THE PAST THEATRICAL SEASON
And the Six Best Performancesby Unstarred Actors
What lessons do we draw from the past theatrical season?
In the first place, the success of _The Wanderer_ proves that theday of the small and intimate production is over and that what thepublic wants is the large spectacle. In the second place, the successof _Oh, Boy!_--(I hate to refer to it, as I am one of the triowho perpetrated it; but, honestly, we're simply turning them away indroves, and Rockefeller has to touch Morgan for a bit if he wants tobuy a ticket from the speculators)--proves that the day of the largespectacle is over and that what the public wants is the small andintimate production.
Then, the capacity business done by _The Thirteenth Chair_ showsclearly that what the proletariat demands nowadays, is the plottypiece and that the sun of the bright dialogue comedy has set; whilethe capacity business done by _A Successful Calamity_ showsclearly that the number of the plotty piece is up.
You will all feel better and more able to enjoy yourselves now that atrained critical mind has put you right on this subtle point.
No review of a theatrical season would be complete without a tabulatedlist--or even an untabulated one--of the six best performances byunstarred actors during the past season.
The present past season--that is to say, the past season which atpresent is the last season--has been peculiarly rich in hot efforts byall sorts of performers. My own choice would be: 1. Anna Wheaton, in_Oh, Boy!_ 2. Marie Carroll, in the piece at the PrincessTheatre. 3. Edna May Oliver, in Comstock and Elliott's new musicalcomedy. 4. Tom Powers, in the show on the south side of 39th Street.5. Hal Forde, in the successor to _Very Good, Eddie_. 6. StephenMaley, in _Oh, Boy!_
You would hardly credit the agony it gives me to allude, even inpassing, to the above musical melange, but one must be honest to one'spublic. In case there may be any who dissent from my opinion, I appenda supplementary list of those entitled to honorable mention: 1. Thethird sheep from the O. P. side in _The Wanderer_. 2. The tricklamp in _Magic_. 3. The pink pajamas in _You're in Love_. 4.The knife in _The Thirteenth Chair_. 5. The Confused NoiseWithout in _The Great Divide_. 6. Jack Merritt's hair in _Oh,Boy!_
There were few discoveries among the dramatists. Of the olderplaywrights, Barrie produced a new one and an ancient one, but theShakespeare boom, so strong last year, petered out. There seems nodoubt that the man, in spite of a flashy start, had not the stuff. Iunderstand that some of his things are doing fairly well on the road.Clare Kummer, whose "Dearie" I have so frequently sung in my bath, tothe annoyance of all, suddenly turned right round, droppedsong-writing, and ripped a couple of hot ones right over the plate.Mr. Somerset Maugham succeeded in shocking Broadway so that thesidewalks were filled with blushing ticket-speculators.
Most of the critics have done good work during this season. As formyself, I have guided the public mind in this magazine soundly andwith few errors. If it were not for the fact that nearly all the playsI praised died before my review appeared, while the ones I said wouldnot run a week are still packing them in, I could look back to aflawless season.
As you can see, I have had a very pleasant theatrical season. Theweather was uniformly fine on the nights when I went to the theatre. Iwas particularly fortunate in having neighbors at most of the playswho were not afflicted with coughs or a desire to explain the plot totheir wives. I have shaken hands with A. L. Erlanger and been noddedto on the street by Lee Shubert. I have broadened my mind by travel onthe road with a theatrical company, with the result that, if you wantto get me out of New York, you will have to use dynamite.
Take it for all in all, a most satisfactory season, full of pregnantpossibilities--and all that sort of thing.
POEMS