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"Girls, girls, girls!" was the theme of the January
22, 1903, New York Times review of Mr. Bluebeard at
the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York that season.
Erlanger & Klaw's costly production played 135 performances at
the Knickerbocker from January 21, 1903, to May 16,
1903. It was seen by over 200,000 people
before it moved on to the Midwest.
There is a slightly smirky tone
to the review that probably says more about the
reviewer than the performance. The reviewer
objected because Mr.
Bluebeard's beard was red, white, and blue instead of
only blue. He found the constant scene shifting,
costumes, lights, and girls more prominent than
the actors and drama. He objected that only crude senses
were dazzled and suggested the best seats in the house for appreciating the
illusion were in the back of the gallery.
The reviewer did concede that
Mr. Bluebeard was "entrancing, bewildering, blinding
and annihilating in its bursts of splendor."
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