllCdlll mo
L mcnt has at last arril ed when
the house manager puts his evening
clothes into moth balls. One of the
greatest attractions of the local the
ater is the costuming in front of the
house which brings to the inquiring
eye of the patron the latest fash
ions in mems attire and the most ef-
fective manner of wearing them. 1t
is eratuty i'll the way OF important
suggestion, and to be effective re-
guires actorial personality, compe
tent to tower III magnetic supremacy
over the suggestion of practical com
merce conveyed by the candy sales
man stand or the song vendor. who
may be adjacent. 1t is grave re-
sponsibility and nowhere assumed
with more success in creating an at
mosphere of refined courtesy and
automatically mea assured Difference
than in this city. 1t is the manager
who really starts the show. with the
ticket taker as an important element
of support as glimpsed by the throng
passing from the prosaic pavement
through mystic portals into the
realms OF wonderland. All how
managers nave 10 dNl-dIN NOW
actors have to manage!
When musical comedy was Young
and in her prime she was regarded
as a vivacious chit. whose romping
spirits carried charm even while
defying certain conservative rules of
form and quality which had descend
ed from grand opera, through opera
comique. opera bouffe and then from
comic operetta. Musical comedy was
a loose term. such as Polonious him
self might have invented, and it soon
became entirely irresponsible and
merged itself with spectacular vaude-
Vile The revue has never super
seeded vaudeville. which maintains
substantial standard OF its own ap-
pealing to a clientele Of loyal con-
servatism. In fact. revue is made
up of the talents of vaudeville play
ere surrounded by eccentric music
and unlimited scenery.
+ y
Audiences have had a long rest
from comic opera. which, in its day.
met the same superciious air of toll
Grafton that greets the later exam
pies of process of disintegration
in light musical forms. The Major
Glneral. in THE Pirates of Pen
xance." in his patter song about him
self, halts his jingle to find rhyme
for the final word in his line, "I never
took gin afore," and then winds up
with the exulting inspiration. Il can
whistle all the tunes in that internal
nonsense, 'Pinafore.' It showed
the willingness of the satirist to ac-
cept the current critical appraisal of
his own work, and, in order to ap-
pease those whom he may have af-
fronted by his gayetieS, to adopt the
method of the jester who seeks to
forestall more serious censure by be-
iaboring himself with his own bau-
bic. How could Gilbert and Sullivan
expect that "Pinafore" would one
day be hailed as the blossoming on
a tree of lyrical fancy that would
produce such delectable fruits from
wear to year. We have comic opera
with us again. recognized as an in
fuential and respected element of
our entertainment. The theatergoer
who has been longing for the pleas
orchestrated scores may at least re-
joice in the fact that the cherished
comic opera of the old-tmer has re-
turned 1t is, indeed, our comic
opera. but alas. how changed!
X **
Instead of the seemingly spontane-
Gus ebulition of merry wit and un-
affected melody suDDorted bv
scholarly proficiency in technical ex-
preston, we have most ponderous
and imposing structure involved with
much ceremonial and reared by
many hahds. AS the gentle Spring
time has approa ached old names have
repeatedly caught the eye. 1t has
been almost like wandering through
a graveyard where our showmen
utilize tombstones as threesheet
posters. In Princess Flavia" we
found a magnificent assemblage dis
tinguished more or less in personnel
and arrayed in pomp to create what
after all was chiefly a tribute to a
most popular romancer i'll his day
Anthony Hope. The dramatization
of his work and. its musical setting
are done with sufficient consistency
to give the presentation standing
. along with several other specimens
of recent well wrought MUSICAL en-
tertainment, as comic opera. 1t is
not harmoniously comic. but of the
kind which burdened a grotesque
comedian with the fearful RESPONSE
bility OF interruptlng pretty love