THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, rORTTAND, MARCH 31, 1918.
1 r ' . p ' t"v- ; ? l? hi ? Hi - l :XtZ si
- :. v . ,- : S w ...... . v ,r I Ji 1 rs. 'S4; t "i 1 .IK ih Vv ;
I Y : .5 ..-,. . i - JjM ! H "Wk rnrya I A
i fAW rr " - r 1 scots
: -77s,v cocjlow9: ffm v-4 - -if- xxu V : v. v- --'AW f
fML Wok.
. .- . . . . .
- BT L:OXE CASS BAER.
AVI'JOROl'S dlmtrtb aitainst pres
ent condition In th world of
theatrical. n onelaught on poor
art trie; as the ban of our atace. fol
lowed bjr'a eonfjoeion of frank em
" karrumnt m aearch. for a remedy U
Vontalned la a brUIiantly-wrttten ar
:ttcln bT J. Ilankln Tcwm In tha tor
:rnt edition of The Nation. Mr. Towae a
obeervation wit callrd forth, ha jra.
".br a lona- wail orir the denerac of
the Brltuh staae mad by IL W.
iniham In the lndon Nation. Str.
laineharo lament tha tmpotertcy of
the varioo Independent theater to
brtn about any true rorre-tion of
dramatw art. alludee depairtnly to
the vanity of hope founded upon the
lnubtant!l proposal for a national
or munii-ipal eetablmhment. and a
"pUlntlvrly what ha become of the
sreat retal predicted aa the Inevit
able consequence of the world-wide
-traced of war. To all of which wail
vi . -rn nskee renlv br aavinar that
It i loo early to look for any revival
.or even remedied t-p. "The neeneo
Ineniration- he eeneibly obeerve. "can
rome only to thoeo who have supped
. full on the actual horror of the field,
and they, aa yet. have other bulnee
In hand than the writing of play.
. which take time. Fua-uive war poetry
of a hlch type we have had. The (treat
play may follow, but what aurance
i t fie re mat iney- wu.ki v - -
la any mm. their effect. If any. would
bo transient. The theater cannoi v
aaved by sood play alone. The It
' irirtn already are atuffed with them.'
-In Kncland. Jut now.- further ay
Mr. Towee. "the e Is abandoned to
trivialities, mainly because London
and the larrer clue are crammed with
'aoldiers cravtnc nothing so much as
the temporary oblivion or lausjnter.
This i not the rase here, but the con
ditions are little less contemptible. Tha
theatrical disease Is. and lone; has been.
. progressive, in spite of all the nos
trums that have been precrlbed for Its
cure. This I because the amiable
amateur theorists who compound and
sometimes administer them take Bote
only of the symptom. Instead of prob
Ik for the oriainaj and deeply rooted
"cause of the malady. The maliKnant
canker Is not. as Is commonly supposed,
simply commercial, the development of
which Is but one phase of it. The
: theater, like all other artiistic and edu
cational Institutions, roust ba run If
it Is to survive and arow more or les
nooa a commercial basis. It ha al
'ways been, from KUsabethan day
downward, even In Ita beet estate, com
mercial. Artist of every dra-rre must
have bread and butter, and. It they are
to excel, must be made to work for It.
They can be fostered, doubtless, to a
certain extent, by patronise, but that
means stacnatlon and ultimate dera
'.il.net. They can be Impelled to tbe
.hlahrst achievement even phenome
nal genius Is not exempt from this law
'only by competition, which necessi
tates the development of capacity by
bard work and education. This Is a
platitude, but It I also the, sole and
sufficient explanation of the Indlsput
.able fart that with the extinction of
the old system of stock companies the
race of creat actors vanished. Today.
In the whole Knellsh-speakln theater,
there are not six. nor three, actors In
rlud.nc both sexes capable of a really
first-clas embodlmeal of any ajrrat
character In either traced?- or hljh
comedy, let alone la both.
'Hero I the true secret of tha theat
rical decadence, which wear all chat
terms about and dep.Iortna;. Tha old
'stock, companies w ith which tbe so
called stock companies of the present
-have nothtne. or very little. In common
bavin each It own province and he
ir tr rivals, supplied tbe two thlncs nec
essary to the creation of ajoed al
roncd actors, edurstlon In every branch
ef the drama, from farce tj poetic
traredy. and wholeeomo competition.
-Mi the players In taero. were exercised
In aa Infinite variety of parts la all
. kinds of drama, as enumerated1 by Fo
bnniu. la other words, they were sub
jected to a rigorous schootinc which
qualifte-i them to play creditably a!
'matt anr part, at a pinch, with appro
priate atvle aad diction. The best of
theaa were equally at homo la Sbert
eu or t-hakespearei. la flowery ro
tnii't or la sentimental domestic
tfrems. Now fcletnoaie education and
histrioalo competition have both been
virtually abolished, with results that
o-o oely too aotortoua. . . Thus the
theater la doubly aaadlcapped. first by
the hta-h-cravel bliadneeo ef Ita esrec
ters. who aro devoid of all artistic
OMtise aad ambition, and caa only dream
.f mowetary success alone the sine
tker know bow to follow, aad secondly,
by the almost total lack of actors capa
ble or plavm outside the narroearet of
femiiiar grooves. What Is the primary
the stellar class in vaudeville strictly
on her merits as a. songstress. Eho
wears a gorgeous Japanese costume,
but that is the only touch of the Orient
in her entertainment, as she speaks
perflct English and her diction in sing
ing has not the slightest Japanese ao
cent. Remaining acts are Bert Wheeler ana
Tom Moran in "Me and Micky"; George
W. Cooper and' William Robinson, pre
senting .-"A Friend of Mine on the
Wrong Street"; La Zier-Worth Com
pany in "An Evening at Home," and
Oakes and Delour in the antique shop
dancing novelty. The Orpheum Travel
Weekly will show movlng-pictt.ra
scenefi of foreign lands.
rectlon and without trained players?
How Is It to be lifted out of tbe quag
mire in which It la bogged?
"Plainly there must be a total up
heaval of the present system. That
unfortunately. Is not likely to come ex
cept after complete financial disaster,
which does not yet appeiar Imminent
although there are occasional signs of
It on tho horlxon. Nor will any con
ceivable endowment or legislation
avail. The restitution of the ol.l stock
company system, in existing circum
stances, doe not seem feasible, yet,
manifestly, the prime need Is the crea
tion, on a broad scale, of somewbst
similar Institutions In which a new
school of actora could be trained prop
erly In all the different branches of
their profession. It Is in this direction
that the first organised effort for th
atrical reform must be made. All talk
of an art ist lo theater, without th
proper actors to put Into It, Is futile
nonsense. A possible nucleus tor sucn
a scholastic orgsntxatlon might possl
bly be found In the various independent
dramatic societies which, or late, nave
been springing up all over the coun
try. But the administration of them
would have to be changed radically.
In tho main they are devoted to ama.
tenrlsh performances of violent, abnor
mal, or freakish pieces of no permanent
literary or dramatlo value. Aa schools
of acting they are negligible. If they
could bo endowed with this capacity,
ther might soon prove invaluable. But
the Meal theater of the future must be
reared upon an ed-o rational and com
petltlve basis. The shortest road to It,
perhaps, might lie through a great dra
matic university, with an absolute con.
trol over managerial licenses, to be Is
sued only to graduate with honors.
e e , e
The local calendar thla week show a
return engsgement of tbe Kolb and Dill
comedv team surrounded by their mu
steal comedy company in ine Jimu
Cost of Loving, opening next Thurs
day night to round out the week at the
Helllg. They have Just completed a
successful season extending from No
vember until a fortnight ago In Chi
rago and are homeward bound to Call'
fornla to get ready for a new produc.
tlon. May Robson will he here In "A
Little Bit Old Fashioned" on April 11.
13 and 13. and we are to have Cyril
Maude In "Grumpy" some time in early
May. Also Otts Skinner Is coming soon
In "Mr. Antonio." and Max Fig-roan and
Lollta Robertson are returning In
Xothlna- Hut ths Truth.
"Little I'eggy O' Moore." which Is
said to be another Peg o aiy
Heart" sort of play, opens today
with the matinee for the weeks
ens-srement at the Baker. rtutn
Gates will be Peggy, a little Irish
colleen, and Edward Everett Morton
will play L-an, the Irish lad who get
all mixed up In politic and romance
when little Peg comes over rrom ire
land to make more troubles for him.
The entire cast of Alcasar players will
appear.
It looks like a great weeg tor me
rmhinn. aa the artist who baa the
blgsest type on the top of the poster
Is oeorge llmtrtl, wno nas ins repu
tation of being one of the greatest mas
culine drawing-cards In vaudeville to
day because he appeals not only to the
lovers of dramatic art. but to the devo
tees of music and dancing. Another
reason why this welcome-return sr Is
so popular is because his principal sup
port la alwaya Myrtle VaiL who la at
home dancing, einglng or acting and
who caa qualify any lime as a com
petitor with Venus In any vaudeville
act that needs the Venus type.
-Tbe Little Liar." a new musical
farce, la Mr. Damsrel a vehicle thla sea
aoa. Edward Hume, comedian, also
looms big In the support of the mati
nee MoL Hume and Myrtle Vail com
plicate the plot of "The Little Liar."
which Is built around aa artlet'a model
who bad a perfect ehoulder and who
posed for the painting of "The Red
at v ey w
Danilo" In the lamuul Viennese suc
cess. "The Merry Widow." His vaude
ville vehicle the past two seasons was
"Temptation." which, lIKe "The Little
I.lar." waa written by Will M. Uousb,
who. a the author of "The Time, the
Place and the CJtrl," "A Stubborn Cin
derella," "A Modern Eve" and numerous
other musical comedy successes, made
an early reputation previous to entering
the vaudeville field, to which he has
lately contributed "The Naughty Prin
cess." "The Night Clerk," "The Four
Husbands" and others.
The other featured acts of the new I to 0 with four erring men. all safely
Orpheum show are "in tne ione, an
other Washington Square Players' play
let, and Haruko Onuki. the Japanese
prima donna, who made a big bit here
last season.
The Kinkald Kilties, one of the
biggest musical acts In vaudeville, is
coming to top Pantages new bin open
ing tomorrow. Thla act Is made up or
the original lads and lassies from the
heilands o' bonny Scotland and features
bonnie Rose Maura. Bob Albright re
turns, too. on the new bill to delight
with hi singing, and the Five Metzettis
acrobat are another big number.
Al Franks, the clever Hebrew come
dian of the Lyric, who has been sick
for several weeks, returns to tbe cast
today In "Tho Quacks," a semi-burlesque,
which gives abundant oppor
tunity for the popular team of Dil
lon and Franks in their eccentric work.
Aa common bums they pose as doctors
In the usual Impossible wsy found only
In cartoon musical comedy, anu sec
about trying to cure an attack of dumb
ness In the daughter of a wealthy Judge.
iusieal and chorus effects are inter
polated throughout the plot and several
new facea and figures are announced to
.nnese thla week. They include little
Billie Bingham, a well-known soubrette.
KOLB AND DILL BACK AGAIN
"Tho High Cost of Loving" to Re
turn This Week at Heilijr.
Kolb and DHL In "The High Cost of
Loving." which ha been Impending in
Chicago for many months, decided to
fulfill their Facinc coast Dooxings, ana
Jumped directly to Seattle, where they
played for two weeks and will be the
attraction at the Heilig Theater, Broad
way at Tavlor street, next Thursday.
between acts, for the expertness with
which Kolb and Dill do things Is evi
denced in the same jazz orchestra they
carried last year, which entertains
while the curtain is dropped.
Friday. Saturday nights. April . 6 and
6, with a special matinee Saturday.
The. piece by '.Pmnkillandell ran for
the Winter season, at the Olympic The
ater. Chicago, apparently to the satis
faction of more or less fastidious theater-goers.
Theatrical memory is short.
but It Is possible many will remember
the unusually successful engagement of
these spirited comedians last rail, when
they played to delighted capacity audi
ences in this city.
Tbe Kolb and Dill farce I a racy and
bold breakaway from the usual, having
married, but the indecent past pursuing
them hysterically. It Is that pursuit,
coupled with the parity league's pen
chant for unearthing disagreeable
things at a mile-a-minute gait, and a
strange young man in town, and not
one of the four wise men able to de
clare positively that he is not their
very own son, that calls forth loud
laughter and hearty guffaws. Audacious
to be sure, but aide-splitting, and from
maid to star It is brilliantly played.
At top speed the eaucy farce goes Its
way and with not a single minute's wait
GEORGE DAMEREL BACK AGAIN
Former Star of "The Merry Widow'
Returns as Orpheum Card.
No extra performance of Orpheum
vaudeville will be presented at. the
Heilig this week, a concert engagement
necessitating closing of the Orpheum
show with the Wednesday matinee. On
account of the Easter show being head
lined by George Damerel, "the matinee
idol of big-time vaudeville," especial
efforts were made by the Orpheum
management in an endeavor to extend
the engagement of this week's bill, but
this could not be arranged because of
the advance booking of Frieda Hempel
and the Kolb and Dill show.
George .Damerel, the new Orpheum
star, is regarded as one of the fore
most drawing cards, as has been estab
lished a big clienteiie among lovers oi
music tbe dance and the drama; He
Is famous particularly for his associa
tion with the sensational success of
The Merry Widow," so much so that
the "Merry'Widow Waltz" even at this
iate date is linked, with the name of
George Damerel Mr. Damerel's Or
pheum vehicle this season Is a brand
new act in which he is supported prin
cipally by Myrtle Vail, a reigning
beauty in showdom, and Edward Hume,
a comedian with a Broadway reputa
tion. The act is "The Little Liar," a
musical farce," built around a girl with
a perfect shoulder who posed for the
picture, "The Red Cross Girl. It is
vivacious, magnificently staged and
the girls in the company are extolled as
beauties.
"In the Zone," a war playlet listed
among the big successes of the Wash
ington Square Players in New York, is
the added attraction. This act is pre
sented by seven men and the scene is
laid in the forecastle of a ship that is
coursing through the submarine zone.
The third big feature of the new
Orpheum show is Haruko Onuki, Jap
anese prima donna, who scored a great
success at the Orpheum here last sea
son. The fittle Nipponese diva sings
classical and popular selections and is
FRIEDA )
HE1PEL
TICKET OFFICE SALE OPENS TOMORROW I.
HEILIG J8 week j frtoay.' NIGHTS, AP'L 4, 5,6
SPECIAL PRICE MATINEE SATVTUJAY.
The Portland Favorites
Funniest
Duo
on
American
Stage.
Music,
Fun,
Pretty
Girls .
Sift
tS THE
Same
Excellent
Cast
Augmented
. Jazz
Orchestra
Eve's
$1.50 to 50 c
Sat. Mat.
$1.00 to 50c
MUSICAL FARCE
"HIGH COST OF LOVING"
FEATURE AT PANTAGES
Xew Bill' Includes Xumber of Scn
' sational Comedy Acts.
Fresh &S the heather of the Hie'lands
is the diversified entertainment given
by George Kinkaid's Kilties who are
featured at Pantages for the week be
ginning with tomorrow's matinee.
Rose Maura, the famous Scottish en
tertainer, who is widely known as "Six
Feet of Personality," is t the head of
the company which is the original Kin
kaid organization that scored so heavily
in the East. Miss Maura is supported
by lads and lassies who offer the most
intricate of Scotch dances, the happiest
of Scotch songs and bits of that bright
wit that Harry Lauder made so. popu
lar in this country.
An announcement of exceptional in
terest to playgoers is that Bob Al
bright, one of the most popular figures
in vaudeville, will appear as the spe
cial feature. Mr. Albright comes witn
the latest song hits and brand-new
stories that will be appreciated by
everyone.
Mr. Albright is assisted at the piano
by Miss Mary Cook, a clever pianist
who makes her first professional; ap
pearance here.
One of the -most amazing acts in
vaudeville is that presented by the Five
Metzattis, the noted European athletes.
They offer a routine of cyclonic acro
batics, chief of which are their amazing
aerial somersaults. The Metzettis
astonished Europe prior to the war
with their remarkable programme and
with the advent of the war they came
to the United States where they iiave
scored a tremendous hit.
Cuban entertainers are Sinclair and
Tyler who -have an enjoyable pro
gramme. They are accomplished musi
cians who introduce the violin and the
"cello. Their routine includes many of
the luring melodies of the South as
well as the latest hits.
June Mills is the May Irwin of vaude
ville and she appears with her own
company in the brightest of sketches.
Miss Mills' humor is infectious and she
will be a popular figure on the pro
gramme. As whirlwind manipulators, the mem-
CITY
AND
Ol'T-OF-TOWV
MAIL ORDERS REC'D NOW
Leading Soprano, Metropolitan
Opera Company s
Direction Steers & Coman.
Heilig Theater, April 3
Seat Sale Tomorrow, 10 A. M.
Floor V
PRICES
L50, J2.0('
Balcony $2.00, fl.50, $1.00, 75c
5fc
COMING HEILIG APRIL 11, 12, 13
SPECIAL PRICE MAT. SAT.
ALWAYS
V KI.I OUE
COMKDIKXXE
May Robson
AO HER HPIGMDID COMPAWT OF PLAYERS
I.N HKR LATEST AND GREATEST COMEDY HIT,
"A LITTLE BIT OLD-FASHIONED"
T. mt. ai.nn. 7!W. 50p.
5 -Ax
-
v- it
r " i)
& MATINEES 1
E 1Aan
3 i
to
a soc
3
3
ONLY. THREE NIGHTS t$
4 MATINEES 4 F(
Ey.g S i ll I' MARC H 31
GEORGE!
damerel!
Assisted by sty
MTRTLE VAIL EDWARD HUMERI
And a Splendid Cast tfjj
In the Musical Farce !?
"THE LITTLE LIAR"
By Will M. Hough aye
Bert WHEELER & MORAN Tom i .
in "ME AND MICKY" & :
Geo. W. COOPER & Wm. ROBINSON J .
Presenting "A Friend of Mine on the!;
Wrong Street"
HARUKO ONUKli
JAPANESE PRIMA DONNA
In a Repertoire of Songs
AT HOME"
OAKES & DELOUR IN THE ANTIQUE
SHOP Dancing Novelty
Travel
Weekly .
Concert
Orchestra
NIGHTS
lOc
ft
a
TO
'IN THE ZONE" S
- v
By EUGENE G. O'NEILL -A
Washington Square Players' New YorkjJ
Pi
Success
OalVrv.
ResVed 75c: AHr