New York Clipper (Jun 1923)

2 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER June 6. 1923 FOREIGN NEWS "THE MUSIC BOX REVUE" ""The Music Box Revue" was produced by C B. Cochran at the Palace Theatre on Tuesday, May 15. In one respect it is simitar to most other revues, and that is that it does not boast of any semblance of a p]ot. But that is where the similarity ends, for unlike a ^ood many other revues this revue has a rightful claim to be classed as an elaborate production full of haunting melodies, a nice sprinkling of humor and some really wonderful mechanical devices. Those, who appear in their original parts are: Solly Ward, Renie Riano, The Three Brox Sisters, Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley, £thelind Terry, Albertina ViUck and Chester Hale, who is also responsible for the dances in the ballet for which great credit is due to him. The chief comedy roles are in the hands of Fred Duprez in Willie Collier's part, (an Amerion, who has already dis- tinguished himself in London) and Solly Ward, who will certainly be the talk of London before very long. This gentleman hands out humor of the Hebraic variety without the least bit being offensive. His specialty, which consists of an excruciat- ingly funny monologue concluding with a song 'TTiey Call It Dandag," proved a real riot. Fred Duprez does not have much chance to do anything of his own but when he and Ward get together there is not a dull moment. Fred's va- rious characters are really very cleverly portrayed. A young lady who has a very distinct humorous personality is Renie Riano. The house was at once taken with her original and very clever style, and she will no doubt prove a great favourite at this bouse. The dancing, of which there is an abundance is in such ex- perienced hands as Ivy Sawyer and Joseph Santley. "FLIRTING" WELL RECEIVED London, June 4.—"Flirting," the musical comedy, known in the United States under the title of "For Goodness Sake," opened here last week at the Shaftesbury Theatre and scored an immediate hit. "The house was packed and all parts of the audience joined in the applause. Featured in the cast are Fred and. Adele Astaire, Americans, -whose singing and dancing carried away first honors and stopped the production several times be- cause of the demand for encores. Others of outstanding ability who helped the sd^ cess of the piece materially were Marj<>ne\' Gordon. Jack Melford and H. R. Hignett,' who played the part of the butler with great dignit)', adding a touch of distinction to the clever farce. STUART A VARIETY HIT London, June 4.—LesUe Stuart, the com- poser, whose songs are known the world over, is scoring a great hit in the variety houses. Stuart plays his compositions charmingly and is assisted by a singer of rare attainments. Harry Barratt. The act is pronounced one of the most artistic and popular in all vaudeville. A well-known critic in describing the act wrote that it was "An oasis of su-cet mel- ody in a jazz-jangled world." NOVELLO BACK FROM AMERICA London. June 4.—Ivor Novcllo, song- writer and composer,' is back, after several months spent in the United States, where he was engaged in film work, playing one of the leading parts in the new Griffith pictxire, "The White Rose." While here he will complete the score of a new musical comedy which he is writing. DOLLYS IN PARIS REVUE Pasis, June 4.—^The Dolly Sisters are to head the cast of a new revue which is now being prepared for the Ambassadcur The- atre. The house is now playing variety and. will continne that policy until the revue opens, whieh will be during the latter part of this montli. LOWERED R. R. CHARGES London, June 4.-^As a result of the con- ference held by the Railway Gearing House, a reductk>n of rates for touring shows went into effect on Friday. June 1st. The demurrage charge on trucks not ex- ceeding 21 feet in length, loaded with theatrical scenery, is lowered from 9s to 6s; a day, and Sunday is considered a dies noil in calculating the charges. Ooak- room charges have been lowered to the pro.fession from 3d., paid by the ordinary passenger, to 2d. a day. GUTTRYS OPEN SEASON Lokdon, June 4.—The Guitrys will open their season at the Xew Oxford to-day, offering for their first programme, "Com- ment on Ecri L'Histoirc." Sacha and Lu- cicn Guitry, and Yvonne Printemps will appear in this. It is to be done in con- junction with."Un Sujet de Roman," with Lucien Guitry. For the following week, June 11th, they vn\l offer "Le Veilleur de Nuit" in which Sacha will appear with his wife Printemps, and his father, Lucien. CUT PRICES FOR "MUSIC BOX'" London, June 4.—C. B. Cochran has re- duced the prices of the gallery seats at the Palace Theatre, where the "Music Box Revue" opened recently. The reduction was made as a result of a petition sent to the producer and signed by a number of gallery patrons. The present price scale, however, is not expected to continue long as the cost of the production is such that reductions from the original amount cannot be made permanent. "BRIGHTER LONDON" DOES WELL London, June 4.—"Brighter London" continues to make records which are at- tracting much attention even for this house. On the evening of April 28 the receipts were i689. Easter ^londay's were £661. The piece is playing to capacity at every performance. _ During the six weeks of its run the public has paid in admissions the sum of £35,000, which means roughly that 130,000 people have paid to see the produc- tion. "I I II nr.S OF THE HELD" TO OPEN London, June 4.—"Lilies of the Field" will be presented by the firm of Reandean at the Ambassadors next week. The comedy by John Hastings Turner will "have, m its cast Mcggie Albanesi, Edna Best.-J. H. Roberts and Kate Phillips. 'Following the opening of "Lilies of the F!cld,"..Reandcan will begin production of "Melloiiey Hotspur." which is to be pre- sented for a series of matinees at the St. Martin's. THEAlllE VALUES RE.ASSESSED London, June 4.—The Theatrical Mana- gers' .Association has issued a notice to all members calling their attention to the re- assessment of theatrical values, under Schedule A. The notice lays stress upon the need for api>ea1s against all unfair assessments, which, it is understood, are being heavily raised throughout the coun- try. DUSE SEASON BEGINNING London, June 4.—Eleanor Duse will open her se.tson of matinees at the Ox- ford on Thursday, June 7th. The other dates for her performances arc Thursdays, June 14th and 21st: Tuesdays, June 12, 19, and 26th. She will do "Revenant" on her first day, and a new play by Tommaso Scotti called "Cosi Sia" for her second. NEED SCHOOL FOR DRAMATISTS London, June 4.—A school for drama- tists should be advocated by the press, in order to alleviate the trouble with the English theatre, is stated by Dennis Eadie. His opinion is that the trouble is due to a dearth of English authors who can write a play. "How many plays." he asks, "are there by. English authors, that deal with the con- dition of affairs which have been left to us since 1918, either tragic or comic?" NEGROES OUT OF "RAINBOW" London, June 4.—The colored artists who were appearing in "The Rainbow," after arriving here with "Plantation Days," are now out of the former revue. Their place has been filled by Tubby Edlin, who scored a hit in "Carte Blanche." Edlin is doing burlesques on "R. U. R." and "Anna Christie" in the revue, with. Daphne Pollard. "LADY OF THE ROSE" CLOSES London, June 4.—"The Lady of the Rose" ended its run at Daly's Theatre on Saturday May 12th. The theatre was dark for a week but reopened on May 19th with a revival of "The Merry Widow." In the leading roles are Evelyn Laye, George Graves, and Carl Brisson. TO RE-ORGANIZE CARL ROSA CO. London, June 4.—The Carl Rosa Opera Company, which has had several legal dif- ficulties in the way of judgments recently, will bt reorganized for next season. The plan of re-organization is to be announced shortly, the imention being to have a new company established by August. ROYALTIES PAY FOR LONG TRIP London. June 4.—^John Openshaw, the songwriter and composer whose' song, "Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses," has earned a fortune in royalties from the ■United States sales, sailed last week for South Africa, where he plans to spend sev- eral months' vacation. DOROTHY MINTO IN NEW PLAY London, June 4.—Miss Dorothy Minto, who has secured the Ambassadors Theatre for a short season, is presenting there "The Picadilly Puritan" with herself and Lang- home Burton in the leading parts. This play recently came in from a touring sea- son. MARGUERITE D'ALVEREZ RETURNS London. June 4.—Marguerite d'Alvarez will open here next week. June 9th, having returned last week after a tour of the world. The contralto was absent for nine- teen months, during which time she ap- peared in the United States. Canada, Aus- tralia. New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands. "HASSAN" NOW REHEARSING London, June 4.—Messrs. Grossmith and Malone have placed in rehearsal a new play called "Hassan," which Basil Dean is producing for them. It will be presented at His Majesty's after "Oliver Cromwell" departs from that house. TIEBER IS SOLE PROPRIETOR Vienna, Austria, June 4.—Ben Tiebcr, proprietor of the .Apollo Theatre, denies the report that he has sold any part of his interest in that house and states, that he is still the sole proprietor of that house. GRAHAM MOFFAT AT COUSEUM London, June 4.—Graham Moffat, and his company of players have returned to the London Coliseum after an absence of ten years. They arc offering- "Till the Bells Ring," a new comedy sketch. GARDEN BENEFIT FOR ORPHANAGE London, June 4.—A garden party for the benefit of the Actors' Orphanage, is to be held on June 26th. The affair will take place on the grounds of the Chelsea Hos- pital. BILLY MERSON ILL London, June 4.—Billy Merson has been out of the cast of "Brighter London" tem- porarily, owing to illness. Eddie Jaye filled in for him. CHORISTERS AS GUIDES Paris, June 4.—Beautiful girls, many of whom are recruited from the art colony and from the chorus bevies of the current Parisian revues, arc serving as guides for the American tourists and thus materially adding to their incomes. Phillip Carruth- crs, an artist, had the idea that a lot of Americans coming over to "do" Paris would rather have the charm of the city explained to them by a pretty girl, dressed . in the latest fashion, than by a b<;arded professional who uses a megaphone and smells of beer. So he established a register of girls will- ing to be escorts- An American visiting him at the Cafe Rotunde, artists' cafe ill the Latin Quarter, is shown a list of names, against which is a notation showing the girl's age, whether she is blonde or brunette, what color her eyes are, whether she can drive an automobile, and what her specialty is. FORMER ACTRESS IN COMMONS London, June 4.—Mrs. Hilton Philipson, known to the English stage as Mabel Rus- sell, was last week elected a member of the House of Commons, as a Conservative candidate from Berwick to succeed her husband who was recently unseated because his agent was guilty of breaches of the Corrupt Practices act of which Philipson had nc knowledge. Mrs. Philipson is the third woman to be elected to Parliament, and the first actress, although the stage is already rep- resented by Sir Alfred Butt. As Miss Russell, Mrs. Philipson first appeared as a chorus girl and finally rose to star parts. She appeared in "Half Past Eight," "With- in the Law," and was starring in "London Pride" in 1918 when fhe married her hus- band. EX-ACTRESS -AS M.P. PEEVES PRESS London, June 4.—Commenting on .the election to the House of Commons of Mrs. Hilton Philipson, who was formerly Miss Mabel Russell, a musical comedy actress, the Daily Mail has expressed the hope that "unlike Lady -Astor and Mrs. Mar- garet Wintrihgham, Mrs. Philipson will not be too much inclined to introduce des- potism of the nursery into our affairs." The newspapers that most strongly champion the presence of women in Par- liament regret that Mrs. Philipson, like the two other women, was chosen merely as a successor to her husband, instead of on her own merits. "LAST WALTZ" CLOSES London, June 4.—"The Last Waltz" is to close at the Gaiety Theatre shortly and Miss. Jose. Collins will begin rehearsals next, month in "Catherine," a new musical comedy by Robert Evett and Reginald At- kell. with music taken from the works of Tchaikovsky. This is scheduled to open in Birmingham on July 30 and after a tour, is due in London in October. FLORENCE MILLS .APPEARS London. June 4.—Florence Mills, who was brought over here by C. B. Cochran to appear in his revue "Dover to Dixie", will make her first appearance here at the Prince of Wales theatre tomorrow, June 5th. The colored star was specially re- quested by the Countess of .\thlonc to ap- pear at this matinee which is to be for the benefit of the British Legion. "WIDOWS HUSBAND" OPENS London. Jiine 4.—"The Widow's Hus- band." a comedy by Robert G. Anthony, opened at the .Alexandria Theatre, Stoke Kensington. last week. The play, which is new, was recently tried out io the provinces. "COUSIN FROM NOWHERE" CLOSES London,- June .4<-"Thc Cousin From Nowhere" closed at the Princess theatre last week. Edward Laurillard produced the play. i