Evening Star Newspaper, October 10, 1926, Page 63

Farcical Drama and Legitimate Films ER CARDBOARD LOVER” at least claims credit for bringing a note of novelty into that ancient creation known as the French farce. It has done duty, this so-called French farce, for many generations. [t dates prior even to the time when 'men were supposed to conceal from their families and even from their more sedate friends the fact that they had visited a va- riety theater, where the latest popu- lar songs were introduced and the chorus appeared audaciously in silk fleshings. b * ox ok % Sardou himse!f took a fling at the particular type of entertainment still classified as French farce. Such old lays as “Forbidden Fruit” and “Divorcons” were well wrought specimens, and claimed more re- spectful consideration than most of the French farces, which are re- 'modeled from fugitive pieces, hastily written, and expected to be short- lived, unless rescued by some enter- g American connoisseur from their native home. - 0 “Her Cardboard Lover” succeeds in dispensing with the quarrelsome husband and wife, who meaider from the straight and narrow path, only to be thrown into each other’s | arms eventualy. after a series of experiences apparently threatening all kinds of moral turpitude. The man hired to impersonate a lover in order to protect a young woman from her own irresistible inclinations toward an unscrupulous sheik of the boulevards proves that it is not necessary to sing the old songs over and over again, even in French farce. * % * Yet too much searching for novel- ty may mean attenuation of a thread of interest such as to render it too slight even to sustain the burden of a frivolous evening. Farce depends on the apparent seriousness with which the characters find themselves compelied to accept the most absurd situations. Yet, however absurd the situation, it must be in some de- gree humanly plausible—unless the entertainment is to slip over into the domain of acrobatic mirth and physical caricature. o True to her training in a theater of the most serious and admirable quality, Miss Taylor elects to play this bit of fancy strictly in the key of drama. Assuming that she sacri- ficed artistic pride to the gilded lure that a more or less unsavory play is now supposed to hold, she apparen: ly was unequal to the artistic sacri- fice involved in going through from A B C clear to X Y Z, and giving | the work a blunt, uncompromising style of interpretation which would enable the groundlings to be con- genially tickled, however the judi- cious might weep. Miss Taylor has not the qualities of a rough per- former. Wherever the pot may lace her, she seems instinctively to nsist on being a perfect lady. Her best scenes are not those seeming to indicate laughable predicament, but those which portray a wrench- ing of heartstrings. Nobody seems quite hagpy in the fortune which nature bestows. Your comedian wishes to play tragedy, your trage- dian revels in the opportunity to figure as a jovial raconteur, and every now and then a charming in- terpreter of greatest satirists insists on going into musical comedy. No doubt many people will find it en- tertaining to see Miss Taylor in a theatric atmosphere in which they have not known her before. Wheth- er she will readjust a stage personal- ity so we!l established to this new line of demenstration in a manner which will hold her admirers and gather new ones is a question. Time must test it out, as in the case of ull venturesome footlight experi- ments. * ok % “The Patsy” is a pleasant, straight- forward little Cinderella story with that sympathetic appeal which al- ways attaches to a sweet, neglected heroine who is at last d appre- ciated by some lofty and discerning mind. If it were still the fashion to designate plays in groups, as it was when we had “problem play,” the “book pla and others whose title; held no rrerisr significance, work would probably be designated & “personality play Caiborne Fos- ter has the rare gift of apparently cffortless portraiture of a simple, unaffected type. She does not a fume to convey suggestions of super- ficial polish to be eagerly attended by the youthful 'matinee sisterhood. She is just a plain girl, and. without going quite as far in dispensing with the customary artificialities as does Ruth Gordon, she steps into the memory as a wholesome figure of irresistible charm, satisfied to be ac- cepted in plain acquaintance on terms of the genuine. * ¥ £ % after all, _Another reminder of the possibili- ties of the films in connection with The Weird Chinese Play. { BOSTON, October 9 (#).—Boston's only Chinese theater draws steady patronage even though it is un- known to most white residents. Only those few who chance along a dingy street have heard the clash of vmbals, the twang of squeaky two string violins, the rattle and tinkle of unnamed traps, and over all the Talsetto of voices in the sing-song of the Chinese tongue which accompany the Chinese production. At the front of the hall square platform of the stage. alcove at the rear of the stage is an elght-plece orchestra. One of its mem- bers wears an eveshade. musiclan smokes a cigarette. All the while weird sounds issue from the in struments, blended in a sort of mo- notenous rhythm, but jarred acutely by unexpected twangings. clashes and thumping on a dry wooden box. An especially loud clamor, and an actor brushes aside the curtain and walks in with the classical stilted galt and slow moving hands of the anclent drama. His robe and heal dress are ornate in the rigidly pre- scribed manner; his make-up is con- spiguous, He beglos to sing. is the this | In the! Another | BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. really great works of dramatic liter- ature is provided by the screen in- terpretation of “Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Wardman Park Theater. It was described as a heroic comedy when first presented on the speak- ing stag: Richard Mansfield saw its possibilities and displayed the faith in the subtlety of American perception, which, despite cynicism with which he was generally cred- ited, was one of his distingdfishing traits. Mansfield’s courageous inde- endence of judgment was illustrated y his sponsorship in America of G. B. Shaw. When to the great mass of theater attendance Shaw was re- garded not as a philosopher. but as a writer of frail melodrama for the purpose of relieving himself of cer- tain mental eccentricities in the mat- ter of dialogue, Mansfield immediate- ly arrayed himself with the com- paratively few who perceived the wonderful intellectual audacity to which Shaw was lending the most polished skil. * % k¥ An anecdote that was current would indicate that Mansfield did not find Shaw a congenial acquaint- ance. He was reported as saying in one of his outbursts of whimsical asperity : “Of course, T must have good plays. But, why, oh why, do they have to be written by George Ber- nard Shaw?” e It was a bold thing to rely on the taste of a pleasure-seeking public, to whom it was usual to refer as “lowbrows” by managers accustomed to appeal for patronage with more directness than finesse, as Mansfield did in committing his reputation and fortune to an American exploitation of the Rostand play. But the people saw immediately the resplendent poetry and forgot the putty nose. An effort was made to reduce the story of “Cyrano de Bergerac” to terms of light diversion in a form of comic opera, but although the lyrics were exceedingly clever and the music first rate, it remained on the stage for only a little while. * ok % | For the picture “Ben-Hur” to play {a prolonged engagement in this city | is no new story. In order to pro-; vide for the famous chariot race! scene, which utilized a treadmill ar- | rangement with an a'most deafening | roar, it was necessary to do an} amount of construction work on the | stage which would not be warranted ihy an engagement of only a single week. Special trains were run from, various nearby communities and Washington crowded the theater with people who in large proportion passed the doorkeeper as almost Itotal strangers to the playhouse. The habitua! theatergoer is often mentioned with deference by the producer, but it is the play that can bring out the wholly unaccustomed playgoer that scores the great and | memorable success. * kK ¥ These men at the front of the| house—what a strange and powerful influente they are in helping the eve- ning's pleasure. Even a momentary vielding to unreasonable provocation, by so much as a turn of facial ex- fircssion. may_ spoil the mood and inder appreciation of a stage per- formance, however great its meri It has been the misfortune of play- { goers here to lose two men, both of whom, with unobtrusive courtesy and unerring judgment of human na- Iture, helped the crowds to pass with- | {out jar or crash through the gate- | way which separates the workday world from the theater. Like so |many of the men of the National i Theater, “Jim" Evans had given practically a lifetime of service at his particular post. At one time he { wearied a little and requested to be relieved. A very short time later he applied for his old place because the duties had become a part of his life and he was becoming lonely. ek No one cou!d have given more ad- mirable support to the polic and |methods of the late manager, Wil- | liam Fowler, than did “Jim" Evans, | Both were evidences of the discern- { ment disp'ayed by W. Harriman Rapley in selecting men who could be depended upon not only for tact and intelligence, but for absolute loy- alty. “Willie” Fowler, as he was known to so many, was one of the most marvelously even-tempered and unostentatious of men. When |a complication arose he approached it with so deft and frank an influ- ence that it seemed naturally to fade |away. It is impossible to believe that he could have realized his ex traordinary popularity, for no man | was ever more free from a love of | seli-display. Among those who have reason to be most grateful to his memory are the men who have been ! assisted in successful careers by as sociation with this man who made | no conspicuous self-assertion, buti gained deep and wide esteem simply | by giving to each day’s duty the best that was in him. > ! The Occidental gets little from what follows. Actors and actresses, all in | elaborate costume, succeed each other at short intervals, singly or in groups. ! A scene shifter slides behind the clas- | sical players to shift a chair to meet | the new requirements of the pla He erects a throne, takes out a cur- tained bed, lays out fresh fans and | performs & constant succession of| tasks. In no manner does he dis- turb the continued singing and play-| ing of the orchestra. | Some pantomime accompanies the | play, but for the most part it is long monologues In singing or speaking volce, with occasional dialogue and rare bits of dramatic action. Toward midnight the spectator pur- chases from a vender tidbits of dried pork, Lichee nuts, candled fruits orj other confection. The Chinese come 'and go through the evening. They smoke and eat, converse and sleep. They never applaud, but they do laugh appreciatively when a bit of buffoon- ery eniivens the scene. Few Occidentals see an evening's performance out. It lasts for seven hours and the resumes rext evening where it broke off. MARGIE CARSON-Gayety Scene }[;UIIL *THEY KNEW WHAT Coming_‘ Attractions STRAND—"A Nonsensical Revue.” Beginning next Sunday, the Strand Theater will present Norma Shearer in Robert Z. Leonard's production, PRESIDENT—"Parior, Bedroom and Bath.” For next week, commencing Mon- day night, the President Players have selected, “Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, which served Florence Moore, the comedienne, as a successful vehicle, It is a farce, typically imitative of the French, with its pyramiding of complicatlons to such a point that the audience despairs of the author's ability to unweave things to a point remotely resembling teason. Thi however, Mark Swan, the author, achieves in workmanship style. In the latter days of the war “Parlor, Bedroom and Bath” played two engagements in one season at Poli’'s Theater, capacity business re- sponding to both visits. KEITH'S—Theodore Roberts. At B. F. Keith's Theater Theodore Roberts, “the grand old man of the mov will appear in person as the headline attrac next week. Mr. Roberts, in association with Hardee Kirkland, wiil be seen in Willlam C. de Mille's sketch, “The Man Higher Up.” EARLE—Ned Weyburn's Revue. Next week at the Earle Theater Ned Weyburn's Revue will supply the headiine offering. Other inclusions will embrace the Four Ortons on a tight wire; Wallace arid May in a comedy act; Foley and La Ture, com- edy, songs and dance, and other vaudeville acts to be announced later. The picture will be First Natlonal's release of “Mismates,” in which the featured roles are played by Doris Kenyon and Warner Baxter, sup- ported by Mae Allison, Philo MecCol- lough, Charlie Murray, Maud Turner Gordon, John Kolb and Cyril Ring. “The Waning Sex,” with Conrad Nagel. It is the story of a girl who thought a career better than romance; a delightful film comedy of a man, a vamp. and a_modern girl. The stage offerings will be headed by the {nimitable comedian, Jack Wil- son, in “A Nonsensical Revue,” with Warner Gault, Sonya Leyton and Wooley Ward. Other numbers will include Bob Yates and Evelyn Carson in a comedy turn entitled “Getting Soaked”; Mar- cus Sisters and Carlton Revue, a “Comedy, Classique Dance Offering J. Warren Keane and Grace White in Tanipulating Marvel,” and Hori and sted by Hanna'Ko in jomewhat Different.” company. “Something GAYETY—"Powder Puff Frolic.” A new edition of Columbia bur. tosque attraction, “Powder Puff Frolic,” is announced for the Gayety Theater next week, with George Broadhurst and Billy Fields leading the comedy, and others, including Ralph Sanford, Lew Le Roy, Victoria Youngman, Frances Ryer, Peggy Ray. Marle Ambry, Larry Kramer and Romeo Somma, Mabel Sloan, |champion woman base ball player, +and a chorus of 24. MUTUAL—“Midnight Frolics.” { For next week, commencing Sun- jday, the Mutual i{s announcing the “Midnight Frolics,” which is pre- |sented by Joseph Levitt and has as jits principal players Bert Marks, Mildred Cozierm:, Katherine -Exton and Bebe Tobin, | | THEY WANTED? President DORIS STONE - Mutual Plays Many Roles. ALTER GILBERT, leading man ~ of the President Players, has tri- umphed over several hundred roles, and, like Alexander, he cries for more. He is still in his early 30s, and the vouthful age at which he began his stage career accounts for the exhaus- tive repertoire behind him. Gilbert comes to Washington direct from Providence, R. the oldest stock organization in Amer- ica, with an uninterrupted run of 28 Summer seasons behind it. alternated between stock and produc- tion work. In production he was last with the Broadway version of “Aloma of the South Seas,” and he was last seen in ‘Washington in “Cobra,” at the Belas- co. Prior to that, he was seen at the same house in “At the Curtains,” a mystery play. He was in the original companies of “Strange Bed Fellows" and with Lionel Barrymore in “The | Joker.” Early In his career he had a flair for musical comedy, and appear- ed with such stars as Julia Sander- son, Joseph Cawthorne and Donald ‘Brian. Both Gilbert and Lorraine Bernard, second lead, were induced to come here by Director Charles I. Schofield instead of heading toward the St James stock company in Boston. Schofield is the overlord of Summer production in Providence. vy Manager Roland S. Kelth's Theater announces a surprise for the children at the Saturday matinee October 16, when Ida May Chadwick, who is featured for the week with her six *“dizzy blondes,” will hold a reception at the close of her act and present to each little girl in the audience a real blonde-haired doll and the boys, not to be forgot- ten, will each receive a lollypop. L, where he was | | lending man for the Albes Players, He has | ! | beauty contests conducted by the Uni- Robbins of | Attractions In W ashington playhouses This Week At the Theaters This Week. NATIONAL—“Ben-Hur” (third week), photoplay. and evening. BELASCO—"Laff That Off,” comedy. POLI'S—“Howdy King,” romantic comedy. ‘They Knew What They Wanted,” comedy drama. PRESIDENT- Tomorrow evening. KEITH'S—Anna Fitziu, vaudeville. This afternoon This evening. Tomorrow evening. This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Sunny Spain,” vaudeville. This afternoon and evening. STRAND—“Modern Review,” vaudeville. This afternoon and eve- ning. GAYETY—"The Merry Whirl,” burlesque. This afternoon and eve- ning. MUTUAL—“Vamps of 1927," burlesque. This afternoon and evening. NATIONAL—"Ben-Hur.” The cinema version of Gen. Lew Wallace's fmmortal story, “Ben-Hur,” begins the third week of its Wash- ington engagement at the National Theater nt the matinee today. The picture will not be shown in any other theater or city in this territory until the Autumn of 1927. It seems probable that “Ben-Hur" will achieve a record-breaking run in this city. Older theatergoers of Washington, who remember the several noteworthy engagements here of ‘“Ben-Hur" as a spoken drama, are especially in- terested in the cinema version. since it offers a fine opportunity for com- paring the older art with the new. “Ben-Hur as a play, was the great- est achlevement the American stage had known up to the time of its presentation. The splendor of its pageantry and the marvelous me- chanical effect of the chariot race won admiration. But where there iwere 2 charlots In the play, there are 12 in the plcture; where 350 super- numeraries _appeared there are 5000 in the cinema, and the sea battle between the Roman triremes and the pirate ships, which could not be adequately represented on the stage, is in the picture version declared to be the most overwhelm- ingly exciting scene ever reproduced on_the screen. The presentations of “Ben-Hur" are accompanied by a musical score ar- ‘ranged by David Mendoza and Wil- . ANNA FiITzivu Keiths Capital Sideshows. LE PARADIS. Dance music and vaudeville are prime specialties at Le Paradis. The LeParadis band is touching the high spots in melody, while a trio of clever vaudeville specialists, including Walter Kolk, Felix Solari and Frank Rothschild, appear about midnight with an interlude of high voltage dances, songs and general clowning. Walter Kolk's presentation of the “Black Bottom” has enthused dancg lovers and he alleges that it is more | | gracetul than the “Charleston.” i | The Club Chantecler, which opened : about a week ago, has been crowded | to capacity every evening. SWANEE. Another new face now appears in | the line-up of the Swanee Syncopators, | seorge Scott, bass player, who was ! formerly with the Meyer Davis New | Willard Orchestra and is known as a crack jazz performer. The Swanee vocal trio is winning much applause with their up-to-date Broadway num- bers, the latest being a high-powered version of, “Ho, Ho, Ha, Ha, Me, Too.” The Swanee Syncopators are now | back on the radio, and Director Al Kamons will assemble _specially planned programs for the radio friends of the Syncopators, according to his custom of last year. LA JAVA. Vith a_group of specialty enter- tainers, headed by Columbus and Becker, with Blinch Lehman assist- ing them, the La Java Night Club staged a bright opening last night for its third season as a cont¥butor to Washington’s _evening amusement. Tastefully decorated with subdued lighting, Tommy Thompson’s group of copators furnish the dance musie, | The club is open nightly from 10 |to 3 and the management promises varied entertainment for many weeks to come. Most Photographed Girl. ‘*“THE most photographed girl in the world” plays a prominent role in “Take It Frém Me.” the new Reginald ‘Denny picture. She is Jean Tolley, who acted as photographic model for advertisements for years, and saw her portraits reproduced in newspapers and magazines all over |the world. It was not until she en- tered pictures, however, that she had the pleasure of recelving credit for her likenesses. There are also three winners of versal Pictures Corporation in the same picture. They are Dorothy Gul- liver of Salt Lake City, Utah; Joan Alden of Chicago, and Dorothy Kitchen, who was chosen by public acclaim from hundreds of entrants in New York City. The prize offered by Uni- | contract. lHam Axt, and performed by a tour- ing orchestra of 30 musicians. Two performances are given daily, at 2:30 and 830, with Sunday matinee at 3 Out of all the plays that spun their webs on Broadway's play horizon in 1924 the one picked as the Pulitzer medalist play for that season was “They Knew What They Wanted," which was produced by the Theatrical Lord and Richard Bennett. The play of the California grape valley never reached Washington, but it will be produced by the President Players next week, beginning Monday night. “The shirt-sleeved version of Tri tan and Isolde,’ salted to modern taste,” one reviewer calls it, has three central figures who are triumphant opponents of the grande manner In writing—a waitress in a spaghetti joint, an old grower of grapes and his adopted son, an I. W. W. vag: bond, in whose veins the California sun revives the hot blood of his an- cestral clime. Amy, the waltress, faniished for love, is courted through the ink well by old Tony, but with Joe, the young- er's photograph. What follows in that Napa Valley farmhouse, where age battles with youth, is a blending of tears and sunshine. KEITH'S—Anna Fitziu. Anna Fitziu, American prima donna, who headlines the bill at B. F. Keith's Theater this week, has an enviable record with both the Metropolitan and Chicago Opera Cos. For her vaude- ville premier in Washington _she brings Drysdale, the well known Eng- lish pianist. Ida May Chadwick, champion tap dancer, will take the featured spot with her dizzy blondes, “Six Reasons for a Gentleman's Pref- erence.” Others will include Harry Jans and Harold Whalen, “Two Good Boys Gone Wrong”; the three Kemmys, a novel act from Europe, in an artis- tic display of strength; Lew Reed and Paul le Vere, “Two Gentlemen From Nowhere,” entertaining with instrumental music and dancing; Harry Holman, assisted by Edith Manson, with his 1926 comedy version of “Hard-Boiled Hampton"; Jerome Mann, juvenile mimic, in “impersona- tions,” "and an original novelty, in- troducing some blue ribbon French poodles, offered by Sylvid Loyal and company. On the screen will be the Aesop's Fables, Topics of the day and Pathe News Weekly. “ EARLE—“Sunny Spgin.” A colorful musical comedy will headline this week's bill at the Earle Theater, “Sunny. Spain,” which has a large cast of principals and ensem- ble. Others will ‘include, Kay Kody and Olive Wilson in ‘Moments of Song and Music,” Emma Earle Harvey in “Past and Present,” David Ferguson, character comedian, in Paul Gerard Smith's “The Lucky Stiff,” in which also appear George L. Spaulding, Geraldine Wood and John Lester, and Bert Walton in “You'll Do the Same Thing to Someone Else.” The’ photoplay will be First Na- tional's, “The Brown Derby,” in which Johnny Hines is the star, supported by Diana Kane, Ruth Dwyer, Flora Finch, Edmund Breese, J. Barney Sherry and Herbert Standing. 'The story was adapted from the musical comedy by F. S. Merlin and Rrian Marlowe. Charles Hines directed. In addition there will be the cus- 'HE American {nstitution known and world-famous now as vaude- ville is this season celebrating its centennial anniversary, tracing its origin to that old form of diversified entertainment once known as “varl- ety” which loomed into hesitating popularity on the old Broadway of 1826. But vaudeville did not take form, cohesion or theatrical signifi- cance until the late Benjamin Fran versal at the time was a six-month |lin Keith and the present Edward F. All of the winners were | Albee, starting in a small store show | taken to Universal City, where they |in Boston nearly 40 years ago, revolu- lwere trained in the art of the screen. Then they were given extra parts and | those that showed promise were placed in small supporting roles. Beautles |were chosen from many principal {citles, but not all of the girls made | good in_the movies. |~ The three girls selected proved that |they have the acting verve, and ca- reers are predicted for them. Dorothy Gulliver, for instance, has been given the leading feminine role in Carl Laemmle, jr.’s new “Collegians” series, in which George Lewis is the star. A dramatic version of the novel “Porgy,” written by Du Bose Hey- tionized the theory and practice of old-time and outworn ‘“variety” and endowed it with advanced ideas of physical and moral cleanliness and energized it with all of the artistic vitality, progressive practicality and universal appeal which it enjoys to- day. The old and not always savory methods of the varieties were abol- ished, if not forgotten, with the name. Keith and Albee, mere lads the called their rehabilitated shows “vaudeville,” and proceeded to prove that, after all, there is something in @ name. They made the extension and betterment of vaudeville their work; strove hand in hand for the ‘ward, to be produced under the title “Catfish Row,” with an all-negro realization of their i{deals until the public and artists of all br--ches of the stage were drawn Into »ympathy in the drama| Guild, and_in which starred Pauline | tomary house features, which include short reels; overture, * tngton Grays,” by the Earle Orchestra. under Floyd C. Wheeler, which will offer as exit margh “Broken-Hearted Sue,” a new hit by Breen and De Rose. STRAND—“Modern Review.” Beginning today the Strand Theater will offer on the screen Rudoiph Valentino's last picture, “The Son of the Shelk.” This romantie drama has heen secured by the management for another downtown run fur one { week only. Rudolph Valentino can still be seen in his sparkling, colorful story, full of action and glowing cli- max. Headlining the vaudeville bill is a cycle of comedy. wmgs and dances entitled, “Modern Feview," and_fea turing Dorothy Slane and Al New- man, together with Desmond and Raymond and Gordon and White, Other numbers include Joe Me- Grath and Jack Deeds in a series of comedy talks, songs and solo num- bers entitled “The High and Low of Any Show™; Gordon and Riea, two vaudeville artists in “Comedy Vaude villians”; Eddie Rerman and Oliva Svans in “Scoring Touchdowns for the Gridiron of Song.”eand a thrilling aerfalistic act billed as a *‘Sensational Novelty,” featuring the Weiss Trio. Short films and orcheatral numbers under Arthur J. Manvell will com- plete the program. GAYETY—"Merry Whirl.” The “Merry Whirl," the Columbia burlesque attraction at the Gayety Theater this week, opening this after- noon, enlists talent from many fields, fncluding musical comedy, vaudeville, phonograph and radio entertainmen One of the novelties will be Im mett O'Toole, the Okeh record-maker: another will be Dippy Diers, assisted | by Flo Bennett, from the New York Hippodrome, and still another, Dot Duval's Parisian Art Models, from the Berjn Winter Garden. Then, as an out@anding vaudeville speciaity, the “High Power Trio” of colored enter- tainers will sing and dance. | “Hal Rathbun, Art Harris, | vaughan and Dippy Diers w | leaders In the burlesquing, with gle Carson, Beth Clark, Jack Willing |and Pat Kearney All of the | principals will specialties and there will be an ed chorus of Broadway beauties. Featured in the Dl Night," Letter FFrom The Joy Rides and as an extra fea- ture, there will be a carnival of clowning by Dippy Diers. MUTUAL—“Vamps of 1927. Vamps of 1927" will be the attrac- tion at the Mutual Theater this week with a cast headed by Johnnie Weber, erman comedian, aided by Rose Ber- nard, vivacious dancer. An added feature will be a sKit entitled “The Night of the Fight.” in svhich Billy Inman and company appear. Doris Stone, Leone Reed, Dolling Barringer and George Mack are other members of the cas WASHINGTONTANS—“Pygmalion and Galatea.” Washingtonians, under the Bond, will open Dolly h cenes will be “Sehenectady. Wife The direction of Rollin this season’s activities earlier than has been their custom in the past. A one-act operetta, the story of which comes from the mythology of ancient Greece, provides the vehicle for their performances October 14 and 15, at the Opera Center of The Washing tonians, 1411 Massachusetts northwest. These will be priv: formances to invited guests preceding the public presentation of this operatic work, which will now be heard in Washington for the first time. It i3 the first of a list of operatic noveltles, new to Washington, which The Wash- ingtonians plan to present this season. The story concerns a sculptor, Pygmalion, who wrought the statue of a beautiful woman and called her Galatea. So beautiful was the statue the sculptor falls in love with her. Venus, answering his prayer, brings the statue to life, and Galatea in turn thinks the sculptor very lovely—until Pygmalion’s youthful servant, Gany- mede, appears, and then trouble ensues. The noted German composer, Franz von Suppe, provided the musical scors with Its wealth of brilllant scenes in solo, duet, trio and ensemble, support ed by a vivid orchestra score of the style that made Suppe world famous. Principals to be heard in leading roles fnclude Misses Gayle and Gladys Hunt, the former in the role of Galatea and the latter in the role of the boy, Ganymede, with Harry Myers in tha tenor role of the sculptor, Pygmalion, supported by a male chorus ard “Jenny Lind” unit, who have ap- peared in past performances of this organization’s 61 presentations. Thers is always room in this community opera organization for the ambitious youth with a good voice, serious in his desire for development and willing to work for it. { One Hundred Years of Vaudeville. with and support of the American institution. Since the passing of his colleague and co-worker B. F. Keith, Mr. Albee has carried forward the mutual ideals, dreams snd ambitions of those forma- tive days of vaudeville. During the years since the old frame store in Boston loothed as the first ‘“vaude- ville theater” Mr. Albee has carried |on, and in spite of countless obstacles | his back has never been to the wall. Vaudeville has a great array of thea- ters, its programs ‘comprise the offerings of celebrated artists of every branch of the theater, sport, music and circus; it is a cohesive and mutu- | ally co-operative institution, both as to employers and employes. These are the causes for the seasonal ob- servance of vaudeville's birthyear. s i Happy Walker at Arcadia. NNOUNCEMENT has been made that the Happy Walker Orchestra, well known to most Washingtonians, has been engaged for the season at the new Arcadla, Fourteenth street and Park road. The Arcadla project | is claimed to be one of the largest of its kind in the East and special attention is being paid to the dance. |‘Doring the Winter several revues will be scheduled. N\