The Evening Ledger Amusement Section, Saturday, December 18, 1915
EATON DESCRIBES AN OPERA HOUSE
COMEDY IN SECOND NEW YORK LETTER
YES, IT'S PART OF THE MAKING OF MOVIES
Leo Ditrichstein and the Hattons Satirize Operatic
Amours in "The Great Lover," a Play of
Sentiment, Satire and Charm
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THE Il.ittons, of Chicago, collaborating
with Leo Ditrichstein, have drama
tized the male opera star, who Is the Don
Gioanni of hi generation, both on and
off the stage. The original Don came to
his end at the hands
f the commander's
host; but this rein
carnation comes to
his end merely by
losing his oice, and
hi3 tragedy Is that
ic faces a long life
of recollections of
last performances.
rather than antici
pations of perform
inccs to come. We
reler, or course, to
I performances in the
ourt of love no less
than on the stage of
I opera. The play is
called 'The Great
I.over," and the leading part Is taken by
Mr. Ditrichstein himself. The produc
tion was an instantaneous hit and wilt
likely to be In New York for the rest of
the winter.
Three factors contribute to the chances
of success for a play with this theme.
First, the stars of the music world, espe
cially of opera, seem always to live a
life apart, and with them c uncon
sciously always associate the glarror of
great auditoriums alive with lights and
jewels, the throb of orchestras, the peal
of song. They are predestined characters
of romance. Second, the tragedy of the
middle-aged artist, the failing of oice,
the vanishing of charm, is a tragedy
which appeals peculiarly to the interest
and the compassion of laymen, especial
ly of the gentler sex. It is a tragedy for
any woman to find the wrinkles round
her eyes, and she knows how keen a
tragedy it must be for the beautiful
actress to realize some morning that she
is no longer beautiful, that her day is
over. Perhaps thero are more of ua
males than admit It who know the pangs
of sorrow at our failure any longer to
attract the female smile, and we can
understand the tragedy of Don Giovanni
we who in our secret hearts have al
ways en wed him.
Third, a play about the opera, with
the scene laid In New York, with the set
reproducing exactly the director's room In
the Metropolitan Opera House, with tho
leading character called Taurel (one let
ter changed would make It MaureL who
was the greatest impersonator of the
Don in his generation), and with much
of the acting duplicating what we have
read about the rows between singers and
the trials and tribulations of directors
with these temperamental children such
a play is sure to attract curiosity in New
York. It seems, somehow, peculiarly our
own. Ilomantic though It is, it answera
our need for a play about ourselves.
So "The Great Lover." granted a good
cast, a good director and a bit of skill
In the nntlng was about as sure fire as
anything can be in the theatre. It got
the good cast, it got one of our best stage
directors in San Forret, general stage di
rector for Cohan and Hams, and It is
written with skill and briskness. The re
sult Is a packed house at every perfor
mance. Tho first act is the liveliest, and Is
largely given over to a picture of the
troubles of the manager of the opera,
house. Singers to right of him, singers
to left of bim, conductors behind him and
In front of him volley and splutter. The
major portion of the drama occurs in
the second act, in Paurel's dressing room,
between acts of "Don Giovanni." Paurel
is In lovo with Ethel Warren, a young
American girl, a soprano in the company.
She, in turn, is really m lovo with Carlo
Sonino, a joung American-born baritone,
understudy to the great PaurcL But
Sonino is jealous of her, and in a fit of
pique she says she win marry PaureL
However, SablttinU Italian soprano, old
flame of Taurel, Is to be reckoned with.
In the excitement of the scene she causes,
Paiirol shouts ana storms and suddenly
his voire leaves him. At the end of the
act he stands sobbing by the door while
his youthful rival is heard out on the
stage, singing gloriously the music of the
world's most glorious opera.
In the last act Paurel learns that he
will never sing again. He also realizes
that Mis3 Warren does not really love
him, and he makes the one sacrifice he
has ever made In his pampered life and
gives her up. Then he Is left alone
with his old servant and his love letters
3) years of love letters, catalogued by
seasons. The old servant gets them out.
They are his version of Leporello's list!
Yet the telephone rings at the end, and
It Is a woman. He Is making a date
with her as the curtain falls. Thus
should Don Giovanni pass out game to
the finish.
Mr. Dltrichstcln's performance of
Paurel is supcTflclally a vivid characteri
zation touched with whimsical excen-
For books are as meats sad viand are;
some of food, some of tII ubttanee.
Milton, ArtopsctUca.
trlcity, full or childlike vanlt!e3. delicate
ly Latin In its suavity and Latin, too.
in its gust3 of temper. It 13 superilcially
so vivid. Indeed, that perhaps many peo
plo will not realize that it is lacking
in genuine romantic charm, and conse
quently lacking in what should be the
closins note of the play pathos. That
the pathos would be Ironic doe3 not alter
our statement. When we pause to think
how Manstleld would have played that
closing act. we can see Mr. Ditrichstein's
limitations. We may well pause, too. to
reflect hew Mansfield would have looked
in his costume of the Don dressed prob
ably more as Itenaud dressed him than
in the conventional doublet and hose
Mansfield with a magnificent romantic
swagger, with a stvle free from all taint
of the finicky, with gestures that were
not cramped, but seemed to sweep with
the sweep of the orchestral rhythm It
13 a limitation of Mr. Ditrichstein that
he cannot be truly romantic nor pathetic,
and that he cannot quite measure up to
tho grand style of an operatic hero.
Since his performance, which is. indeed,
a notable one. Is now being hailed a3 a
supremely great one. It Is wise to make
these reservations in the interest of
truth. It is not a great performance
any more than the play is a great play.
It Is the kind of a performance our stage
ought to be able to show half a dozen
times a season but. alas. In recent years
doesn't fui-nish more than la every two
or three seasons.
In such a play as this, where so many
of the characters must look foreign and
splutter in German. French and Italian,
naturally the cast has been chosen for
their fitness thus to splutter. Where all
the Italians came from we do not know,
but they seem to be quite as good actors
as anybody could wish for. Miss Beverley
Sitcreaves, one of the best players our
native stage boasts, takes the part of
the Italian prima donna, however, and
gives a vivid and delightfully tempera-
LOUIS MANN ON
THE ART OF ACTING
Aetlnx drpradt opoa the player kdm
of time La rminisr points.
Some acting la static -celling effects
bj silence and radiation.
Some acting Is dynamic eren uslnc
Toclferoiu attaeJc
A great character aetor can be both
tatlc and dynamic la m slnsle Instance,
passing from the one to the other, even
as he pa-we from humor to pathos.
To mingle untie and tear that 1 the
supreme achlcTement.
Strange as it may seem, there is a factory-end to Lubin's. It i3
where the Philadelphia company makes its own cameras.
mental and vindictive performance. She
could not be more In the picture if her
name were leally SabittlnL
The play Is prefaced, by the immortal
overture to "Don Giovanni." to which
nobody pays the slightest attention.
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MOM
BEGINNING
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"THE LAND OF THE FREE
9
By Edward Locke. Author or "The CllmaT." "The Cass of Becky" and "The Bobble."
EVERY TRUE AMERICAN, WHEREVER BORN. SHOULD SEE IT
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