• New York Theaters
By PERCY HAMMOND.
New York, Feb. 2.
MISS Zona Gale has been repri
manded for giving her new
play, “Mr. Pitt," a cheerful
ending. It is said that, like Henry
James, Mr. Tarkington and other con
scientious Novelists, she is Inclined
to abase her art in the applications
to the theater. Of unbending recti
tude where her printed fiction is con
cerned, she (a accused of compromis
ing in her dramaa For Instance, Mr.
Pitt is the most tragic of the bores.
An itinerant vendor of tinned food
stuffs in villages of the mlddlewest,
he is ignorant, illiterate, uncomely
and utterly without charm. More
over, he is an unselfish soul, addicted
to deeds of kindness. After three
acts of tribulation, not Ignobly borne,
the curtain descends on him as the
owner of a rich claim in the Klon
dike and surrounded by admiring
friends.
-*
I think I can understand and Jus
'i tlfy Miss Gale's motives in the mat
ter. She is a woman of great human
sympathy and melts easily at the
woes of others. Contemplating Mr.
Pitt’s melancholy career of abject im
potence, aha oould not forbear te en
dow him with a little happlnesa He
had suffered grievously through his
physical and mental handicaps, and
the more so because he was acutely
aware of them. Many of the neigh
bors made fun of him, and his pretty
young wife ran away with a travel
ing trombonist For 20 years hs bat
tled with adverse fortune~ln Alaskan
wilds and cams back to Wisconsin
broken is health, penniless and still
the do)sgeua figure of his youthful
Sys. The poor fellow deserved char
’, and Miss Gale saw that he got
it. Yet, like Mr. Bolt and other ben
efactors, shs is subjected to suspi
cion. Whereas the usual playwright
Is allowed to dismiss his wretched
characters In a glow of sunshine, it
is demanded of Miss Gale that Mr.
Pitt should continue after the play is
ever to be thoroughly miserable.
In her curtain speech Miss Gale
said that "Mr. Pitt” had many au
thors. In fact, nearly all the char
acters were living persona and had re
produced themselves in the manu
scrlpta She herself had known a de
spairing Mr. Pitt who had beaten
against the walls of his hostile per
sonality and tried to get out, Just as
the poor fellow does in one of the
best scenes in the play .... The
piece is full of "types” photographed
by Mine Gale in her studies of small
town life. Some of them are so vivid
that you suspect that she occasion
ally mistakes facts for truth. The
tempting trombonist is one of these,
perhaps. Ha is a handsome young
man of the big World, possessing all
the sophisticated graces of an Ital
ian diplomatist. In his bearing and
conversation hs is mors like a dig
nified young duke than hs is reminis
cent of Sousa, P, B. Bona or Lyon
& Healy. Such purple instrumen
talists exist, of eourna, and Hiss Gals
has seen one of them. Ha alao may
have run away with the village house
painter’s wife; for mtuio oft inspires
its practitioner to olid adventures. But
(hough a fact, hs interferes a little
with the truth of "Mr. Pitt."
Mr. Walter* Huston, who oomea
straight from the vaudeville, gives
the blundering hero a remarkably ex
plicit impersonation. Hs was ooaohed
(or the unsympathetic task by his
sister, Mrs. Carrington, under wboaa
instruction Mr. Barrymore prepared
(or Hamlet.
-■
The dramatists usually agree about
the things that happen. The same
things have beea happening In the
theater for a long time, with occa
sional variations as to the method of
their happening. In Miss Clemence
Dane’s new play, "The Way Things
Happen,” both ths things and their
processes are familiar. The differ
ence between It and other transcrip
tions from life Is that It Is more
literate and more effectively acted. It
is not so drsmatlo a play as Miss
Dane’s "A BtU of Divorcement," or
oo poetio aa a play aa her "Will
Shakespeare. ” But It is more the
atrically routine than either.
Mias Katharine Cornell in this oom
sdy is a sacrificial Cinderella, in love
with ths young man of tho London
household, Into which she has been
adopted and of which she is the
drudge. He (Mr. Tom Nesbitt) Is a
super cad, a smug, amllelese, ill-tem
pered and aggressive bounder, enam
ored of one of the most terrifying of
ths suburban flapper*. In order to
buy gifts for this siren he steals from
his Arm, and Is detected In so doing
by his evil office mata
-A——
What does the poor girl do when
that earnest villain threatens to ex
pose the man she loves unless ehe
visits his rooms and gives herself to
him? He offers to exhango tho In
criminating paper* for her reluctant
caresses. Aa Is said to bo tho custom
in life, as In ths drama, ths lady en
deavors to atone for ths man's wick
ednesses. At the end of the Aret
act ehe throws a scarf around her un
willing shoulders and staggers out
Into the night, enroute to the sacri
ficial altar. The scarf, by ths way,
belongs to her bitterest enemy.
A A
One wooden how Mlao Dane's play
would far* If th* girl were to revere*
t lie customary practices and decline
to be so great a martyr—even to save
the reputation of th* pleasant fellow
•he loves. Suppose she were to give
the predicament deep consideration,
fund (hen to decide that tt would be
hatter for all concerned If she did not
«r| to make a right out of two
w rejigs? If she were to recall th* las
sos. taught her by scores of similar
„ rt?ag.-aa and were to profit by them—
J ,a £psca's more or leoe unsatisfac
tory apperlenco, or Nora Helmor's
op Menrm Vanna’sf That, of course,
would be the way that things do not
happen. Still, I believe that It might
be exemplary If not entertaining to
know in "The Way Things Happen"
that Shirley Pride In th* erlel* let
clown her hair In her own room, In
stead of that of a beastly marplot,
and that she redeemed her erring
mate by good advice Instead of bad
conduct. All these sacrifices are so
futll* that It Is discouraging to know
that women yet persist In perform
ing them. Shirley's reward in "The
Way Things Happen” Is to denounce
her unworthy man, to strike him
furiously In th* face, and then to be
come engaged to him—a terrible per
■on.
Mine Cornell Is th* most alluring of
the new American actresses, and she
has seldom been so competent and so
l
vc '•1/ettfjn
COMING To ——_
THE ©RAN DEIS
‘41
w
G&ot-Sa (Ptji/es at
T#r wor up ,
lowly as she Is In Miss Dane's play.
But, as Is the fate of most young
women of the theater, she Is acquir
ing prosperous mannerisms from the
stage directors. She Is permitting
them to tell her the way things hap
pen. Mr. Nesbitt, as the offensive
egoist, for whose benefit the sacrifice
is made, I feel, is too relentless in his
exposure for the purposes of enter
tainment. He plays the role as it is
written, entirely without charm. One
advantage of his merciless impersona
tion, however, is that every man who
goes to see it will be proud that he is
pot that sort of person.
"The Gingham Girl” will come to
the Brandeis theater February 28 and
29 and March 1. "The Gingham Girl"
was the surprise success of the year
in New York. It came into New York
almost unheralded and practically un
known, for Its producers, Schwab and
Kusell, were very young men, the au
thors and composers had not yet
achieved distinction and the cast did
not boast of those actors fortunate
enough to be known as Broadway fa
vorites. But the show was an over
night success, scoring a triumph
through sheer merit and real worth.
’^1 7* *
Satl Youttcf at
THE eftAprTESS
Under the guiding Influence of Ar
thur Hammerstein, ‘‘Wlldflower,” fa
miliarly termed, "The Bamballna
Show,” with Kva Olivetti Ringing the
title role, will open an engagement at
the Brandela on February 44. where
U_- 1—4
Claire De Vit?e. at t ne
<?AYg T V
It will remain four nights and Satur
day matinee. Its players. In addition
to Miss QJIvottl, Include Bobby Ber
nard, Carrie Reynolds, CUf Becking
er, Adels Keilar, Paul Donah, Mar
garet Wood, Allan H. Began, Jack
Dempsey and Charles Burrows. The
augmented orchestra will be unfer
the direction of Clad Neff of the
Casino theater, New York.
2nd
Wk.
2nd
Wk.
2nd AND FINAL BIG WEEK O'30 P M
OPENS With MATINEE TODAY “ W ■ ■ IVI l
The Qeatest Screen /^traction oF the/^e !
Ion
CHANEY
by
Carl Laemmle
- — - --
A Universal Picture
2430 P. M.—TWICE DAILY—8:30 P. M.
EVERY PERFORMANCE
Seats ——. [$1.00
DDirre DaiIy M*,inee».soc4,75<* and $1.00 '
mivCd Evenings.50*4, $1.00 and $1.50
__I
What the Theaters Offer
^ ^/-^AUCY BABY," musical cometfy
with Billy Graves and com
' panv of 30, Is the headline at
traction” in the new vaudeville bill at
the AVorld. Included in the cast of
principals are George Graves, Gladys
Jackson, Marion Gray, Sophie Davis,
Joe McKenzie, Fred Bishop, Pick
Maloney, Bluey Morey and Fred Al
gers. Twelve "Saucy Babies" make
up Jhe chorus. An even dozen song
numbers are introduced during the
action of the musical farce. The sup
porting show is of a caliber to make
the program one of the most attr.jp
tive of the season. McGowan and
Knox present “Out of Gas,” a pot
pourri of comedy and song numbers.
Booth and Nina offer banjo numbers
intermingled with stunts of Booth, a
trick cyclist. Comedy harmony songs
:yre presented by She Golden Gate
Four. "Ye Olden Days" is a song
spectacle by Davis and Bishop, sup
ported by a cast of eight. ■ The prin
cipal photoplay feature stars Agnes
Ayers supplied by -Mahlon Hamilton
In a Paramount picture of laughter
under the title '"The Heart Raiders.”
De T.yle Alda, prima donna beauty
of the 7.eigfeld Follies, Is tho head
liner at the Orpheum this week In an
unUstTal little musical play called
"Sadie—One of Those Girls,” a tra
vesty on the old Cinderella theme.
Miss Alda appears first in tatters aH
a newsboy, later in society and last
as a star in gorgeous gowns. She
lias the support of Edward Tierney
and Janies Donnelly, dancers, and a
good cast of songs and comedians.
A featured act on this week's bill
presents Fred Fenton "and Sammy
Fields In a singing, dancing and talk
ing skit. The'Whlte Sisters, who hail
from Omaha, and who have just com
pleted an engagement as the leading
juvenile stars In Fred Stone's pro
duction, "Tit? Top," appear In a fea
tured act entitled, "Broadway's Big
Kittle Stars." "Compliments of the
Season" is another creation of Paul
Gerard Smith. A unique story
trickles through four _ scenes, with I
Garry Owen, well known in vaude
ville and motion plc^res, playing the ]
leading role. Kenney and Hollis have j
assembled choice tidbits from college I
initiations and wrapped them In a I
bundle which they call "The Two
Doctors" and label "a satire on medi
cine." The three Danoise Slstens are
young women who would be taken for
anything but gymnast*. They show
an unusual amount of daring and
agility. Catherine Sinclair doss the
most startling things in an athletic
routine. She Is asslsied by two men.
1 ■ ■-1 *£* ■ 1 *
Halton Powell and his players at
the New Empress this week are of
fering their laughable musical farce,
under the title of "Pretty Papa.”
In "Pretty Papa" Powell plays ths
role of "Alonzo Brown," a redhot
sport. The entire company are cast
in roles showing them to excellent
COMMENCING NEXT [rn 1 n
SUNDAY MATINEE rtU. IU
_TWO NIGHTS AND SUNDAY MAT.
jpAntticibluDiiK Amusement enterprise
P Georgia Smart Set Minstrels
«, Two Popular Attractions Combined
r [ 51—PEOPLE—51
I Positively the Bi^est Best
\indlhstExpensjyeM/nstrdOnajianha
5 in the World A
‘Tickets on Sale Tomorrow—Prices. 50c, 75c and $1.00—Plus Tax
Four Days Starting Thursday, February 14—Saturday Matineo
THE NEW YORK CASINO THEATER HIT
“WILD FLOWER”
A Sparkling Musical Comedy With
A Chorus off Broadway Beauties
Produced by and Tour Under Direction of Mr. Arthur Hammerstein
Mail Orders Now—Tickets on Sale Next Thursday
Tuesday and Wednesday Evenings, February 19 and 20
Ruth StFenis
With TED SHAWN
And the DENISHAWN DANCERS
Tickets on Sale Tuesday, February 12—50c to $2.50. "
THE SOTHERN-MARLOWfc SEASON .
Edward H. Sothern and Julia Marlow., the forema.1 claaaical ,tar, aa lb.
Lngli.h-.prakmg .tag., will appear at the Brandei, Theater three d.y.,
beginning Thur.day, February 21.
TO OBTAIN TICKETS NOW
. Fill in form below with number of seats desired: send self-addressed,
stamped envelope with proper remittance, payable to the Brandei* Theater.
Omaha. Neb. Do not write a letter. You will be ftiven the beat acats
available.
Price. Include T.a Orch. Bal. Bal 24 Bal.
Prlcaa Iniluda Taa >3Jp »2.7g g2.20 gt.lO
Thuraday, Fab. 21
ROMEO AND JULIET
Friday, Feb. 22
TWELFTH NIGHT
Sat. Mat., F*b. 23 “ ~~~~
TAMING OF THE SHREW
Sat Eve.. Feb. 23
HAMLET '
Naina %.
Straat and Ne....
City .’.
Amarican Tour Undar Direct inn af La* Shubnrt
rSTJRRfJWWl WEEK STARTING
ftmjilill WbiSiftMift rJi.fLJ TODAY’S MAT.
DE~LYLE ALDA
With EDWARD TIERNEY AND JAMES DONNELLY
In T.IMR—OM5 OK TIIO'F. MRI.N"
A Satira an fha Heaton'* Mage Marca**aa.
A Yasdnusa in Foar scene*
“COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON”
With GARRY OWEN AND CO.
KENNEY & HOLLIS
In “TIIK TWO norm lev—V Wk* «i Mf<IMn*
FENTON & FIELD
"APPEARING IN PBRNON"
CATHERINE SINCLAIR & CO.
* In an Athlelle Pofpanrrl
THREE DANOISE SISTERS
\ Triangle of Heavily, Grace and Agility
TIIKI.M V WHITE SISTERS -MAIU..IU1C
'Tiro admit'» Hig 14111a Mam**
Ae*op'* Fable* Topic* of tha Gay Pafha Nana
- ■ ■ ' NEW WFFKGAY PH I TEA ■ ■■■ — ■■■■■
(Monday (o Saturday. Inclusive)
F vetting* .?te. 4Ac. Me and $) M (Pin* Tag)
.. and Ate (Tlo* Tag)
1.adieu' 25c Bargain Mat. 2sl6 Wk. Da fa
I HERE'S NOT ONl.Y QUALITY BUT QUANTITY AS WELL
DIXON & A AI I S* TIMril CLAIRE DEVINE.
LAKE'S J I VI I I IYI C. MORAN A WISER
VAUDEVILLE dolls i
Interruption* by T V* Y VV ^fode* •
Jimmie Lake, Harrington Sisters, Artie Mattoee at 2:00 F
Mayo, Tommy A Kijty DonruJIy Toots Haidt Best Seats 50c
20— Alluring Vamps- 20 "'*•**■• |
1
advantage. The company are Been
in new song numbers. Eugene
Hrousard. tenor; Rita Lawrence, sou
brotte; E(pie Esmonde, prima donna;
West and Wyse, song smiths; Patsy
Gilson, |lnger of syneo|>ated melodies;
Earl Young, who has been creating a
sensation in character comedy songs
and the male quartet will all Ire
heard in lively tunes. Next Saturday
the company enters upon their fourth
week presenting Jialtoq Powell's own
success, "Margie.” The current photo
play attraction presents Mae Marsh
in "Paddy.” Here is a human inter
est story that rings true.
"Jig Time,” at the Gayety
theater this week, is really a bis
musical revue being equipped with
17 scenes tHnt are said to be unique
as well as magnificent. Heading the
cast is Claire DeVine, who Is both
the prima donna and comedienne-of
the show. Moran and Wiser, vaude
viliians, do a clever act in a comedy
hat shop; the Dancing Donnellys;
Artie Mayo, dialect comedian; the
Harrington Sisters do songs and
dances and Jimmie Lake, actor and!
writer, and a supporting chorus that
Is conspicuous in good locks and abil
ity make up the company. Today's
matinee starts' at i.
-fe
The Georgia Smart Set Minstrels
will be the attraction at the Bran
deis Sunday and Monday, February
10 and 11. The afterpart Is from the
pen of Bubber Mack, one of the fe*»
ture comedians, and has to do with a
first-class up-to-date undertaking
establishment. During the engage
ment of the Georgia Smart Set Min
strels here a big street parade will
be given and concerts in front of the
theater before eaeh performance.
Popular prices will prevail.
-as
After six months of study and re
search, and another six month# of
putting the results of their study
Into practice, Kuth St. Denis and Ted
Shawn are ready to go forth with
their company of Denishawn Dancers
to win fresh praise as the foremost
exponents of their art in America, and
will appear at the Brandeis theater
on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb
ruary 19 and 20.
NOW PLAYING
A pretentious musical
extravaganza lavishly
staged, gorgeously
gowned and rocking
with" riotous revelry.
TOP-NOTCH SUPPORTING SHOW
/ _
BOOTH & NINA
20th Century Entertainer*
GOLDEN GATE 4
Four Merry Men of
Melody
McGOWAN ft KNOX
la “Oat of Cm“
“YE OLDEN MVS”
With Sophie Dtrii end
Fred Biehop
Arthur Hays Playing “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face”
(2 tyraai Phoicptay t
I ASHOT
(Supported, by
MAHLON HAMILTON 1
in. the, delightful l
Paramount Picture
$ HEART RAIDER
(2 laugh, laden love story 1
qf a fascinating flapper and
a hard boiled woman hater.
THIS WEEK ENDINOFRIDAY
HALTON POWELL
tffS PLAYERS
uty Me tornado
qt^/hn and.
softer
lollJt
, ’Walton PcweU as
lie famous Ciaracler
"Alonzo Drown"
J* Picture your#
keen umiuty io aw
MAE
MARfH
d>/ar c/*
Ori/'/'il/ts
?4c hhtle fiese?
in,
PADDY
