Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1908)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING. . SEPTEMBER 0. 1008. HL.L.jJSes&ssasmmms'S&J. d.j i.j ! ;.iiti i i. ..Li..LML...jmJ a . .js t. hi . ' - .. u. a. .. y iL.Juii'-iu i i u ti J w jTTiuw cnytt rAft - Ayr Jv - , . X - - ,... J ASKS- ys ,J, V v . AW !'':' !' JWkL I PEOMISES MADE BY I Fs!!Ll' ' ' V) : THE PRESS AQENTS I - ' 3: i - iu r- 1 "V - ,V ' 5-' cms hit with thli musical comedy In "THE DEVIL" A PLAY AND A CONTORTION A Disquisition on a Drama Wnose Morals Lanuisn . ana wnose jrresentarion y v ao iuiuc iuP6duuijijf ; Vulgar. Together With a Comparison of Two Companies Struggling With the bame Duiphurous - Farrago and Its Bewildering Interpretation. . .' J ' By. I. F. S. T. WAS disconcertinn in the extreme to return from a poor few days of I rest and recreation in the mountains last week and to find that in my I .Wnrf the mice did olav and had taken to going to two devils at once Such things are all right in New York, where the Bowery still exists and , a a . ' 1. V V - - 13a a m.i! a-atarNAtKI where eacn man aoes wnai nis ncignoor cu i cc. uui su"-v vo-.. pring-heeled Portland 1 Who would have thought it? ; The vacation consisted mainly of such mildly entertaining amusements as falling down precipices, into trout streams and over deer licks, the while coyly dodging fellow hunters with equally uncertain rifles. It was but tame sport compared to the feast that the Bungalow and the Lyric had thought- fully provided lor my return, not aarmg to orcaii mio uic raum till absolutely fresh and sane from my recent contest withMhe woods and the wilderness, 1, submitted first to the vaccine offered by an Orpheum bill the precaution proved worse than the disease could have been and then, " donning my reddest necktie, sallied out and took in both devils in one long and dreadiul, never-to-be-torgotten day. In farmer davs the devil the old-fashioned devil that is. and not this new and alarming creature who is to be surrounded by quotation marks held his place in the quota ot the world s assets as a personal creature wun a red tail, sharp horns like those of a two-point buck, to use a woods com- panson ana angrily waving tan. ; iviy iirsi iuca ui iuc gwiuciiiaiio "hc"" ar t.a leaned frnm a. classic entieled "The World's Great Disasters" the volume was the piece de resistance of my childhood's dentist's waiting room ana is irretnevaDiy connecrca wiin iear ana , wrccncuucss wiutu the devil himself was the frontispiece, done in colors of red and black. And such, through many sittings of "Paust" and Goethe and Milton, he remained until I saw Franz Molnar's play, 'i And Molnar's conception of the devil as the spirit of temptation that' assails us all, while no more original than Gounod's phopshorescent and sulphuric creation, has the charm of novelty in that it introduces him as a purely psychological fiend. Such a Clumsy Devil. "Yet you can't even call him psychological without immediately beginning to qualify your announcement, tie s such' a clumsy devil, ne meddles so long with, little things, lie devotes nearly two days to wrecking the souls of three people, two of them so weak that the change from a namby-pamby longing to do evil to an actual revelry of wrong-doing is salutary rather than Anything else. n an age where we regard anything as better than merely negative living their laii is a matter tor congratulation. Unless you saw both "Devils" last week you missed something. If you went to the Bungalow and not the Lyric you missed the spirit of the, play entirely unless you possess more intelligence than Mr. Bowles gives you credit tor owning, while it you saw tne Jync and not tne uungaiow you . failed to witness the most excellent acting ot Mr. Sydney Ayres as Ur. Kellmar, the Devil. The simultaneous production of-the play at both houses gave an almost ' tinprecedented opportunity for a study of acting. As was to have been . expected the Baketcompany, with a few glaring exceptions, gave the better reading of the lines? But this was more than counterbalanced by the good by the manuscript robbers. The reviews of the Portland production gave Mr. Bowles, the newdirector f the Bungalow company, entire credit for the improvements he iade in the original reading Of the play, therefore perforce I must take it for granted that he and he alone conceived that unique and illuminative series of tableaux that preceded the first act of the Bungalow performance and that likewise the bloody and groanful end to the third act was the work of the new stage director. His idea of the intelligence of theatre-goers, while, it must be admitted, is somewnat justuied Dy tne tacts, is nevertheless a narasnip mat is neces sarily imposed upon everyone. The stage director received the manuscript for the play, read it over, and, presumably, couldn't understand it. Noth ing daunted, however, he reverted to childhood's pictures of Satan, thought of the red lights and bat wings of Gounod's fiend, and decided that the only thing to do, inasmuch as stupid Molnar had introduced the wolf in sheep s clothing, was to tear ott tne wool and reveal the devil in his true shape, , Not a Bit Afraid. ' LikeiTora Walker, he was not afrafd to view the devil in his orthodox clothing, -"whatever scruples he might have about seeing him in a frock coat, and so he gave us that interesting series of tableaux vivants display- ing tne iiena in nis own reany iruiy snape leading two lovers to destruc tion and disappearing in a blaze of red fire and smoke at the end. The. min ute the tableaux began I knew what was going to happen. I realized in a flash that the name devil had suggested red fire to the Bungalow stage director and that it was btfund to out, although I was not quite prepared for. the liberal display which the generous manager gave us and which rivalled a country Fourth of July demonstration. Having been well prepared for what was to come by this preliminary brimstone bath the play as a study of symbolism was completely ruined. It was not left to the spectator to decide whether Dr. Kelmar was the per sonal devil or a real man. There was no doubt remaining as to the identity of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That had all been nicely settled for you before .tne curtain went up. i ou couian t lor a minute imagine after that that Dr, Kelmar might be an evil-minded, cynical man. bent on breaking no a home Your nose was held in spite of your struggles so that you had to open, your mouth and take your dose of personal devil whether you wanted to or not. But baring established the devil as the devil to your own satisfaction and beyond eradventure of an argument to you the heartless director sat down and tried to conceive of some way of painting the devil still blacker. Air. Bowies some ume tn nis early youth must have been a straight-laced Presbyterian.. On no other grounds can his relentless pursuit of the nicely concealed fiend that lay in Molnar's creation be explained. He had no mercy on tin nor on us. He cbnceived that eneirely unnecessary, inept and vulgar scene between two children and a scarlet woman in the second act It waa an offense not only against dramatic art but against the decency of the patrons of the theatre. It served no purpose excepting to prolong xne, nmecovrea vj ine piay ana to irritate me beyond measure. And then as the final scene, the author having failed to kill anyone, to drag out any aryi vt -mv.rn. mnj pujncu Tioimce, me stage director added a suicide on cis own book. At It Is in the Book. Molnar, at his final scene correctly and most impressively plaved at the T 7 1 . U - W.J it . i ... . . i-jii vj ic . uu mc ijTcr, Aieia ana rranz, leave the stage tor another room. Josef Kranz, Meta's husband, led by Kelmar. entered the room and Kelmar pointed out4to him the door leading to Franz's chamber. Mere rrans is supposed to stand in amazed grief at what he sees while Kelmar. looking at his watch, remarks that be must be going and leaves ibi iarw lugcvuci, cm ngvim cm me stage and tne two invisible ones ia fie rear room. This ry powerful denouement went way over the bead of Mr. Bowles. What! No blood and gore! No murder! No fine frenzy and passion! Nev-ah. ner-ah. iso while there is a stare dagger left in the effecU of the p.ker stock company. So the husband, having a glittering paper knife thrv,t into his hands by the grinning Kelmar, hop around the room ges-tK-u!ating and pantomiming, beating bis breast and tearing his hair, advances Wkmd Mcta and Fracr. makes as if to stab them, is bcld back by the devil, trei it acam, with another bnrriWe grimace, and is once more held back, and then rtrr back to the hall where be presumably aticki it ia himself, to sccomj acirnrnt of most awful groans and gruata. j Max Dill and Edltb. WMteley, With Kolb & Dill In "LonesoW Town" at - . - f ' . . -. . ,;, -i, v. - ... tl. U.IU. n.'avav - DRAMATIC CALENDAR FOR TIBB -WEEK,' l???,!? 3,.nl,lt n(1 n wee,t Kolb and Dill 1n' "Lonftom Town." BAKER Thla afternoon and all weak "The Royal Chf"" . BUNGALOW Thla afternoon and -week Baker tok rnmn.n. i Glided Fool.1 . ? .,. . . . ' STAR Thla aftfimoon and wk "Nell Gwyrnie.' ! ' ? 'v -LTRIC -Tomorrow nlfht and week "Tenneeaee'a Pardner," by Blunkall took company. . . . . . . . GRAND Vaudeville. , . ' ; . PANTAGEarVaudevllle. 'i .'s.V ;v ..;' NEXT WEEK'S OFFERINGS HEILIC3 Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and ; Wednesday BAk'rR Tha Cat and the Piddle." UNGALOW "The GtVl of the Golden West" YRIO "Toung , Mra. Wlnthrope," "Comln" Thro tha AT THE GRAND. Georgia harper The Lyric performance gave to that last scene something of the tragic indeed, the only bit of the tragic that was to be found in the whole un pleasant business. It wasn't because Mr. Carl Berch, who played the hus band. wa4 better suited to his Dart than was Mr. Gleason. it wasn't because either the Meta or Franx of Warda Howard and Mr. 'Blunkall were better than those of Mr. Ayres and Miss Jewel, because they were not, but it was because we had been led to the very threshold of fate" and were left there in the darkness. We had followed them in their course of aviL a course against which they had striven, weakly it is true, but still had striven, and I 1 jt t. i . .1 !1 . t. . . 1 . a , . a H naa oeen swept away Dy me evil inar was wunin intra ratner man oy tne horns and tail of Mr, Bowles devil. Honors to Sidney Ayres. When it comes to a comparison of the acting of the two companies Mr, Ayres carries away the honors not only from his competitor but from the other members of his own company. His work in the devil was good" because it was for the most part delicately suggestive of the role. He, of course, had to fall by the .wayside wbeg it came to red hose and a red vest He, imbued with the spirit of the production, must wear something to show that he really was the devil after all, even you might think he wasn't now and then.,-It was too much to expect that he would do otherwise. But his characterization was on the whole, one worthy of remembrance. Mr. Blunkall is physically and temperamentally less suited to the role than Mr Ayres, but he avoided his rival's pitfall of red.. He, of course, had the immeasurable advantage of not having announced beforehand that he was the deviL- And be played up to this with all the ability he had- . Izetta Jewell was better than Warda Howard as Meta because the was sillier. Meta was scarcely the creature of Miss Howard s imagination. She must have had very little tense, have been pretty and affected. And Miss Jewell did this well. Margie Mandemlle a Sophie in tha Lyric production leu tar oeiow mat ot miss nent, aiuougn both left much to be desired. Horence Jewell of the L'ync was not 'adapted to the part of Bertha. She couldn't look wicked and as though her life had been "rooned" to save her soul. For the rest the Baker company had the better players; Mr. Bowles outiooking it not outplaying Charles King as Franz. The dancing supes tn the ballroom scene, however, were awful to behold. " It is to be regretted that with the acting of Mr. Arret at the devil there ootid oot hate been good tense displayed in the potting on of the play. Whatever merit it had at a play lie in hi portrayal of the cower of a suggestion, the lesson of which was quite generally overlooked. From a literary standpoint tha veraioiit (rive a here at least ahow tha play to be of little value.. Its e pi crams are not particularly tcintillatinar althone-h the are cynical in the extreme and cynicism is usually confounded with wit It is a story that gripe the imagination because of the tnggestion that evil like rood it omnipresent 4Itt not a new tuggestioa but it't been well adver tised by quarreling managers and at a, result both Portland houses did capacity business all week. The invitation to go to the devil waa one that wat too tempting to be declined. And it't more than likely that well all go again later on ia the aeatoa and continue going for tome seasons to corae. i, . - - , Kolb and DM at Heilig Tonight. Beginning: tonight the favorite come dians, Kolb and Dill, together with their excellent supporting company, will com mence an engagement of one week the Heilig theatre, Fourteenth and Wash ington treats, In their latest musical comedy success, "lonesom Town." peclal-prlc matinee will be given Sat urday. The book la by the late Judson D. Brusle, while the tuneful music was penned by J. A. Raynes. Theso German dialect comedians made an lnstantane ous hit with thla musical comedy San Francisco, where It ran unlnterrunt edly for several months to crowded houses. - Its Paclfio coast success waa later repeated in New Tork, Chicago and all of the other prominent cities of tne east, ana tne critics tnrougnoui ine country are unanimous in declaring lonesome Town to De tne liveliest Dit or nonsense that nas ever been attempt ea Dy tneso mimitaoie -sum ana ' iat reriresentatives of German comedy. The New Tork nroduction has been brought to the coast intact, and the Dlay will be presented by the same cast and in exactly the same manner that It waa during its extended run at the Clr cle theatre,. New Tork City. Maude Lambert, the popular Broadway prima donna, will sing the leading role, and her two great song hits, "Dearie" and "Just Some One," are sure to catch an here. A Another wellJtnown player who will assist the stars In the extraction of laughter is Billy Clifford; who will be seen as the tramp. A bevy or band some chorus girls, who make a pretty background for the sumptuous stage settings, will add their charm to the performance by singing the many catchy numoers wiin wnicn uie piece is inter- spersea. n Regular Baker Season Opens. The first of the regular Baker theatre traveling attractions that' have always heretofore played at top prices in Port land will make its appearance this aft ernoon In the person of one of the big gest favorites of the musical-comedy world. 'The Royal Chef." which will be seen at the popular scale for seats that has been adopted at this ''house, and which will continue -for all attractions that appear here this season. . The music - or -xne itoya uner' is not only extremely catchy, . but has scored number for number with any ever written for a single production in many a day. The scenlo effects are de scribed a great, and the company, with William H.- Conley In the leading role, unusually capable. The locale of "The Royal Cher Is the. mythical "Isle f Oolong,' over -which the rajah rules In exalted dignity. Finding his chef has cal beheaded, and orders Lord Mlto his prime minister, to find him another be fore sundown or suffer a like fate. The prime minister fears it is a hopeless task, but just as his- time Is about tip he is saved by the unexpected appear ance or Hemncn Lempnauer or uni caro. who la at once promoted to the position of royal chef. The neW chef turns out to be a lokesmlth. and around him revolve all the Incidents that ahow clever dramatic construction. - The opera la staged in Una style, both la ooetumes . and every accessory re ouired to give It proper setting,-While the specialists, chorus, dancer and su pernumerarlee meet every requirement and In point or numbers exceeds any that is usually required In musical com edy. It Is cleimtng a rood deal to say that there nave oeen new laees evolved in this class of popular entertainment. but -the claim Is certainly substantiated In "The Royal Chef." There win re - maaaeee Tuesday. Thersday aad Saturday, and seat for the entire week are bow selling. WA Gilded Fool at the Bungalow. The Falter stock company will epen their week at the Bungalow thla after noon, using aa a vehicle this .week Kat Goodwin's fajooee comedy success, -a f?UdM Font" h!-h is erne f the meet favorably known or all modem standard plays. It waa (and still Is), need by Goodwill ia bis repertoire for years, and ea here br him no Later thee last wiotor at tha Reilis-, It wives l Ha, whole company, especially the men. ES- areat chances for" acting, and contains many of the wittiest lines and funniest situations known to stagedom to date. Mr. Ayres will nlay the Goodwin, role of Chancey Short "A Gilded Fool " as the name indi cates, tells about a - young man of wealth, good looks and kindly heart, but lacking apparently , in brains, for he goes the race with a raotdltv that would cause a .self-made millionaire to simply die of apoplexy or nervous shock. But In spite of his training for lack of let and frivolous habits, tls Chancey Short has stuff In him. and it onlv needa tha touch of ft woman's hand to start him on a- different road, which in the end brings him to a realization of what he la and what ha might still do with him The story is cleverly told, manv inter esting characters are Xjntroduced and strong scenes worked ud. For not one moment does the piece drag, and when Chancey enters the New York Sti-.lr V.-r. i change, becoming the victim of a deeply mm scnaine 10 ruin mm, mines nappen with remarkable swiftness. When all Is apparently lost, the old adage, "A fooPfor luck," asserts Itself, bringing the play to a happy and logical ending. Vi nt Bauer stoctc company will ne cast as follows, and the stage will be under me aireciion or uonaia Bowies r Chancey Short Sydney Ayres; Matthew Ruthven, Bannister Strange, bankers and brokers. Earl D. Dwlre, James Glea son; Jack Duval, manager of the Phila delphia branch of Ruthven 4 Co.. Donald Bowles; Rev. Jacob Howell who has a mission, William Gleason: De Puyster Ruthven. Ruthven'S son. Owen Blnzler: Perkins, valet to Short, Howard Russell; Morgan, butler to Ruthven, R. S3. Brad bury; Janitor to short William Wolbert; Margaret Ruthven. daughter of Ruth ven, MJss Izetta Jewell; Sophia Ruth- ven, wne 10 numyen. Miss iouise Kent juiss jessica ooa, aevotea to the heath en, Mina Crolius Gleason; Nell Andry nuiuririi, ncr ziieuc, mifis iviarioei ssfty- mour; Maud, a maid, Miss Hazel JewelL Ja row with the matinee there will be a particularly strong program. Mile. Louise and her -troupe of high school monkeys will be tha headline attraction. This is another tone of those extremely funny comedy acts that is always en Joyea br the old and the young. There will be special matinees given during the Week for the little ones. For a spe cial added attraction the management takes much pleasure in presenting "Yo Old Home Choir." a troupe of sweet singers, who are well known in all the best eastern cities as one of the, strong est singing acts In valdevllle. The Great Lester is a ventriloquist that can carry on a conversation with his dummies, sing, drink wine and smoke cigarettes all at the same time, his act brimming over with comedy and is a laugh from start to finish. Clem enso Brothers are musical acrobatic clowns who can produce music from anything they lay their handu on, from an old gum boot to a tomato can. They finish their act with a sidn-snllttlntr comedy acrobatic act. Miss Clara Wal i ters, premiere pianlste danseuse, pre sents a rare novelty act, the only lady in the land that can dance well, sing well and play the piano all at the same time. Elliott Beamer will sing a new picture baritone solo and the olograph will present one of the very latest reels of animated pictures direct from the factory to Pantages theatre. Today will be your last chance to see the present bill, which is headed by the Four Musical Hodges, presenting a. beautiful spectacular musical novelty. The Pantages theatre giveshree per formances daily. Doors open at ! p in. Matinee starts promptly at 8:30 p. m. Evening doors onen cromotlv at 7 o'clock. First performance starts at 7:80, second show jlartu at 9:05. Get the habit and come early and often. At the Grand. vaudeville of a superior type will be round on this week's program at the Grand and the popular home of light amusement will present an exceptionally strong array of talent Sullivan & Con sidine have booked another of those great shows which has made the Grand ramous. not the headline act "Th Flip Mr. Flop" will be offered. This is a clever farce, but the chief Interest will be in Its people. Those appearing in tha farce are Rube Welch, Kittle r rancis nnn kbia i-av Mi- w.ii.h ..o lormeriy a weu-xnown theatrical mana ger in remand and Is noted aa comedian. Kittle Francis ia finuul cumeuienno in ner own peculiar line. Miss CoVle waa tha arirl who In troll nr. and made popular illustrated songs in Portland. All theatre-goers will be pleased to welcome this trio hunk rtp an aosence or several years. All, Hunter and All will appear in an act which they style "Activity,'' because v . ia bu mil ot snap ana excitement They are not still an instant during their amearanca on tha atacr a Lucky Liar" is the name of the farce wnicn laouia cnevaiier and company win Eivaeiii. , mile, -mra ana . nAr nnftym hav. a singing and dancing specialty which is of high grade and sure to be found en tertaining. in tne way or instrumental musical acts there are few equals to mat or tne Tegarelly Brothers, who come to the Grand this week for the nrst time. Haxata is a Japanese root juggler. This is one kind of acrobatic in which the orientals excel. Sakata is from tha Royal theatre of Tokio. Fred G. Bauer win render a new illustrated ballad and there will be new pictures on the Urandlscope. Today will be the last nerforn-iannea of the current program, which has n number of star acts, such as Frederick V. Bowers, the American tenor: Tnm Moore, the champion "coon shouter," and J. K. Emmet, it is praising. . bill everyone is At Pantages. The highest priced acts in vaudeville are always to ba found at the Pantages. That ia the , cause, of the - tremendous patronage extended to this handsome new theatre. The acoustics are fraud. Patrons can hear, see and enjoy the per formance from any seat in the house. The booking agents who. represent the Pantages circuit in New Tork, London, Berlin and Paris are constantly on the looaout ror an tne nest novelties in the vaudeville line. - -T -, : And for the week commencing tomor- "Nell Gwynne" at th Star. "Fascinating" and clever are some of the adjectives the eiitlcs employ to de scribe the acting of Miss Georgia Harp er, who will appear in the role of Nell Gwynne at the Star theatre week com mencing matinee today and balance tst the week. She has been seen in a reper toire of different parts and interpreted all with sktll and fidelity that show her to be an artist of rure accomplishment. Joseph Detrlch will perform the part of King Charles II. With these trained impersonators In the chief roles, the play lovers of this city aro assured of an evening of unusual pleasure wnen the rollicking Nell makes her bow to Tha storv is one of the time of King Charles II, with Cupid peeping in on the scene and turning things his own way when tha ftitiiatiflna become strenuous. There is enough emotional episodes in it to keep the spectator stirred up while he is watching the unfolding of the love romance, that its interwoven with them. There is a vain of bright humor run ning through it all, in dialogue and situations that it wins the eye and ear of the funlovers. , The management of Miss Harper is making a feature of this play and one will see correct scenery and costumes fo reach and every act. Famous Contralto at Louvre. Angela May. the young musical com edy and comio opera contralto, wjh open a special engagement aij the Lou vre grill, Fourth ana Aider, Monaijr night next Miss May has sung steadily on the Pacific coast for two seasons, and she has been heard in opera, musical com. edy, concert and vaudeville. No singer has such a large following on the coast and socially as well as musical ly she is greatly admired. Besides her ;inging. Miss May finds time to com pose, and her income from ner own songs Is quite a big sum yearly. This engagement at the Louvre grill - will afford the lovers of song an oppor tunity to enjoy the rest, snd those thea tre goers who get a "bite" before going home can get double pleasure at the Louvre after the play. v . Webber's Novelty orchestra will rrve special orchestral numbers. Miss May will be heard from 10 to 12 nightly. w Allen Curtis Closes at the Oaks. Tha end of the long and successful summer engagement of the' Allen Cur tis Comedy company will close at the Oaks tonight with the presentation of the excellent musical eonwiy, "Jakey, Mikey and Ikey." Throughout the sum mer theAllen Curtis company has given the attendants upon the Oaks a new (Continued en Page Seven.) MARGARET TAYLOB'EJ SALOME DANCE J, s .' J . a, . Margaret Taylor It tb First Woman to Preaent the Famous "Salome - Dance" la Portland. Miss Taylor "Will Be Been With "Coming Thro the Rye" t the Heilig Next Sunday.
