Variety (Feb 1927)

Wednesday, February 2, 1927 LEGITIMATE VARIETY 49 PLAYS OUT OF TOWN THE DRAG ^^m. Uoii:an«t^ni presents mhnt he rnlU 'a humu!H>xual comedy diaina In ilw> t« acts," by Jane Mast. pf«« udon> m tor the clainiM authonthip of Mue West. Sixteen print ipaU and tv>o m-ure ot "»uper8," Staged by Kdward hllsner. BpoMors are the same as for "Sex" at Daly's. New York. Firsi time at Poli's Fark Theatre, Bridgeport. Conn., Jan. 81. Or. Richmond .Elmer Grand in Barbara Richmond.Bmlly T. Francis A Maid ..•••...Jane Toung David f'alrtwell Allan Oftitipbell <Mom Hathaway Ilowe JuiiK» KinKHbury.........A. Francis I^nz Taxi Driver Pain Mami tMaire f...Margaret liawkins Roland Kingsbury Jay Sheridan Bdtlcr Of-orge Du Valt Roaoo QiUlngwat«r Charlea Townaend Jack WInlfrad Gharlaa Ordway Hal Swanson • •••• Harry 8bls0le Aian GrayHon •...Marshall Bradford Marlon Hunter Marion Davis Billy Arthur Kowse Chienta—Mr. Herbert .SliUmun. Hobt)y D'Andrpa. Kugene Ca.sali. Allan cJray, (Sua .Shilling. Kd Hearne. Stuart <'ailaghan. John Mangum, Harry Carroll, Kdi i^^llis, Sylvan Kepetli, Howard Dilley, Di< k Gray. John Romiser, Prank Carroll, JamM Jiiaf> Uvorges Du Vail, Frad Dickaaa. CluuriM Zianffstoii. Jlmmj Bairy. " It P. T. Barnum had ever been inspirod to sta.«?e a grand and flit- tering spectacle entitled, for in- stance, "The DestAiction ot Sodom," tills is about the Way he would hAve gone about it. Tlie whole play 19 a cheap and shabby appeal to Sfinsationalism, done without intelld^ence or taste aiid In the spirit of & Winter Oar- den revue. If it ever fret* to Broad- way, it would be a calamity, just at this time, when, more than ever before, the subject of a Broadway play censor is under national agi- tation. The play was billed all over Bridgeport, even to a banner stretched across the main street and Jn plain vi«nv to everybody that left tlie railroad station, as "A homo- sexual comedy drama, more sen- sational than 'Rain' or 'Sex'." By 7:30 Monday evening the house was sold out and the first performance was witnessed by a capacity audience. There was, in .addition, a big turnaway. James P. Sinnott, secretary of the New York Police Department, was In the audience on behalf of Police Commissioner Moliaiiglilill. with in- structions to report. "The Drag" is the dramatization of a wild party irlven by a rich pervert to his group of painted and bedizened men friends. Tiiis epi- sode is staged with hippodrome elaborations takinp up close to 26 minutes of the third act, without dialognie or dramatic action of any kind. In the playing it is exactly like a revue number, or the floor show of a night dUb. Some SO young men take part in this spec- tacle, half tricked out in women's clothes and half in tuxedos. Half a docen of the boys in skirts do specialties, and the episode takes on the character of a chorus girl "pick*out" number in a burlesque show. One. dressed .is an Oriental dancer, bare legs and wearing only what amounts to a brassiere above the waist, does a muscle dance; another sings after the manner of female Imperaonatoni, and all hands are rouged, llp-stlcked and liquld- uhited to the last degree. During the whole scene a Jaas orchestra plays ''hot'* music in the back- ground. This hippodromed incident occu- pies 20 mintitos. As far as the dramatic requirements are con- cerned, it could Just as well have happened off stage and come Into the story as perhaps a few lines of dialogue. Its presence In sight and with all Its deliberate elaboration is one of the things that condemn the whole enterprise and reveal it for what it Is—a deliberate play for nioj'bid interest. The whole venture is without Justiflcution and merits the unqualilied condemnation of the public, the theatre and the authorities, not to speak of calling for the prompt Intervention of the police. The attempt to put the piece on at this particular Juncture in the dumbest thlnir imaginable. Outside tho ")lr>ii;" the play is Utterly without merit as a dramatic lierformflince. This reporter doesn't helit;ve Mae West wrote it. It has all the earmaiks oC being the work of a boss hostler in a livery stable. The livery .stable technique is recog- nizable. Dramatically some Incon- sequential Incidents lead up to the RonKational party and some trifling action takes place afterward in- cluding a murder and a third de- ut'oe cxaniin.'ition, but these are mere crude subterfuges to account for the *'drag,'* for the exploitation of winch the whole business was designed. This reporter approached the per- f^'i niance with 4>v»M y disposition to Kive it serious, unbiased attention. He took the attitude that this sub- ject of sex a berration was fair ina- terial for the theatre under proper treatment, the theory being that X 1)01 version was as old as his- tf>ry, it never had been attacked by <»»ythlng but silence and that If it • «>uld be >)rought into the open, ex- stained and measured, it couldn't *ny more pernicious a social hor- ror than it was under the silent weatment He still believes the subject if handk'd witli tlisir« tioii and tucL and presented in a utaniier that does not offend public decency can be ap)>roaohod In the theatre witli curative results. But as treated In "The Drag' it illuminates nothing, serves no de- cent purpose and Is altogether vi- cious. This is because its exploita- tion in this play is utterly insin- cere and everything urged in its favor Is phoney, the object being an inexpressibly brutal and vulgar attempt to capitalize a dirty mat- ter for profit and without a shred of decency In purpose or means. There are two other "high pow- ered" episodes in the piece besides the "drag. * These come in the sec- ond and third act. One is a casual meeting between the rich pervert and four of his boy friends, during which the boy friends talk and be- have after the manner of their kind. It really constitutes an inside vit \v of the male sex pervert within the intimate circle. Its introduction wa.s not at all vital for like the party acene its substance could have been conveyed indirectly. The other .scene involved a dellnite ap- proach by the principal pervert. This scene was done with compara- tive moderation, compared to the excess emphasis given to the other episodes, but still was pretty brtttal and plenty nauseating. Without these three incidents the play wouldn't arouse even momen- tary attention. It Is utterly with- out meaning. In the lirst act is u crude attempt to give the play some .semblance of a purpose. A doctor and a judge discuss the subjict of homosexuality as It ioeial evil. Once that is over there Is no more pose of moral purpose to the play, which degenerates promgitly Into A JaBied up rovel en tli« garbase heap. Rush. THE tpPLE^ GROSS iBostOii, Feb. 1. Payson Elarl House riorence Gladys Feldnian Mrs. Dowling Margaret Wj'cherly Anne Dowlin^ Natacha Rainlxiva Tom Bennett ,.Jani<<H .SpottMWood Hannali .N< llle Fillmore J. Frothlngham-lialV^...Kichard Coolidge Ronie Ray ......•••.•••.<«.Martha Madison Walter Marstott ««i.4»«»«4««CaIvin Thomas t>aytnn ;.»,4#Vii«,4,.Carlton Rivers Jack Harrington ..'»•«*•• •••Brandon Evan.s iMPactor Crowbar ••••o..,.|^nd0rlc Burt Naiaa ...•...•'•'•••.'•'........Ama 'lEatifMMr There are two kinds of mystery plays. One needs a printed request in the program asking the public not to explain the mystery; the other needs no request, as Uie dear public couldn't explain the plot If it tried. 'The Triple Cross" falls Into the second claMlflcation. Its premiere at the Park last night at a |2.75 top proved to be fairly good eattrtAlMMIt AM trail cast. Apparently it was originally writ- ten under the title "S. Q. V." by Edward E. Paramore, Jr., a Yale man who has been dabbling in odd literature. Production 1* 1^ HofH- eric Productions, Inc., said to bv financed in behalf of Natacha RaM- bova, who is equally featured with Margaret Wycherly and James Spottswood. The staging was by A lexander L.eftwksll, |g fkmi acta with a single llbtW^ Ml; AM tinuous action.' : It opened ice cold for Its metro- politan premiere and ran remwck- ably smooth, considering the in- tricacy of tlie wlM yam. It eon- tains all the standard ingredients: Comedy colored maid, hidden vault, gray-haired old lady, newspaper w<»nian, crooked maid and butler, wrongly accused young hero, hero- ine who stands by him. bootlegger detective, derby-hatted double- crossing sleuth, police inspector (with apats), drugged drink Uken by the wrong man, three different shootings following black-out, the body that lurches onto the floor when the vault Is opened, and the mysterious mark left on the victims. The guardian of the wealthy young ward Is handcuffed just be- fore the flnal curtain, an^ the brandingr-iron used on the vfetims is found in the well-known black bag, together with the million dol- lars' worth of missing bonds. The outstanding new touch is that the branding-iron Is not heated in fireplace but requires an electric- light socket to iiiak*' it sizzle. Vet it is good dramatic fodder, coming up like second-growth tim- ber after the others. Incidentally. "The Ghost Train" is on its sixth heavy week at the Coi)loy. and "The Triple Cross" may possibly live and thrive on the same patronage. Burden of the action falls every- where except upon the shoulders of the three featured players. Martha Madi.son als the soubrct type of newspaper woman, Calvin Thomas as the villainous uncle, and liian- don Kvans as the iathcr crooked jirivatc d«'tectivc do fmo l»its of character work which could have easily been carried beyond the melodrama Into tavemesque trav- esty. Miss Wycherly, as the white- haired old lady who sohes every- thing, does her little bit quietly and effectively. Spottswood ft hope- lessly lost through lack of situa- tions, and Miss Rambova, playing a minor heroine's role with a tendency toward the Oriental in her costum- ing, liandled herself creditably In her role, with not a hint of exploitation or j)rfs.s agenting for her appear- ance in the play as a featured uetreus. There Is much to be done before "The Triple Cross* is a powerful play. It is the play and n(»t the players that needs the doctor. It «loes not strike its tenH>0 quickly rn«»uRh and needs more minor thrills, more disconcerting false alarms to distract attention and to bring the laughter of reli«'f from the heavier legitimate climaxes. Worked into better shape by a good tjhowman. it should be able to play New York long enough to make it attractive for stock release. In stock it should thrive, requiring only a library interior, three bookcase hinges and a praetleiit Vault tffl^r. Even at it stands, it is pretty good entertainment. Its composite ingredients make It seem reason- able to expect that the play should be as good as the ancestry from which it was derived. * lAJ^heif. SWEET LADY Washington* Feb. 1. Thomaa Ball pres«nta new mualeal com- edy with Guy Shy, Marie Nordstrom. Jane TayJor and Harry Puck. Book by Mann Page and Jmck McOowaa. Mualo by Dalon Owen and Thomas Ball. Lyrics by Bud (iif en. Book staged and directed by Wil- liam Caryl, with tha masical atmibers and dances staged by Busby Bcrkalay. Opened recf-ntly In Detroit. niWBing for t«o waaks. Reopening here, after.fMrvnilR at tlHl lla- tional, Jan. 31. Mary Turner Jane Taylor Pop F'lint George A. .S^-hiller Tom Ward John Kane Julie Carter Nliiu P^-nn UmP Hazird Gus Shy G» ne Dixon .William Ri>8» ll«» Margy Dixon .Marie Nf>r'lstruni Dorothy Morgan. ..:•%•••*.«..In^z Courtney JOf» Turner ••••«,<•• Hairy Puck Souny Whitinora....»•••• John Hun<l!oy MilLs Oeorge .Schiller Mile. Desiree Jeannette Fua-Lce Mr; Daias Cwi-n and Mr. S%a«k Davis at the ~ Slow to get up momentum when thii one doe* BtaH SI eHeka aolidly. It in a great dancing diow. with the chorus almosAunning away with it. Against this is just a moderately well done score, with the numbers so staged that for tlie moment they seem better than th^ really are. The book, founded on "Mamma X^oves Papa,** served well enough settmrlnff eemeMerable laughter and Pode»ta....*..k4<*«*«* Jo^" providing enough of the alt uat Ian J*jig!f« * * nwAni-wali inn lynt^ 4Vlt««<»« AnnnlOa ••*•......•*.. ^ ••• tnaiW' BBVmaD proposition to knit things. GemplieatlOBs following a wilful wife meeting a husband under cir- cumstances not so. good and then cuttiii«r toM liiNiir li net a new Idea. Harry Puck is from vaudeville, so is Knrin NefMran* eiever, also Gus Shy, and many, many others of the lengthy cast of hard- widrking principals A nami^ er two are sorely needed to create interest to get them in; the show wUl take care «f IwUlinff tMn: nflir tlMir*r« in. The opening mn to well 9Ait mid- night Tbe piece more than pleased here. What ia.needed to put it over Into the money*getting class is evidently kno^ to the produeer, fbr IM ^s once closed it to whip It Into shape. It has an excellent chance if worked out Mid iHindled properly. _^ L_ "GATSBY" VERSIONS, PLAY AND FILM, CLASH Minneapolis, Feb. 1. The spoken drama and movies are clashing again this week here. When Flnkelstein & Ruben learned that "Buzz" Balnbridge at the eleventh hour had decided to throw In the spoken play, "The Great Gatsby," as the Balnbridge Plaj'ers* (dramatic stock) current offering at the Shubert, they immediately booked Iti photoplaj adak>tation at the I4rric, In place of "Everybody's Acting," which had been previously scheduled, Thus» both play and picture !«fii be en i^iew the eMhe wcf-k. P.ainbridge claims that on every occasion possible F. St R., when they have the screen verelMi of any play which he contemplates pre- senting, or are able to obtain It, will hurry it into one of their the- atres ahead of Ma announced pro- duction. HONOR BE DAMNED (Continued from pace 4t) sends him to the near-by station lu>UHe to give hiniHOlt up, the agree- ment being that in half an hour the killer shall telephone to him, calling for his aid. In that half hour John learns that T.ou is the man who h.id seduced .h»hn's si.ster, the revelation coming through the killer's prearranged telephone call. Into this tense spir- itual sittiatlon there enters one Sammy Stern, whom John had only that day successfully defended in a "woman scrape." Sammy wants to give Joint a check for the girl in- volved in his ease, and he departs with the speech, "I don't know whether I'm guilty or not* but the Jack will square it all.'* That's the high point of the play. The finale Is weak and false. John flrst determines to send the seducer of his eieter to the chair, but on consideration he makes up his mind to get him off, the latter decision being purely a stage device. His sweetheart tries to dissuade him from further association with the underworld, and his curtain line is, "Christ, you know, died between two thieves"—a line that strikes an other false note. There Is a delightful comedy bit in the first act—a poker game Into which a "boob** from Batavia In- trudes, and then takes home all the winnings. This Batavia character, nicely played by Huron It. Blyden. is a capital bit of writing. Another Is the crooked old politician and fixer, played to the HilWi tlBtd by William Courtleigh. The production didn't cost mxich. It has only one nicely done interior set, the sitting room of Che Con- nell family in New York. The play just misses real dis- tinction. Purely theatrical plays are old fashioned, and dramas with only artificial effectiveness in make- believe don't register 100 per cent. Besides, the piece comes along in the midst of a jam of new produc- tions, where it may be smothered. A llmfM nin nf, nay, six we«ks t0.ilCcount for it. Una*. La Finta Giardiniera The Intimate Opera i\>. presents this little known work of Mozart with a text In Bng- llsh by Hnrrlron r>owd. Supported by sub- scription ilMt. but offered to the public also at the $3.30 scale. At tlhe Mayfair Jan. 17. Serpetta... r. •.. •. • *ii . • Norma Mtllay Nado Richard Hale Sandrina.*.* Dorothy C^mberlln Ranniro. John Alexander R*«*r« Campbell HAUT IXVET AT COHAN Harry Levey, formerly at Jolson's, N. y., has b^en ma<le rnanag<r of the Cohati theatre, now operated by Paramount as a run house. BUI Uidgeway Is the treasurer. Willie Kurtz has been switched ffom the Coiian to the Rivoli. Brtnnan* Rogers in "Spain" Rrennafi and Rogers will join "A Night in Rpain" In Philadelphia. The com*MiiMHfl are vurrently In Artists and Models." Except that this comes to a Broadway hovee and bMhi for pub- lic patronage, it would be graded as an Art Theatre enterprise, for it has all the quality of that sort of at- traction. The house has been taken by a group of music enthusiasta un- der the sponsorship of a committee of art patrons, hendtdt •( course, by Otto Kahn. Among the active sponsora are Deems Taylor, Helen Freeman, Edna St. Vincent MiUay and Max Schoop. which l« sufficient to indi- cate the class of the group, Mr. Taylor being a music critic of note and a composer of considerable em- inence. Tlie present entertainment is one In a series of presentations, all addressed to elevated musical tastes, and all offered to the sub- scribers at a rate of $15 for the series. The bid for public support is only half hearted. On the eve- ning visited tho little Mayfair was tilled to its capacity. Everybody seemed to know everybody else, tho audience apparently being made up of adherenU to the Little Group. llie little Opera is a light trifle in two acts and two sets, a simple conventional garden set and a scene in drapes meant to represent a churchyard. There are eight peo- ple In the cast, all of them appar- ently amatenre. but Witli trained voices which makes the perform- ance musically agreeable. A program note sets forth the history of the little opera, written In 1776 in the early atages of the evo- lution oFttie opeirm bonlfe from its status of an entr'acte Interpolation. The entertainment is a sort of mu- sical charade Wltli « ■core far be« yond the appreckuion of the unini- tiated. It lias abont tho same gen- eral Interest as a public offering as an ♦»ighteenth century first edition would have as a best seller. It is a relic, of Interest only to students. Th«> "book," even modernized and in English has nothing to hold the attention of the generality for two hoin*s, and the score is for the edU* cated, or students. The production Is made in that spirit. The costuming has been at- tended to carefully and tho simple s« ttinrs nt o sightly, but not impos- ing. The st«)ry tells of a lover's quarrel in Florence, the resignation of the swain to niarriage with a rich but homely maid and the rec- onciliation of the sweethearts through tho plotting of a royal jies- ter and bin light o* love. Folly. Folly is the l*\* Vi \io convention, daughter of ColuifibiiH* and t h e J ei^e p , o f course, Is Pierrot, the story being told in the poetic version. Venture* doeeo't mean a thing to the eommercial theatre, having all the chararteristlcs of a laboratory group enterprise, except in this case it Is much better done than naually happens in vu* h m.itterf and und'-r distinguished auspices. Xuih- PARISIAN LOVE (m YIDDISH) Initial attraction at the new Public thent* tre on 2«1 avenue and 4th street, owned hy Nathan Schulnmn and 1x)uiH i:i>ldi>t'r>r. who are alao producers of "P.Tri-*i:»n l^>vf ' the JaEzy Yiadisli title ».f i:niii.. ri. h K.ilia.i un a "The KHjad«>re.'' Mi>«ha .\pim;U»«u!.i hikI Zenu <;<>lt|sti in aro » "-slarr«'d in fh. i- fita, uliirh Im HtiiK<'<1 <oul i>r«..lur»».l l y An- pelt)aiini, and a.>».«uin«'«lly al-o his iuimU- work on tho ad.-tptatlon, althuUKli not tred« it»».l for hfintto. Michael "Wilensky as* fiUieil in thf atafdng: dances by Alexandag Katohitofsky. Joaeph tliemlavsky direct!* inR the orohcntra. In three acts, eU 4Mtaf* ent set.^, opening Jan. 27. Odette Darlmoada, Prima Donna. _ Zona Ooldstela PrUMa Raejaaa eta LftlMta. . Mlsoha Appolt>aunii Louis Philippe La Touretfe At.« .-^incoflC MarletU. wife Uella Kinkol Napoleon, .sw.«etheart Jacob II. . hz< it Pimprlnet te Charl.s .Na i a n son Dr. Cohn, Journaliat , M. Zwilmck nireoror s>amuol Ulun* Pipi, i>atron Heckv Oohn Attendant of the buxea.M. Wt inrich Devenu, IMlnce Adjutant..l|fc;hael W ilenaky Oberat Parker. Captain ..*,•.. Sidney Hart A waiter •••..•••>•»»,... .Louis Gllrod Fo o llalenna ...I^ya ¥a «l sal 4 Solo Dancer ..a. Katchlofskv Thaatra Fairona, HIadua. Slaves. Apacka Daaoara, auaata, ate. **BaJadere** is a wett known Kai- mnan opevelta wkUk, wliUe no iiMN. cess in 1$22 when Eriancer ipAn- sored It at the Knickerbocker Si New York witH Vhienne Segal, hab been widely acclaimed on the conti- nent and in England, emanating from Vienna. The Kalman score is its chief asset, and even the hybrid Yiddish adaptation could not bury the charm of the song hits, "I Still Can Dream." "My Bajadere" and "Forbidden Fruit." In America it was labeled "The Yankee I'rlncess,'* and the Yiddish adaptation carries with it the hotsy-totsy title of "Par- isian Love." Rather elaborately done and all that. It is tantamount that "Parisian Love" Is not for the Yiddish public. . What Schulman A Goldberg, or the S. A G. Producing Co., htm done Is to bring an old-world prodttctloni into the new world before an assim- ilated old and new world audience, mostly the former, aince their as* simllation is not complete. There- fore, a Continental theme presented to an audience that has emanated from the Continent not so long ago (for the main) Is not to the likini? of the downtown masses. If it were^ they would not leave the kosher rialto and wen^ their waya uptown to Broadway aa they certainly da. What is being attempted, seem- ingly, ia an educational process for tna CHMtto theatregoer aa well aa for the general patron, who, con- cededly, will be pleasantly surprised at the ''class" of a Yiddish musical production. He will soon observe that the heavyweight chorus girl has given way to the second or third generation Yiddish coryphee, whefm pulchritude and youth would mafea her eligible for a Mutual burles«ifea show at least. This does not taka Si dialectic or dancing handicaps. iTbe dance end. with the presen- tation as pretentious as It is. Ma been sadly neglected. The most ele- mentary steps in the ensembles are included. Why even an average bid* let or dance school tansmelster was not called is aa unexplainablo as why. on the opening wifftkt of all nights, a floral prop piece could not have been gentiine instead of so ob« viously artificial. The new house Is a mo<!fem theat- rical structure, seating 1,829, to a $2.75 top scale, built by Major David M. Oltarsh from plans by the builder and H. Craig Severance, his associate. Incidentally, with the for- mal opening of the theatre Major Oltarsh was ufUcially honored by the government with *a HbStMiant- colonelcy. The star, Mischa Appelbaum, la % South American importatlaS ^m' physical culture build excepting iir his effeminate gestures in the vocal numbers. His ia a fine voloa and Miss Goldstein, opposite him, registered similarly. Abe BincofC. Bella Finkel and Jacob llechtam also impreHHtid In comedy roles. The latter lias Broadway poaaibili- ties as a juvasNa. Regardless of the box office chances of "Parisian Love," the attraction has merit of a type that Is figured a bit In advance of down- town standards. Tho house is but another landmark of a new Bast Side that is being fast developed and Improved, so much so that it is a pleasant surpriae to thoM who have not been In that naicbborkotd for a few years. The new. pretentlona apartments are fetching rentals of a non-ghetto standard, and the many Russian, Roumanian and other dialect res- taurants and cafes are attracting a motor trade otherwise foreign to the sector. There is more atmosphere in some of those cafes and coffee houses than in most of the midtown eateries, and a glimpse at it under expert guidance of a Walter Kings- ley or a Harry Hershfieid, who wore encountered at the premiere, makes it the i))ore interesting throtigh pre- vious actmain tanc e ghip w ith — the "spots." Ineldentallv, an<l by no means re- like in the iiarlem. Bronx, ii^t SOa lated to the T»remiere Of "Parisian Love." there Is a new night life de- veloping down there, as probably in a number of other outlyinir spots :ind Second avenue With Its Hun- garian centers, etc*