Variety (Jun 1934)

54 VARIETY L EG ITI M4TC Tue^dajr, June 12,. 1934 Plays Abroad VINTAGE WINE London. May 30; Play In three acts, by Seymour Hlcka and Ashley Dukes, from original of Alex -(inder Engcl, presented by Seymour JIlcUs at Daly's, May 2fc ' - ■ ■ : v. , Stanley. vnv*ri romley Davenport Gemma' Fagan ..'.'.... /.Patrick. Baring Madeline Seymour ...... Jtnthleen' Weston ; . ;... .Julia -Nellson ....;... Seymour Hlclca Clnlre Luce . .Jtomvld Waters .. .Oli ver Gordon Henri .Popinot Pierre Suzanne Fa vert...- Benedict Popinot.. Stephanie Popinot Babette Pa vert.... Josephine ' Popinot;' Charles Popinot... Nina'. Popinot Leonardo Volpe .. Hon. Richard Emsley A charming evening's entertain ment. for the. intelligentsia-—barring a tendency toward lack, of speed, by the introduction of extraneous mat ter. In addition, the nifty wise- cracks *are of an. American vintage of Ave years ago A grandfather of 62 has been secretly married for two years to a woman les3 than half his.age. and is the father of the :■ girl's three months' old child. When his sons discover he is. spending cShsider- able sums of money r on the; woman and, believing her to. be his .mis- tress,, they decide to bring him back from Rome to their ancestral hoirie in France, having jiim placed in the care of a guardian and thus control his'expenditures. _ Originally a continental farce; It was adapted by the' serious-riiin'ded erudite Ashley Duke* and. when the* manuscript- came Into the hands of Hicks, he. began injecting hokum and' what he regarded, as' up-tp- date slang. But Hicks hasn't been ■to •America'-in- a numbeiv of "years arid v . therefoi\e, -.' .-..not. .acquainted with...the newest, expressipns. an,d bits ,of comedy .business, ( . For in-: stance, the constant' Use' ** A ' tom. lSettjs >.;:,....:. Page .Boy-.,..,, f.ola Smith.., Bragg. »<.uf<.vw — — i- Of the I qiiui x-risuyy word 'oke'ahd ; t?ve J shuftillrig of 'toast 1 'mim .Biytt-#ratt at'the breakfast-table to indicateI agitation, will. : give an-idea-of hoW. 'Chapman far'ibehind the procession the pro-* ductiori, is in the matter of yintag,e r . Despite all this. Hicks is a good farceur and the best imitator ex- tant of the Sacha Guitry school of pantomime—so much so, when he resorted to it. too continuously, a voice from the gallery shouted: 'Speak up,' whereupon the comedian smiled. approvingly and spoke up. The aforesaid intelligentsia would be Interested In the mental attitude of a man of 60 with a heart younger than his sons who-are in: the. forties and who: is still capable- of 'think-; irig young' and therefore living as a young man. The large majority will not grasp the psychology Of the story and therefore inisia the point' entirely. What a good pair of Hollywood script writera could do to this book would be plenty. One of the members of the libraries (local' ticket speculating syndicate) hazarded the prediction i after the. second act of the first performance) it wouldn't run more than a fortnight. Jolo. Show. was. originally tried out for single Sunday performance some time ago. - An. erstwhile cavalry officer, now a trusty, employed clerically in the orderly room f after 13 years of plot ting, has his. plans of. mutiny brought to a head through the im- minent execution of one of his ablest supporters. He obtains control and plans to set himself up as a dlctar tor, while the idea in mind of turn- ing the colony into a happy, busy nation of liberated citizens. He figures Froinee-won't waste an expeditionary force to quell the re- bellion, with the swamps and jungle and all strategic points, in their favor. His triumph is short-lived, fora wireless message secretly, sent by the young doctor brings a cruiser within firing-distance, and they are compelled to surrender. • Of course, the hero loves, .the daughter of the Commandant;, but the other, did not take advantage of this fact and allow a happy ending. Papa performs. emorgecy mar- riage service, fearing for his daugh- ter's- honor, but: the prisoner is im- mediately" taken out and shot before the' girl realizes what is happening. ; Some very srood character acting makes this show good entertain- ment; I HAPPY WEEK-END! !.*!•.... London,-May 31. • Musical ploy Jn three acts from the Hun- garian . 'Katz Jn .Sack' by, Ladlslaus Szlfagyl: English adaptation- by Dion tlthemilge; -music by -Michael Elsemann: presei'.'etV. by Mackey. & Vearsley. Ltd., at Iftiike' of YorK'is; May 80. Bogei-B .■ d'hajll?:. Edward' >P6ttg. Iflltzi Prlslcy* OUT-OF-TOWN REVIEW CAVALCADE Pasadena, Cal., June 6. Pageant-drama in three acts and . .'-0 scenes by Noel Cowftrd. Directed by Morris Ankrum. Presented by the Community Players at the Pnsadena Community Play- house tor Its American premiere, June 0. $1.50 top. Cast: . . . _ - .., . .Dorle Lloyd ......Ralph Freud .. Shnrjey Simpson ........Eric Snowdpn ...... tchard Ritchie ......^ Alex . Courtney .......*.". .Alma Lloyd .Barbara Sheldon ...... '.. Judith Evelyn :Jhnet Murdock Dora May Held ;. ,-Cybe) Hnllam .lano Marryot.,.. Robert Mcuryot.. Ellen. >. Bridges..,.-.'-.. Edward Mrirryot. Joe Marryot Ed'th Harris.. Fanny. Brldgos. Margaret Hnrrjs;. Cook. .-.'■,....... ; ., Mrs. Snapper.... Annie..'. . ..Mr. Dernard Dudley ,... Mr.' Steve' Geray, r. Arthur 'Chesney .Mr, Claud - Allister .. .Miss • Magda Kun lss Mildred Cottell r. DaVld Hutcheson' lss Ijovlse Browne- . ,~.Mr., Alex Morphy ..-..Mr. Paul Blake ..Miss Monti Ryan- .Mr. Douglas Allen, , Miss Stella Marls .; .Mr. ' Arthur Stanley- Buddy •• raciley's Happy Weekenders: Honor Blair, Jill Clayton. Dorothy King,-. Given Beddoes, Edna Earl, Vera Rlc-Iiard- son. THE PRIVATE ROAD .London, June 1. Comedy In three acts by. John Carlton, presented by Cieoftrey' Gwyther at the Comedy.'May 81. Produced by Campbell Gillian. _ , _„, . Alexander Beckett .....John TUley George Augustus Waynenete. .Edwin Styles Palmer , Ernest Graham Sylvia AMnvln ......Dorothy' Dickson Robert Balntree Anthony £>haw This musical play has just passed its 250th . performance in Budapest and is said to be running success-, fully in. Vienna, Berlin, Rome, etc. The original 'producer, Steve' Geray,. is also the principal comedian here, while the 'female Of the species* is tylagda Kun. Both, are apparently Hungarian and created the roles in which they are now; appearing in the Viennese presentation. They are badly han- dicapped through inability to speak much English, but appear to be musical comedy folk of talent. They sing and dance and prance and romp and generally keep going, but it would be unfair to judge them at present, Louise Browne makes a bold bid for singing and acting honors, in addition to her surefire terpsichorean efforts. There are half-a-dozen more stereotyped characters; music not too catchy; half-a-dozen chorus girls who dance neatly—-in fact everything a conventional, musical play demands, excepting a suitable tempo, which stamps the whole presentation as amateurish. Jolo. Five minutes after the curtain rose on the opening performance it was apparent the humor of the plot would be manifest;in the form of Rabelaisian wisecracks. These were very much relished by a contingent of masculine females arid.effeminate males who were, plentifully sprln-- kled throughout the audltorluni. The. plot is nil, but there are a number of absurdly farcical situ- ations. ., ^ The wise folk of the West End were interested . in the daring ex- periment of. entrusting the two principal tttai'e. rolesto a pair . of vaudevUHans who, so.'far as they, were aware, had never before ap- peared in a legit show.! They are Jo"hn Tilley and Edwin'Styles, who acquitted themselves, excellently Their- vaudeville training was ap- ^ parent in the incisiyeness. in which they projected their speeches. Then there is Dorothy, Dickson as the chased, chaste, young widow. . . This, is the type of show that will be visited by all the gigolos accom panied by their patronesses,, and when these have been exhausted, the curtain will fall. Jolo, King of the Damned =Loridori rf =J.u.ne=U Drama In three acts by John Chancellor, Presented by Walter and .Frederick el- vllle at . Lyceum. May 31. .. Mocha..... Moo(ihe......... Captain Ro^et. Convict Q93.., Angustura.... Latour Major Boise.. Anna Courvlp Commandant Coui-vln iKennelh Carlisle B^ufTard. George Hutler .............i ....,.*• Percy Pa rsons .George Tlelmore ,.;C.uy Mlddleton .... .Gyles Ii>hnm .Iris- Darbvshlre ....r.rlnn Oiilton Henry Thompson .Mir1"rlp Mnra Pennsylvania Roof, N. Y. (Continued from page 49) soloists. Orchestra also carries Joy Lynfte, exotic Turkish singer, a sis- ter of Neva, the Follies looker, i The Continental dance team, paron and Blair, and Ed Lowry are. "other entertainers." Xatter. V well-known m.c. in vaude and pic ture houses, is doing a routine that should bring hi added admirers fop here- i Baron-Blair team offer some iiltra-ballroom work in addition to frivirig' their conception of a pair of. fi.nale-hoppers,. a routine that is both clever, and. amusing. Opening night Monday (4) was given. little different touch by having as the guests of honor, Capt Frank H. Sadler, captain of the flagship Penrisyivania, arid 24 com tnanding officers and their fraus and belles. NBC has a wire from the roof .for broadcasting five times, weeklv. Char, Villa Chagrin, Paris After a miscellany of attractions at .popular prices, this oM meller house reverted to type May 31 with a full-blooded drama of a French penal settlement- in South America. Paris, June .1. nine of this spot is a Stavisky gaT. Villa Chagrin is what the newspaper boys named the jail at ^Ba^yonrieT-town^near^Biari^itZT^where Stavinsky did his pawnshop swln dling. The jug housed everybody who was pinched in the early days of the scandal. Place must have A good drag for another uitery with the same name not long ago w.as ordered to drop it. Jt was renamed Villa Sans Nom —-Naineless House. That one was in Montmartre. This new spot is in Montparnasse, iri premises of the old Cigogne.' and ia an American hangout because the .master of cere monies is Gary from California, the barman who put over the Dome's American bar. Cary runs the O.K. 1 tlon, however. Cornell's $280,000 Tour Community Players assumed a Herculean task when they essayed to produce Noel Convard's 'Caval- cade' at their local playhouse for its first Amerloan presentation. Aside from the fact, that the drama* is in three acts arid 20 scenes,, a cast of 192, many of them stage beginners, was deemed necessary to give it an interpretation that/would come up to the requirements of the Coward script and at the same time con- tain entertainment value for ah American audience that might un-. der ordinary presentation conditions become, restless at the strong pro- Britisii theme. That American producers nave fought shy Of .presenting 'Cavalcade' in this country becomes less a mys- tery, after consideration is taken of the production 'difficulties necessary to overcome in staging- a play of, this tvne. Only a sponsored organ- ization" such as the. Community flayers, which; does not take the commercial possibilities into consid- eration, could. reasonably be expect- ed to essay the attempt. 1 'Cavalcade* is a cross-mixture, of Intense dramatic situations coupled with moments- of-light comedy; . The author has deftly interwoven these trends to provide an episodical chronihclizatiori of the constant tur-- moil of the people of a progressive nation, the patriotism and heart- pangs incidental, to war arid other disaster, and the parariiount thought that one's duty is first to his coun- try, and personal feelings or con- siderations must be relegated to the background, no matter what hard- ships or sufferings they produce. Principals mostly are well cast, particularly Doris Lloyd as Jane Marryot, the mother, around whose sufferings much~ of the story is based Ralph Freud giVes a spotty performance as Marryot, his best efforts coining during the more modern sequences, when his dom-. inant. personality stands out ex- pertly. Sharley. Simpson as Ellen Bridges, and Eric Snowden as her husband, the one-time servants of the Marryots, and later rising to affluency through acquisition of a liquor pub, give excellent character- izations. Alex Courtney is well suited for the part of Joe Marryot, the younger of the two sons of the family. Barbara Sheldon makes an accept- able Fannie Bridges, but her blues vocalization does n'6't come up to. entertainment requirements. Rich- ard Ritchie is oke as the elder Mar- ryot brother. Comedy characteriza- tions by Janet MUrdock. Dora May- field and Cybel Hallem are well done, and Judith Evelyn is demurely sweet as Margaret Harris, one of the Titanic victims. Male and femme ensembles, ire made up mostly of beginners and youngsters new to the theatre. Dance routines are generally well done, although there were evidences tonight of ragged direction of these numbers in some spots, which, how ever, is easily overcome by work. Production is somewhat more pre- tentious than the Ordinary Com- munity House presentations, arid Morris Ankrum's direction shows painstaking work. Commercial possibilities of .'Caval- cade' as a stage venture are prob lematioal. The year's run in Lon don, plus the widespread national advertising, of the Fox film version, might create sufficient interest, par- ticularly in spots where spectacle is wanted, to. make it worth, while if some venturesome producer can be persuaded to assume the undertak ing. Edwd. bar. too, next door to Villa Cha grin, for the same proprietor,, and passes from one joint to the other by a back door. Inside decorations are among the most fantastic in Paris. "Walls are painted to represent barred cells and behind bars are all the people who were arrested in the case. Only to avoid libel, the faces of the por traits are plastered over with ch ocksp^epr eson t-i n g^=t he-=-f amou a Checks whose stubs were found after Stavlsky's death. This also Is getting away with murder, for it Is supposed to be against the law in France to fake anything resembling a check. Moreover, features? of portraits are well enough drawn so that picking them is becoming a favorite Left Bank pastime. Entertainment provided by Edith Davis, American hoofer and'singer personable and a good draw for here. Couple weeks ago she doubled at A.B.C.. boulevard variety house Decorations were the real attrac (Continued from page 1) 29 weeks and one day, numbor of miles- traveled being" 16,853. Miss Cornell's leading success, 'The Barretts of Wimpoie Street," never failed .of capacity in the 144 tlirios. it was presented on the road. It was necessary for the star to ap- pear in repertory, however, because of the strain of the part of 'Elizar beth Barrett.' 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Candida' were also played, that the actress could have some change of pace. ostly One-Niters Feature of the tour was the fact that most stands were one-highters, that applying particularly through* Out the spring. After leaving Cin- cinnati early in April f6r southern territory, 'Juliet* was dropped from the repertory. It was deemed too difficult to present thfe: play in orie- nighters because of its 20 scenes, which requlre inore than eight hours to set. Nor was 'Candida' played In pne T nighters. Wherever 'Juliet' was given a sec- ond performance, attendance ap- proximated capacity,: That, the star outdrew the play was .indicated when, the first performance of •Juliet' got but $940, then grossed $1,770 the following night. It was proven in" San Francisco when the first showing drew>-$1,711, arid the final 'Juliet' got $3,227.50, which was $300 over capacity. ,.In/.the same stand 'Candida* went, over, "capacity with takings of $3,209.. rretts' was jthe, top. draw. High gross for. a single performance was registered at. Des, Moines,'.fa',', where 4,251 people, attended "the ' Shrine, auditorium and paid $7.79'5.70, in- cluding tax, or a. net 'of $7,087! At Toledo ch'e' gross was $8,i'66'.90 for the slrigle showing, of 'Barretts,' but that sum included a 10% state and' 10% federal tax, so the net was $6,- 804.50. Tour gave the government Over $65,000 in admissions taxes.. As to states* Texas was'the big- gest coin producer, gross in nine performances there being $42,436.90. Largest single week was $29,821.25,. drawn in six One-night stands- Waco,: Fort Worth, Oklahoma City. Tulsa, Emporia and Wichita. None Of the stands had been visited by a Broadway attraction or star for years! Holy Week, made-little, dif- ference in attendance, and the tak^ ings for Columbus, Toledo and In- dianapolis topped $27,000. Standout single performance gross.es 'drawn by 'Barretts': Tulsa, $6,301.35; Bir- mingham, $5,393; San Antonio* $5,- 366.35: Louisville, $4,867.60; Nash- ville, $4,73i.65; Sacramento, $4,549. Lowest gross and worst stand was- Emporia, Kas. ( where the gross for 'Barretts' was $1,124.75. A Long Part Miss Cornell's 'Elizabeth' is one of the longest parts in modern drama, requiring the. star to be on stage three hours, save for curtain inter- missions. There'are more lines for the lead fn the first act than In all. of 'Juliet.' When the 'Barretts' played B.madway (Empire) the run. which started. Jan. 29, .1931, and ended in October, was interrupted for six weeks, Miss Cornell going to Bermuda to rest. During the fol- lowingspring M key cities out to San Francisco, and when closing there she thought she could not stand the strain of the 'Barretts' again. For that reason the repertory plan was adopted.' That not only saved the star's strength- but was a break for the author. Rudolph Besier. When she completes the tour next week Miss Cornell will have played 'Barretts' 685 times. . 'Barret':.' opened in Boston (Opera House) Thursday (7). to $3*994.62. Four performances there' topped $15,000, most of the tickets having been sold by mail order lh advance. Although she may appear out of town in the. late fall, Miss Cornell Is dated to open in New York..at the Martin Reck, Dec. 20, opening attraction, to be 'Juliet,' to be fol- lowed by the 'Barretts,* -'Candida' and, for the first time, "Rosmers^- hj^hnV (Jhsen) .„ _ Each_sho_ w._.wIl l_be. irmlteTto four weeks. She will" sail for Europe, late this month, with her husband. Guthrie McCllntlc. Latter, will return during the sum- mer, the star planning to remain abroad until November. Of the 2i'5 performances given In the 715 cities played. 'Barretts' was donr. 144 times. 'Candida,' 42, nnd 'Komoo and Juiie^t,' 3D. The tour as played, follows* Katharine Cornell's Route Nov. 29—Erlanger, Buffalo. Dec. 4—Davidson, Milwaukee. 11- 12—Parkway, Madison. 13-16—Metropolitan, Minneapolis, 18- 20—Metropolitan, St. Paul 21- 22—Orpheum, Duluth. 23—Travel. 26—Metrop.olitari, Jan. 1—Temple, Tacoma. 2—Playhouse, Portland, re. 8—Columbia, San Francisco. 22- ^Biltmore, Los Angeles. Feb. 5-6—Auditorium, Oakland. 7— Auditorium, Sacramento. 8— Travel. 9— 10—Paramount, Salt Lake City. 12- Lincoln, Cheyenne. 13- 16—Auditorium, Denver., 16— Auditorium, Colorado Springs. 17— Auditorium, Amarlllo. 19- 20—Melba, Dallas. 21—Paramount, Austin. : 22—Texas, San Antonio. 23- 24-T-Majestlc, Houston. 26— Baylor Auditorium, Wac>>. 27— Majestic, Ft; Worth. 28— Shrine Auditorium, Oklahoma City. ,- ., ' . Mar. 1—Convention Hall, Tulsa. 2—State Teachers College, Audi- torium, Emporia. • 3^Arcadia, Wichita. 6—Shubert, Kansas City. Mo. 12^-Liberty, LiricOln. 13i.l4—Technical H. S. Auditor- lurn, Omaha. ' 16—Coliseum, i'ou'x Falls. 18 — Auditorium, Sioux City. ' 17" ~ Shrine Auditorium, Des Moines. 1 19— American, St. Louis. 26r-^Par'amount > Toledo!- 2Y-28—Hartman,, Colurnbus. 2^-31^-Engiish. .Indianapolis. Apr. 2—Shubert, Cincinnati. 9—Auditorium,. Louisville. • 10—Coliseum, Evansvillei . 11-12—Auditorium, NashVille. ' 13-14—Auditorium, Memphis. 16- 17^Tulane, New Orleans. 18— Auditorium, Montgomery. 19— Temple, Birmingham. 20— 21—-Erlanger, Atlanta. 23— Auditorium. Savannah. 24— Academy, Charleston. 26—Carolina, Spartanbur 26—Plaza, Asheyille. 27— Carolina, Charlotte. 28— State, Raleigh. 30- 31—National, Richmond. May 2—Carolina, Durham. 8.—:National, Greensboro. 4—-Academy, Roanoke. 6— McCarter, Princeton. 7— Playhouse, Wilmington. 8— r-ZembO Mosque, Harrisburg. 9— Majestic, Willlamsport. 10— Strand, Ithaca. 11— 12—Lyceum, Rochester, N. T. 14- 16—Erlanger, Buffalo. 17- 19—Alexandra, Toronto. 21— Majestic Utica. 22^23—Capitol, Albany. 24-26—Shubert, New Heaven. 28-30—Parsons. Hartford. 31— Carlton, Providence. June 2—Carlton, Providence. 4-5—Court Square, Springfield, Mass. 6— Plymouth, Worcester. 7- 9—Boston Opera House. 11—Shubert, Newark. 18- 20 —Academy of Music, Brook- lyn. IA Convention (Continued from page- 27) and treasurer after a stiff fight had been made by the opposition to take this spot f'-nm him. Browne goes Into office with full- est co-operation of other officers and leaders of the organization. Elec- tion resulted in moving the full Brown, ticket into office, with the exception of James Brennan, Who beat out James McGrath for sixth v.p The clean sweep of Brown's administration into office indicates a general reorganization of the en- tire setup for the coming year.- with a good chance that the organi- zation will tak an aggressive stand on issues that preyiously have been straddled. The present administration of the IATSE, headed by President El- liott, was torn apart on the floor of the annual convention. Dissat- isf aot ion-wi th^the^-ma n neiHn=wh-ioh- heads of the IA had handled mat- ters during, the past year was ex- pressed after Elliott stated at the start of the second day's session that lie would not be a randidale for re-election. Hollywood, June 11. Action of Presldont Elljott In de- j2llning to run for re-election at the IATSE convention confirms his con- fidential statement to that effect in an exclusive interview when he was on the Coast early this year.