Variety (September 1922)

18 LEGITIMATE Friday, September 8, 1922 BROADWAY REVIEWS SALLY, IRENE AND MARY Jlmmlo Pugan Eddie Dowling Mtm. Dugan Joale intropidi Mar, O'llrien Edna Morn Mrs. O'Brien Maude Ode)I Sally Jean Urowii Mr*. Clancy Clara Palmer Irene Kitty Flynn Rodman .lorn a Hal Van Renaaelaer Mra. Jones Winifred Harrla Clarence. Edwards Alfred Oerrard Mr. Mv.ih Joseph Clark Percy Fitzgerald Burford Hamj><l'n At <*l<vcland Manlcy Kurd Sully I>. J. Sullivan Tony D. J Sullivan Mr. Mulcabey Eddie O'Connor Dinty Moore (Jen* Collins Frank William Mason First Dresser lo Ulrls Henrietta B>ron BacctM) Dresser to Girls 1-oulse Arnold Three musical plays which reached Broadway in the last twwo weeks are of vaudeville origin. Two, •The Gingham Girl" and "Molly Darling," were elevated to the legitimate by their original vaude- ville producers. The latest entrant, "Sally, Irene and Mary." which rung up at the Casino Sept. 4, was a vaudeville revue turn featuring one of the Shubert vaudeville bills last season. Eddie Dowling wrote and put it on, probably with the same aid—Cyrus Wood, Raymond Klages (lyrics) and J. Fred Coots («core)—who are all credited with the full length attraction. Dowling nl»o appeared Jn the act, though Mabel Withee was the featured player. As a legitimate offering "Sally, Irene and Mary" comes as a production of the Messrs. Shubert, with Dowling the feature. In all three plays the aim has been to stick to musical comedy type, that is, to hold to the story or plot. All three having gotten off to favorable starts strengthens the opinion that that class of musical piece is coming back. As for "Sally, Irene and Mary," plot is adhered to too much, particularly so in the second act. That drew the open- ing night performance out to an 11:25 curtain. The show in its out- of-town dates was greeted warmly, which may have caused hesitancy in cutting. But some elimination should be made, for the tempo of the show cannot be held steady otherwise. One scene, that of a charity bazaar, for one thing could go out without hurt to the enter- tainment. The title is taken from three musical smashes of the two sea- sons preceding that juet ended. Neither "Mary," "Irene" nor "Sally" was a Shubert production, but the managers have fallen heir to the three-way title. There is nothing from the original plays other than the names, except it is a variation Of the Cinderella story that count- ed for "Irene" and, too, for "Sally." The east side tenement is pictured at the opening and again close to the finale, which was true of "Irene." The lovers of Avenue A remain constant, despite the heroine's rise to Broadway stardom while the hero has just developed into a plumber (and alderman). The strain of sen- timent is just as strong as in "The Gingham Girl," if not stronger. Dowling's added book with his love for hi« mother builds up that factor and it is carried forth with sin- cerity. What Dowling has done in thj way of a book is to set forth the humor of the early days when folks wens plain Dugan, O'Brien and O'Dare—either as he knew them or iw he believes they were. As Jim- my Dugan his faith in his race and his politics can never fade. The worst thing he could think of to hurt Sully, the stage door keeper of the theatre on Broadway wXere Mary made her hit. was to te,ll the mar.: "In your heart you are a Republican." Again when Mary tells Jimmy it Is he she loves and plans a wedding at the Little Church Around the Corner, Jimmy, although exalted at winning the ^111 ho loves, cries out, "St. Malachy's or nothing." Both bits were genuine laughs. Edna Morn, who has been on the road a season or two, got her chance as Ihs feminine lead. Mary, and created a pleasing impression. She led most of the numbers well, has a sweet manner and acted excellently as a foil to Dowling In several of hifl comedy scenes. One of the best was a proposal bit. Miss Morn had "Time Will Tell" with Dowling. the number being the best of the melo- dies. Jean Brown as Sally won the honors of individual scoring near iho first act finale with a too dance. Miss Brown started slowly and dis- placed unusual cleverness with one toe spinning. Kitty Flynn play. <i lronc. I »owling as a successful young ).lumber "with $1,800 in bank, two Liberty bonds, a trunk full of marks and a tin lizzie." was at his very lxst. lie was adroit in getting over liis comedy points and convincing in his devotion both to his mother and his "goil." No hotter selection could have l)oen made for the mother role than Josie Intropidi. Many a kiss was planted upon her elii'i'lc by Eddie".— Bowl i ng made a Kood deal out of a bit with the stage door keeper, very well don<' by i>. J. Sullivan, The cast is a humorous mixture of youthful players in the leads and • •horns and A. K.'s generously pres- ent on the roster. Several were em- ployed for the gabby and rhar- tacteristic tenement scene (Miss Intropidi, Clara rainier and Maude Odell), for the stage door bits and the bazaar. "Do You Remember'' was an old-timers' number, given by old-timers in the persons of Hen- rietta Hyron, Louise Arnold, William Mason and Sullivan. The quartet hoofed it some and surprised by their stamina by encoring. There were several additional old boys present, including Eddie O'Connor, while Joseph Clark is definitely out of the juvenile class too. There were three juveniles. Alfred Ger- rard, Hal Van Rensselaer and Bur- ford Hampden, all figuring in the numbers. Burford and Gerrard led "Stage Door Johnnies" with Miss Brown, the melody havmg a popular swing. Stanley Ford had an unim- portant assignment. There was one novelty in the pro- duction of numbers, tiiat being the "Dance of the Radium." It held a chorus group with white frocks, treated with radium paint, the same idea as the lace number in the "Follies." The number here merely shows up the title of the show when the lights are out. Each girl's skirt held a letter. The number was listed for the first act but was switched to the opening of the second. It was not encored. "Jimmie," one of the earliest numbers, was one of the best of a fair score. The chorus got some- thing with their evolutions, includ- ing a rope-skipping dance. Allan Foster staged the dances and had more chance early in the show than later. Mabel Kokin went onto the apron in the "Jimmie" number for a dance specialty, which she did with credit. Her East Side rig was belied by a diamond bracelet. "Sally, Irene and Mary" are back on Broadway Jn the Dowling show. It's a good entertainment and, if properly handled, which calls for the fashioning of a smoother perform- ance, ought to make a bid for popu- larity, ibee. . HUNKY DORY Imported Scotch comedy In three acts, presented by Marc Klaw at the Klaw. New York, Sept. 4. WX£. MacDonald Watson featured player and author of piece. A Postman Ansua Adam Jenny ; Ne 11 Darker P«!»r Stella CampbelI Hunky Dory Walter Roy Specky Todd Hubert Drysdale Mrs. MacFayden Frances Rosa Campbell Peter Magutne MacDonald Watson David Low A. Manning Sproalon Like all imported Scotch, this has been "cut"* a little for American con- sumption. Marc Klaw on his sum- mer trip to England witnessed it at the Apollo, London, and selected it as the opening attraction of the new season for the Klaw, New York. Last week the piece was presented In Montreal, and the- New York opening occurred Monday night be- fore an audience that just about half filled the house. Despite its size the audience was enthusiastic and the lines and business brought frequent laughs, especially from the balcony, where a number of evi- dently American-Scotch were wit- nessing the play. Those Americans in the audience were catered to by a number of gag lines that were evidently interpolated for home con- sumption. These to a certain extent detracted from the real Scotch in the bottle, but on the whole it can be said that the comedy was thor- oughly enjoyed. Abroad the production was made by Cecil Barth. That production was brought to this country intact, but on arrival it was discovered it would not do, and a new production was built here by P. Dodd Acker- man. There are but eitfht players in the little company, and MacDonald Watson, who plays the principal comedy role, is likewise the author of the piece. He is a cross between Will Demming and Harry Fox at times and does not look unlike the latter. Ho is a real comedian and geti his lines over effectively at all times. In business, however, he re- sorts to a little hoke now and then, as with the juggling of a cut of cheese in the second act. The seven supporting players are clever ar- tists, especially Walter Roy, who reminds of Henry E. Dixey at times, as Hunky Dory, the character from which the piece, derives it name. Strange as it mav seem, this piece , k< ts its title from the role of the I villain. Nell Barker as the heroine pa\o a >harmlng performance, and In her Bcenes with Robert Drysdale as Specky Todd was most convincing. Drysdale incidentally is much liHe Frank Bacon. Frances Ross ("amp- be:] as a little Scotch chatterbox of more than past middle ape proved a strong comedy factor, hut P. Man- i ning Sproston seemingly played the role assigned to him entirely too well to Impress. .As to plot, it is the flimsiest kin>1 of an excuse, but sufficient to sus- taln the comedy of the author- player. TCnA Mri'lcS TTl« piny from beginning to end. It is ;» little story of life In a small Scottish villnpo. line Specky Todd has been n cob- bler for »0 years, Hunky Dory w.is hi- rival in the days for the hand of the village belle, and he won her. Later, when she died, Hunky was too ardent a follower of John Bai ley corn, gave his daughter to Specky, with the proviso he could have her back whenever he wanted her. He also holds a whip hand over Specky, as he is aware the lat- ter borrowed £100 from a man since dead, and as the note was not found after the death Specky did not pay the widow and had to stand for continual blackmail at the bands of Hunky because of it. The arrival of the representative of a chain of stores in the town to buy Specky out gives Hunky an idea he may be able to bring about a match between his Jenny and this man, whom he recognizes as the son of a former millionaire boot manufacturer. As it finally turns out this young man is already mar- ried, and Jenny weds the comedian. Had "Hunky Dory" been the first of the Scotch plays to arrive in this country it undoubtedly would have been a clean-up, because it is a good evening's entertainment from a laughter standpoint, and with the vogue the initial Scotch importations had it would surely have been a tre- mendous money-maker. At this time, however, the piece must stand on its merits, and the chances are that it will go along to a quiet busi- ness, getting a rather select audi- ence that likes this sort of thing. But one wanfS to keep their eyes on this man Watson. He is a rare comedian and it is certain he is going to go a long way in this country. Fred. THE PLOT THICKENS Adonis Duckworth Edwin Nlcander Joseph Roy Cochrane Oilvotti Jasper Mangione Malllday Fred House Claudine Remy Carpen Jones John Thorn Bill Albert Bannister First Player Russell Morrison Second Player Neil Qulnlan Third Player .....John Saunders Basil Fanshawe Edward Lester Mike Sheehan Dallas Welford Mike Sheehan. Jr Dwlght Frye QrtSMl Mr Nab Janet Murdock Commissioner Joseph R. Mann Dr. Maggs Jack Amory impossible young crook in the piece, is the most promising juvenile to arrive on Broadway since Elliot Nugent. Otherwise the whole busi- ness looks like a total loss. Cohan might have made a howl- ing laugh out of it, and almost any good vaudeville actor could have produced a snappy comedy around the basic idea. As entertainment to the classes it refused to qualify and surely the herd will not warm to it, for it has no romance and only a dab at comedy, the "refine- ment" taking the teeth out of the farce and the farce bleeding from the refinement. Lait. Twas a balmy Sept. 5 evening and a goodly crowd was at the Booth to see a Brock Pemberton production. Since Winthrop Ames, known as a high-arter. selects the plays for the Booth (and he turns down many a likely one because it isn't just up to his idealistic stand- ards), and Mr. Pemberton is iden- tified with effete art. if, not always with fat receipts—what could be sweeter as a potential tidbit for the sycophantic critics of Manhattan who blurb over the guild effusions, and the uptowners who think the theatre as an institution is so vulgar? . The limousines drove up in droves and the villagers shuffled up in groups. The clean but still poetic proponents of the uplift from in between rubbed elbows and stood ."boulder to shoulder with them. It was a faithful turnout of the pas- sionate devotees and fearless de- fenders of better things in the the- atre, a massing of the intellectuals and the cognoscenti, sprinkled with the dissenters against the commer- chil stage and the resenters against mercenary managers. And they got the shock of their lives. Brock Pemberton presented. But he presented them (and right in Winthrop Ames' pet theatre) with a frivolous farce. That is," he pre- sented his version of one. "The Plot Thickens" was a suc- cess in Europe. It was written by Luigi Barzini and Arnaldo Fracca- rolli. Pemberton had it adapted by Thomas Beer, whose work and whose name were thereunto un- known to this benighted reviewer of playwrights. Beer did rather well with it, and. therefore, no puns on his name will be committed. But if Pemberton's name could be bevoed! There Is nothing more pitiful than a roughneck trying to be elegant, save it be a highbrow seeking to be a hick. Mr. Pemberton's attempt here to present colloquial, slanKy, rough-and-tumble farce, was faintly amusing and tepidly interesting. , The story tells of a bored young millionaire who meets a ridiculous movie director who is using his grounds for "location." gets an in- spiration, gives the director a big 'check and tells him to sic tin ills onto him—burglars, gunmen, any- i thins —the unexpected. Then things : begin to happen and the idiot, of (•ourse. thinks they were framed by [the director and are all play-acting. A chief of police is sane enough to discover that the man is crazy, land then it is explained away before |*they can take him to the booby- , hatch, where he belongs. ! . Meanwhile the "complications" are thin and the plot fails to thicken. | The !ov«« story is a mess and is en- tirely shredded by the absurd antics, | The direction is so strainediy un- natural that half the house kept laughing in the wrong spots and the Other half kept sighing most all the time. The really bright spot was Remy Carpen. making her American de- but. Miss Carpen, whatever her foreign career has been, is Q fetch- ing ,'iml striking ynunir l n ' UUty \ cry reminiscent of Jeanne Bagel*. Her French SCCCnt is. genuine, and it is intriguing. She has effective emo- tionalism, feminine charm and youth. Her career will be the main salvage i»f -The Plot Thicken*.' Dallas Welford, as a comedy crook, was corking, and Dwlght K'rve, an THE ENDLESS CHAIN Nellie Webb O'.lve May Vera Pay ton , Martha Mayo Lulu Densmore.' Vera Halare Amy Reeves Margaret Lawrence Kenneth Reeves Kenneth MacKenna Valentine Webb Kenneth Hunter Billy Densmore Harry Stubba Andrew Hale Harry Minium A. L. Erlanger presented this new- fashioned play on an old-fashioned mold at the Cohan theatre Labor Day. By virtue of Margaret Law- rence's personality, though this scintillating high comedienne is widely miscast, it will take its place for a while as an attraction. It will never amount to anything as a drama, no matter who plays in it. James Forbes, author in bis time of some homely and snappy come- dies of middle-class life, wrote this one. It is a story similar to that of Eugene Walter's "Fine Feathers," also like Owen Davis" "Up the Lad- der," the theme of the former plus the method of the latter—meaning Jhat it is the time-worn taie of the young couple wanting clothes and speed, which leads to temptation and heartaches, and the old.solution of chucking it all and going back to simple joys in a humble love nest, except that "The Endless Chain" is up to the minute and a little past it (maybe by the hour that daylight saving time has on the hinterlands) in commentaries upon - current ethics, morals and ideals; or, rather, on the absence of them. Miss Lawrence essays a role as weepy as any Jane Cowl or Helen MacKellar ever sobbed through. As she does everything, she does the part of the young wife with poise, gradation and an exquisite quality of natural and technical ex- pression. Beyond this the whole affair has little value, and in this it is a waste, since she was so great in "Lawful Larceny" that she should have remained in it, for the good of the theatre at large, rather than de- vote her stellar accomplishments and superior gifts to a book which will not leave a fingerprint upon the register of dramatic progress. This piece is neither art nor good hokum. The laughs are not suffi- ciently decisive to plant it as a comedy and the plot is neither new nor worth reviving. The man after whom the theatre was named might have twisted it into a satire and accounted for it that way. This way it is static, and Mr. Forbes himself, without so expressing it, seems to realize and preach in "The Endless Chain" that this era is unsympa- thetic to things static. Harry Minturn. long a western actor,^hone effulgently beside Miss Lawrence as the polite "heavy." Miss Mayo, with the best role of the piece, a well done "aunt type" char- acterization scored. Mr. MacKenna as the young husband was rather somber. The rest of the acting was inconsequential. This is not one of those easily picked and obvious failures. It will presumably have a respectable ca- reer, as did "The Frenrh Doll" and other lukewarm presentations gilded with one irresistible personality and not so bad as to create one of those instantaneous Broadway show scan- dals, like, for example, "I Will If You Will" or "The Fair Circassian." It is good for a few weeks, located at the apex of the theatrical world, sponsored by the astute Erlanger office. Lait. BETTER TIMES "Better Times." let's hope, for everyone, but surely for the Hip- podrome with this entertainment, which opened Sept. 2. At $2.">0 top the Hip cant fail with its newest attraction, one that lines up with almost anything it has had in the past and i-^ so far ahead of last season's Hip's show at $ 1.T,0 there will he no comparison. It's a great trick Charles Dilling- ham and H. H. IJurnside put over at the Hippodrome, when they put it ovef, and they have? put it over in "Better Times." It's the,biggest achievement of all the theatre busi- ness. That immense stage, tre- mendous number of theatre people (in a theatre) and, perhans not least of all, to keep the production* cost within the Federal Reserve limit. In the present show the latter appears to have been the real ac- complishment. Although with two heavy finales and mriny other scenes. Mr. Burnside, who stages the Hip productions, has filled completely its stag., with a sightly spectacle without having apparent- ly mane it over-exi#en«ive. It's a fe.it of staging. Saturday night the show, starting on time or slightly before, ran until 11:.10 without a hitch or a slip the entire evening. Kemfmbering the intricacies of the Hippodrome stage direction, that was quite note- worthy if not uncommon In thin house. It won't be a difficult per- formance to cut for the Hip's reg« ular running time, and it will be) clipped with perhaps a bare elimi- nation, but without much change of the running show otherwise, an- other splendid testimonial to the pre-judgment of these showmen who operate the mammoth Hippo- drome. Of the current "Better Times" this may be said: That it's tho best matinee show the Hip has ever had. If the purpose was to get the children, the Hip will get them. It is now as much for kids as grown- ups. Two or three items seem to have been inserted for children only. The big number is the second act finale flash, "The Story of a Fan." Designed by Mark Lawson, it evo- lutes, from a fan to fan.*, to. floods of fans, to an electrically lighted fan holding 12 girls in its panels and perched aloft of the whole, to the very end when naught of the stage may be seen but fans. At- tractive as it progresses. Certainly nothing ever there before so entire- ly crowded up that stage. The first act finale was fetching in its color scheme of black and white, with :a skeleton idefT that created fantastic dancing little devils in skeleton dress all over the stage. In a previous number called "In the Clouds" a sort of starry back drop effect had 90 heads of girls protruding through small round apertures. There were still as many girls on the stage. George Herman was the dancing skeleton the number was built around. Another handling of the chorus was in the finale of the perform- ance, "The Harbor of Prosperity," the 17th and last episode pro- grammed. With previous comedy in the tank, to which this whole scene is devoted, a phalanx of 10 rows of girls, eight abreast, marched from the rear of the stage, to steps, and down the steps into the water, dis- appearing. The water disappear- ance has been used shortly before, when a line of girls on the front rim of the tank, after performing some slight Swiss water glass rim playing, did backward somersaults into the tank. This finale was con- cluded with "My Golden Dream Ship," sung by Nanette Flack, as a ship arose from the water. A real musical comedy number was "I Dreamt That I Went to tho Grand Opera Ball," with the intro- ductory and special lyric sung by Harry Lambert. It's a bit done in the style of the Music Box for ef- fect and arrangement, with the following programmed list of those appearing in character costuming. CHARACTERS Pierrot Happy 1 .ambert lt.diemlan Girl Nanette Flack Scarpia Ralph lirainard Carmen Graciallta Ixihengrin Frank Joyce Ai<1a Minna Hamm Gilda Dvrothy dates Toreador Robert McClellan T ax Tosca Sarah Edwards Radamee Edward Reek Santuzza Pearl Kay field Othello .'. Joseph Frohoff Miml Claudia 1 vanova Mlmi'a Pal*— S.-haunard Sid Williams Rudolph Murray Evans Marcel Joe Riley Collins Jimmy Bradv Madame Butterfly Amelia Rose The Child Ethel Downte Merry-Wives of Windsor- Mrs. Page; Louise Reautcra Mrs. Ford Beatrice Trice Mrs. Quickley Alice Wilson Falstan* Albert Alberto Tannhauser ^....'William Williams Cleopatra Nellie Melville ( I^ee VVilmott Poland Gordon Moistening* rs -( Frank Ginnett* I Archie Leach I Jack Burley Hoffmann Blllv Smith Julietta E.lcn Rone. Olympia m 1-orna Lincoln Lu ia Ilae Ktnckdale Don <;esarde Kazan John Murphy Salome .....Marven Morgan I" s.i- mm. J..- Virginia Fsjtrelle Romeo Fra nk Johnson Figaro Harry Tamaroff Flying I)ut< hman Frank Herbert Marguerite Etna Hansen Hamlet Henry Stevens' Thais Helen Ward Prince Igor William Holbrook Owen of Kheba Olady* Comerford Ernani Andnw Byrne William Tell James Ryrn»« Ophelia <>l«ra Mihai'.ovaha'yn Martha I)' rvthy Campbell Mignnh Margaret Ski Her Samson Harry Ward BftU I/Oe Loyrtl Nedda Frances Rlythe Tristan Roy Binder Isold© Mae Waldrou Siegfried t;eorge Kuii*.witch f'irl <,f th- Golden West HettV IOe.« Fau*t Fred r McPnerson ' Juliet Winifred V*erln» Don Olovanni (Jeorge Herman Friend of the Don Tc-m Pender Mephlstopbelca Duane Nelson Kra Diavolo Chartec Ravel Rlsoletto Eddie Russell Fedora Lillian Hauman N'atomu < Had) h < 'rntisimi Manon Huth M.it'<> i- Paraifsl ....Andre Lupin I'm Jose Maurice Lupus Dlnnrah !,••:<':«• Armnnd Jr-hn I'hilip SousS Tommv Colton Q*ttt-< 'r i./■.::i !■ hii IJyrP'- Ladh n' Jaet Han't K Claire, -. Claire, C. Claire, T. V< lalne, M Arnold, J. Arnold, B. Arnold lo specialties or acts th<> show hflp some new and some old. yuitc tin biggest and best is Orlando^ Horses opening the second net. it i a foreign numbi r. of wide European reputation, the first tint«- appearing over here (New Acts). Known as a •liberty norse at.'' with nil ol Tin horses in the.ring only under th< whip direction 6f their tralner^tlnn master), these 16 horses :uld six ponies did astounding formations and movements for that sort of free * ork, Another Importation was Torbny (.New Acts), a HbadowgrnphHt.