Swing (Jan-Dec 1948)

48 November, 1948 with colorful Scotch dances and trimmed with plenty of fine tunes, it should be around for quite a while. David Brooks and Priscilla Gillette head the cast, with Pamela Britton very much around to take care of the comedy. Even more important, the show is filled with bright young people, all of whom seem to be having a wonder' ful time. One of the very talented new faces in the cast is Gloria Michaels, a Kansas City girl now appearing in her second big-time musical. Gloria's imaginative dancing in Up in Central Par\ caught the eye of producer Cheryl Crawford, and the girl quickly found herself whisked into the cast of Brigadoon. • • • In spite of all the nasty things the Tribune's Claudia Cassidy said about the people who direct the business and musi' cal life of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the first concert of the year could hardly be called anything but a success by anyone but the most prejudiced listener. Unfortunately, Miss Cassidy is exactly that. Although other critics found the concert, with guest conductor Pierre Monteux on the podium, a satisfying musical experience, Claudia Cassidy found nothing good about it at all. Although Monsieur Monteux has previously been a favorite of hers, she turned on him, and on the orchestra, with shrill cries. Miss Cassidy, although often a fine critic, is inclined to let her private ani' mosities interfere with critical judgment. When this happens, much of what she writes is twisted to help her prove her points: (1) that the people on the orches' tra board are dollar-hungry and without appreciation of talent; (2) that Rodzinski, last year's fired conductor, is undoubtedly the greatest conductor of all time; (3) that this season's orchestra can't possibly do well under a list of guest conductors which includes names like Pierre Monteux. For example. Miss Cassidy might have liked the recent concert of the New York Philharmonic Symphony in Chicago except that a guest conductor, Leopold Stokowski, was on the podium. So she devoted most of her review to trying to say that the orchestra played poorly because a guest conductor was at the helm — and woe betide the Chicago Symphony because of its guest conductor policy this season. This vendetta between Miss Cassidy and the Chicago Symphony has been going on since the orchestra management insisted on retaining the services of a conductor whom she didn't like. It subsided briefly, and her opinion of the playing of the orchestra soared when Rodzinski was hired for the season of 1947. Rodzinski was Claudia's dream boy, and when the orchestra management let him go for what they considered just cause, she descended from the Tribune Tower swinging wildly. This has been going on for months now, but apparently hasn't hurt attendance any. This year's subscription concerts are virtually a sell-out. Everybody but Claudia seems to be happy. The tension and bickering of last season are gone. The other critics are happy with the orchestra. The orchestra is happy with the guest conductors. The treasurer is happy with the box office reports. Only Claudia Cassidy fiercely chants in print, "Everybody's out of step but me!" Job applicant: "I'm Gladys Zell." Personnel Manager: "I'm pretty happy myself. Have a seat." A He gazed admiringly at the chorine's costume. "Who made her dress?" he asked his companion. "I'm not sure," came the reply, "but I imagine it was the pohce. During a grammar lesson one day. a teacher wrote on the blackboard: "I didn't have no fun at the seashore." Then she turned to her pupils and said to one, "Roland, how should I correct that?" His answer was immediate, "Get a boy friend!"