New York Clipper (Apr 1923)

z TITE NEW YORK CLIPPER April 11, 1923 FOREIGN NEWS "MAGDA" REVIVAL SCORES London. April 9.—In essaying the role of *'Magda'' in Sndermann's play of that name; Gladys Cooper Tvas certainly tcq- tnresome; especially so when one considers that this is a role which made famoos sndb remarkable actresses as Sara Bernhardt, Dnse and Mrs.. Pat. CampbeU. It is therefore^ more to her credit to say taer taidition was perfect and compares lavor- 'ably with that of her predecessors. The stbiy tells of a young ^I, who leaves home to escape the tyrannies of her.- father, and -rctiims a woman, having found fame and wealth through, experiaicc and suffering. She returns home, but her •poraits, -ahnoagfa.'leving: her, find that in having .^me. i diild out' of wedlock she has committeil an offense for which all her (pfts of fame cannot condone. Of coarse m the late Victorian days such a play was real; but in title prescot century it is very "stagey." ' Yet one cannot agree but that the acting of Miss Cooper was remarkable, and has certainly enhanced her rqnitation as an emotional actress of first rank. Others who played their parts well -were Fraiddy Dyall, GUbert I^re, William Stock and Liza Maravoan. The pUy was brought out at the Plajr- honse Theatre and looks as thou^ it is m for a run. EDCLSTEIN BANKRUPTCY HEARING London, April 9.—Further hearings in the bankruptcy proceedings of Willie Edelstein, theatriial managv, met last- week. According to the petitioii, die li-' abilities are given at $20,000 and the as- .sets tmcollected debts to the amount oL ?15;000. It appears, according to Edelstein'a statement, he had been interested in the - prodoctions of "Polly With A Past" and 'Tie Chaim School," both of 'which {ir^vcd successful!until the coal stnke 'of. 921, which turned the profits into a loss of jasfloo. He opene4 a New York office in 1914 and continaed to et^gage in American the- atricals mitil March of last year, when he closed 'his office after having dropped a consideiable sum of money. ^^he matter was left in- the hands of the receiver. BALCONY BUSINESS DROPS London, April 9.—Bad business in the ui>per floors of a number of theatres has been sufficiently felt to cause the with- drawal of several attractions. I^ondoa producers have foiud it unprofitable to produce solely for the fashionable set who pccupy the orchestra stalls. In order to make the production pay, th^ must also depend upon good business in the upper balconies and this effect is accomplished only when they produce a piece tlut ap- peals to the maisrs as well as to the intu- lectnala. The most recent production to be affect- ed by this condition was Robert Court- neidge's, "The Young Idea," which was withdrawn from the Savoy primarily be- cause it failed' to register with balcony and gallery andiences. ' '- "The Laughing Lady" seems to have' run up against a similar snag. The pro- duction cost and heavy operating expenses are so heavy that if it does not attract near capacity it cannot make ends meet This state of affairs is giving the Brit- iA producers much food for thought, and many are in a quandary as to just what sort of attraction that will appeal to the "gallery gods" .will also find a demand among the better classes. •WEVITABLE" IS CLEAN FLAY London, April 9.—^The production of ,"The Inevitable," on March 21, marked ' the reappearance of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Curzoo (Isabel Jay), and the d£but of tiieir daughter, whose stage name is- Ce- dlia Cavendish. More interest was dis- • playol in the cast, apparently, than in the play itself. The acting was fair all around, but-die oiistanding success was scored by Etid Coleridge. a&-a comic stage-dreSser. ' The story of the play concqms a great 'actress who,' in the height of^^Et^ career, , suddenly finds herself confrobtbl with the fia that she is getting to old jp <k> ingenue para:-'V Her daughter arrivcK^frpm school aad 'o^'fcading playwright deddes to.offer tlie^girrdie I^dii^ part-in his new play;' a piart originally, meant for the mother. <,3rh« mother accepts' the position diplo- 'matically and inevitably, ^raich accounts for the title. - : TRUCES RUINING SHOW BUSINESS ' London, April 9.—That high taxatioii is lolling the theatrical industry here; was' the- gist of an address made b^ Sir Os^ wald StoU at the annual meetmg of the CoSseon Syndicate, Ltd., recently held ' her^ He added that too many people closed their eyes to the fact that me enter- tainment industry was working in Chains almost too heavy to bear. He advised aeldng for legislation that would lighten the taxation burden of the theatre men. "MERTON" OPENING London,. April. -9.—^°Merton of the - Movies" will open at- the Shaftesbury Theatre the end of this month with Tom Douglas,' an American, in the title role. It Will be produced by Mr. Robert Court- neidge in conjunction with Messrs. Gtoss- mith and Malone. . ;DRINKWATER ESTATE £4.600 • ! iioNDON. April 9.—Albert Edwin Drink- water, actor and theatre manager, and father of John Driokwater, who died re- cently, left an estate of £4,(300. He left a wish that after death his body be examined by [two doctors to ascertain bis absolnte de^h, and then his body be cremated, the ashes to be dispersed at burial. ARNAUT BROS. SCORE London, April 9.—The Amaut Brothers an>eared last week at the Finsbury Park &npire and received a special command to appear before' the King and Queen at Carlstoa House Terrace. - The boys are laying off for a week and will resume their Moss tour in the Provinces shortly. "RAINBOW" POSTPONED London, Ajnil 9.—"The Rainbow," the new revue ?vfaidi Sir Alfred Butt was to have launched at the Empire Theatre, in association with Albert de Courville, has been postponed until the renovations of the' playhouse have been completed. AMERICAN ACT FOR SO. AFRICA London, April 9.—^La Veen and Cross, the American burlesque acrobats who have become great favorites with the Lon- don andiences, have sailed for South Africa to fulfill engagements -with the African Theatres, Ltd. ,.' WARHELD COMING OVER • London, April 9.—C B. Cochran has arranged to bring over David Warfield, whom he 'will probably present in "The Merchant of Venicel" Local theatre-go- ers are looking forward witb much in- terest to Waifiekl's portrayal of "Shy- kxi:.- MAUD ALLAN RETURNS London, April 9.—Miss Maud Allan, the famous Salome dancer, has returned to London, opening at the Alliambra last week. One of the dances she is doing is an interpretation of the Hungarian Ra- koczy march. SHORT RUN FOR 'ONEVrTABLE" London. April 9.—Despite the popular- ity of Isabel Jay. her new play, "The In- evitable." failed to catch on at the St James Theatre and was withdrawn after four performances. MELVILLE GIDEON EXAMINED LoKDON April 9.—^The public examina- tion of Melville Joseph Gideon, composer and entertainer, and member of the Co- Optimists, was concluded in the Bank- ruptcy Court last week. His statement of affairs showed liabilities $21,320 and assets of $4,000. Grtdeon has satisfied all creditors in his 1913 feilure, having paid them in fulL He attributed his present failure to extra- vagance and high interest on txnrowed monc^. He further stated that he was drawing a salary of $250 per -week as one of the Cb-Optimists, and a percentage of the net profitSi Gideon called a meeting of his creditors last November and offered to pay them off at a rate of ^50 per week and the whole of his r<^yalties he was receiving as a song writer until he had satisfied their clamis. The money was to be paid to a trustee and he confidently expected to have wiped out the obligations by June 1, 1923. CAPACITY PLAY WITHDRAWN London, April 9.—^"Treasure Island," which Arthur Bourchier was presenting at the Strand Theatre was withdrawn last week while plajring to practically capacity business. The reason assigned for the play's withdrawal is that Mr. Bourchier, who plays the' part of John Silver in "Treasure Island" is losing his health be- cause of the continual strain and exertion caused by making up for the part which calls for a man with a peg leg. His phy- sicians have' forbiddet^ him to contmue with the part for- fear of a permanent in- jury to his healtfa. Mr. Bourchier has not totally abandoned the idea of running .this'play.. As a mat- ter of fact it is'his intention to run it as an annual affair, , like "Peter Pan," and VCharlie's Aunt" MUNDORF SIGNING ACTS FOR U. S. London, April 9.—Harry - Mundorf, of the B, F. Keith Vaudeville Exchange, of which he is the European representative, has been scouting' around- London in search of new -talent He gave an audi- tion to Miss 'Alex Andra; a musician and songstress,-and it is possible that the young woman will be seen .in America shortly. In private life Miss Andra-is the wife of Tex MaCIeod, who is doing a yam and rope spinning act, which made him popular throughout England and Scotland. . . BIG l»MAND FOR REVUES . London, April 9.—"The Nine O'Qock Revue" has proved to be so clever that its authors, Morris Harvey and Harold Simpson, l^ve been approached to write revues for several theatrical producers. They have just accepted a commission to write a revue for C B. Cochran which he will produce at the Pavilion Theatre -at the end of the "Robin Hood" film, which is still doing good business. The prin- cipal part in the new revue will be played by Stanley Lupino. NEW 'TOLLV OPENS London, April 9.—A new "Polly," hav- ing no resemblance to the Bax version, opened last week at the Chelsea Palace Theatre, produced by the Gay Operas, Ltd. Mr. H. Bernhardt an agent for con- cert artists, is the principal person respon- sible for the production: In the cast are Foster Richardson of the Beecham Opera as Macheath, Winifred O'Connor as "Polly" and Jean Aylwin as Jenny Diver. "YOUNG IDEA" WITHDRAWN London, April 9.—"The Young Idea," Noel Coward's comedy, which recdved fine support from the press, did not re- ceive the same supiiort from the public in general, and was withdrawn last week from the Savoy, where it had been play- ^Tie Box version of "Polly" came into the Savoy from the Kingsway Theatre. UPROAR AT COLORQ> SHOW London, April 9.—Cheers and boos, mingled together, came from the audi- ence which attended the premiere of Albert de Courville's Anglo-American negro production, "Rainbow," at the Empire, at the finale of the show. They started when George Gershwin, the American composer of the show, made a speech of thanks in response to what consisted at first of cheers and then became interspersed with boos. The same followed for De Courville when he made his appearance. As the latter concluded. Jack Edge, a comedian, ran out of the 'wings and shouted, "Ladiips and Gentlemen." I was engaged as the low -comedian in this show but was not given a chance." At first the remark was taken as a belated joke, but when the horrified expressions on the faces of the rest of the company became apparent, it was known that the remark was ad libbed and not in the book. De Courville apologized for the remark. "The English daOies, with the excep- tion of one, spoke well of - the show, playing up Grace Hayes, and the other Americans. Edge did not appear in the cast after the opening night "THE BORDERER" SCORES London, April 9.—"The Borderer" opoied at the King's Theatre, Hammer- smith, last week and proved a distinct success. Mr. Fred Teny presented the play in which his wife, Miss Julia Neil- son, is featured. The production is an historical affair. Miss Ndlson appearing . in the role of Mary, Queen of Scots. Miss Neilson is now fully recovered from her recent illness. , "ISABEL, EDWARD AND ANNE" CAST ' London, April 9.—The full cast for the new Gertrude Jeening^s play, "Isabel, Ed- ward and'Anne^" wmch succeeded "Plus Fours" at the Haymarket Theatre on Easter E^ included Margaret Banner- man, Lillian Braithwaite, Athene Seylcr, .Dorothy Overend, Allan Aynsworth and Harold French. PEGGY RETURNS TO FILM ' London, April 9.—Miss Peggy Hyland, ; who is now appearing on the spoken stage at the Ambassadors Theatre in "A Little Bit of FlufT' will not leave the pictures permanently. Immediately after her pres- ent vehicle is withdrawn, she will resume her film activities. VARIETY VETERANS TOURING London, April 9.—The Veterans of Variety, having finished their London en- gagements, have started their tour of the provinces. Last week thc>- appeared at the Brighton Hippodrome, where they proved unusually popular. JEAN BEDINI IN ACCIDENT London, April 9.—^Jean Bedini, the American burlesque producer, who came across to stage "'You'd Be Surprised," was injured -when a Cunard train boat over- Stepped the mooring and crashed into the docks. DOROTHY DICKSON RETURNS London, April 9.—Miss Dorothy Dick- son, leading lady in "The Cabaret Girl" at the Winter Gardens, has just returned from Switzerland where she has been for the past four weeks. GLADYS COOPER IN "MAGDA" London, April 9.—Miss Gladys Cooper opened at the Playhouse Theatre last week in "Magda," Sir Gerald du Maurier making the presentation.