Variety (Oct 1932)

46 VARIETY L C Ci T I MAT C Tueisa«7f Octolier ^$5, 1932 Plays Out of Town MUSIC IN THE AIR Philadelphia, Oct 24. Philly has had, plenty of try-outs this fall, but until this Jerome Kem- Oscar Hammersteln II 'musical ad venture' opened last Monday at the Oarrlck, there had been only one show that smacked of smasb quali flcations aiid that one was 'Good Earth' which wasn't generally Uked but clicked on the universal inter- est In the original noveL 'Music in the Air* was being 'loiaed about all over town Tuesday norhlng. By Thursday it had the irowds coming; Friday night found only a few scattered seats and by Saturday it was capaci]ty. It should come close to that mark all this week and has beeii held in for,an extra six days which is a godsend for the theatre situation here. "Tliough in every respect a 'class' musical, 'Music in the Air' has an amazing amount of human appeal and good sentiment.. There- Is scarcely a wise-crack in it, and. yet the comeidy, produced by plot situa- tions and by characters who are creating live, fleish -and-blood people rather than by clever clowns. In fact, alUiough Jerome Kern has turned out anolhef fine scores the Hammersteln book is, in many ways, the strength of the produc- tion. It could come pretty close to standing on its own as a straight romantic comedy without musical embellishments. Bavaria Is the localei; and strong' sympathy is .estfibllBhed by the in- trodu'ctlon of a group of simple country people, an old man, hlg daughter and her sweetheart. Itito the blase .theatrical world of Mun- ich. First and last scenes are laid in a small rural village;, the rest Is playhouse atmosphere. . . Thei'e are plenty of unusual fear tures to -the book. One Is that the simple, , country heroine does hot- make good in-her diabut as an iac- ■< tress. In fact, she's a complete flop at rehearsal and quits. Another Is that the< first act. curtain falls on a quiet sc^na between two elderly men discussing their youth and . memories of a mutual romance with a glamorous stage star. No chorus. Th$: E^ern music carries ahead what he essayed in The Cat and the Fiddle.' Maybe this one doesn't have as many potential popular hits; but every : single number is beautiful and every one fltd the action. 'There's a Hill Beyond a Hill,' 'I've Told Every Little Star, 'And Love Wag Born,' 'Egent bn the Tregem ape' and 'When the Spring is in the Air', are sqme .ot ,^© outstanders; but they're not all. Casting is exceptionally keen, with the understanding on the out- side that Kern and Hftmmerstein were responsible. Tullio Carminati, of 'Strictly Dishonorable' fame, is a sentimental. , rpntantlc playwright and. he ,gives as. fine a characteriza- tion. a$. would be found in most dra- matic ©lays. Walter Slezak Is per- fectly fitted to. the role of the peas- ant lover and Katharine Carrlngton is good as his sweetheait. Al Sheon Is going, to be a revelation to those who remember his former work. As the heroine's fathee. he gives an in- terpretation that brought out plenty of handkerchiefs and a hundred laughs. - - Reinald Werenrath, of grand opera, has only one number which he sings splendidly, but it seems like wasted talent He has little acting to do. Natalie Hall probably takes the vocal honors and does some swell acting too as a temperamental prima donna. Good bits are sup- plied by Ivy Scott Prince Obolensky, Nichols Joy and I^arry Mestayer. The Joseph Urban sets are equal to anything he has ever done for the musical comedy stage. Several of them are gems, especially the Zoo scene which also is notable for its spirit There is a singing chorus with nice voices, but they halve only one number and appear only a couple of times as a unit. Hammer- stein's staging is notable. It ran too long at the opening and still does, but management wants to lie careful in its cutting. A couple of the changes noted Sat- urday night haven't impiroved the performance. "Music in the Air' was one show that was ready for Broad- way the night it o)E>ened hero. It should be a sensation. Wafer*. CARRY NATION Baltlmore.'.Oct 19. Bloeraphldal drama, in 17 scenes by Frank HcOrath. Presented by the Theatre Unit In aisftociatlon with Arthur J. Beckhard. DIreoted by. Blanche Turka. aesleted by JoEhua I^gan. Settings by Charles Boss; coelumes by Elizabeth Hlgglns Sullivan^ At the Maryland, Boltlftiore, Oct. 18. Aunt Judy...........Fanny Bell McKnIgbt Qeorge Moore; John Parrlsb James Campbell...... Arthur C. Morris Ohartes Gloyd.. ...^^yron McGrath Mery Compbell Moore Oertnide Gnrstln Sarai. '......' ..........Buddy De Loach Mrj. Oioyd. Frieda Altman Dr. Bull...... ...Ernest Pollock' Miss.Slcat^.. Jean- Barrett Da vld - Nation...: Leslie Adams Mrs. Noblo. ........ .Mildred Natwick Carry Nation. ....Xlstber Dale Danle( Dent.......... Donald Foster Vlxa. Cain, t..................Daisy Belmore A Brute. .Clarence' E. Smith Mart Strong......Joshua t,. Logan Constable Oano.-. James Stewart Mayor 'Washbrook.....^......Harvy Melville. O. L. Day. .George Smlthfleld Salesman....; Kenneth Berry Mrs. Stroll.......................Nina VaresI Skoll , Luther Williams Tho Mayor of Kiowa Alfred Dalrymple Jailer. ;.M]afon McCormIck United States Senator.; ..John F. Horrleeey Landlord Harry Bellaver The Le<uler of the VIgllantea.Karl Swenson Dick. -.Leslie Hunt Louie SaaerbergeF...........Tom Maltland Mrs. Klopp,. .Katherlne Bmery MIsB Sheriff. Helen HUbertb Mrs. MoHenry.. Mary JeSery Chairman ....Charles B. Amt Companion of Carry.....^ Lilian Oknn What Charles "Chic" Sale (America's Foremost Rural Character Actor) Thinks of an Annuity "I consider an Annuity the sui'est and safest investment that an Actor, or professional man can make. "If people in our profession, who have made big money, would have put half the money they had lost in bad Investments Into an Annuity, we would have to give very few beneflts today. "I wish you continued isiicccss in the sale of these Annuities." Before buying an Annuity, it would be to your advantage to consult us. JOHN J, KEMP intaranee SSI Fifth Ave. N. Y. C. Phones: Murray Hill 2-7838-7a39 With 'Carry NaUoh' biographical drama reaches its utmost point at loast as far as comprehensivencBS is concerned. While such historical plays as 'Elizabeth the Queen' and 'Barretts of Wimpole Street' con- tented themselves with slmplie por- tionQ out of the Uvea of its people, this play endeavors to encompass all the. ground covered by the book- lehgth biography, and in this case range? from the period before the bi^rth of Carry Nation to some 22 yep,rs after her death. And it is this very bulk of the^ at- tolnpt that detracts fi;om the power and forcefulness iof McGrath's.play. Inr his effort to give a complete pic- ture of- Carry Nation, the demoH- rum hatchetator, he has sliced the life of the -woman into sharply sketched scenes, in order to get the entire show over before midnight Elimination of some of these snap shots, and the more careful delinea- tion of the more Important scenes of Carry Nation's life would do. much to give the play coherence and unity of pace It now lacks. The play itself and-its method of attewk. offer a new angle in the the- atreJ It shapes as a brave attempt to present the entire life of an his- torical character by way of comic and dramaUc blackouts. And while the present play as originally pro- duced here is disiinctly a long shot for popular approval, it Is some- thing new. • Piece cries out. for the revolving stage, but for some reason the pro ducers have not used the device. It would be enormously helpful, how' ever, though perhaps not as 'arty.. The present arrangement of having the drapes shut In from the sides at the conclusion of each dramatic blackout renders the piece Jerky and spasmodic, when It should flow smoothly. The production minds have. It seems, taken particular pains to give the Impression of a series of tab leaux, rather than a rounded play. They've erected a sort of lai'ge pic- ture frame, oval, through which the audience views the play. The di'apes .work on a straight curtain rod hunt on the inside of this frame. And the manner in which they squeak on being pulled closed and opened reminds forcefully of the amateur efforts In high-school audi- toriums. That part of the produc- tion, which might have sounded swell enough on paper, doesn't work out at all In practice. In the first place from the simple point 01 view of time allowance, it's bad. There were long waits between srenes, longer than they should be, opening night or no. So long that the show broke within 16 minutes of midnight. Tlie pace must be speeded up productionally. But McGrath is also at fault on this point He has too much that !s non-essential. Two scenes which don't belong at all, tearing down and spoiling everything that has been so laboriously built up pre- viously, and a couple of other scenes, particularly at the start, which co.uld be sliortened and tightened to the benefit of all concerned. J For instance, there are four long scenes before Carry Nation meets the audience. It's too long, and the audience becomes impatient over all that background stuff. MoOrath has pounded his strokes in, repeaUng Ills points. The repetition is irritat ing. First of the 17 scenes takes place in 1846 on the birth day of the sub Ject and the three- succeeding scenes in 1867, 18CB and 1877 .aU take place without Carry-appearing on the stage. All this background of Carry's heredity and Juvenile en- vironment could be condensed tV'the good. • While McGrath has takieh much trouble to paint the mental traits and psychological twists of her par- ents and the peculiar religious fer- vor, even to insanity, of the people who surrounded her in early life, he has not given a psychological portrait of Carry herself. The story of Carry is told quite on the sur-. face. Carry is first introduced when she is already 63 years old (in 1899), having married for the second time, and being Just about to start her career of saloon-busting in Kansas. Ttie next 12 scenes are concentrated on the last 12 years of Carry Na- tion's life. Final scene is the pres- ent, with a fiash of her grave, an anti-climax and meaningless, In this last scene a drunk panto- mimes past Carry Nation's grave, takes a swig but of a bottle and tosses the empty flask on the grave. Thus, typifying the futility of Carry Nation's endeavors as it were. But it is unnecessary, since McGrath has tliroughout the play brought- out the point of futility and frustration in the hatchet-wielding. The enth-e play appears written With that sort of bias in portraying the futility of. Carry Nation. It's, as if the author and the producer were trying to string along with-the public's disapproval of prohibition by over-emphasizing the uselessness of the' Nation efforts.. -So muchrin- Jury has been done t<r the strength of the play by this attitude and a tendency toward, making the people in. the play caricatures rather than Characters. Maybe the fault still Mm with McOrath's over-shading his characters. His main characters, Garry Nation and her husband David Nation are able to withstand the heavy painting, but the minor characters lose their touch with reality. .They look and act hardly human; the Glbsb'n-glrl type is over-Gibsonlsh, - the viUlan is over- villianous, the comedy-sheriff looks like he steppied out of a 1915 Key- stone comedy. ESverybody is over- drawn. Other than the closing iscene, the other, dramatic bit wblch should be. out is scene 15. Carry Nation is shown hyating up a saloon for no reason for this Scene, since McGrath bad painted that picture twice earlier in the- play, and the scene came only as a let-down repeat In the other scenes, it was partly off- stage, and much more effective. In this iscene the production depart- ment couldn't present the idea ait alL For Ihstfuice, even the sup- posedly grand flash of Nation toss- ing a brick through the saloon mir- ror went blah because the mirror was tin and the brick i>apier-machel Unless they caji give the audience the real thing, the ofE-stage angle is preferable. Jiiat one other especially bad point of Judgmient-is the scene in the hotel room in Enterprise, Kans., that night in 1900 when Carry Nation Was ganged and whipped by a mob of Vigilantes Intent on keeping^ her out of town. Her husband, in a room next door, is a. lazy .soul, though igood-hearted. There is an intensely dramaUo scene while Car- ry is being horse-whipped, and the audience is deadly, quiet while she lies moaning on the floor, alone. She calls, 'David.' And .in answer, from;the room next door, comes a snore. No doubt McGrath thought that would be effective and power- ful, and once more symbolic of the futility of Carry Nation's life. But the snore was bad.theatre, and ut- terly spoiled what had been and would have been one of the strong spots of the show. . The play takes Carry right through her life, her religious fer- vor, her battles with saloons, crooked officials, and her final rev-, erence by the W.G.T.U. and Its ele- ment McGrath has supplied an ex- cellent scene in which to bring out in the beginning the type of char- acter that Carry Nation was. It's the scene in her husband's church. Esther Dale, who has been known for the past few years mainly as. a soprano in the NBC music appreda tion series, does the Utle role, and she makes an extremely able Job of it. ' She and Leslie Adams, as David Nation, carry off the perform ance laurels, doing much to give the play what reality it has. Miss Dale has made the Carry Nation character a sympathetic one; and brings the hatchet lady to the stage big as life from the physical re- semblance angle even if some of the lines given her are not genuine Na tions. With this play Arthur Beckhard tries something entirely away from the style of his 'Another Language.' But as it stands now he can't hope for a repetition at the box offiQe. The play needs much editing and fixing before ii can enter Broad way, and there its chances axe doubtful. FORWARD MARCH Philadelphia, Oct 24. There is so much good material in this first musical revue production of Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, that it seems surprising the sum total of effectiveness is not higher. Despite a fairly smooth opening at the Forrest last Tuesday, the show registered as one upon which all kinds of yi^ork must be done before it has a fighting chance. On the credit side of the ledger are. bome extraordinarily fine danc- ing, both chorus and by teams and specialists, a score by Ray Hender- son that, while not the equal of some that he has turned out, has plenty of air, dance floor and band possibilities, and as stunning a chorus as has been seen in Philly. In seasons. Oh the debit side are comedy sketches that reach the lowest mark for banality and a general lack of co-ordination In the putting on of the show. The costuming, credited to Klvi- ette and Charles Le Maire. is far and away better, than a.verage, while the settings of Henry Dreyfus are both good and bad; some being clut- teried and too ornate. . No nanies in the show here, al- though management is understood to,have decided, some will be needed^ despite emphasis on hew talent In the program, Hugh Herbert, Sally Sweet, Eric Cowley and George Dewey Washington get their names, in bold type. Seymour Felix, staged the. dances (the program credits him with stag- ing the whole production, as a mat- ter of fact) and the girls do some capital stepping. Dance teams that stand out are Theo Phane and Jack StlUman, Margaret Knight .and Le Roy Olin, Nora and Jimmy Bell and Bob Robertson. and Betty. Dewitt. They all work plenty ;and get re- sults. Sally Sweet does well by a couple of Henderson's lighter times. Dewey Washiiigton slnga with much de- clamatory effect a number called 'Home to Harlem' that got plenty of applause. Joan Abbott had two of the song hits of the show which clicked in spite of her rather than because of her. Nan Blackstone had two or three blues numbers at a piano which were, too inside for the mob here. Milton Watson warbled nicely and Lois Ravelle started off' the 'Restless' number which flnaled the' first-act There was plenty of effective staging in this one, but it was far too long and brought in everything, but a heard of elephants. There were clever comedy ideas back of the ^ring 'Em Back Alive,' Soviet Baseball' and 'In ^the Name of Art' skits, hut they were lost in the presentaUon. Cowley, a fine finglish drawing room comedy actor, was way out of place, and Ed Con-, rad, Herbert and. Sam.Dody didn't help any. Only when the youngisters of the cast or the lively chorus broke Into a dance was 'Forward March' really spirited. Several of Henderson's best numbers, mangled in the singing, weren't really appreciated untU'the dance incidental started. An i*attractive novelty, fSteins,' in the second act was attractive in at- mosphere and charming, but seemed out of place. A burlesque of 'Torch Songs' was seriously hurt by bad handling. I Hate to Think You're Growing Oldj' sung by Miss»Sweet and Wat- son, came late in the show, but im- pressed as the best of a number of Henderson's good songs.' Plenty to be r^one on this one, but the dancing; costumes and tunes are worth salvaglftg. "Waters. MR. MARY SAWYER Pasadena, Oct 18. Domestic comedy by Emerson Treaoy and JefFerson Barker. Gllmor Brown, super- vlalnff director; Morris .'Anknim. director. At the Pasadena- Community Flayho.uae, Dot, 18. Cast: Emerson Treacy, Oay Seabrook, Michael Fenwlck, Leah Wlnslow, Kay Murray. StelU Sloan, Ivsslle Abbott The- resa Carmo, William Bums. John Hallam, Esther Qay, William V&nce, Mildred Prlnsle. Thomas L. Brower, Helen Servls. Human little comedy, rather ado- lescent in character, that falls to rise to any emotional or laugh cli- max. It hasn't the smash qualifica- tions needed today to rate Broad- way or film attention., Play's main weakness ' is its failure to follow through on the male lead, letting down on that character to build up the femme part and finishing on a logical, but not showmanly, note. Story opens with the financial trials of a young married couple. Tpung woman's ability to bake cakes, coi^pled with the offer of a former sweetheart to set her up. in business, leads to the formation of a bakery concern that in two years becomes one of the biggest chains in town. Husband tags along, un- able to fit Into the business and breaks away Just as the exrsweette becomes too attentive to the wife. Latter leaves the concern and it toboggans almost to bankruptcy when the rival bakery head steps <in to buy the firm and- reunite hus- band and wife.- Emerson Treacy, stage, screen and radio Juvenile, wrote 'Mr. Mary Sawyer, with Jefferson Parker. He and Gay Seabrook, his stage and air. foil, have the top acting spots and their performances carry the play along smoothly and expertly. Team appears In 'Qrowln*' Up,' KFWB •erlai; and 'lAr. Maty sawyer* could' be uUIizsd as a ntdio sculpt to bet* ter advantage than by any other presehtatlon route,' Thomas Ii. Brower and Leah Winslow, vet character players, handle, their parts "well and Wil. llpjn Burns rates attention as a dumb young oointc John Hallam. the former boy friend of the wife, does a good Job as an irritating, boisterous show-off type, INSULT Beverly Hills, Oct 21.- Produced by the Beverly Hills Community Players. New play by lAwrence Bl. - Sterner atid O. H. 'HtiKzard, Directed by Wilfred North, uiider supervision ot Mrs, Lew Llpa ton. Caot; Mola IiSixtord, Ted Csborn. Nadja, Wilfred North, Henry Hobray, WIU fred Harl,. Jose. Rnblo, and Clara Suskl. Three acts. OpeDinS'week ot Oct. 0. Lacking enough development to be classed ais timber for a conmier- cial production, 'Insult' still has the germ of ah idea which might make it a pQsslbiUty for professionals. Play would have to be strengthened and dialog freshened. ' Action occurs in a mountain stu- dio near Budapest, with the leading characteirs a princess who has mar<<. ried an artist beneath her rank, and is honeymoQhing with hint incognito. . Outside world finally 'discovers their hiding plia,ce, and Deiphina, a dancer and former flame of the artist, pays him a visit. Princess VroQca is an ethereal soul, while the artist, Franz Laval,: is material. They quarrel over .Deiphina and sep-.' arate. ■ . Months later, the princess is pre- paring to commit suicide. She has been iihbued with oriental philos- ophy by her Japanese-servant, Ota- San. Her family is disgraced and she is unhappy. Franz returns in time and wants to start over again. While his head is turned, the prin- cess, in front of a statue of Buddha, kills herself. Nola. Luxford, formerly leading w.bman in Fred Thomson's westerns, and Ted Osborn do nicely as the princess and artist* Despite the cumbersome lines, and slightly old- fajshloned theme, they bring reality to the story. Nadja. as Deiphina, was good in heavy role< Wilfred Harl, Japanese boy, was the servant, but lacks experience in a difficult part. Mrs. Wilfred North and, Henry Mobray filled their roles of a middle-aged English couple smoothly. AVRIL ■> • ■'—1_ (Continued from page 45). after , the .mairiage, shows the girl dissatisfied on, finding that after a week her husbi^id Is aloof and de- termined to remiedy the situation. ' Obvious end is cheeking of. th«i' dates, bringing things back to nor« malcy. by showing the girl's hus* band that he ts not her father. Though Ahdre Brule is starring, and his« acting is without a. flaw, his serious part In what Is after all a light comedy, is overshadowed' by that of Amaiidy as the burlesque father who gives a riproarinig per- formance. Berthier as the lawyer is also another excellent comec^ support The mother, is beautifully • done by Marcelle Pralnce, whose comedy opposite Arnaudy makes the play. The very limited cast makes the play a good bet for local tours, but abroad, nix. Maxi. CORPS A CORPS . ('Ciosa Range Fighting') . Paris, Oct, 10. . A three-act comedy by Fordyca. Produced by Paulette Paz and Luclen Beer. Theatre de I'Oeuvre. Play Is on for a limited 'engage- ment of two weeks only. It would not be likely , to last longer, and it the idea is to be used abroad, it would require- entire rewriting. No screen chance. The. play was writ- ten by a girl who wishes to remain anonymous, and who intended to .act the leading part herself. Shortly before opening she disagreed with the producers on some details, and resolved to have nothing more to do with the business. The idea of the play is that a girl with a business mind alwauys gives priority to business in her love af- fairs. Show opens in a bookstore which a girl (Jacqueline Hobstein) has bought with the money a boy friend lent her. Many boy§ make love to her, but she pays no atten- tion to them, and gives her boy friend backer the sack when he asks for a share in the profits of the business. Next stanza shows the girl angeled by a new boy friend, but this time she has bought an Important book selling business. However, the boy Is lazy, and she is afraid he is go* ing to hit her for cash, and thus hurt the business: so he also gets the sack. Third and last step shows one more boy friend who this time she believes unable to give, her money worries on account of his wealth. However, whett it develops that the boy was only pretending to be. rich ph account of his, Ipve for her, she also gives him the sack, after a short hesitation during which, she nearly weakens to his pleading true' love. And so on for bigger and better bookselling business. Staging by Paulette Pax is cheap —^first act in the bookstore, and isist two In the girl's bedroom. Acting is all Indifferent Maxi.