Variety (November 1924)

Wednesday, November 26, 19SC LEGITIMATE wsir^9w^rt^j^r'"'ii^^w^yfK^^ VARIETY t • ■■;'{.■., ■. . P= era. which should b« great for the ■how. Bomitow tlM Innuendo about Ju- dlth'sr rclattona on her roadhouae escapades made one expect a "hap- py" endhiK In view of the general circumstances all heroines survive around 11 o'clock in the theatre de- spite everything looks pretty dark tor them fur (wo hours preceding. It fooled the house that way. And, of course, the mother's passionate outburst was the final "kick." Miss Dunn didn't have much to do until the last. Miss Johann was satisfactory. Howard Liang was Im- pressive as the stern parent, al- though overdoing an already over- wrlUen part Helen Strickland. Hartley Power, Richard Carlyle, Wlinam WIIliamB, Raymond Van Sickle and Floience Petarsons ac- counted wcU for themsalves among others. "Dawn" is excellent picture ma- terial. As a sfage offering its retarded tempo is chiefly against it. If re- ceiving some unforeseen presa at- tention (t.sliould survive, but other- wise on its merits it doesn't seem likely to attain a run. Ahel. NEW PLAYS PRODUCED >^' ■ >r > MY GIRL A mostckl fsrca Ipi two acta. Book and Ijrrlca by Harlan ThomliaMv. mujlc br Harry Arebrr. Stac«d br Waiter Bracks. PrMMited al the VaaderblK Umtr«. N. T., «y Lyli> I). Andrew*, Nov. 24. IVi*. Mary Wbtte Jane^Taylor Lily Gertrude Clemens Betty Brown Marie Baxon Bob Wblte Ruaeell Mack Olvar Qreen , Harry Puck Cynthia Redding ., Helen Bp^ton Harold Orar ..; Mward H. We»«r Nathaniel D. OrMo Harry <3. Keemm Mre. Cireen Margaret Armatrtui* ••Plpkle" .S Roger Otay 'JaOce Black Patrick Kafferty Mrs. BrowB Harriet Roes Violet I..»clla MtndeS Carlaa Francea Upton Coral .....,....,Blan<-h» O'Drlea Boee ; B«« Adaire HaliotrofW Uhne MamM Ruby Sybil Bursk auri ....,....: y*ny Watt. Orebid ..V.' Marie Shea Qoldle ..Ji. Josephine Bryce . liyl« D. Andrews, manager of the •Vanderbllt, made his debut as a producer of musical plays at his own house Monday night. HIa Ini- tial ofTorlng Is a two-act piueical farce written by Harlan Thompson and Harry Archer, authors of "Little Jessie James." "My Olrt" is some- what along the "Little Jessie James" lines In general construction, al- though there Is no similarity as to story or setting. "My Olri" is what is termed in this day of jazz "a red hot show" and it is Just that as far as Its numbers and its dancing are concerned. A As a matter of fact, if there is ivnythlng-wrong with the show It wlILJje fpund in that it gets away ■ with its second number to such a red hot dancing pace that there apparently Isn't anything left with which to folkiw. ' The weakness In the story lies in the first act, which ran an hour and a quarter. It was hot and cold by turn ns far as the laughs were concerned. The second act steps a'.ong on high and the interlude U at least somewhat different for a musical attraction. "My GWr as a title lias nothing to do with the story at all, but It ts pretty and stiggests romance. The story concema a young couple, the daughter of a leading woman ^worker the W. C. T. U., who is 0i»r- rled to the salesman of a hymn book house. They are both from the w«st, she from Seattle and he from Omaha. Both the youth and bis wife are strictly temporat«i but they are giving a pcu-ty In the home so that they will be elected to member- ship in the Rainbow Club, one of the exclusive country clubs where the first requirement is that one must b« named after a color of the spec- trum. The young couple throw a dry party, which la dying-on their hands until a bootlegger who is chased by the enforcement officers iruna Mb machine into their garage, and ^t the ch>se of the first act liquor is brought into the proceed- Mgs. From then oa the party la ^diupposed to have been lively. At the opening of the second act 'the interlude shows, by means of a fade in and black out, two evente 4n the lives of the principals that are supposedly taking place at the ■ame time. The wife of the hymn liook salesman U getting a divorce. 'vrhlle the hoaband, who has become a first degree souse, ts being elected yreaident of the Rainbow Club. To secure liquor for the celebra- tion be goes back to bia home to elean out the cellar for the flnal big l>Iow out, and at this point his for- mer mothiar-ln-law walks In, apd for a few minutes there is really some farce. The aecond act is by far the faster of the two as far as laughs are concerned. In the end there is the usual straightening out of the complications as well as the pairing off of the principals. All told, there are 16 numbers In the show, counting the nnales to the two aoW. The ping number of the score was "Tou and I," which Jane Taylor and Russell Mack han- dled, but the chances are that "A VeUow Wke Me" and "Rainbow of Jazx," both of whiclv were led by Marie Saxon and Harry Puck, are soing to be the dance hits of the ■how as far as the stepping end is concerned. Miss Saxon hit a speed gait In dancing with the "Rainbow Jazs." which was the second number of the show, and the nine members of the ensemble together with Harry Puck made it about the hottest dancing Interlude that baa been aeen In a Broadway show in a long while. The audience went to It like duck soup. Incidentally, that chorus has a couple of glrla in it that are wows. One, Lucile Mendes, was In "Jessie lamea" This girl la a bom come- dienne, and as a dancer she ia all to tbt mwstard. Another pair fr6m the ensemble stepped out in the last act and scored Individually. That whole chorus, however, was on its toea all the time. In the second act Miss Saxon has a number entiUed "There Was a Time" which again started the pro- cession dancing,, snd a little later . Jm»» f^^iVB "A Solo on a I>rum," ■.■; ' ''Z^.'S '.' ^2, wht9h gave the girls their individual dance, and went over for a wallop. Mr. Ptick and Miss Saxon followed with a double entitled "Love Sick," Just before the finale. All of Jane Taylor's numbers are In the tirst act, which left the task of carrying the numbers of the sec- ond act almost entirely to Miss Saxon and Mr. Puck. , Harry Puck, Helen Bolton and Russell -Mack managed very well with their comedy, iMit the real wal- lop of the show was Roger Gray as the bootlegger. When he and Mack got together for tbelr number in the first act things really began- to move, and this was the first real bit of humor that came along without be- ing forced. 1 here is but one set for both acts, but It Is a corlier, and P. Dodd Ack- erman well deserved the hand it received when disclosed. "My Girl" on the strength of its dancing and its melodies should re- main at the Vanderbllt until well toward summer and do enough busl- ners to make Its stay profitable. Incidentally, the story In Itself, although thin, is capable of building into a fairly good film script for a good fight coniedlan. providing it is gagged up somewhat. Frei. -^ NEW PLAYS PRESENTED OUTSIDE NEW YORK'an CLOSE HARMONY Harriet Orahamk... Slater Oraham..;... Annie O'Connell...., Ada Towaalay Mrs, Sheridan Kd Oraham Bfrt Hhrrldan Bill Saundera Dr. Rubbina .Oeonre Drew Mendiun Ariina Blackburn Marie Bruce , Maria Curtia Wanda L,ya« Jamea Spottiwood Robert Hudson Paul Fortrr Frederick Burton DAWN Wilmer i Vincent production featuring ElVinia Dunn In Tom Barry'* three-act drama; ataged by ClIRord Brooke. Opened Nov. M at the gam H. Hariia, New York. Matthew 8laytoa Howard l.ang Mary S'aiton, hli wife Bmma Dunn Jndlth. ChrSeusbter... Ztta Jobann Marsaret Slaytoa, bla alater...... Helen Strickland Robert Carlar Hartley Power DavM, the cardeaer Richard Carlyle Mr. Marvin Peree R. Benton Billy Randolph WlllUra Wllllama "Speed" Pamum Day Manson BIy Rot>blna Wlflam Morttan "Rabbltf Trundell...Raymond Van Sickle Jane Marvin Florence Peteraon Lulu Marnard CameUa Campbell Loela Rhodea Robert Mmitamnery Ann Perklna Bliaabcth Allen "Squeak" Maynard Lee Smith Cora Adaau Dorothy TIerocy Tom Barry's "Dawn" deals with a delicate if not altogether dangerous theme, at times brilliantly, at oth- ers dull and talky. The play's gen- eral verbosity counts most against it. The theme^ toward Its ccmcluslon, is daring and iconoclastic to the de- gree of betxomlng disagreeable. It present a thesis that might have been skilfully dealt with in a man- ner that Would qualify this as a truly great Amercian play. The Barry treatment fell shy of the mark in many respects. For the major portion of the dramaturgy it Is a more or less dreary, taiky presentation, iiitroduc- ing another of that populfu: stage and screen- heroine, the "ruined" girl. In this case she is the off- spring of religiously fanatic parents, with the father a stern disciple of the Lord, merciless as he la self- rlghteoiUK which makes him a total- ly disagreeable individual on and off. The daring of this theme comes through the mother's intervention OR behalf of her sinning daughter, who, unsophisticated and cloaely guarded, has been slipping away for nocturnal fun and dances at the ooadhouses. It develops that, after a closely applied course of cocktail administrations, Judith (Zlta Jo- hann) had really "fallen by the way- side" with "the local Packard car agent" (sotmds like an "angle" somewhere In tlUs phrase from the script) as the guilty male. The last-minute punch has Judith refusing Robert Carter, her Sfeducer, who professes honest love, because of a preference for Billy Randolph show, fo^ .ticular rein in ^he I ert in'tUR There Is the par a diet J(L Sheridan family— Bras uhtiF'**'^"' story of Int WAY OF THE WORLD New York, Nov. 20. J>ear Chick: The boss of this rag put one over on me Tuesday when he sent me down to Greenwich Village to catch "The Way of the World," at the Cherry Lane theatre, which is some Joint, if you get me. You could put the whole layout in Charlie Weller's trunk and have room for a couple of bass fiddles left over. I get two duckets In the office marked. $2.20 a copy. and. in spite of the tap, I don't rumble that 1 ain't goln' to a burlesque show, fo I am the varicose vein expert Joint and have been on a _ Mutual and Columbia operas my old l^dy had to build a runway Into our dining room to get me to eat. 1 blast down to this Cherry Lane hut In the Village and found it with- out callin' up S. Jay Kaufman. When me and the Arab get inside I tumble from the "atmosphere" that we're in the haunts of the literati. (If you can't make that one, pass It up.) It's a comedy In five acts, adapted from a book by a guy namfd Mister Congreve. They don't gl*e his first monicker, which will probably pull a squawk from Mister Duffy, Sweeney and Mister Plpp. There are more actors on the rostrum than seats In the Cherry Lane, and It's all about framing kn old dame by a guy who is after her Jack. They finally drees up one of the ssrvants as a Knight, and. although wlt4> a wife, he mar- ries the old mam^ia." She naturally bums up when finding she's been gypped- AH of this happened In London in 1700. A fnore doublin' crossin' bunch of guy^ and dafnes you wouldn't find outside of a picture lot. E>very guy In the play is havin' an affair with some other bird's wife, until it would take Burns to find out who's the lovers and who's the chumps. At the end of ^he first act I aaya to the Arab. "Whatda yuh aay, baher She aMrs: "It may be the world to Mister Congreve. but to me It's a pain In the tonsil. What this show lacks la a good, peppy chorus and a low comedian like Boso Sny- der to put some hoke Into It." , The scenery also run for the ei^ book. One set had a flock of htmscs painted on a back drop. The house was painted small to get distance in perspective, if you get me; but it worked oaX like the people upstage wiis standln' on a roof. When the Arab piped It she says: T didn't know they had skyscrapers In them days." She's a bright kid. Chick, and knows what it's all about. If you get me. If jrou boot "per- spective," pasa It up. The only action in this two-h(^r opera was when a couple of the boys got drunk in the last act You could tell by the way they did a drunk they had never aeen Leon Errol. Two acted like female Impersonators, and Wilmington. Del., Nov. 25. "Close Harmony," Arthur Hopkins* new comedy, at the Playboase. will please Broadway if the enthusiastic reception accorded it here counts. The play is Just a page from middle- class life, with none of the violence of stage mecluinlcs nor the quirks of dramatics. Dorothy Parker and Elmer Rice, the authors, have han- dled the piece in a way ttiat appeals to the "common herd." It is of the things that break up homes, and they are shown "Just as they happen" In real (not stage) life, and the end, happy, sends evei^one away who is not a cynic with a pleasant remembrance. It is the story of the Graham fam- ily and of a Mrs. Sheridan, a good woman, but who has a little bad In her. The scene In the first of the three acts is In a home in a middle- class New 'York suburb. Harriet Graham, the wife, and a visiting sis- ter-in-law show Just what sort of hell a man can let himself in for when he loses his grip on his par- ,ticular rein in ^he family. ^ '-^-- •- the parallel atory of the family—an entirely dlf- compaUbllity. Of com^e, there Is a Graham-Sheridan community of aympathy. Thla In the second act brings the work of the authors and players to heights of achievement. In the second act Mra Sheridan, played excellently by Wanda Lyon, and Mr. Oraham. played by James Spottswood in magnificent style, get together over some very fine high- balls, some music and. finally, some toddling. "Daddy" is smitten, and the pair, disgusted with their home life, decide to go away together and begin life anew. The scene changes to the Orahaan home, with Grataan's danghtar. thought to be hurt In a little %cM with a playmate. There is the ad- vent of "jpother." -sister" and "sls- ter-lB-|aw." and a conse<iuent slow- ing tjp of the eh^penient plans. What taally happens is condnelve to adjusting many domestic tangles that thousands of >homes fall Into. Tbe contpany was a. capable one and the play one that is a pleasing evening's diversion. sical hit, "Lady. Be Good." Al- though he puts it across with unc- tion, it needs much more of a voice. Victor Arden and Phil Ohman. known for their records, make a brief appearance at the end of the first act. Their piano playing is not startling, although they put the song "Lady Be Good" over with effectiveness. As briefly spotted, It Is hard to see their values to the show. Alan Edwardes Is o. k. as the Juv- enile, his quiet personality and methods being a big relief. Brenda ' Bond is a striking beauty without much to do. Jayne Aubucn, ks a society vamp, has one whale of a good scene with Catlett- Gerald Oliver Smith does a "simp" role with some clever touches. It is said that Kathryn Martin is to be given a part opposite Catlett as In "Dear Sir." The book by Ouy Bolton and Fred Thompson has Its moments, but the opening Is dreary and wHI have to be trimmed to shreda There is altogether too much action and too little musle or comedy—too much plot In other words. Bolton is understood as working on It now. Sammy Lee has done excellent work In staging the dances, but most striking of all are the settings designed by Bel-Oeddes. There are tour diatlnot acenea. with two Inter- ludea before the curtain. All are atunnlng and In the finest of tast^ Gershwin's score has the distinc- tion of being as Jaasy as anything heard here In a long time, and quite different from most of Phllly's re- cent shows. It Is uneven, but has some oatehy nitmbera Wsteft. GOD BLESS OUR HOME Baltimore. Nor. M. Robert Milton preaanu "Ooi Btsai Oet Homa." ooBMd* by PMIIp Bisny. Mmtte* by Robart Mllto*. SatUesa by UvincMae Ptatt. Pint Una en au stag* at Wvti'a, tra. waak Mov. IT. (William Williams), vaguely de-___ scribed as from the local university I the'onlygUwney in'the place'who and possessing a Stutz. The father is ail for forcing the nuptials be- tween Carter and Judith. The mother, in a rage at her daughter's complications, finally turna on the husband who had domineered her existence these many years, and de- cries the man-made laws that to sin like Judith has tinned is not wrong In the eyes of Jesus (quoting "L^t him who hath not alnned cast the first stone,",etc.). For the flnal punch to depict her maternal protection for her cub, she exclaims that if Judith Is to be con- sidered "bad" then she. too, la a "btiS woman," because she came to her husband following a elm'lar ex- perience, The ruthless Matthew Slayton doubts this, and for the ctirtaln"The mother (Bmma Dunn) exclaims; "What of Itr* teaylns the ibtpression that she had lied pur- posely, but meantime Judith has gone out to meet the man of her choice, btioyed up by her mother's gospel that she committed no \*rong. that she erred through Ig- norance and unsoohl8tl'-f>t'''n iv^-' the automobile agent-seducer's se- cret was a burled past and mat n^i- exlstence to come with Billy be- tokened happiness. It Is the first serious treatment of the Jazs age and present-day ydUth. nrom thla soia-ce the play will draw its following. It will probably also draw a tw refo.-mers and disseat- looked natural was a tat guy who had parted many a swingin' door In his day. And he ha4 what it takes to part them with. If you get me. I am goln' to tip Izzv Herk or Sam Scrlbner about thla Cnerry Lane. It was once a stable, and got oi^ the map when Al Woods grabbed "Con- science" out of the house after he had seen a rehearsal. "The Man Who Ate^ the Fopomack" also busted In down here. It ain't no relation to "The Man Who Came Back," so don't get balled up. "The Way of the World" won't be disturbed by Al or none uf the Grand Street Boys. I heard It was verj- "dirty" before I cum down, but U'f as t^me ns a Sanday'night with th<> wife, except when they frame the old gal. It don't compare with them Mutuals at the Olympic, and If this mob think this is a Pfppy opera I would Just like to see a flock of them long-haired guys elttin' la rail seata up at the Proa- pect when the "Hot Water-Bag Babies'* atnit bare-leggcd evt on that nrnway. It wouldn't hurt Miater Congreve nona either, for he oould cop a oeapie of good bits, like "Does the Irtanman Know Itr* or Irish Jus- tice" and stick them Into the first fonr sets of "The Way of the World." Thar need It. kid. If you get ma Tear old side kicker. Con. LADY, BE GOOD! PhiUdelphjIa. Nov. U. Tkis musical produced by Alex Aarons and Vinton Freedley, open- ing at the Forrest, looks to be on the credit side of the ledger, with- out being phenomenal. ^ As It stands now, after a week of rehearsals and considerable chop- ping and switctalog, it la still far stronger in the aecond act than the first (reversing usual prooedure). Several new faces are coming in preparatory to hop-off to Broadway, and a dull prolog Is being out way down, so that "Lady. Be Oood" ap* pears on the high road to oonalder- able popularity. Its main assets, as It stands, are the remarkable work done by Adele Astaire, several catchy Jazs num- bers by Cieorge Gershwin, and very attractive stage pictures by Norman Bel-Geddes. The dancing (e also tip-top, the Astalres of course lead- ing the way, with a chorus strong in some numbers and atill ragged in others. MIsa Astatre'a work la remark- able to those who remember-her before shj left the V. 3. for London. She oomes back a star In every sense. Her dancing la as fine as ever, but what la more imporf.Tnt, she has developed a comedy sense that is rich, and her personality has broadened and snapped up to euch an extent that she now grabs the audience's aymapttay and nt- tentlon from the atart. Her voice la light but she pats across her mtisical numbers In great style. An excellent example of this Is shown In the number, "So Am I," a quiet haunting little rtrain sung by her and Alan Kdn ardes. Better still are her two comedy numbers, "Juanlta." n variety of Spanish with pleaty of burlesque, and "Swiss If la*," which mmrn near the finale and stops the t<how right after, Cliff Kdwards (Ukulele Ike) has had the audience begging for more of his Jazz«. It is net an pmny spot, and MUs Astaire docs a eorking piece of work. Fred Astaire does ail the dancing required of him and gets away with n big, but he Is below his sister in personality and versatility. "Swiss Miss" Is his best number. Walter Catlett has considerable comedy although most of his rou- tine ts famttiar. To Catlett Is given tbe tMk fLfoCins the show's nu- PhiUp Barry, whose first plar. "Tro and I," was good enough to escape the Piilkser Prtae, he* net done so well with his seoeadL Za thwe and charaeterlaation this Is by far the autre anabttlMig iwt U Jdst Isn't good theatre. «m 'chief trouble aeema to be that the evolution of the hero hewa too cl.>aely to Ufa to be wholly satla- fylng. The play concerns a week-end with the Winslowa The Wlnslowa ate the family la a oii«-fact(try town. They own the Ctetory.' It produces pins and erMently proe- pera for they are enabled to dwell in the kind o| fooma Livingston Piatt deaigna so beautifully. The Wtnalows are the sort who read the "BateTspoal" and think La Follette geta money from Mos- cow. Under the titular head of widowed mater and the active lead- ership of big babbltty Ivother Oli- ver they make life mla^able for the youngest eon Richard. The crime of Richard la hia utter Indifference to plna He reirtrds blggar and better bnalaeas as Jukt a bore. He believes In "belles letters"; he wants to write, and above all be wanta to be let alone. This la treason to bla One Hundred Par- cent family. In puniahment they cut hIa meagre allowance and In- form him that he nuat vacate his room In favor of alater Martha'a house guest. It Is this guest, Nancy Blake, who motivates the play. It la she who sizes up the situation and steels Richard to aasert himself. In thla she la aided by one of thoae trick willa ao dear to dramatiaU. The reault In ultimate triumph, but the hero's three-act Journey to that gi^ la too freely Interrupted by detonra of Indecision to be pleasing to audi- ences ac<^UBtomed to taking their regeneration iTtratght. For this reason the Act Two cur- tain where Richard, having de- stroyed brother Oliver's star span- gled Fourth of July oration, atepi to the front porch and addreaaes the townfolk. fell rather flat. Thev expected an unerring broadside against the Babbitts. They got a hesitant and desultory albeit cynlcti counterblast. More, the knowing Nancy, for all her charm, was too paf?ntly tfc<; author's pup»>»f to interest dee^y. The ultimate flowertag of hers mvA Richard's amour waa a f»rac<N)e conoluslon. Joan Maclean (whs caase to America with "The IBUa Game") makes human thla rather amateur- ish part and Katherlne Alexandw la delightful as Martha, the cynical flapper, but Henry Hull la well-nigh perfect aa Richard. He undoubtedly geU out of the part all that Mr. Barry wrote Into It and pertiapt more. It .la one of the aeaaon's his- trionic hlgh-spotai •v."