Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30
Sparkling Modern Play
Completes With Comic
Opera and Sideshow
by PHILANDER JOHNSON.

WIiu dCtOES SnOulu SSnSl any Imply
those who give their efforts on a
basis of life dedication to study OF
the articles, physical and intellectual,
by which the public is made to for
get ordinary cares and see the world
mirrored from new angles across the
j footlights. The stage has become
more than ever a world unto itself.
The curtain line makes sharp d.
vision between those who assume to
be leading lives of genuine reality
and those who, with borrowed speech
and novelties of attire, seem to be
! pursuing an existence of fancy.
The world in the orchestra chairs
endeavors with much display to Gre
ate a scene, beautiful or bizarre, and
to enhance it with laces and jewels
such as stage players could not at
4 ford. What a dazzling setting tor
impromptu comedy or incidents
which may lead to tragic story the
4 ballroom becomes
And the stage player seeks to pene-
trate the attention of that world,
passing before him nightly with Curl
Gus, alf-comprehending stare, and
tell of his aspirations and disappoint-
ments as if he would say, I'VE, too,
up here are humanW
X X n
1t is just as natural to be inter
I listed in plays about actors as it is for
4 civilians to be interested in plays
Z about soldiers, or for soldiers in the
ranks to be interested in plays about
officers, or officers to be interested in
The lives of the men who drudge
humbly in the ditch.
X X -
The effort of one-half the world to
learn how the other half lives is what
makes the theater. To be forgotten
is frequently the fate of excellent
actors, for it is the disappointment
of a reviewers work that no powers
of description, however keen in
analysis and clean-cut in verbal ex-
preston, can suffice to convey the
vivid impression of animate person
! atty, which means everything in the
identity of a player A few actors
have been fortunate in being immor
talized by dramatists Peg Voting
i ton, David Garrick, Nell Gwynne and
others have been long remembered
through the plays based on some
Geographic episode, actual or as
sumed. A favorite subject is the ne
cessity of disillusioning an impetuous
adorer unfamiliar with the arts of
makeup, which may disguise unat-
fractions in countenance and even in
figure. Such plays bring before the
eye representations of the artists
fxx@ $aff tx*.S
who have delighted to study them
with affection and display them as
nearly as possible with Temperament
tal characteristics all reflected.
X X X X
A great actress would be wise, if
she cares to remain we'll known to
posterity, to include among the re-
quirements of her dramatist the writ
ing of play assuming TO show her
in real life in some of the dramas,
tempestuous or idyllic, which neces-
!. sarily come into the careers of the
Z players, as of other folk.
1t is unfortunate, however, that
most actresses usually quarrel with
their dramatists and would be prob
ably unwilling to intrust them in a
resentful mood with so delicate an
undertaking. A drama by Sardou,
depicting Sarah Bernhard at the
height of her triumph, would be a
delight to those who browse among
theatric recollections and an assist
ance to those without browsing ia
cilities toward knowledge of what
browsers are talking about.
X X
1t was thought that the motion
picture would prove means of hold
ing actors permanently in memory
and admiration. This is not the case
The film player discloses but little
of himself or his experience and re-
mains but a shadow that must pass.
The rapidity with which so great an
artist as Rudolph Valentino drifted
off the screen was astonishing, in
view of .the world wide demonstra-
for the man. The world is still in
terested in Valentino, no doubt, and
because of that interest less attentive
/ to the stories outside his own career
in whose portrayal he assisted with
such brilliant proficiency.
X X x
1 To the average American citizen
west of the Hudson River there are
two great thoroughfareS in New
York City--Wall street and Broad
way. Broadway is synonymous with
theatrical endeavor. 1t has been so
thoroughly studied that plays about
sctors have come to be much more
widely understood than in bygone
posed to be dedicated to art where
rchearsals were mysterious ceremo-
malls and where few might venture
TO intrude in hope to explore mys-
teries of the inner temple There is
no reticence now in telling all about
the methods and mechanisms by
which entertainment is created. Many
learn with ease how it is done, but
verv few are able to do it. James
Forbes in his SHOW Shop" found
audiences entirely ready to study the
wealth of human traits, ranging from
sheer eccentricity to the most in
tense idealism, where players congre-
gate either for labor or recreation.
X y
Marc Connolly has adjusted his
svoewriter to fine receptivity as he
fumes in on the impressions of those
devotees to Momus or the muses. for
whom the footlight glare destroys
thrifty restraint, because it seems
somehow to represent the fountain
81 eternal Youth. Having been some
what cynical in months gone by
M. Connolly becomes deeply sym
pathetic as he provides a comedy OF
: the Nineties in "The Wild Man oil