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1K3ett> îtot* PART V SIX PAGES ^feeklyReview oftRe Arts? SUNDAY, JULY 23. 1922 IH© ofc VT* *4» T^ 1 Wtttch Shelton Brooks, of "The Plantation Revue," at the piano, folks. Hcrroic "The Darktown Strutter's Ball," y'know. "The Plantation Rene" is another of those musical shows that remind you of getting in next winter's coal supply. The Playbill ïm Productions Getting Rea dy for Showing on Broadway THE first major production of tho new season will be made by DAVID BELASCO. "Shore Leave," which opens at the Lyceum Theater, with FRANCES STARR, is sub-titled "a sea-goin' comedy 5?Hubert Osborne." It is a story of the New England coast. HUBERT OiBORN- wrote "April," which was produced in New York several j.rs ago. In handling various "little" theaters in Pittsburgh and the ! Wes* he bas ;ho* n the knack of doing things in an artistic way. JAMES RENN1E, F7.GINALD BARLOW and SCHUYLER LADE are in the cast. ... Pri*du?ers' nerves are jumpy as the summer swings to the new theater season. One manifestation of nerves is the hurried draft on Korea of nomenclature. A. H. «§-~ WOODS has just Tenamed two pieces that are now undergoing the surgery of wleâMsl. PAULINE FREDERICKS'S lairing* vehicle, "By Right of Craqwst," is now "Playing With Fire." And "Who's Who," furiously rt-raiten and recast with CHARLES HIGGLES in the feature role, Is re- rsmed ''Lonely Wives. ... BA¬ TAILLES "Wedding March," which Woods is to do in association with Í Henry Miller, will go into rehearsal «oon. . , . And another Bataille play, which will not be Ion_ tarrying, is 'The Child of Love," or, for the benefit of Americans who since the war don't read or speak English, "L'Enfant de ¡Amour." ... Mr. Woods's "Lawful Larceny" company will leave for Eng¬ land on August 1. In London RUTH SHEPLEY is to appear in the role created here by MARGARET LAW¬ RENCE. LOWELL SHERMAN will continue in his part. BERTRAM HARRISON ), l0 direct. . . . LIONEL ATWILL and his wife, ELSIE MACK.W, are sailing for the Orient, to i-pcnd several months in Hawaii «d China. . . . One of the Sost popular of the young act¬ resses who nrr« definitely made '¡»s se'ason is MÁRGALO GILLMORE, ."* Consuelo in "He Who Gets Slapped..* It is said that every im- P«**rtant manager in New York has of¬ fered Miss Gillmor'è a role for the Mhcoming season. . . . DOROTHY «RANCIS, the porgeou-s. raven-haired ioonc loprano who sang second part 'i "The Merry Widow" at the Knicker- take/, and on tour san*_ the widow, is ¡Wiring i,, concert this summer in Franr«. and Italy. She has declined of- krs to remain abroad for the grand «pera season in «Stockholm and Monte »Ho, and will return to New York .Aïe Aquitania September 2. .. . . ¦ADORA DUNCAN and her troupe of «KMers are coming to America for a »on-th's tour, beginning next October, >")der the direction of S. HUROK. . . . filbert vaudeville is to invade the *cific Coast. At present twenty- **v*.n units have been prepared, each ^'.»Pped as a regular show. . . . W-NRY MILLLER and RUTH CHAT- «.RTON are to open the Empire .e?ter in September in "La Ten- sse. ' This piece was an outstanding ,v,«ccss in France. It was given re- ^nt'y.at the Columbia Theater in San «taeisco. . . HENRY BARON »«W "The Rubicon," at the Olympic '^at"r-- Chicago, August 27. Baron f b ..\r0dUCe 'n Ncw York in SePtem- «J "Mon Homme," a Parisian hit. by WWB PICARD, author of "Kiki." ' ? « HOLBROOK BLTNN is to visit «.. Pacific Coast with "The Bad Man." ,! season sUrts late in September. L__' MARTIN HERMAN, chief of ff to Aï Woods, has returned from rn!öterniission spent in Canada. . . . tUKL°TTE GREENWOOD has found a warm welcome in the West for "Letty Pepper." Her Los Angeles engagement has been extended to five weeks. The Washington Square College Players of New York University, un¬ der the direction of Ralph Somerville, will present four one-act plays at the Lenox Little Theater, 62 Ea3t Seventy- eighth Street, next Friday and Satur¬ day evenings. The bill: Malcolm La Parde's "Checkmate," Lady Greg¬ ory's "The Workhouse Ward," Dorrian'a "The Age of Reason" and Stuart Walk¬ er's "The Medicine Show." Four productions opened out of town last week preparatory to a showing on Broadway. On Monday, July 17, at the Ap-ollo Theater, Atlantic City, Sam H. Harris produced "It's a B*oy," by William An¬ thony McGuire, author of "Six Cylin¬ der Love." The cast: John Daly Mur¬ phy, Jane Adair, Robert Ames, Charles Lawrence, Dorothy Mackaye, Hortense Alden, Peter Lang, Joseph Kilgour, Millicent Hanley, Richard Pitman, James R. Waters. The press of Atlan¬ tic City said: "It's a Boy" -will go strong after the pruning It needs. It has an excel lent cast and the prologue and first act possess a freshness and vivacity that promise greater things than are actually accomplished. The second and third acts descend to the old story of the ex-, perlences of the small town family that gets submerged In the awlft currents of New York life. . The comedy Is a good entertainment. On Monday at the Woods Theater In Atlantic City George Broadhurst pro¬ duced "Wild Oats Lane," his own play, with Maclyn Arbuckle, Richard Barbee, Douglas Wood, Daniel Davis, James Bradbury jr., John Ellis, Thomas Gunn, Howard Nugent, James Jefferson, Leah Peck, Edna May Oliver, Hope Suther¬ land, Camilla Lyon, Judith Vosselli, Florence Earle, Vera Finlay, Edna von Buclow, Pauline Breustedt. The press said: The play Is a direct appeal to the heart and it doe« strike home. A very delightful play and one that touches the ernotlors deeply. Lovable as he ¦was In "Daddy Dumplln'," Maclyn Arbuckle 1r, if possible, more delightful as kind-hearted, jovial Father Joe, In the adaptation of Gerald Beaumont's story of "Tho Gambling Chaplain." He is the central figure through five scenes and' an epilogue of the three-act play, the locale of which never changes from the home of the gentle shepherd of souls. For frequently exquisite touches of character study the play Is a treasure trove. On Monday, at the Majestic Theater in Buffalo, the Bonstelle Stock Com¬ pany produced "Mister Man," a new play by Marion de Forest, author of "Erstwhile Susan." It is based on a story of the same name by Frank R. Adams. On Monday, at the Shubert-Garrick Theater, Washington, the Garrick Players presented "A Turn in the Dark," a melodrama in three acts by George Henry Trader. The cast: Katherine Pritchard, Brandon Peters, George Henry Trader, Henry Goldstein, Garry McGarry, Imogen Taylor, Ger¬ trude Augarde, Ada Meade, Dennis King, Edwin Trusheim, Mrs. Charles B. -Hanford, Granville Palmer, Mary Bunday, E. J. Bender. We made the mistake of telling our wife we were going back-stage at the "Ziegfeld Follies." She took pencil and paper away from us, know¬ ing darn full well what a poor memory we have for telephone numbers. Consequently we were forced to do the above sketches from mental notes. The crowd looking on from the wings is enjoying Will Rogers. This note proved to us that Will's stuff Is different each night. When he goes "on" everything stops back-slagc. The whole troupe, including seventy-five stage hands, crowds into the wings and laughs fust as heartily a$ the audience out front. It is difficult to tnake mental sketches'.one couldn't possibly draw what is in one's mind.no-sirree.not in these day» of censorship. Upper left.Typical Ziegfeld chorus girl. By the way, we wonder how many miles a Ziegfeld beauty "walks" each night. (We mean during the show!) Upper right.An impression of Gilda Gray. Lower right-.A gypsy. After the final curtain who knows but that she hits the open road In a $12,000 covered wagon. Every Man in His Own Humor The Elite of Vaudeville DEAR SIR: Whenever I read the dramatic critics' compilations at the end of the theatrical season of the best plays, the best Bcenes and the best bits of acting of the year I wonder why they do not also offer a list of the best vaudeville offerings. Is the job of picking the ten best acts of the year from such profusion too staggering to attempt? Or »do they find no real merit there? It seems to me that from the wealth of material produced in the course of a year in our vaudeville houses.particularly at the Palace.ten acts of exceptional merit could be selected that would constitute a sort of ideal American Chauve-Souris. And, unlike the plays which are lauded at the end of the season, when some of them have gone to their last long rest in a storehouse and are for¬ ever lost to the sight of those of us who neglected to see them during their first presentation, many of the vaude¬ ville acts selected for such an honor roll would probably still be playing in the outskirts of New York. And perhaps this choice of vaude¬ ville's best would inspire some spend¬ thrift manager to gather them together on a gala bill for a week or two. I am sure that such a move would arouse in¬ terest in vaudeville among the be¬ nighted people who haven't yet formed the habit of going to vaudeville. And, too, I dare say that it would provide vaudeville with some worthy standards to measure up to. Any «election that I might suggest would not be a fair one, for I have not attended the Palace every week and my visits to the Shubert vaudeville houses were even less frequent. But I am sure that on any such list these New Theatrical Offerings TUESDAY.At the Threshold Playhouse, within the Lexington Theater, the Threshold Players will offer four one-act plays."The Twilight of the Moon," by Charles Bui ton Going; "The Importance of Being a Roughneck," by Robert Gal land; "Possession," by Lawrence Hons- man, and "When the Whirlwind Blows," by Essex Dane. The bill will run for three weeks, the performances on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and Thursday matinee. The cast: Emily Gilbert, Ruth Valentine, Mary Carter Lee, Paul Gnilfoyle, William Dengold McWilliam and others. favorites of mine, at least, would be' sure to appear: Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, the Marion Morgan dancers, the Rath Brothers, Joe Cook, Paul Whiteman's Band and James Barton, of course. There should be a singing team on the lists, but I have not heard enough of them to make a choice. It would be much easier to choose twenty-five than ten, and perhaps even more acts than that would seem to merit a place on a list of really great bits of entertainment. Can we not have such a list by some .one in a position to know? It would be interesting to see after a few years if some of the old faithful, sure-fire acts wouldn't hold thei» place on this list year after year. I am sure that Joe Cook's one-man vaudeville show would. I have seen it at inter¬ vals ever since the early spring of 1915 and it still seems to me one of the most riotously funny offerings on the stage, BARBARA LITTLE, 79 Seventh Avenue, N. Y. C. A Jury on Beauty Dear Sir: The unusually pretty lit¬ tle blonde chorus girl in "Sue Dear" suggests a brand-new method of se¬ lecting the chorus girls for the "Fol¬ lies." Instead of abiding by Mr. Zieg- feld's judgment and letting him select the American girls who are to be glori¬ fied why not let the public do a bit of deciding for itself? There's the piquant blonde already mentioned; when she flashes the pock¬ et, light in front of her face in the dark scene she's irresistible, and when she modestly gathers her chiffon robe as close as possible about her in the lingerie song she profits by her asso¬ ciates' frankness. Then there's the prettiest of the girls who sing the fan song in "The Music Box Revue," and the "Follies" can of course supply a number of girls; after all F. _. is a pretty good picker. But why not let the public help out? E. K. New York City. Spirituals in the Theater Dear Sir: in the Sunday Tribune of Jun« 9 there appeared an article under the caption, "Spirituals, Gay and Sad, Ring Through 'Strut Miss Lizzie.'" It called attention to how the negro spir¬ ituals were being exploited in the com¬ edy show, "Strut Miss Lizzie." To start with, these songs do not belong in the theater, and the mem¬ bers of the "Strut Miss Lizzie" com¬ pany have done injury to them in carrying them on the stage and exploit¬ ing them for commercial value. The theater does not provide the proper environment and background for the best expression and interpretation of these songs, and it is rarely that a company of entertainer«, especially those who work in the theaters, can bring to these songs the proper- relig- ious ideals, the thing which actuated the negro when he sang them as a slave. The negro spirituals are the most sacred of the negro folksongs; they were sung at the religious meet¬ ings, and represented the spontaneous outburst of a people. To sing them in the theaters takes them altogether out of their setting, and when they are heard in such an environment they lose much of their value. The negro schools and colleges of the South are teaching their students to revere and love these songs. To love them for the character they ex¬ press, and what they meant to the negro when he had no other weopon to rely on but these songs when he faced tho long stretch of slavery. Fisk University, at Nashville, Tenn., sent out the first group of singers, in 1871, to give to the world the message of these songs. At this university there Is nothing more sacred than this music. The attempt to sing these songs hy unscrupulous minstrels has worked injury to the music, and has brought about a. misconception. When Roland Hayes, the negro tenor, sang before the King of England the King and England got an altogether new conception,of these songs, because of their proper interpretation. The songs had been sung before in the cheap con¬ cert halls of London by entertainers who knew nothing of their value. As a student of this music who knows its sacredness I want to protest against tho abuse of these songs by exploiting them in theaters. CLEVELAND G. ALLEN. - « At the Palace Ted Lewis and his jazz clowns, the Four Mortons atid Van and Schenck are the headliners at the Palace Theater this week. Blended into the bill are the standard acts of Jack Rose, Kramer and Boyle, a revue entitled "The Little Cottage," headed by Frank Sinclair, and Cliff Dixon. Florence Mills, "coloratura" with "T I he bright spot of the piece and with Tired Busineis Man on his feet for =__* he Plantation Revue." She i» her six Dixie Vamp» can put a an entire week without sleep. Play Producing More About Making Dramatic Directors of Amateurs THERE is in progress In New York City an unusually interesting? example of the intensive "workshop" course in amateur drama which Walter Prichard Eaton referred to in a recent number of The Tribune. This institute for the development of dramatic directorship is being given in response to demand from out-of-town people who want to spend vacations in New York and at the same time have advantage of some such course of instruction as Mr. Eaton refers to as being given by the national Drama Leaeue. ?-*.-.- It Is at the Art Center, 65 East Fifty-sixth Street, under the auspices of the Inter-Theater Arts, with Miss Elizabeth Grimball, president of that organization, as workshop director. Among those on the staff prominent in work connected with the allied arts of the theater are Mme. AlbertI, of the School of Expression, of Columbia Uni¬ versity; Rhea Wells, theatrical costume designer and illustrator; Miss Helen Ford, director of the Educational Dramatic League; Miss Miriam Loder Wallace, director of pantomime dancing and pageantry; Miss Berta Elsmith, professor of music in the drama and pageantry, and Oscar Berner, wig and theatrical make-up expert. The students, necessarily rigidly limited In number, include women from ¡Tennessee, Colorado, Washington, D. C, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and France. The de- mand for this particular course came entirely from women, and almost en¬ tirely from those already moráor less actively engaged In some sort of amateur dramatic work; therefore, the interesting demonstration in progress at the Art Center is of what would normally be a year's course for amateur workers concentrated into the course of a few weeks. The choice of produceable material, pantomime and characterization in act¬ ing, incidental muslce and dancing and their relation to dramatic action, period costumes and costuming; end, on the technical side, the making of scenery and costumes and the manage¬ ment of lighting as a «»dramatic factor are developed in the practical working out of a play by the students under direction, both with some regard for the practical problems "back home" and as a public performance to be given at the end of the course. If newspapers have, as Mr. Eaton points out, been oblivious to the tre¬ mendous effect of such "workshop" courses on the American stage, the serious artists of the theater have not .neither have-the students of Bocial life the country over. It has come to be pretty generally recognized that the most artistic innovations of the com¬ mercial stage during the last few years have come from small experimental groups, which, being quite free fron: the "Broadway" tradition, have every¬ thing to give and nothing to gain from it. What the "little" theater has con¬ tributed to the artistic effectiveness of the stage as whole can best be seen in New York. What it has contributed to the social life of the country can'best be seen elsewhere. Hundreds of little bare platform stages have been draped with old curtains, lighted with automo¬ bile searchlights with colored tissue paper slides, and have become a clear¬ ing house for home talent where the best "little" theater classics are playee with an atmosphere and a beauty thai the movies and the poor road companj could never attain. Because "teacher' has become a dramatic director, so has the playground director, the churcl worker, the community worker of manj towns and neighborhoods of larg« cities. The "Opera House," the Towi Hall, the Elks Club hall, the loca theater ar» all beginning to be used regularly by local groups. Even the church hall. One student of the sub¬ ject has recently said that there »re over £.000 church basement dramatic groups in active existence to-day. And the active demand is for more directors soundly trained in the technique of the "little" theater workshop. There is a new desire just since the war for group self expression and for more imaginative sorts of recreation. All the means of artistic expression normally found in community life are called into play in the theater "work¬ shop" for community dram«» of the sort which is so fast becoming a part of our everyday community life over the country in general. The acting, the incidental muslo and dancing, the making of and decorating of the scenery, the costuming and lighting give everybody something to do. And the result of some programs which have been In existence for s sufficient time to have resulta ara of auch a kind that it is not visionary nor flighty to say that through some auch means as this we are at last to attain a real art of the American people, which.* like all art of all times.is destined ttf have its roots in an expanding aoclal «spirit. That Difference of Opinion The following letter, which has bean received at The Tribuna office, speaks for itself: Miss Har-riette Underhlll. Dear Madam: Misled by yont "boost" of "The Past Mail" and your statement of your intention of seeing" it a second time, we saw it last evening» In our opinion stern Justice should compel you to see it every night for a. month, TWO TRIBUNE READERS. These Old Playa Are New Oldtime cheap melodramatic sue* cesses are to have their Innings anew.i in pictures. "The Great Metropolis,* "Romany Rye," "Black Flag," "Undei« the Gas Light," "Lost in New York,". "In the Ranks" and similar shows are* being made ready for the camera,* Cheap casts and cheap cost of produc¬ tion averaging about $12,000 each war¬ rant this, for there is a public demand, as Lincoln Carter's "Fast Mail" showed. Dove's-eye View of Hollywood Billie Dove is out In Hollywood making pictures for Metro, and she says the quiet is driving her mad. What she expected was quite differ¬ ent from what she found. Thie is what ohe saw: A colony of peaceful bungalows and quiet streets. Attractively simple cafeterias and I tea shops, where grape juice was the wickedest thing In sight. An occasional hokey-pokey man selling Eskimo pies. A club of screen actruases which had all the earmarks of a Y. W. C A. Well known stars mowing their J V lawns and working their garúen-.. j I- .
Transcript of ^feeklyReview 1K3ett> îtot* oftRe Arts? · 1K3ett> îtot* PART V SIXPAGES ^feeklyReview oftReArts?...
1K3ett> îtot*PART V SIX PAGES ^feeklyReview oftRe Arts? SUNDAY, JULY 23. 1922
IH© ofc VT* *4» T^ 1
Wtttch Shelton Brooks, of "The Plantation Revue," at the piano, folks.Hcrroic "The Darktown Strutter's Ball," y'know. "The PlantationRene" is another of those musical shows that remind you of getting
in next winter's coal supply.
The Playbillïm Productions Getting Rea dy for Showing on Broadway
THE first major production of tho new season will be made byDAVID BELASCO. "Shore Leave," which opens at the LyceumTheater, with FRANCES STARR, is sub-titled "a sea-goin' comedy
5?Hubert Osborne." It is a story of the New England coast. HUBERTOiBORN- wrote "April," which was produced in New York severalj.rs ago. In handling various "little" theaters in Pittsburgh and the
! Wes* he bas ;ho* n the knack of doing things in an artistic way. JAMESRENN1E, F7.GINALD BARLOW and SCHUYLER LADE are in thecast. ... Pri*du?ers' nerves are jumpy as the summer swings to thenew theater season. One manifestation of nerves is the hurried drafton Korea of nomenclature. A. H. «§-~WOODS has just Tenamed two piecesthat are now undergoing the surgery ofwleâMsl. PAULINE FREDERICKS'Slairing* vehicle, "By Right ofCraqwst," is now "Playing WithFire." And "Who's Who," furiouslyrt-raiten and recast with CHARLESHIGGLES in the feature role, Is re-
rsmed ''Lonely Wives. ... BA¬TAILLES "Wedding March," whichWoods is to do in association with
Í Henry Miller, will go into rehearsal«oon. . , . And another Batailleplay, which will not be Ion_ tarrying, is'The Child of Love," or, for the benefitof Americans who since the war don'tread or speak English, "L'Enfant de¡Amour." ... Mr. Woods's "LawfulLarceny" company will leave for Eng¬land on August 1. In London RUTHSHEPLEY is to appear in the rolecreated here by MARGARET LAW¬RENCE. LOWELL SHERMAN willcontinue in his part. BERTRAMHARRISON ), l0 direct. . . .
LIONEL ATWILL and his wife, ELSIEMACK.W, are sailing for the Orient,to i-pcnd several months in Hawaii«d China. . . . One of theSost popular of the young act¬resses who nrr« definitely made'¡»s se'ason is MÁRGALO GILLMORE,."* Consuelo in "He Who GetsSlapped..* It is said that every im-P«**rtant manager in New York has of¬fered Miss Gillmor'è a role for theMhcoming season. . . . DOROTHY«RANCIS, the porgeou-s. raven-hairedioonc loprano who sang second part'i "The Merry Widow" at the Knicker-take/, and on tour san*_ the widow, is
¡Wiring i,, concert this summer inFranr«. and Italy. She has declined of-krs to remain abroad for the grand«pera season in «Stockholm and Monte»Ho, and will return to New York.Aïe Aquitania September 2. .. . .
¦ADORA DUNCAN and her troupe of«KMers are coming to America for a»on-th's tour, beginning next October,>")der the direction of S. HUROK. . . .
filbert vaudeville is to invade the*cific Coast. At present twenty-
**v*.n units have been prepared, each
^'.»Pped as a regular show. . . .
W-NRY MILLLER and RUTH CHAT-«.RTON are to open the Empire.e?ter in September in "La Ten-sse. ' This piece was an outstanding
,v,«ccss in France. It was given re-
^nt'y.at the Columbia Theater in San«taeisco. . . HENRY BARON»«W "The Rubicon," at the Olympic
'^at"r-- Chicago, August 27. Baron
f b ..\r0dUCe 'n Ncw York in SePtem-«J "Mon Homme," a Parisian hit. byWWB PICARD, author of "Kiki."
' ? « HOLBROOK BLTNN is to visit«.. Pacific Coast with "The Bad Man.",! season sUrts late in September.
L__' MARTIN HERMAN, chief offf to Aï Woods, has returned from
rn!öterniission spent in Canada. . . .
tUKL°TTE GREENWOOD has found
a warm welcome in the West for "LettyPepper." Her Los Angeles engagementhas been extended to five weeks.
The Washington Square CollegePlayers of New York University, un¬der the direction of Ralph Somerville,will present four one-act plays at theLenox Little Theater, 62 Ea3t Seventy-eighth Street, next Friday and Satur¬day evenings. The bill: MalcolmLa Parde's "Checkmate," Lady Greg¬ory's "The Workhouse Ward," Dorrian'a"The Age of Reason" and Stuart Walk¬er's "The Medicine Show."
Four productions opened out of townlast week preparatory to a showing on
Broadway.On Monday, July 17, at the Ap-ollo
Theater, Atlantic City, Sam H. Harrisproduced "It's a B*oy," by William An¬thony McGuire, author of "Six Cylin¬der Love." The cast: John Daly Mur¬phy, Jane Adair, Robert Ames, CharlesLawrence, Dorothy Mackaye, HortenseAlden, Peter Lang, Joseph Kilgour,Millicent Hanley, Richard Pitman,James R. Waters. The press of Atlan¬tic City said:
"It's a Boy" -will go strong afterthe pruning It needs. It has an excellent cast and the prologue and first actpossess a freshness and vivacity thatpromise greater things than are actuallyaccomplished. The second and thirdacts descend to the old story of the ex-,perlences of the small town family thatgets submerged In the awlft currentsof New York life. . The comedy Isa good entertainment.
On Monday at the Woods Theater InAtlantic City George Broadhurst pro¬duced "Wild Oats Lane," his own play,with Maclyn Arbuckle, Richard Barbee,Douglas Wood, Daniel Davis, JamesBradbury jr., John Ellis, Thomas Gunn,Howard Nugent, James Jefferson, LeahPeck, Edna May Oliver, Hope Suther¬land, Camilla Lyon, Judith Vosselli,Florence Earle, Vera Finlay, Edna von
Buclow, Pauline Breustedt. The presssaid:
The play Is a direct appeal to theheart and it doe« strike home. A verydelightful play and one that touches theernotlors deeply. Lovable as he¦was In "Daddy Dumplln'," MaclynArbuckle 1r, if possible, more delightfulas kind-hearted, jovial Father Joe, Inthe adaptation of Gerald Beaumont'sstory of "Tho Gambling Chaplain." Heis the central figure through five scenesand' an epilogue of the three-act play,the locale of which never changes fromthe home of the gentle shepherd ofsouls. For frequently exquisite touchesof character study the play Is a treasuretrove.
On Monday, at the Majestic Theaterin Buffalo, the Bonstelle Stock Com¬pany produced "Mister Man," a new
play by Marion de Forest, author of"Erstwhile Susan." It is based on a
story of the same name by Frank R.Adams.
On Monday, at the Shubert-GarrickTheater, Washington, the GarrickPlayers presented "A Turn in theDark," a melodrama in three acts byGeorge Henry Trader. The cast:Katherine Pritchard, Brandon Peters,George Henry Trader, Henry Goldstein,Garry McGarry, Imogen Taylor, Ger¬trude Augarde, Ada Meade, DennisKing, Edwin Trusheim, Mrs. CharlesB. -Hanford, Granville Palmer, MaryBunday, E. J. Bender.
We made the mistake of telling our wife we were going back-stage at the "Ziegfeld Follies." She took pencil and paper away from us, know¬ing darn full well what a poor memory we have for telephone numbers. Consequently we were forced to do the above sketches from mentalnotes. The crowd looking on from the wings is enjoying Will Rogers. This note proved to us that Will's stuff Is different each night. When hegoes "on" everything stops back-slagc. The whole troupe, including seventy-five stage hands, crowds into the wings and laughs fust as heartilya$ the audience out front. It is difficult to tnake mental sketches'.one couldn't possibly draw what is in one's mind.no-sirree.not in theseday» of censorship. Upper left.Typical Ziegfeld chorus girl. By the way, we wonder how many miles a Ziegfeld beauty "walks" each night.(We mean during the show!) Upper right.An impression of Gilda Gray. Lower right-.A gypsy. After the final curtain who knows but that
she hits the open road In a $12,000 covered wagon.
Every Man inHis Own HumorThe Elite of Vaudeville
DEAR SIR: Whenever I read thedramatic critics' compilationsat the end of the theatrical
season of the best plays, the bestBcenes and the best bits of acting ofthe year I wonder why they do notalso offer a list of the best vaudevilleofferings.
Is the job of picking the ten bestacts of the year from such profusiontoo staggering to attempt? Or »do theyfind no real merit there? It seems tome that from the wealth of materialproduced in the course of a year in our
vaudeville houses.particularly at thePalace.ten acts of exceptional meritcould be selected that would constitutea sort of ideal American Chauve-Souris.And, unlike the plays which are
lauded at the end of the season, whensome of them have gone to their last
long rest in a storehouse and are for¬ever lost to the sight of those of us
who neglected to see them during theirfirst presentation, many of the vaude¬ville acts selected for such an honorroll would probably still be playing inthe outskirts of New York.And perhaps this choice of vaude¬
ville's best would inspire some spend¬thrift manager to gather them togetheron a gala bill for a week or two. I amsure that such a move would arouse in¬terest in vaudeville among the be¬nighted people who haven't yet formedthe habit of going to vaudeville. And,too, I dare say that it would providevaudeville with some worthy standardsto measure up to.
Any «election that I might suggestwould not be a fair one, for I have notattended the Palace every week andmy visits to the Shubert vaudevillehouses were even less frequent. ButI am sure that on any such list these
New Theatrical OfferingsTUESDAY.At the Threshold Playhouse, within the Lexington Theater,
the Threshold Players will offer four one-act plays."The Twilightof the Moon," by Charles Buiton Going; "The Importance of Beinga Roughneck," by Robert Gal land; "Possession," by Lawrence Hons-man, and "When the Whirlwind Blows," by Essex Dane. The billwill run for three weeks, the performances on Tuesday, Wednesday,Friday and Saturday nights and Thursday matinee. The cast: EmilyGilbert, Ruth Valentine, Mary Carter Lee, Paul Gnilfoyle, WilliamDengold McWilliam and others.
favorites of mine, at least, would be'sure to appear: Fanny Brice, WillRogers, the Marion Morgan dancers,the Rath Brothers, Joe Cook, PaulWhiteman's Band and James Barton, ofcourse. There should be a singing teamon the lists, but I have not heardenough of them to make a choice.
It would be much easier to choosetwenty-five than ten, and perhaps even
more acts than that would seem tomerit a place on a list of really greatbits of entertainment.Can we not have such a list by some
.one in a position to know?It would be interesting to see after
a few years if some of the old faithful,sure-fire acts wouldn't hold thei» placeon this list year after year. I am surethat Joe Cook's one-man vaudevilleshow would. I have seen it at inter¬vals ever since the early spring of 1915and it still seems to me one of the mostriotously funny offerings on the stage,
BARBARA LITTLE,79 Seventh Avenue, N. Y. C.
A Jury on BeautyDear Sir: The unusually pretty lit¬
tle blonde chorus girl in "Sue Dear"suggests a brand-new method of se¬
lecting the chorus girls for the "Fol¬lies." Instead of abiding by Mr. Zieg-feld's judgment and letting him selectthe American girls who are to be glori¬fied why not let the public do a bit ofdeciding for itself?
There's the piquant blonde already
mentioned; when she flashes the pock¬et, light in front of her face in thedark scene she's irresistible, and whenshe modestly gathers her chiffon robeas close as possible about her in thelingerie song she profits by her asso¬ciates' frankness. Then there's theprettiest of the girls who sing the fansong in "The Music Box Revue," andthe "Follies" can of course supply a
number of girls; after all F. _. is a
pretty good picker. But why not letthe public help out? E. K.New York City.
Spirituals in the TheaterDear Sir: in the Sunday Tribune of
Jun« 9 there appeared an article underthe caption, "Spirituals, Gay and Sad,Ring Through 'Strut Miss Lizzie.'" Itcalled attention to how the negro spir¬ituals were being exploited in the com¬
edy show, "Strut Miss Lizzie."To start with, these songs do not
belong in the theater, and the mem¬
bers of the "Strut Miss Lizzie" com¬
pany have done injury to them incarrying them on the stage and exploit¬ing them for commercial value. Thetheater does not provide the properenvironment and background for thebest expression and interpretation ofthese songs, and it is rarely that a
company of entertainer«, especiallythose who work in the theaters, can
bring to these songs the proper- relig-
ious ideals, the thing which actuatedthe negro when he sang them as aslave. The negro spirituals are themost sacred of the negro folksongs;they were sung at the religious meet¬ings, and represented the spontaneousoutburst of a people. To sing themin the theaters takes them altogetherout of their setting, and when theyare heard in such an environment theylose much of their value.The negro schools and colleges of
the South are teaching their studentsto revere and love these songs. Tolove them for the character they ex¬
press, and what they meant to thenegro when he had no other weoponto rely on but these songs when hefaced tho long stretch of slavery. FiskUniversity, at Nashville, Tenn., sentout the first group of singers, in 1871,to give to the world the message ofthese songs. At this university thereIs nothing more sacred than thismusic. The attempt to sing thesesongs hy unscrupulous minstrels hasworked injury to the music, and hasbrought about a. misconception. WhenRoland Hayes, the negro tenor, sangbefore the King of England the Kingand England got an altogether new
conception,of these songs, because oftheir proper interpretation. The songshad been sung before in the cheap con¬
cert halls of London by entertainerswho knew nothing of their value. Asa student of this music who knows itssacredness I want to protest againsttho abuse of these songs by exploitingthem in theaters.
CLEVELAND G. ALLEN.- «
At the PalaceTed Lewis and his jazz clowns, the
Four Mortons atid Van and Schenck are
the headliners at the Palace Theaterthis week. Blended into the bill are
the standard acts of Jack Rose, Kramerand Boyle, a revue entitled "The Little
Cottage," headed by Frank Sinclair, andCliff Dixon.
Florence Mills, "coloratura" with "TI he bright spot of the piece and with
Tired Busineis Man on his feet for
=__*he Plantation Revue." She i»her six Dixie Vamp» can put a
an entire week without sleep.
Play ProducingMore About Making Dramatic Directors of Amateurs
THERE is in progress In New York City an unusually interesting?example of the intensive "workshop" course in amateur dramawhich Walter Prichard Eaton referred to in a recent number of
The Tribune. This institute for the development of dramatic directorshipis being given in response to demand from out-of-town people who wantto spend vacations in New York and at the same time have advantageof some such course of instruction as Mr. Eaton refers to as being givenby the national Drama Leaeue. ?-*.-.-
It Is at the Art Center, 65 EastFifty-sixth Street, under the auspicesof the Inter-Theater Arts, with MissElizabeth Grimball, president of thatorganization, as workshop director.Among those on the staff prominent
in work connected with the allied artsof the theater are Mme. AlbertI, of theSchool of Expression, of Columbia Uni¬versity; Rhea Wells, theatrical costumedesigner and illustrator; Miss HelenFord, director of the EducationalDramatic League; Miss Miriam LoderWallace, director of pantomime dancingand pageantry; Miss Berta Elsmith,professor of music in the drama andpageantry, and Oscar Berner, wig andtheatrical make-up expert.The students, necessarily rigidly
limited In number, include women from¡Tennessee, Colorado, Washington, D. C,Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,North Carolina and France. The de-mand for this particular course came
entirely from women, and almost en¬
tirely from those already moráor lessactively engaged In some sort ofamateur dramatic work; therefore, theinteresting demonstration in progressat the Art Center is of what wouldnormally be a year's course for amateurworkers concentrated into the courseof a few weeks.The choice of produceable material,
pantomime and characterization in act¬ing, incidental muslce and dancing andtheir relation to dramatic action,period costumes and costuming; end,on the technical side, the making ofscenery and costumes and the manage¬ment of lighting as a «»dramatic factorare developed in the practical workingout of a play by the students underdirection, both with some regard forthe practical problems "back home" andas a public performance to be given atthe end of the course.
If newspapers have, as Mr. Eatonpoints out, been oblivious to the tre¬mendous effect of such "workshop"courses on the American stage, theserious artists of the theater have not.neither have-the students of Bociallife the country over. It has come tobe pretty generally recognized that themost artistic innovations of the com¬
mercial stage during the last few yearshave come from small experimentalgroups, which, being quite free fron:the "Broadway" tradition, have every¬thing to give and nothing to gain fromit. What the "little" theater has con¬tributed to the artistic effectiveness ofthe stage as whole can best be seen inNew York. What it has contributed tothe social life of the country can'bestbe seen elsewhere. Hundreds of littlebare platform stages have been drapedwith old curtains, lighted with automo¬bile searchlights with colored tissuepaper slides, and have become a clear¬ing house for home talent where thebest "little" theater classics are playeewith an atmosphere and a beauty thaithe movies and the poor road companjcould never attain. Because "teacher'has become a dramatic director, so hasthe playground director, the churclworker, the community worker of manjtowns and neighborhoods of larg«cities. The "Opera House," the TowiHall, the Elks Club hall, the loca
theater ar» all beginning to be usedregularly by local groups. Even thechurch hall. One student of the sub¬ject has recently said that there »reover £.000 church basement dramaticgroups in active existence to-day. Andthe active demand is for more directorssoundly trained in the technique of the"little" theater workshop.There is a new desire just since the
war for group self expression and formore imaginative sorts of recreation.All the means of artistic expressionnormally found in community life arecalled into play in the theater "work¬shop" for community dram«» of thesort which is so fast becoming a partof our everyday community life overthe country in general. The acting,the incidental muslo and dancing, themaking of and decorating of thescenery, the costuming and lightinggive everybody something to do. Andthe result of some programs whichhave been In existence for s sufficienttime to have resulta ara of auch akind that it is not visionary nor flightyto say that through some auch meansas this we are at last to attain a realart of the American people, which.*like all art of all times.is destined ttfhave its roots in an expanding aoclal«spirit.
That Difference of OpinionThe following letter, which has bean
received at The Tribuna office, speaksfor itself:Miss Har-riette Underhlll.Dear Madam: Misled by yont
"boost" of "The Past Mail" and yourstatement of your intention of seeing"it a second time, we saw it last evening»In our opinion stern Justice shouldcompel you to see it every night for a.month,
TWO TRIBUNE READERS.These Old Playa Are NewOldtime cheap melodramatic sue*
cesses are to have their Innings anew.iin pictures. "The Great Metropolis,*"Romany Rye," "Black Flag," "Undei«the Gas Light," "Lost in New York,"."In the Ranks" and similar shows are*being made ready for the camera,*Cheap casts and cheap cost of produc¬tion averaging about $12,000 each war¬rant this, for there is a public demand,as Lincoln Carter's "Fast Mail" showed.
Dove's-eyeView ofHollywoodBillie Dove is out In Hollywood
making pictures for Metro, and shesays the quiet is driving her mad.What she expected was quite differ¬ent from what she found. Thie iswhat ohe saw:A colony of peaceful bungalows
and quiet streets.Attractively simple cafeterias and
I tea shops, where grape juice wasthe wickedest thing In sight.An occasional hokey-pokey man
selling Eskimo pies.A club of screen actruases which
had all the earmarks of a Y. W.C A.Well known stars mowing their JV lawns and working their garúen-.. jI-
.
