New-York tribune. [volume], January 04, 1920, Image 35

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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PART III EIGHT PAGES
SUNDAY, JANUARY *. 132ft
PART ni EIGHT PAGES
Behind t\
With PhL
>ey TRANGE as it may seem, that'
c99k eminent emotress, Jane Cowl,
S3f has no ambition to play
Shakespeare. And more's the
-p.lty. Imagine the beautiful
portraycr of the human seven, arrayed
in t rebe of cTimson velvet, such as
Maxine Elliott wore in "The Merchant
of Venice," delivering Portia's immor
tal lines, "The quality of mercy is not
strained," "You see me, Lord Bas
sanio, where I stand, such as I am,"
"God made him, therefore let him pass
as a man," the poor Ophelia'a dis
tressed There's rosemary; that's for
remembrance," the irate Katherine's
"The more my wrong, the more his
spite appears: what did he marry me.
to famish me!" or the lovelorn Juliet's
"0, Bomeo, Romeo! Wherefore art
thou Romeo?"
Bnt no, unless she changes her mind
(the irrevocable privilege of her sex,
even though emancipated) she will
not essay the bard of Avon's deafhless
heremes. Miss Cowl's aim in her
eereer is to be the very best actress
she can while she ia young and then
to settle down to writing plays, in
?whieh parsuit she has had some ex
perience and some success, for she
tamks it a tragedy for a woman to try
to play leads when she has passed the
?ge for them.
In a broad black hat the herolne of
"Smilin' Through," at the Broadhurst,
served tea in her artistic apartment,
efter dismissing the third member of
the p&rty, a tiny and too-inquisitive
matnre spaniel.
"My earliest recollection of you, Miss
Cowl," started the middle aged ln
lahfw, but be was interrupted.
"Now, in the name of all that's
?wifal,? pleaded Miss Cowl, with a
eharaing mo?k pathos, "don't say,
"when I was a mere boy.'"
"Tou were doing 'shouts off at the
?ehweo Theater. I remember you
*<w?ld sit for awhile with Mr. Klauber
.Adolph Klauber, then dramatic critie
frr "The Times" and now a producer,
? Miss Cowl's husband], then dash out
fw a few moments, when some excel
l?t pisao playing would be heard from
*? wiags; then you would returo and
**teb the play a bit more. dash off,
??hi and a little later a mellow Tolee j
?a?ld be heard caliing from off-stage. j
^? you would return and sit through :
?* the end. So, after some groping
**?*t for the eause of your strange
"?*o*ior, I eame to the conclusion that
y? mu?t. be 'shouts off.'"
"I *as," sbe sdmltted. "It was mr
?*??., Then, long before I was ready
^ Play leads, I did one in Leo Dit-i
rwb*t*in's adaptation of 'Matrimony* j
j?? the German. I pUyed opposlto j
"*?k Worthing in an unamiable, ua- j
*J*patbetic part. There ian't much)
? s Wai-atf wife part in comedy. I
*?? J?*t feediag Mr. Worthing all
"Wogh the play.
****** Charles Kleln, Arch Sehryn
?**, Aaguotos Thomaa borrowed me
jjjilltr. Belasce to play in Mr. Kletn's
Jm OamMera.' I hate been with the
s#i*7a? erar siace."
*TT?w haT? the reputation of b?i?g
*?? ttltra-emottonal sctre**. Do you
??? emotional parts best?"
? ??7 are utmatural. I prefer them
^?ajrtWag else if they are real* |
*M*ca eomment haa hoea csaoed by *
?? ?*??** <* ywr fr^, in ,3mU. :
^Through/ Are you of Wsh de-1
"*?! ?tr*lgbt Amerlean m both \
jJJ" W gawerations baefc; tb?n, Kng
"**? I bar? no Jrish blood."*
)fi W* min *WtthJ? th* LawT
le Scenes
lip Mindil
"Yes; it made me a star."
"Then you did 'Common Clay'?w
"Yes, and then Jane Murfin and I
wrote 'Lilac Time' and I played in it.
I love to write and, am finiahing an?
other play now. Last season I did
'Information, Please," which Mra. Mur?
fin and I wrote together, and finished
out the season with Edgar Selwyn'a
and Channing Pollock's 'The Crowded
Hour.'"
"How dd you comexto take to the
stage?"
"Oh, I never had thoueht of anything*
else. I am not of a theatrieal famlly,
but my mother believed the theater was
a part of every child'a education. She
thought time spent in reading and see
ing plays was time well spent. I ?ang
in oratorio and in concert in Boston,
where I was born, and went to the
theater on an average of twice a week
after I was old enough to understand
what the plays were about.
"Then, when it became necessary for
me to support my mother, X went to
Mr. Belaseo and was put on as an 'ex?
tra.' Mr. Belaseo saw how interested I
was at rehearsals, and he dubbed me
'The Girl Who Listens With Her Eyei.'
"I adore Mr. Belaseo. He is the
sweetest, kindest, greatest man ln the
theater, and I leamed enough while I
was with him to last a lifetima, if I
have sense enough to apply lt. I still
go to him for advice on every part I
contemplate playinsr, and I take his ad?
vice. Any ona can act under hia guid
ance.
"Just aa an example of his kindness,
when I waa playing *bits' for him, my
part required a little gown, and, search
as I would. I could flnd nothing that
would do under $75. I was very poor,
and $75 looked aa big to me as
million. I let it go until the very last
minute, and then tried to get an ad?
vance on my salary to buy the gown.
I was turned down by the business of?
fice.
"Heartbroken, not knowtng what I
should do, I returned to a dark cor
ner of the stage and gave myself up
to tears. Tha flrst thing I knew I felt
a gantle hand on my shoulder and,
looking up, saw Mr. Belaseo looking
down at me with a very compassionate
face.
'"What1. the trouble, little girl?' he
said ever so gently.
"'N-n-n-nothing,' I sobbed, 'nothing
at alll'
*"Oh, yes, there la/ he said, 'come
tell lt to me. I can help you,'
"I told him and he took me down to
the boxoffiee and drew $150 on hia
own aecount and gave lt to me.
" 'Tako the other $76,? he said, /and
get some other thing* you must need/
I ceotd not even say 'Thank you.' The
money was taken out of my salary $5
at a time, but at Christmas lt was all
returned to me ln a lump sum."
Tho secret is out. "The Mysterlous
Unknown" in "Angel Faee" at the
Knkkerbocker isn't mysterlous at al],
nor is she unknown, nor does she
want to be, either. She is a plump
little girl from Llma, Ohio, and her
name is Msrgoerite Zendcr. '
Her father being in the music busi?
ness in Lima, she early turned to sing
I ing and played tha leads in the GHbert
I and Sullivan lfght operas in the Ltms
| amateur drsmstie soeiety, dirocting the
| music as well. They did two a season.
| Then she want to the Obsrlin Conser
j vatory of Musie,
Finaliy MarfuerlU, st the solieito
| tion of Governor Cox and Major Gen?
eral Glynn, who had seen her play
' Mabei iu "Xhe tfiraU* ui F?B*?neV
went into war work to raise funds for
the state activities.
She went to Washington and to
Atlantie City on this work and then
came to New York, a city she held in
fearsome awe.
"But to my surprise," cooed the in
genuous "Unknown," "I found New
York just like Lima. They're as like
as two peas."
Doubtless, if she looked far enoughv
Miss Zender would flnd many a New
Yorker to differ with her on this point.
At any rate, she was encouraged to
study singing with Herbert Wither
spoon, and the prima donna role of
George Lederer's musical piece by
Victor Herbert llterally fell into her
hands.
Marguerlte plays a sub-deb of seven
teen in "Angel Face" and looks the
part on the stage and off, though she
proudly boasts that she is "really
twenty."
"Do you believe ia marriage?" was
asked.
"Oh, dear, yes!" She grew very
serious. "I thlnk marriage is the only
thing in the world."
No doubt a stripling marine aviation
lieutenant, who had been introduced
only to be shooed away with the door
closed behind him, would have been
pleased to hear that.
"The girls who have made the great
est success on the stage," she went on
ecstatically, "have all been married and
had families, too. They need it to get
bigger and broader in every way."
"And you, are you married ?"
"Oh nol" A fetching blush adorned
the piquant face. "That ia, not yet!
My 'dearly beloved' would like to
be, but I feel that I ought to
get established in my stage work first."
"Who is the fortunate 'dearly be?
loved'?" was the natural question.
"Well, you know, I couldn't tell you
his name, for we*re not really even en
gaged yet, though he insists we are.
But he's a lieutenant ln the aviation
department of the Marine Corps, and
is back from the war and about to re
sume his law practice in?oh, I mustn't
tell you the city, but it's in Michigan."
On the way out the banished swain,
asked what his home town was, said
it was Detroit.
"Are you aimlng at grand opera?"
we then asked Misa Zender.
"No. I prefer straight comedy.
I've got a nice little voice, I*re been
told, but I have no false illoaions
about myself, although my 'dearly be?
loved' has great fsith in my singing
and in. everything I do."
As for an avocation, Miss Zender
said she had none. She found herself
so ;nusy with a number of literary
clubs and writing home to her friends
and "felks" in Lima and dolng her
own darning and tnending that she
really didn't have time for anything
else except her work.
But if she ever gtv?? ?P th* 8t*?e
shell be a nswspaper woman. v That's
such fun! Or, at laast Miss Zendei*
tklakaSt!* , rf
Cli^y&rcri *
<&
___*_ J?zzx~p?& J\2a*s2zj
ZXJO
Theatrical Openings of the Week
MONDAY?At the Booth Theater Lee Shubert will present Leo Ditriehs^ein
in 'Tho Purple Mask," by Matheson Lang, adapted from the Freneh
"Le Chevalier au Masque, by Paul Armont and Jean Manoussi. The
company includes Brandon Tynan and Lily Cahili.
At the Lyric F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest will present "Tke
Llght of the World." The first perforrnance will be a private invitation
presentation for clergymen and city and state officials. The first pub?
lic presentation will bs on Tuesday. The drama was written by Pierr*
Saisson, a Frenchmao. and was produced in Paris shortly before the
war. The east includes Pedro de Cordoba, Ralph Kellerd, Fuller
Mellish, Wright Kramer, Leslie Palmer, Arnold Lucy, Ernest Elton,
Burko Clarke, Wallis Clark, Percy Haswell and Clara Joel.
At the Central Arthur Hammerstein will present a new musical
play, "Always You." Book and lyrlcs are by Oscar Hammerstein 2d
and music by Herbert P. Stothart. In the company are Ralph Herz,
Walter Scanlon, Anna Seymoar and Julia Kelety.
At the Cohan & Harris Cohan & Harris will present "The
Acquittal," by Rita Welman. The players include Chrystal Herne, Bar?
bara Miiton, Ann Mason, William Harrigan, Edward H. Robins, William,
Walcott, Morgan Wallace. Franklin Hall, John Rowan and Harold Gwynn.
TUESDAY?At the Forty-fourth Street G. M. Anderson will present
"Frivolities of 1920." In the caat are Henry Lewis, Nellie and Sara *
Kouns, the Barr Twins, William Gallagher, Frank Davis, Delle Darneli,
Joseph Rolley, Merle flartwell, Thomas Nip, Charles O'Brien, Thelma
Carlton, Flotcher Norton, Zelda Santley, Irene Delroy, the Seven Musical
Noflses, Colin Chase and Marie Stafford.
WEDNESDAY~At Maxine Elllott's A. H. Wooda will present a farce comedy,
"Ready to Occupy/' a draraatization by Otto Harbach from a story by
Edgsr Franklin. Ernest Truex will _ploy _the principalrolo. Otheri in
the csst i "" "'"' ."
Leo Donn
Roshanara Recltal
Roshantra will present a program
of charscteristic dances of India,
Burma end Ceylon at the Greenwich
Village Theatre at 9 o'clock this eve?
ning, assisted by her pupils and a spe
rchestral accompaniment, con
cial
ducted by Oscar Lifshey. Among the
numbers are: "A Burmese Boat
Dance," "In the King's Garden," a clas
sic Hindu dance of Spring; "Moon
Flower," a faitasy by Roshanara,
founded upon oie of the quaint leg
ends of India; "A Ceylon Harvest
Dance," and "At ihe Well," which will
be presented for "-.he first,time at this
recital.
w wtuutij, ? uii>iunii_iiuii ujr utw h??>"?vm iivui ? siuiy uy ?
Franklin. Ernest Truex will play the principal role. Or.hen in J
st are Eileen Wllson, Nancy Fair, Edward Douglas, Muriel Hope, t
onnelly, Alice Belmore Cliffe and Dallas Wclford. i
At the Neighborhood To-Night
To-nlght thft Neighborhood Players
will give the eighth* perforrnance of
"Mary Broome/ a modern comedy, by
Allan Monkhouie. This afternoon the
Junior Featival Dancers will be seen
in "The Enchanted Garden," a panto
mime, with fiuajc by RavaL
V
1920 Sha
By Ishl
>d^a LD Bill Shakespeare is on the
fi "^3 carpet once more. For the
^ir last three hundred years he
has alternated between the
| carpet and the pedestal. It had seemed
J within the last few years that he had
j found a resting place midway, for in
{ the Btir and turmoil of war people had
somehow ceased to care whether
Shakespeare was Bacon or himself.
But now the Jews and the Scotch
have taken some ancient bones out of
the cupboard and are rattling them
loudly. The Newark Board of Educa?
tion has decided that "The Merchant of
Venice" is improper fare for the youth
ful mind because of that inte*esting
old villain Shylock. And the League of
Scottish Veterans of the Great War,
not to be outdone in sticking up for
the race, has adopted a resolution de
manding that, "to remove anti-Scottish
sentiment 'Macbeth' be barred from
the school course in Newark and else
where in the United States of Amer?
ica."
Said the veterans, with a serious air:
"The glorious clan of the Macbeth and
the whole Scottiah race have been vili
fied by Shakespeare's misrepresenta
tion in presenting King Macbeth as a
traitor and a murderer. We consider
that if the JeWish gabardine is to be
cleansed by the American boards of ed?
ucation, the stain should likewise by
removed from the Scottish kilt"
Professor John W. Cunliffe, associate
director of the School of Journalism at
Columbia University, looked quizzically
i at this statemeni, clipped from a news
paper, and smiled a knowing smile.
"The Scotch are renowned for their
dry sense of humor, aren't they?" he
asked. The conelusion was obvious.
"But we really must look into this
Macbeth business."
He delved into the encyclopedia and
came out with a still broader smile.
"I find that the historical Macbeth
was a good king, who represented the
Highiands as against the Lowlands. He
was a wise and pious man who made a
pilgrimage to Rome. While the High
landers may not like Shakespeare's
eharacterization of him, I imagine it
would have pleased the Lowlanders in j
those days. If the Scotch are to feel
that they have been badly treated in j
Macbeth, apothecaries, weavers, grave
diggers. husbands, feminists and al
most every other kind of person should
ikespeare
bel Ross
look to their laurels, for Shakespeare
is a ruthless painter of type.
"The English have really been far
more vilified in his plays than have the
Scotch, and, if it comes to that, Ameri?
cans might feel some annoyance over
Caliban, who has been said to repre
sent the native-born American.
"But, seriously?if one can be seri
ous on this subject?Shakespeare would
be a closed book if every race were to
take his characterizations too much to
heart. As Shaw says in one of his es
says: 'If nothing were left of Shake
j speare but his genius our Shake
spearolators would miss all that they
| admire in him.' %
j "Shakespeare used his material for
I artistic and dramatic purposes and was
' singularly free from racial prejudices %
| of any kind. The most cursory study
; of his works reveals his interest in type
| rather than nationality. He has touched
j every race. Imagine the long list of
jobjections that might be made out if
j the various peoplea dealt with in his
| plays were to rise up and condemn the
[villains! The English would have a
t'heavy score against him. What about
?Falstaff and Richard III, and even
j'Richard II, to mention only a few? The
^Italians could line up a forauiable ar
j-'xay of villains, led by Iago. The French
[ Could point to some weaklings. Colored
ieople might feel annoyed about Othello.
nd the Danes, in these days of delicate
iplomatic relations, might object stren
. ously to the phrase which has come into
common usage that 'there is something
; rotten in the State of Denmark.' More
; over, there are characters in 'Hamlet'
I that would not do credit to any country.
"I have freqaently lectured on "The
, Merchant of Venice' to large classes of
; young Jews and they have never found
| any fault with it. It has always been
| more or lgss understood that Shylock is
; superior ft> every other character in the
\ play. Listen to Shakespeare speaking
! on the Jew through Shylock's lips, and
! see-if there is anything in it damaging
| to the Jewish gabardine:
"'Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a
! Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses,
! affections, passions ? Fed with the same
? food, hurt with the same weapons, sub
, ject to the same diseases, healed by tho
same means, warmod and cooled by tho
same winter and summer, as a Chris
tian is? If you prick ua, do we not
bleed? If you tickle us, do we not
y
Continged on next