Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1929, Page 59

Temf;ite‘r , Screen . and :Music - Financial, Aviation News and Radiq Part 4—':12 Pages \\‘.\SIIINH'I‘“X. D. ., SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY e D) 1020 D. C. Self Reliant, Though Deserted by Broadway BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. FR A It was with frank trepidatis jthat the Savoyans ventured intd this District of Columbia with the intention of cultivating it as a |domain of musical comedy. Its purposes were not readily under- !stood, for musical entertainment Ineeds a perfection of organization and an applied series of measure- 'ments as to exact limitations of thuman capacity such as are be- yond the highest expectations‘m} be reasonably cherished by ‘the| |efficiency expert dealing with com- | mercial activities. 3% l * % % X | After meeting some overwhelm- ing competition that set a stand- ard for costumes and scenery be- ! yond anything the American stage yhas witnessed heretofore and in- cidentally cleaning up in many 'instances all the money set aside jin household budgets for a month’s amusements, 'pany battled on, making friends and waiting for Santa Claus, who finally arrived with “The Ginger- bread Man” and marshaled co- horts of kiddies, who, together with those who came with them, Iturned the tide toward success, o Ex Last week “Honeymoon Lane” | had no Broadway importations competing with it and reflected in | its attendance the benefits of un- disputed control of the market. | * ok % ¥ In its determination to make friends with its public, the musi: cal comedy company defied some traditions once regarded with awesome respect, Actors would fairly wail when ‘Some ‘admiring friend or schoolmate would~seek to give “welcome to the home- town” to a player who had be- !come a Rialto celebrity. “Local talent,” however, linked with ‘well- ' meaning compliment, was dreaded 'as a term implying association with the spirit of the amateur. | | [ Enormous activities on the part| of people who have been develop- ing theater Interest independently of the manners and customs of the New York stage may have had a great deal to do with abolishing this curious little element of prej- udice against anything. that.had not been far fetdhed, and: desr bought. The clouds were not fylly: dispelled from the 8dvoyan hori-: zon until our fellow playmate; Katgq Smith, came uportthe.scene; described by one of those who waft’ in the back of the-theater as the com-| RURGEPP ang WARNER, BAXTER, s often agamst uhfair. - Kate Smith had no such struggles, but stepped into fame as easily, as, a; fairy. prin istéps ” into* her coach. She has two personalities. Offstage she is unpretentious, girl- ish, naive as Yum Yum herself, seeming to wonder what this can be! On the stage she becomes traa‘sfqr%xeld.. secu:'xe)’t ax;d easy, | ‘making deli oints of*com with a reci%g QRlat makes casbi ful judgment appear a natural, 8ift; .somefhipg {that no art gouldy supply. Ak fac H * Xk k It has been the purpose of the Savoyans to localize themselves as much as possible, and the mem- bers of the company are quoted #s.saying unanjmqusly that t.m!,‘ hope ‘she will come 'back: and: fe~ her | main longer. - _The .. gnnoypcement ‘of vaudeville tour calls attention- to'| the fact that while vaudeville as originally known has become prac- tically extinct in this city, it is still discoverable in various other sections of the country. o 1 N xx In a’the compels even the most experi-| enced producer to admit that‘hg is not only becalmed, but be-| fogged, illuminations arrive in| ways that are unexpected and not invariably practically utilized. The Broadway theater continues to | hide its light under bushels of perfunctory picture display and .0bsolete show printing. “The Rheingold” came for an after- noon .performance before a jazz- saturated public and found an eager audience awaiting it; an |audience whose interest did not | | subside even in the face of long | waiting on the curtain. The in- |terest in this opera evidences a | strong wish for acquaintance with the works long familiar in the |literature of music and drama though very infrequently made tavailable to attention by actual perfoyatance. is; pgrhaps something of this 1 ugh surprise; ch &lnys as mal Ffap “Pepy’s ;¥ |to Bed,” nét to mention “Bédux’ Strat 2 rswarks which, barrel of sunshine * ¥ Personality requisite for the theater. Its ssertion profes- sionally often calls for heart- agel ‘re&fn’in"the der-and roseleaf | hint of the treasure chest where |those who wrote in the manner lof Goldsmith or Sheridan laid atrical ‘season which'|® a. MADELINE~ placed on view now and then for posterity’s delight. There is, apparently, no middle ground., The producer must place Ws: 'S on.some creation of colossal’ boldnéss, such as “The Strange - Interlude” and more lately, Belasca’s .“Mima,” or else turn in penitential humility to the ways of ancestor worship. * % kx dees not witness the ringing down of the curtain in finality for one or nore of those of the theater who have been ,not only players in niimic events, but reminders that | “all the world’s a stage” where they, apart from script and cos- tumes, have been good actors. Henry Arthur Jones during his lifetime of 77 years contributed plays in extraordinary numbers ppealing in style to a wide range of interest. His mind was a work- shop and he took an idea, gave it its fifting treatment, deciding, for himself ‘and with ‘excellent judg- ment as ta whether he should ap- in polishing or restrain embellish- ment and let it stand as a rugged utensil in the world of stagecraft. In our own American theater the loss of Wallace Eddinger will be greatly felt. He made a stron impression in a strange “line of parts, first as a child as Little Lord Fauntleroy and Iater as a dull, submissive youth in “The Third Degree.” He was not an easy man to cast. He was an individual type not always well submerged in the role, . Yet there never was a time when the managers and the pub- lic were not eager to see him. The loss of Tim Murphy strikes closely home to this city, where he prepared himself for the stage career thak~a&pealed so strongly thihis ngaglna on. His best known WS Maverick Brander in “A Texas Steer.” * He was one of many ers\ifi whom:Charles Hoyt dis- cernied Possibilities and one of only a.f new how to: employ hose bilities: when dissociated ! n the;master farce bujlder of time. *<F0e LR “iAndvsirice “the ‘theater is the (great democracy where scant their brain fabrics away to be & social type while rare genius may be employed to delineate a shrewd Scarcely a month passes that| ply the skill of the lapidary’s art | EpwiN ArRNOLD and . 1 PEGGYALLENBY fational i1 KRAMER, Fox Stage 1LXKE a clap of thunder out of a clear sky comes the announcement of Manager Steve Cochran that the Na- tional Theater Players will open their season Monday evening, February 18. Furthermore, those who wish their seats reserved for the coming season, by noti- fying Manager Cochran not later than Saturday, February 9, will be able to 'secure the same seats they had last season. Those who fail to send in their notices must swallow thejr own disap- pointment if they find themselves among the overlooked. ) The reason for the early opening of the stock season, which has been a no- table feature of the National Theater for several years past, is not given. Per- haps it is the prosperity that is over- whelming the land and Manager Coch- ran wants to get a chance at it. Per~ haps it is due to other reasons, but whether this be.so or not, there is no doubt that when the curtain rises on Monday evening, February 18, it will be upon a typical scene created by Scenic Artist Charles Squires, whose past cre- ations have been the cnvy of profes- sional producers of the great metropolis, valet, “The Wild Man of Borneo,” a typical entertainer of the days when the dime museum and the sideshow were dear to many spec- tators, should not pass unnoted. All he had to do was to let his hair grow and “act wild” as he sat on the platform along with “Zip, the What-Is-It” (a feeble-minded boy with a queer, high conical head formation) ; “Jo-Jo, the Dog-faced Man” (with an abnormal growth of white silken hair on his- face which parted over his nose like [the suit of a skye terrier). Jo-Jo | was supposed to be one of a family {living in Siberia, none of whose jother members was brought to this country to challenge the dog- talent sometimes plays an exalted faced man’s supremacy in his own enjoying no hope whatever of line of freakdom. Little is heard now of living x. e Aviee WHITE — darle National Stock to Open Seene from. § Asies IRisn Rose | Métropolitans ”— Jeene from. ALADY of Guanced - Dot Lee-Strand o and that the play that follows will be presented by the National Theater Players for 1929. ‘There is not the slightest doubt that many of the old favorites will return, nor is there the slightest doubt that there will be notable changes. Manager Cochran has been out on what he terms “a hunt for new ivory,” and his wander- ings have taken him to several Western cities, where high-class stock is to be found, as well as to thé great metropo- lis. The Stuart Walker Players of Cin- cinnati and the Jessie Bonstelle Players of Detroit have been lookedl over—per~ haps raided for recruits. Al will be known very shortly now. It is already assured that Mrs. Adelaide Hibbard, Edward Arnold, Robert Brister and Charles Hampden will not be among those missing when the new season, starts, and it has been rumored that Mary Newton, leading woman for the Stuart Walker Players, who is highly touted: for her.charms and talents, has been under special observation, for, with regret be it stated, Leona Powers and her popular husband, for reasons best known to themselves, will not be in the company that starts skeletons, elastic-skin men and fat ladies. The world has grown a little kinder as it has grown wiser. Physical eccentricities as seen in real life excite more sympathy than mirth. The world, moving faster and faster, has quickly pro- gressed a long way from the days when a monarch deemed a fellow being fit for court fool merely be- cause he was a hunchback. Perhaps more : than, any other freak the wild man has been pre- served in recollection. Lottie Gil- son, a soubrette of the variety theater, had a song, “The Wild Man of Borneo Has Just Come to Town,” and as recently as a season ago a play was written taking its | title from this unique figure, but| | sharin, fame, his g in the permanence of - the. new season. However, Manager Cochran has a keen eye and a good judgment, as Washington knows, and there is no doubt that he has never been known to take a step backward, so_that his past patrons may feel well assured that all will be lovely when the curtain goes up on the next stock pro- duction at the National. Plays are quite as important as play~ ers in these stock symposiums which have distinguished the National in Washjn%mn for. four very successful seasons in the past, and Manager Coch- ran wires that he has succeeded in se- curing “The Trial of Mary Dugan,” “Paris Bound” and “The Queen's Hus- band” among the new dramatic hits to be presented early in the season, and that the full roster of plays scheduled is quite an imposing one. The <hief thing now, it is suggested, is to make seat reservations without de- lay, for no blanks are to be sent out from the theater for. that purpose this year, . Studio Pet. ONLY after a period of combined prep- aration and actual production last- ing over arperiod of nearly 20 months was “Wings,” Paramount's epic ‘of the air, ready. “Wings"” was the “pet” of the Para- mount studio; it was recognized as the achievement that would carry to fame not only the names of Wellman and Hubbard, but also the featured players, Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen, who were.’ associated . with Clara Bow and Jobyna Ralston in the principal roles. It is a-story of the air service, “done” for the first time on the screen. It was written by*John-Monk Saunders and all the technical assistance came from aces of four representative nations in the world conflict. Seven months were devoted to the filming of ground and air battle se- quences at San -Antonio, Tex. An exact duplication of a sector of St. Mihiel was constructed under the supervision of those who fought at the famous original. Six thousand men were thrown into this bleak, dismal, battle-scarred area for the ground “shots.” More than 200 air- planes darted and swooped:overhead. Cameramen, principals and assoclated pilots wulede::fhhour‘!nelchhl{l the I:lth. to obtain ewt ing aer] com| from “dog-fights” to “strafing.”. Back to the Farm, TWENT‘I-PM year ago & boy named William Nestell made his home on a ranch on the banks of the Kern River in California. Now he has returned to the same spot as an actor in the “Queen ;f }:he North Woods” com athe, cwned by Nestell's father, -v Attractions in Washingfon NATIONAL—“Scars,” post-war BELASCO—Ziegfeld's “Sally,” evening. POLI'S—“The' Desert Song,” evening. STRAND—"“Wine, Woman and noon and evening. NATIONAL-<"Scars.” “Scars,” a new comedy drama by Warren F. Lawrence, will be presented at the National Theater by J. E. Horn prior to its New York engagement this | week, starting tomorrow night, with Wednesday and Saturday matjnees. This is the second of the of National promised to bring his patrons at one-half the regular prices. “Scars” is Sald to be'unusual in that it“treats of a war angle;as a post~war play, not a war piay. It has to do with the hero's life here as a, returned avi- ator and the problems besetting him in his readjustment to peace-time pursuits. Peggy Allenby, Clark Gable, George Meeker, Edward Arnold and Dennie Moore play the leading roles in “Scars.” ‘The ‘play was' staged and is directed by Edward Clarke Lilley. It comes to Washington with the stamp of approval of three cities and will go direct to Broadway after the close of the local engagement. ' © BELASCO—Ziegfeld's “Sally.” “Sally,” that mirth-provoking mu- ical comedy which has been termed Ziegfeld's greatest success,” opens Sunday evening at the Belasco Theater, with the full strength of Charles Emer- son Cook’s Savoy stars and beauty chorus. After two,_ seasons in New York, one In Chicago, and ‘with suc- cessful road-show companies creating a high pitch of enthusiasme throughout the Jand, “Sally” is at last released for stock, and Mr. Cook is one of the first managers to secure this fine entertain- ment for Washington theatergoers. The story is a typical Cinderella; theme, of a young’ waif df.the ajley- who i Tairly ‘huttled ‘through a series of thrilling and hilarious sequences to fame and stardom in the Follies, and, incidentally,. into’ tHe .arms of ) her Prince Charming. The comedy role made famous by Leon Errol, and to be played here by Robert Capron—that of the rubber-legged waiter i the alley cabaret, who later turns out to be a duke in disguise—is unique in its droll humor, Ziegfeld, the famous producer of spectacular presentations, puts into “Sally” all the clean artistry and all of the mirth-provoking hilarity he could find. The book and lyrics are by Guy Bolton and Clifford Grey and the music by Jerome Kern, with speclal music for the Butterfly Ballet by Victor Herbert. ‘Thelma Parker will play the title role, while Renee Hamilton has an equally important role as Rosie, the love-evad- ing young manicurist. Frank Gallagher, as the modern Prince Charming. and Lee Daley, in addition to directing the show, as Otis Hooper, a theatrical agent who is responsible for Sally’s fame; Fd- ward Metcalfe, Rosa Snowden, Jack Closson and James McKay will appear in principal roles, and “the ‘gofgeous, :garden of girls” add to the e v Mr. Cook is planning an'y costume and scenic gmdu “gally.”, . * B R e This week's mp it‘t:: Strand E n at K I f ) bof 2 > 18, 3 % is supiomientcd by < Black apd ipany for | Spencer Bennett, the director. | took some. scenes for the serial on land | written especially for this offering. | venu W« Scandals of 1920.” Evéty scene’ and funny situation”in “Wine, ‘Woman and Song” is declared brand-new and None of the hackneyed cld “hits” kave S| & Playhouses This Week IN LOCAL THEATERS THIS WEEK play. Opens tomorrow Jevening. musical comedy. Olptns this /E)pens this This after- musical romance. Song,” burlesque. been revamped, but their places have | been taken by snappy, up-to-the-minute quips and jests of a modern vintage. A cast, many new here, includes Jyes | La Rue, brunette prima donna; Frank | O'Rourke, straight man; Eddie Lloyd, | new type of eccentric comedian: Paul | Jerome, in a funny tramp portrayal; | Myrtle Wilson, blond soubrette, a past | mistress in shimmy dancing: Dorothy | Lee, ingenue, and Doug Fleming. juve- | nile. The chorus of 16 is a youthful and {animated group. The “Black and White Scandals of 1929" boasts of 40 snappy colored entertainers direct from the Ale hambra Theater in New York City, making the cast of the double-header 70 in all, the biggest show ever to ape pear in a Washington burlesque house. This is not a stock company, but one of the regular Mutual Burlesque travele ing companies. NEWMAN ON “SPAIN,” Today. “Spain” is E. M. Newman's Traveltalk at the National Theater this afternoon. With no lesser personage than the Duke of St. Helena, uncle to the King of Spain to aid him, Mr. Newman says | he was allowed to photograph the en- | tire royal family and to obtain views of their living rooms in the palace. ‘The Duke of Alba, a direct descendant | of Columbus, opened the doors of his magnificent home so that the master traveler could ,hotograph the famous | Columbus room which contains more | than 20 original letters from Columbus, his first map of Haiti and numerous personal relics which have never bee fore been photographed. Thanks to a special privilege, Mr. Newman also photographed the Span- ish_masterpieces in the Prado gallery in Madrid as well as the Royal Armory and in this Traveltalk will be seen the { first paintings by Murillo, Velasquez, fGoya and Ribera. From Madrid, To- | ledo, Escorial, Barcelona, Seville, Cor- doba and Granada new gems of pho= tography will be revealed. | The new group of motion pictures in- | clude intimate glimpses of the royal family. the dictator Prima de Rivera, the Spanish grandees, new views of Spanish cities and town, Senoritas in Andalusia attired in their national cos- tume, life in the streets and many charming vistas. -Still another fascinat- ing feature of this “journey” is a group of bird and animal pictures. “THINGS TALKED ABOUT"— ‘Tomo:row. Mrs. A. Wolfe Smith and Mrs. Swalm | Reed will hold their review of “Things | Talked About” tomorrow morning at 11:30 at the Willard Hotel. Mrs. Smith will discuss provisipns of the League of Nations and the debate on the cruiser bill. ! Mrs. Reed will talk on Maniu, Pre- mier of Rufiania, and the “Roman Question¥ | i, A THEATER" ARTS PLAYERS, Saturday. k 4 . “The Nursery Maid ' ‘homas Wood Stevens, “based on the life of b.in the Convent of ‘the, Rose Bush.” in the nth” cehtury, Venice, Italy, 1t story Sister” ‘Ben early ‘eightees 4 will e presented Wy players of the The ater Arts School, at the Little Theater, Pierce - Hall., Fifpeenth and Harvard nortfiwest, “Saturday, at 8:15 .m. The play is in three scenes, the rst in the convent, the second in Ben< 's cell and the third in the chap= (Continued on Third Page.