THE DRUNKARD
The adapted Drunkard does have stock melodramatic characters and situations. A villain with a cape leads a college man down the “liquid highway to sin and perdition,” making the college man a drunkard and his deserted wife a damsel in distress. When the villain is about to beat the damsel with his cane, the hero, who is the drunkard’s foster brother, comes to the rescue. The story stops when the college man is saved from irredeemable dissipation by the Salvation Army.
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Karen Hough’s damsel stands out: her emotions are convincing and her speedy, clean shifts are technically impressive. Sharon Daw in several roles and Dean Burklund as the title character also give convincing performances, and Tad Janes’s Salvation Army leader has an overboard zeal that gives an edge to an otherwise false though musically rousing happy ending.
