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'■ The Week's Bills I I
\ ; AtTDITORH'M ! I !
> i "Babeit In the. Wood." '
i BKI^SCO
; "The Dollar Mark." '
MASON
'~ A' - "The Right of Way."
k MAJESTIC
wj , "The Gingerbread Man." -v
SDURBANK \ J
VI • • "Peter Pan." v
ORPHEUM (\Jj
' i * *;•';?,. Vaudeville. |
[ GRAND OPERA HOUSE
"Olivette."
LOS ANGELES
Vaudeville.
FISCHER'S
."Are You a Tourist?"
,f,-'i: -*:" EMPIRE
Vaudeville.
'•■ ITNIQITE
'• ( < "College Hays .*'
mm .walker 4
Vaudeville.
The Week's Bills
II "« .'»
"Babes in the. Wood."
BKI.ASCO
"The Dollar Mark."
-MASON
■ "The Right of Way."
MAJESTIC
"The Gingerbread Man."
BURBANK.
"Peter Pan."
ORPHEUM
Vaudeville.
GRAND OPERA HOOK
"Olivette."
I.OS ANGELES
Vaudeville.
FISCHER'S
."Are You a Tourist?"
-\ EMPIRE
Vaudeville.
UNIQUE
"College I>av§."
WALKER
Vaudeville.
In the Spotlight
GEORGE BROADHURST, author of
"The Dollar Mark," to be given Its
first performance at the Belascu
theater tomorrow night, has a simple
formula for the production of a play.
The first ingredient is about twelve
years of work and study. Then you
take a long chance on getting your play
produced, and another long chance on
finding a cast which can play it. Mr.
Broadhurst modestly refrained from
mentioning one of the most important
ingredients of his own plays—brains.
When you talk to him, you are con
scious of this factor first of all—keen,
alert penetrating mentality. Given
these stock ingredients—capacity for
work, brains and success in the ele
ment of chance—Mr. Broadhurst makes
It clear that almost any simple, unas
suming person can turn out a play.
"The Man of the Hour" is probably
Mr. Broadhurst's most successful play,
although "Wildfire," in which Miss Lil
lian Russell is now starring, bids fair
to equal it in the record of business.
"The Man of the Hour" is a play of
modern business life, and like this
dramatist's other plays, is character
ized by a photographic representation
of real, living characters. "The Dollar
Mark" is regarded by Mr. Broadhurst
as even stronger than "The Man of the
Hour."
"I have followed in it," he said, "the
few infallible laws of technique which
I have learned in my experience In
writing more than twenty plays, but
whether the characters will really live
can only be determined when the play
is put on the stage. I think It is built
strictly according to modern stand- 1
ards, Inasmuch as the solution of the]
difficult problems is not left to be ac«
complished entirely in the closing cli
max I believe there are natural divis
ion lines in a piece which are as apt to
be found in the first act as the last,;
and I do not think it necessary to closo
a scene with virtue in the ascendant,
although it deems to he a violation of
the popular Idea to allow the villain
even the temporary triumph of closing
the scene with his purpose! accom
plished.
"However. I do not regard the tech
nique as all-Important it the making »f
a play. It is perhaps a bromldlom to
say that the first necessity is to havl
an idea that is worth while, but the
more experience you have as a play
wright the more you are convinced of
this—that the idea is the big thing. The 1
playgolng public is far more Intelligent
than many tyroesque reviewers are In
clined to give it ere.iit for, and it is
becoming yearly mure difficult for dra
matists to succeed with the banalities
which cluttered tlv American stage un
til the new crop of Stimulating and
thought producing plays appeared,
"What do I regard as the greatest
pleasure in producing- a play? Well,
of course if it is the first piny and ym
have peddled it diligently for a long
while, the mere satisfaction of having
It produced is considerable, and the
pleasure of drawing down the royalties
Is more than considerable. But the
keenest pleasure I have , vcr . gperi
enced in seeing one of my plays pro
duced is to sec an actor get more <>ut
of a part, than I put into it. This has
happened in four of my pieces. Tom
Wl»( did this in 'The Last Chapter,"
Macklin Arbuckle in 'Vhy Smith Left
Home,' and Mrs. Yeamans in the lame
play. All of these actors not only
sounded the depths of the characters
(Upper than I had done it myself, bui
gave them unexpected sidelights that
actually seemed to add something to
my own personality. I do not know
whether this is the rule with play
wrights, hut with me it is the thing
] watch for with the keenest anticipa
tion when I watch the first perform
ances of one of my plays."
Mr. Broadhurst is English, having
been born and reared in Staffordshire.
His parents hoped that he would enter
the ministry, and in deference 10 their
wishes he entered the archbishop's con
test for theological students, winning
the prize in knowledge of the prayer
book and church doctrine. After this
Mr Broadhurst concluded that busi
ness offered a mure attractive field for
his abilities and went to America,
where he engaged in various commer
cial enterprises, including a whirl nt
the brokerage game in Chicago. Later
he became engaged in the theatrical
business and was managing the Ly
ceum theater in Minneapolis for Pat |
Harris wl.en he wrote his first play,
"The Spectator."
Although Mr. Broadhurst is 42 years
old, he appears to he not more than 28, i
"I have a. secret of keeping young," :
he said, "in just two rules of life —I i
always get plenty of sleep and I never
worry. Nothing could possibly be of j
sufficient importance to keep me from !
my sleep, and as to worry, well, I tried :
it years ago and saw it was no use, ■
so I don't—that's all." This eharae- |
tertstically Rritish observation is typi- j
cal of Mr. Broadhurst, temperamental- ;
ly and artistically. His mind is an- j
alytical and works with the precision
and accuracy of a perfect automaton,
but there is nothing mechanical about :
GIRLS IN "BABES IN THE WOOD,"
Auditorium
THEODORE ROBERTS AND EVELYN WALLS IN "THE RIGHT OF WAY," AT THE MASON
I his wit. He is fame.] in his profession
as a raconteur, as always in high fa
vor in the brilliant gatherings at the
Lambs' club.
Mr. Broadhurst is an efficient stage
director ami is personally supervising
the production of his play at the Be
lasco.
• • •
WANTED The perfect American
woman. Will pay $1000 reward and a
salary of $100 a w.-ek, with traveling
expenses, if the In a Venus. Paul ■■•■'
domß, Orplieum theater.
"1 am on the <iuest of the perfect
American woman."
So said Paul Seldom* yesterday. He
had just finished his series of "living
marble" representations at the Orpheum
theater, and hi.- face and body were BO
plastered with white that ha looked like
a statue himself, Hut he was in
earnest, and bis arguments seem good.
"I have heard abroad much of the
beauty of American women; now let
me see it with my own ryes. I need
another model, a feminine model, and X
LOS ANOELES HERALD: SINO AY MORNING. MARCH 7, l!)0!>.
would like to secure her in America.
But so far I have failed to tlnd a
woman who will answer my. purposes.
"With her clothes on the American
woman Is a dream, but . without—
la, la!" "X". :■ <■
And the expressive gesture told
volumes.
"Your artists have Idealized your
girls; made a race of woman who on
paper or,canvas are fearful and won
derful. In real lire your girls have
Imitated these drawings, and the result
is an unnatural figure and an expres
sion of hauteur that is Impossible.! The
outcome has been that the true fem
inine beauty of face, form and propor- ,
tions is extinct among; you. Really
perfect women must come from the I
other side. ■ .- . : : ■ .
"Your woman, in the first place, Is 100
tall and slender. She has grown thai
way, or his made herself "so .through
much imitation of these drawings. She
pinches her feet until they lose their
true lines of beauty and real propor
tion. She compresses her waist, and
she piles her hair up with such arti
ficial aids as 'rats' and frames it makes
her head entirely too large. With the
present rule of no hips she resembles i;
tree box or a long roll of carpet with a
slight string* about the middle. How 1
DE WITT C. JENNINGS,
At the Belasco
would she look, do you think, posing as
Venus? Never!
"My present Venus, Miss Krna Claret),
is a Russian uf the highest type, who
secured long training as an artists
model. Her figure- is on the same exact
lines of measurement as Is that of the
Venus of Milo. The result is that she
nin pose for antique statuary to per
fection, Hut it is I lying 01) her to do
this twice a day, and ever since Mr.
Beck brought me over I have been try
ing to find another who can relieve her
from time to time. But so far the
quest lias been hopeless in America.
•i have heard much of your .Southern
California beauties; now I have deter
mined to try again to find my model.
I will Kindly give the girl that suits
me $1000 bonus and $100 a week. That
ought to be fair, yes? In this land of
sunshine, so like the best of Italy, there
ought to be some who possess the
requisite facial and anatomical beauty
to lit my needs. Eh? Unless your
artist! have ruined them all by setting
sue h false models for them to Imitate.
"Your artists? Why diicuii them.
Gibson started it; his women arc all
too tall and skinny, and long necked,
Hutt, Pelrce, Cecil Clay—ail the rest,
pouf! They know not the beauty of
feminine form at all. They should
study anatomy before they draw pic
tures. The American artist la—Mow
you say? to laugh!"
M, Selr.oms Is really in earnest In his
quest. He will, it" applicants offer them
selves, si I B time before he leaves heir,
for consideration of their claims.
• • •
. All who saw "Peaches" last year will
he delighted to welcome Dick Crolius
back again at the Orpheum. Crpltus
comes this week In ?i new skit of his
own manufacture, called "Shorty," and;
declared, to he n bit of race track real
life. It will be a slang Clmslc, of
course.
. . .
Helen Grantley. who will play the \
leading part In Zangwill's "The Never. I
Never !>-.ind," at the Orpheum this
week, was personally selected by the ■
distinguished writer for the role. And !
she embodies .ivist the personality that
he desired to portray.
"I 1""'1 gone to 'Wnshinuton to see
the premier of 'The Melting Pot.' Mr.
Zancwill's new play." says Miss Grant-
At the
Theaters
ley. "when he met me. He Immediately
asked me to give up my usual line of
work and take this character. I found
It fitted me, and I consented.
• "Mr. Zangwill unquestionably sets
folk thinking with this play of his. As
to the problem that he offers, It must
be left to every one to decide for him
self. Hut that it Is a strong'dramatic
episode, and thai much is condensed
Into Its one act, all must admit."
Miss Grantloy Is a southern girl, and
went on the stage immediately after
leaving school, her parents being dead.
She has hud much success i nthe east
and south, but Is little known In the
west, this being her first trip to the
coast.
• * •
Widespread Interest should attend the
experiment in consorship which Is to be
tried in Plalnfleld, N. J. The town, or
the reform element of the population,
believes in making a thorough Job ot
censoring while It Is about It. No half
way measures for Plalnfleld. Primarily,
the mayor starts In by appointing cen-
sars for the theaters, but he realizes
that several things bo«ides the stage
need a paternal, oversight/ and in his
vi.us he has the support of the Min
isters' association and the local Moth
ers'club. ■•";>. i .." :..'■';
' So the business is to be undertaken In
a I systematic I way. and various P sub
committees Will not only look after, the
legitimate drama rs it materialises In
Plainfleld, as well as , the billboards,
vaudeville, moving; picture palaces and
"amateur night" performances, but will
also keep a sharp eye—rather an organ
ized collection of sharp eyos—on bridge
whist parties and "stag rackets.','--- >,■
'• . ... ■• •■•-■■.;' '■■■ '« ' '
i Some day 1 Frank Byron, _ tin- sissy
; dude detecth-e at the OrpneUJTl, Is going
ito put on a new sketch. He has it all
written, but so far has been unable to
use it. " ' .'■ '" ". ■ : ■■'-"■
"The dear public keep on wanting
1 this one," said he, plaintively/- last,
■ week, "and what's to do about it?,, .1
just keep on giving them the old one,
: and the other one is in pickle mean
! while." ' -.-'-
Byron picked up the idea for the
"Dude Detective" In Washington. ■ He
was chatting on a street corner with a
friend one day when a "panhandler"
appeared. The hobo was a fine sped-
CHRISTINE NIELSON, AT THE GRAND
HELEN GRANTLEY, AT THE ORPHEUM
men of manhood, tall find sinewy, and
looked like ho would make the earth,
rumble when he talked. But upon ap
proaching; the couple the hobo let out
a highly effeminate squeak, so funny In
contrast to his bulk that he got all he
asked.
"But there's your idea fora vaudeville
stunt," said Byron's friend.
And it so proved; also a hit of first t
magnitude.
Richard Carle and "Mary's I,amb"
will be at the Mason opera house next
week. In this lively musical gambol
Mr. Carle is said to be at Ills best. The
play enjoyed a run of three months in
New York during the summer and wag
presented for two engagements in Chi
cago. Mr. carle, who has the leading
role of a henpecked husband, has the
support of a capable company.
• * *
Since time began men have made sac
rifices (or art. They have starved and
they have murdered, they have slaved
and they have died, but for perhaps the
first time In the history of the world a
man has grown a beard for urt. This
man Is Theodore Roberts, the well
known character actor, and the beard
was grown that tie. might more realist
ically portray the character of Joe
Portugal!, the'French-Canadian "hab
itant" In the dramatic version of Sir
Gilbert Parker's "The Right of Way."
which .will begin a week's run at the
Mason opera house tomorrow night. ■
"All last season," says Mr. Roberts,
j "I tried to secure a satisfactory beard
! for the part. I trk>d all Rorts of pat
ent hiilr recommended by dealers In
theatrical make-up, but never did I find
a beard that was satisfactory. In the
first place, It did not look as I wanted
It to look, and in the second place gum
ming hair onto one's face Interferes
with the a.tidn of the facial muscles:
and In si great emotional character such
ap Joe Portugals It is necessary that
! the facial muscles should be left free.
! The beard Is one of the characteristics
of the 'habitant,' and without It Joe
would be ridiculous. So In spite of the
protests of my family and my friend?
I determined io grow the beard. I am
rot as young as I once was, and the
beard U you see has a tinge of gray in
U. but that makes it. nil the better fo*
the part, and I now have exactly the
beard that Joe would have worn had he
.existed. Of course X am a subject of
jests from all my friends, but art is art
and this is a small sacrifice to make.
And th«n I believe I am the first man
to grow a beard for art's sake."
• « •
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28.—Special lo
I th.- Stiir. John H. Blackwood, well
known in Washington literary and dra
matic circles, attended the evening ser
vices at the First Methodist church
hen- tonight. A rumor of Mr. Black
wood's intended action spread through
the city during the afternoon, and the
Mg church was crowded to overflowing.
With Mr. Blackwood was George
Broadhurst, the famous playwright,
whose new play, "The Dollar Mark,"
will be given its first production at the
Belasco theater in this city next week.
The two men entered the church bold
ly, although both were visibly nervous.
They seemed much interested in Rev.
Charles Edward Locke's remarks about
theatrical managers and playwrights.
"No, it was not my idea," said Mr.
Blaekwood ; modestly, when compli
mented later on • his originality. 'Mr.
Broadhurst. asked me to accompany
him, having received a personal Invi
tation to attend the service from Dr.
Locke."—Washington Star, March 1,
• • *
■ When George Baudrand, one of the
accomplished paste board shufflers In :
the Burbank box office, opened the low
er right-hand drawer of his desk yes
terday morning he found Angelina, the
black Tlberlan cat. In the drawer with;
eight new black kittens. Just how An
gelina had gotten Into the locked draw
er so occupied Mr. Baudrand'a atten
tion as to keep a line of "Peter Pan"
patrons waiting at the window until he
had evolved a theory. The only cx v
planation seems to be that the enter
prising cat had slipped Into the drawer
when It' was open : the night before.
Whether the eight new mascots augur
that Mr. Morosco will launch eight new
theatrical enterprises 'Is a subject for
further speculation. If the rest of the
Burbank cats are as Industrious as An
gelina, black kittens will be given put
as matinee souvenirs. ■ •
• • »
The Grand ' opera house company '•
should be greatly strengthened this
week by the addition of a. new tenor,
Edgar Walsh, to the cast. A tenor Is
badly needed and Mr. Walsh should be
able to qualify. He has been successful
In the east, having been a member of
the International opera company of
Chicago.
•• • •
David M. Hart Hartford of the Be- l
lasro theater company Is an actor as
well as a stage director and a producer. ]
Mr. Hartford has had wide experience
on the stage, and will appear in "The
Dollar Mark" In the important heavy
role of Carson Baylls. In sketching the
character Mr. Broadhurst had H. H.
Rogers In mind, and It is said to be an'
extremely faithful representation.
■•■-i •* • • • •. ' ' • ■,:■ ;'
The Burbank School. of Dramatic
Arts gave successful performances of *
two farces, -Naval Engagements" and
"Our Boys," at the Burbank theater
Wednesday afternoon. Both were ex-1
ceedingly well done, the work of Nor- ;
man Heap as Perkyn Middlewlck, ■an
English character part, being edpeclal
ly good. . '. i
It Is not generally known that How
ard Scott of the Belasco company pre
pared for the ministry, but if you are in '
his confidence Mr. Scott will admit that
ho was once a theolog at Ann Arbor.
Possibly some of his ministerial traits
still remain, as in "The Dollar Mark"
he Is cast for a representation of John*
D. Rockefeller, Jr., a role requiring
considerable unctuous piety. < However.
Mr. Scott's friends contend that his
fitness for the part is due to the fact'
that he Is an excellent character actor
—which he Is—and not the result of any
reversion to a ministerial type. :- ■'
» a •
The stage hands at the Burbank have
the big "Peter Pan" show running as
smoothly as a merry-go-round. The
time of the production has been consid
erably shortened and there Is a notice
able improvement at each succeeding
performance. Mr. ■ Morosco wears. a
beatific smile, there is a pleasant clink
in the box office and the Burbank press
department is dozing peacefully with
its feet up' on the desk. With a. show
like "Peter Pan" a press agent is super
fluous. ' ■ -..' .■' . ' ,
• • • , , -■
There are several excellent feeders to
the theatrical profession In Los An
geles, one of the best of them being the
Cumnock School of Oratory. Bernard
Shaw's play,' "You Never, Can Tell,"
was given an excellent production
Wednesday afternoon by the senior ex
pression class of the school at Cumnock I
hall. ' "Twelfth Night" was given Fri
day night by the Junior class. The cast
was as follows:
Arslno, Hazel Bly; Sebastian, Belle
Waldo: Antonio, Amy Voppe; Valen
tine, Emma Skinner; Curio, Yetiva
Smith; Sir Toby Belch, Louise Draper;
Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Mary Lemmon;
Malvollo, Cora Glass; Fabian, Hazel La
Croix; Feste, Minerva Bussenlus; Oliva, .
Mabel Burtner; Viola, Ruby Plnkham;
Maria, Caroline Abrams; lords and of
ficers, Lucy Stoddard, Portia Poplin,
Emma Skinner, Florence Herndon. ■
CURRENT BILLS AT
LOCAL PLAYHOUSES
MASON—In making a play from a
popular novel, the effectiveness of the
result depends very largely upon abil
ity In relation, condensation and elim
ination.
The result Is pretty certain to be dis
appointing to somebody or other. One
man will read a book for Its story, an
other for Its characterization, a third
for its conversation, and a fourth for
Its descriptive quality.
Eugene Presbrey has succeeded in
offering a brilliant dramatization of
the widely read and much discussed
novel, "The Right of Way," by Sir
Gilbert Parker, which plays the Mason
opera house all next week, with Guy
Standing and Theodore Roberts in their
famous Impersonations of Charley
Steele and Joe Portugais.
The play is especially interesting ow
ing to the fact that It contains pleaty
of physical action, ay well as a deep
psychological studjl Many persons,
no doubt, find their chief pleasure In
contemplating the operations of mental
and moral forces on the character ot
"Beauty" Steele. These are element*
which do no', easily lend themselves to
the ordinary methods of theatrical
elucidation, but the subsequent regen
eration of the chief character and his
ultimate return to a consciousness of
what has transpired in his life, and
the heroic self-sacrifice he waives In
order to divert unhaplpness from oth
ers, are fine moments of genuine im
pressiveness.
• • •
EMPIRE—Walter, J. Fulkerson. the ■
new manager of .the Empire theater,
has affiliated the house with the! Pan
tages Western States Vaudeville cir- ,
cult, and is now playing, the I circuit,
exclusively. Beginning Monday, March
8, he will present, vaudeville features,
including Miss Fay.Carranza,, operatic
vocalist; Renfrew and Jansen will pre- ,
sent for the first time on the coast their
own comedy conception, entitled "The
Second Mr. . Fiddle." These . comedians
have been special features on the east
ern circuits and should be a drawing
card. The. new s stock _ company will
present* a>' one-act „• farce . by ■■■ Will . M.
Hall, called "Solomon's a Finish," In
which Al Franks will ; have the . title ;
role.
