New York Theaters
By I'BRCY HAMMOND.
Newr York. Deo. la.
k i~n ROADWAY la pure again, now
ax that its four naughty plays
have been cleansed by their
managers. The police force and the
reformers admit that they are pretty
veil satisfied with the drama's pres
ent conduct and have turned their
attention to other mischief-makers.
Last week the district attorney re
quested the public to complain to him
in case it found anything in the
tneaters worth blushing about. Only
one protest was registered, and that
was against "Hamlet.” It was said
in objection to “Hamlet1' that some
of Ophelia's language was unladylike
and that ,lt contained too many mur
ders. By way of compromise the
questionable speeches were amended,
but fhe homicides were all allowed to
remain.
The Identity of the four frotvard
entertainments is still more or less a
secret. Rumors are abroad that Ed
ward Knobiock's "The Lullaby” was
one of them, because Miss Florence
Deed's role is that of a plain-spoken
wanton. Leon Gordon's "White
Cargo" was said also to be guilty in
its exposure of delinquency in the
South seas. The two others which
affronted the moral sagamores, how
ever, have not been definitely dis
closed. Suspicion ranges from Miss
Irene Bordoni's "Little Miss Blue
beard" to Cyril Maude's “Aren’t We
All?” Several revues, of course, were
scolded, incidentally, for • undressing
in public, but no one pays much at
tention to that.
The newspapers were all agog on
their front pages about the mysterious
quartet of erring dramas. In editor
ials they discussed methods of ren
dering then) more snowy. But none
of them published a list of the culprits
under surveillance. Consequently we
•iJ&K re left trembling In terror lest we
should go to see one of them and be
harmed. We consulted the advertise
ments for omens of impurity and
found nothing therein to Indicate that
all was not exemplary. Excepting, it
may be, Mr Carroll's "Vanities," of
which the fleshly announcements ex
claim that it "Exalts the Human
Form."
Here was a problem in journalistic
conduct. Shall the press print the
names of the transgressors and thus
warn the virtuous to stay away? By
so doing It will also inform the wicked
where they may go to be further de
moralized. Or shall It be silent about
tlie frail shows and, by not exposing
them, imperil the Innocent and pre
serve the guilty?
The fact that the names of the sus
pected plays have been kept a secret
indicates that cynicism exists In the
breasts of our managing editors.
Skilled tn mass psychology, they know
best how to apply their learning and
experience to the amendment of hu
man peccadillos. Also, eager for
public service and the good of the
many, they estimate that sinful per
sons are more numerous than Ingen
ues. So they concern themselves
more with the welfare of the ninety
and-plne who desire to stray from the
r,dd than they do with the one who j
prefers to remain upon the reserva
tion.
Although it is reported that Miss
Mary Nash and "The Lady” were
neglected by the drama-lovers of other
^ cities, they seem to b« established tn
York ns one of the apples of its
eve. Beginning as they did on the
night that Miss Jane Cowl began to
perform "Pelleas and Metlsande,” they
had a fine audience at the Empire.
It was not, perhaps, the cream of our
playgoers, for nearly all the dramatic
critics honored Miss Cowl and Maeter
link with their presence. The only re
viewers I saw at Miss Nash's pre
miere were Mr. Benrhley of "Life,"
KVlcey Allen of “Women's Wear.”
Miss Georgette CarneiUe of “The
Bronx Home News.” and Mr. Ham
tnond of The Tribune.
In “The Lady” Miss Nash does ev
erything there is to do tn acting, from
a sad old lady to a riant music hall
girl in shapely crushed-strawberry
lights. And she does them well. The
play is an old fashioned rip-snorter
with new trimmings—at one moment
resembling Drury I«ane of the early
’90s, at the next the Moscow Art
theater In “The Claws of Life." Here
are some of the feats performed by
Miss Nash in the play at the Empire
. . In the prologue she is the
gray-haired chatelaine of a dance
house In Havre. ... In the first
act she is Polly Pearl, singing "Give
Her a Violet” in her dressing room
at the Finsbury Empire, In London,
and secretly married to Heonard Ht.
Aubyns, a fascinating ne'er-do-well
. . . In the second act she Is a
i eglec-ted bride, having trouble with
her no-good husband upon a terrace
at Monte Carlo. ... In the
third act she staggers wanly into a
V i'llwilei cabaret in Marseilles and is
C’-'d^t'-rsunded by Its friendly proprietress
to join the show—in I he vicinity of
which she has her baby. And where,
also, she outwits. In a stormy episode,
her cruel father-in-law, who demands
possession of the child. In the
fourth n' t she 1s an elderly flower
girl, selling bouquets in a remote
street in I sand on And In the
epilogue, which complete* the circle
of the play, she is again In the Brtx
ton liar at Havre, a pathetic onlooker
when her long-lost son, a visiting
sailor, kills one of h!s fellow seamen.
Put Mr . Ditrichsteln mid Miss LoIh
Klsher together in a play and It
has .an advantage. Especially In ease
Mr. Ditrichsteln is east as a polished
.New York millionaire of 50 and
Miss Fisher as Ills girlish and trouble
some bride. Tills felicitous combina
tion of girciimstances oceura In Miss
Gladys Unger's "The Business
Widow." It would, of course. t>c
more felicitous If the comedy—an
adaptation from the German—were
lean routine In Its topic and leas
striving, in Its manner, to please.
However, It is moderately diverting—
a fair example of anxious mediocrity.
Mr. Ditrichsteln plays a well
groomed and elderly oil merchant
who lias married his ward, a pretty
moron of 20. Ills habits are com
mercial, and he Is more Interested In
derricks and pipe lines than he Is
In Mah Jong and late hours. Instead
of going about with her to tea parties
and dancing clubs, he Immerses him
self III kerosene and Its profitable by
products. Ho considering herself
neglected, Ida silly bride acquire# an
eV*idnilror, a handsome Greek Interior
decorator and an expert In many of
the latest footsteps. . . You luivu
seen It nil u score of time* In other
plays. . . . Mr. Ditrichsteln con
tinue* to lie faithful to his petroleums
^o-si COMING TO
THE 0RAMDEI S
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ATTHS GAVE TV
<^>esSJ e cot-c in
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TO THE 0RAN DEI5
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Kaj-yl UStrrcati at the crpheu/a
Vi*te and Jett{pit' would'
until, lgnittd l>y his domestic crises,
he Warms up and wins her back. .
The end of the comedy leaves you
with the suspicion that within a fort
night Mr. Ditrichsteln will have re
turned selfishly to his Interest In
fuels, leaving Miss Kisher again to
look for outside dlvertlsment. You
fear that almost before you get home
she is taking up a saxophone player
with broad shoulders and a romantic
vocabulary; or a godlike man-milliner
w.ho can quote Omar Khayyam and
who posses* fascinating nook habit*
He’s Not Coming Hack.
Sessup Hayakawa is not coming
l)itck to Hollywood—not no more,
never. '
For the last couple or three weeks,
now, Mrs. Sessue has been beating
rugs and running the camuum cleafi
er and doing other odd callsthentics,
assisted by the servants, up at the
Huyukawa big mansion on Argyle av
enue.
She said Sessue was going to stay
In Ijondon for "a couple of years,
maybe more; who knows?" and as
soon as she got the cleaning done she
was going back to join him.
And here just the other day she
had a gardener put a big sign out
on the front lawn of the house, and
the sign says, "For Sale."
What the Theaters Offer
DIRECT from return engage
ments in St. Louis, Kansas City,
Omaha and other cities, "Light
nin' ” will pay another visit to the
Brandois theater Sunday, December
23. beginning an engagement of four
nights and Christmas matinee. John
tJolden has retained Thomas Jeffer
son as Lightnin' Bill Jones; Bessie
Bacon as the vaudeville actress;
Stuart Fox as John Marvin; Charles
E. Evans us the Reno judge; Frank
Thornton as Raymond Thomas and
Mart E. Heisey as the.sheriff. Mr.
Jefferson is a son of the late Joseph
Jefferson, who created "Rip Van
Winkle," and Miss Baron is a daugh
ter of Frank Bacon, who wrote
"Lightnin’" in collaboration with
Winchell Smith. The production was
staged under Mr. Smith's personal di
rection. In the hands of Thomas Jef
ferson, Lightnin' Bill is the .same
gentle vagabond that his father made
of "Rip Van Winkle" and it is pre
dicted that the younger Jefferson will
occupy the same s|»ot in the hearts
of today's theatergoers that his dis
tinguished sire held with their grand
parents. "Lightnin's'* courtroom
scene is also rated ns a strong factor
in its success. Never before have the
elements of farce, comedy and grip
ping melodrama been so happily
blended. Throughout this scene the
audience is swayed from tears to
laughter and when the f.nal curtain
descends on Bill's Inquiry* "Didje ever
git that $6 I sent yuh?" the tension
d!*api>ears in a tumult of merriment
and applause.
A prehoiiday entertainment is the
vaudeville menu at the World theater
this week. Dave Vine and Luella
Temple top line the show in their
big comedy success, "Making Non
sense an Art." It is to laugh at
Vine's many eccentricities, while
Miss Temple is a splendid foil for
his amusing absurdities. "Shadow
land" and the Loomas troupe are
added features. A company of six
danc ng girls in "Shadow land" offer a
series of dancing studies that have no
counterpart on the variety stage. The
Loomas troupe. eight transconti
nental coined ans. "From the Bottom
to the Top.’’ presenting R whirlwind
program of knockabout feature*.
Chuck Haas, cowboy comedian, for
droll witticisms and clever tricks
with a rope. IK'lores Lopez, the
"Spanish Nightingale.” offers a serler
of up-to-date song numbers. Olgc
and Nichols, Russian entertainers, of
f<r something new in dancing. Wll
liam Russell in & clever screen come
d.v, "How Times Have Changed,”
provides the full length photoplay
feature. *
Next Saturday the noted mystic,
Alexander, heads the World Christ
mas show. His uncanny ability to
answer questions, along with his
demonstrations of mystic slste writ
ing and spirit painting, has gained
for Alexander the reputation of one
of vaudeville’s greatest headline at
tractions.
Karyl Norman, popularly known as
"The Creole Fashion Plate." head
lines this week's bill at the Orpheum.
Though a featured star in the "Green
wich Village Follies." which played
Omaha last week, the lure of vaude
villa again proved too strong for
Karyl Norman, so he left the big ex
travngnnza and arranged a. program
of silvery songs and a great array of
gorgeous gowns, which he presents as
"The Tuneful Song Shop." Since the
fair sex Is noted for its delight in
clothes and in tailing about them,
this should be the most talked of
event In Omaha this week.
On the same bill are Homer B. Ma
son and Marguerite Keller, who pre
sent a sketch, "Married." written by
Porter Emerson Browne. author of
"A Fool There Was." Smart farce
will never h« able to pay Its debt to
this clever team and their present
vehicle is the smartest they have
ever appeared In. Jean Sothern.who
has distinguished herself over the foot
lights, and In Hollywood studios, pre
sents a bit of femininity with a mas
culine twist In the sketch. "Girls Will
Be Boys.” wr.tlen by the popular
playwright, Paul Gerard Smith, Other
attractions on this week's bill are
Bob Anderson and his polo pony,
Joe Borne and Lou Gaut, eccentric
dancers extraordinary: Willie Schenk
company presenting a European sur
The Tuesday Musical Club Presents
The
UKRAINIAN NATIONAL CHORUS
AUDITORIUM "•IltV’.W DEC. 29
Tickets Now on Sale—$1.00 to $2.50
Exempt From War Tax
THIS WEEK
Commencing
TODAY’S
MATINEE
PRESENTS "THE TUNEFUL SONG SHOP*®
with KENO CLARK and BOBBIE SlMONDS (SI
WILLIE SCHENK CO. ,
Featuring MISS MARGARETE
in a European Surprise
BOB ANDERSON
and
POLO PONY
Star of Stag# and Scraan
JEAN SOTKERN
In a Bit of Faminlnity with •
Masculine Twist
“GIRJLS WILL BF. BOVS**
By Paul Garard Smith
JOE ROME ant'
LOU GAUT
Whan Extrema* Meet
prise, and Russell Carr and 'Grace In
a military ventriloquial scene.
Obadiah Jones is the leading
comedy character in "Oh, Oh, Oba
diah," the musical farce which the
Graves Hros. Players are offering for
their newest bill at the Empress this
week. Roy Kinalow is "Obadiah,”
which is a certainty that there will
be laughter and lots of it. Palmer
Hines, under whose direction all Em
press plays are produced plays the
part of Harold Churchill,” a tender
youth of 26 who still believes in
Santa Claus. Miss Kidd, a new
member of the oompany, is of the
roubrette type and comes with a
good reputation. The action is laid
In a small country home and there In
something doing every minute the
curtain is up.
"Sis Hopkins,” the rural comedy
classic. Is scheduled for the week I
starting next Saturdsx.
Current photoplax featuri.e Include
the crook ice ••■llama, "Crooked
Alley," and six rounds of the new j
Fighting Bloo.l ’ series.
Columbia burlesque which has been
providing t i teetelnment for patrons of
Gayety the • sr continues In "Breezy
Times," Mils week's offering. Spe
dal interns- wiil be roused through
the arrival of Jamie Coughlin a* fea
tured comedian with the "Breezy
Times" company. Supporting Cough
lin will he George Leon, Fred Hall.
Charles \\ e-son, Carl Mnseman. ,
Alice Jay. Alice Turner and l-llva
Kddv us idayers in (he burlee'itics,
and leaders of the IS chorus girts.
Pretty scenery, iri frequent shifts,
end gorgeous costuming in many
changes are promised as ornate em
bellishments in the arrangement for
staging the offering. Today's matinee
starts at 3.
"Some one has declared a hearty
laugh the rarest experience of men—
he is right,” says Lou Powers, the
principal comedian of "Good Morn
ing Dearie” to he seen at the Bran
dels, December 27, 28 and 29.
At the Brandeis theater on Decem
ber 31 and January 1 and 2 Guy
Rates Post will present Edward J.
Locke's unusual play. "The Climax."
As Luigi Oolfanti, music teacher and
maestro of opera, training the voice
of a beautiful young girl and loving
ly guarding her for her great future
In the walls of his New'York studio,
Mr. Post holds his audience in an ab
sorption of Interest so intense and
still that the hush may almost be
felt In the great dramatic moments of
"The Climax." a play serious enough
to make the unthinking think, funny
enough to amuse everyone, pure
enough to make clergy and laity re
joice, and good enough to live.
Among this season's musical com
edy productions, none deserves more
praise than Schwab & Kusell's "The
Gingham Girl." which ran a year on
Broadway, and which will be at the
Brandeis theater three days, starting
February 28.
Pola Negri has finished work on
"Shadows of Paris," taken from the
Andre Picard's play, "Mon Homme."
GOSH ALL HEMLOCK!V
There’s a Heap of Laffs A~waitin ’
fer You—Come on Down
2:00
4:20 ’
6:55
9:15
Week Days at 3:15, 7:00, 9:15
Continuous Daily From 1 P. M.
GRAVES BROS. PLAYERS
Company of 28 Favorites Offer the
Rip-Roaring Rural Mu$ical Farce
“OH, OH, OBADIAH”
Staged and Produced by Palmer Hines
Roy Kinslow as “Obadiah”
Screen Feature
CROOKED ALLEY
Myitsry Melodrama—
and Sixth Round
“FIGHTING BLOOD"
New Series
For tbe Convenience
OF SHOPPERS
The Last Night Show Does
Not Begin Until
9:15 P. M.
Next «mo unoinuc” Next
Saturday 010 nUllMnO Saturday
VINE & TEMPLE
“Making Nonsense an Art"
LOOMAS
TROUPE
Eifht transcontinental
comedians in a
unique comedy.
“SHADOW
LAND”
Six clever girl* in a
fantastic spectacle.
CHUCK HAAS
"Cowboy Comedian"
DOLORES LOPEZ
"SpanUh Nightingale"
OLGA & NICHOLAS
Whirlwind Dantert
ARTHUR HAYS
at the Wurlitxer
WM. RUSSELL in “Times Have Changed”
A tertian comedy that it different
Seven Days, Starting
SATURDAY
. Special extraordinary en
\ gagement of the master
mentalist.
3 ‘THE MAN
W WHO KNOWS"
W introducing his world-famous
“Simla Seance"
ALEXANDER
With honest pride I announce the return of Mr. Guy
Bates Post to the speaking stage. More than a quarter
century ago Mr. Post rapped at the door of “opportunity”
in that great maelstrom metropolis—New York. The an
swer to his knock was gruelling days and sleepless nights.
Every heartfelt “wail” echoed and re-echoed in his brain
until the “wail” turned to “I will.”
Today the “then youngster” bears, carries, controls
more honors, more weight, more followers than any
other man in his profession.
i
All America honors his achievements.
He has the distinction of having entertained more
men and women within a given period than any other
person, in his line, who ever lived. In every city in which
he has appeared he has established new records from
point of financial receipts. From “National Border to
Border,” on every side, he has been acclaimed “THE
LEADER.”
The consensus of many of America’s foremost critics
is: “His intensity disturbs and arrests. As the greatness
of his genius governs the trend of thought, arousing the
genius that is—to a greater or lesser degree—the thing
that governs, controls, dwarfs or magnifies the actions—
attitudes—good or bad qualities — that makes or mars
humanism. By his genius compelling his auditors to feel
they are parcel and part of the play — causing their
pulses to throb with his, their hearts yearn, glow, ache,
and are glad with the beats of his heart, until actor and
audience become welded as one—fused in the finesse of
a single thought.”
THE PLAY—“The Climax,” by Edw. J. Locke, a play filled
with suspense that comes spontaneously from that soul, secreted
in every normal person's breast of thinking age interspersed
with natural eff rverscing comedy that bvhbles into chuckles and
bursts into roars, causing tears to recede into the ducts from
whence they spring, at the critical moment when more sorrow
would be anguish, more selfishness produce pain. A play serious
enough to make you think, funny enough to make everyone
laugh, clean enough to please the clergy, good enough to live.
Hi* appearance in Omaha will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Nights, Dec.
31-Jan. 1-2, and Holiday Matinee Tuesday (New Year’s) and a Popular Matinea
Wednesday—a total of five performance*. Mr. Po*t’» appearance in Omaha will be
the dramatic event of the decade.
MELVILLE B. RAYMOND. Director of Tour
In every city where Mr. Post has appeared capacity audiences have prevailed,
and Omaha will not be an exception. Immediate reservation* by mail are earnestly
requested.
Prices range from 50c to $2.00 for Matinee Wednesday—50c to $2.50 for New
Year’s Matinee and $1.00 to $3.00 for night performance*.
C. J. SUTPHEN. Manager Brandeis Theater
