Evening Star Newspaper, March 23, 1930, Page 54

A MUSEMENTS. Variety of Attractions in The Capital Playhouses NATIONAL—"Jonica.” The National Theater announces for the week beginning tonight Willlam B. Friedlander's new musical comedy, “Jonica.” Mr. Friedlander was the roducer of ‘“‘Moonlight,” “Mercenary ary” and “Little Jessie James,” out- standing musical hits of the past decade. “Jonica” was written by Dorothy Heyward and Moss Hart. The lyrics and music are by William Moll and Joseph Meyer, with special numbers by Mr. Friedlander. Miss Heyward, it will be recalled, co-authored “Porgy,” the Theater Guild production. “Jonica, however, is in an entirely different vein. “Jonica” was young, shy and demure, but she had read the book of knowledge, 80 she knew all the answers. A company of sixty includes the well-known musical comedy artist, Joyce ‘bour, who replaced Gertrude Lawrence in the Charlot Revue; Nell Roy, who played opposite Joe Cook, In “Rain or Shine;” Jerry Norris, young juvenile lead in Youman's “Great Day,” June O'Dea, comedienne, in “A Night in Paris,” and with Ned Wayburn's pro- ductions; Earle S. Dewey, George E. Schiller, featured comedian of the orig- inal “Passing Show ‘Harry Shannon, of “Hold Everything;” the Wallace sis- ters, young Jack Stillman, making his first appearance in Washington and is a clever dancer, Irene Swor, the exotic Mme. Douret, of the Madrid Music Halls, Madeline Gray, Ruth Goodwiu, Bert Matthews, Charles Doyle, Mabel Cower, Dorothy Murray, Julia Brow: and “The Brandeaux Ballet, under the direction of Ped Mere Brandeaux. Among the seventeen song numbers are “The Night It Happened,” “Au Revoir,” “Tonight or Never,” “One Step Nearer the Moon,” “Here Is My Heart,” “Beautiful Girls,” “Tie Your Cares to a Melod: ‘March of the Rice and Old Shoes,” “A Million Good Reasons,” "I Gave You Me,” “Gotta Do My Duty,” “The Appls and the Bough,” “My Story Ends That Way,” “The Wedding Pa- rade.” The last musicale of the season, “Jonica” goes to the new Craig Theater, West Fifty-fourth street, New York, for a Spring and Summer run. POLI'S—"“The Merry Widow.” Pranz Lehar's imperishable operetta, “The Merry Widow,” reanimated ard caparisoned in all its former glory, will be the offering at Poli's theater, for one week, beginning tomorrow night, with a fascinating European prima donna, Bepie dep Vries, singing the title role, and Donald Brian in his original role of Prince Danilo. “The Merry Widow” is one of the 10 musical favorites of yesteryear that have been produced in New York this season by the Jolson's Theater Musical Comedy Company. How successful this Broadway - movement was in bringing back to theatergoers such oldtime favor- ites, is evidenced by the fact that the Jolson’s Company was literally com- lled to extend its season in New York definitely, while six of its presenta- aons are now having profitable road urs. “The Merry Widow’s” popularity has never been guestioned. First produced in Vienna in 1905, it achieved a record of success all over the civilized world rare- ly equaled in the annuals of the theater. On its original presentation in ‘Vienna, it ran more than 500 perform- ances, followed by a lengthy engage- ment in Cope: . It was not until October 21, 1907, that the operetta had its first production in New York, where it ran for weeks, and sub- Merry Widow” revel principally Maxim's of Paris, the piece belongs o Vienna—and to that vanished magical ‘Vienna so blithely unconscious cf the !;1:.1’1 that were slowly creeping towards ction is pre-eminent for r's melodious score. A large ‘The Franz entife production has been staged by Milton Aborn. AUDITORIUM—Robert Downing in “Virginius.” ‘The Auditorium remains the scene of inte: revivals of the classic drama by Downing and players, under the direction of Henri Gressitt, for a last three days, beginning tomorrow night and enc with the Wednesday performances, matinee and night. ‘The play will be “Virginius,” the five- act tragedy by James Sheridan Knowles, with its locale in ancient Rome while under the the decem- y iwin and later by Robert Downing. ‘The story is unfolded with sustained suspense, intense dramatic action and poetic dialogue. Virginius, a Roman general, has a daughter, Virginia, be- trothed to Icilius. The first decemvir, Appius, failing to obtain possession of the beautiful Virginia in any other way, arranges, during her father's absence, to claim her as the daughter of one of his slave women and therefore his property. He obtains a_judgment from the tribunal on the false swearing of the slave woman. Virginius returns unexpectedly and in vain appeals to the reason and justice. As Virginia is about to be led away to the house of Appius, he requests a last farewell with his daughter and in his extremity to save her honor thrusts a knife into her heart. Becoming demented with grief, Virginius, ever trying to find his daugh- ter, later meets Appius and kills him. Supporting Mr. Downing, who, of course, plays the role of Virginius, will be Helen Dale Brown as Virginia, Her- bert Delmore as Icilius, Raymond Bar- Tett, J. W. Bagley, Harry Hawley, Aimee Andree, Eugene Bergman, Walter de Luna and Ken Cartier. GAYETY—Jimmy Lake's “Big Revue.” Jimmy Lake, the manager of the Gayety, heads the cast this week in his own show, Jimmy Lake’s “Big Revue,” at the Gayety Theater, and hopes to re- peat former successes with a program of “all new stunts, covering the modern- istic idea of fun, singing and dancing with a great deal more snap and ac- tion, and of a quality altogether differ- ent.” “Big Revue,” Mr. Lake states, em- ploys a company of full-fledged artists of burlesque renown, all of them stars. Heading the cast is Jimmy Lake, as- sisted by Lillian Dixon, Fred Reeb, Phil Hart and “Cheri,” an extra attraction. Others _include Clair Devine, Vitali, Peggy Hart, Lew Price, Jack Kelly and & sprightly chorus, well trained and fast working. All join in to make the three scenes, “Now, Then and Sometime,” “The Dance of _the Painted Dolls” and “Ye Old Time Bar- ber,” a series of sensational fun hits. COLUMBIA—"The Rogue Song.” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers' production, “The Rogue Song,” featuring Lawrence - ‘Tibbett, of the Metropolitan Opera, hl now playing at Loew's Columbia The- ater, This singing picture, g:duud entirely in technicolor, which been drawing capacity audiences at the Astor Theater, New York, is shown here at regular “Loew” prices. Cather- ine Dale Owen, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear in the picture which was directed by Lionel Barry- more, ‘The story is adapted from the well known operetta “Gypsy Love.” Yeger, 8 young mountain chief who rules his tril of bandits in a color- ful manner, rescues a party of royal- ty marooned in a storm and falls in love with the princess, He visits her at hee a,&llce and when the princess i about return his love he receives word that his sister is dead, having been betawéd by the princess’ brother. Yeger kills the brother and makes off with the princess. Blinded by her appar- ent love, he allows her to lead be captured by her uncle’s troops. The princess, however, realizes that she loves him and saves him. Although the barrier of royal blood stands between them, a dramatic climax provides & solution. The Hearst Metrotone News, short subjects and the Columbia Orchestra complete the program. R-K-O KEITH'S—“Framed.” underworld which is said to rank with “Alibi” and “‘Underworld"—two out- | standing racketeering shows of past years, 1s the attraction at R-K-O Keith's this week, with Evelyn Brent, Regis Toomey and Ralf Harolde in the | featured roles. Miss Brent is said to give one of the finest performances of her career in the girl role. Regis Toomey plays the son |of a police inspector who is the target {for her hatred. Ralf Harolde, who | plays & gang leader, introduces a new | type of bandit to the talking screen. | “Young, handsome and immaculately groomed,” it is announced, “his eyes register expressions new to motion pic- [tures” Prominent in the cast are [Maurlce Black, William Holden, Robert | Emmet O’Connor, Joel McCrea, Roberta ale, John Webb Dillion, Eddie Kane | and David Dunbar. | Her father killed while fighting the | cops, the girl swears revenge on William Holden, the police inspector. She be- comes hostess at Ralf Harolde’s racke- teering Nite Club. Harolde send’s Maurice Black, his private gunman, out |to kill a rival, establishing Harolde's | true character immediately. Both Harolde and Black are in love with the girl, but she meets the police in- spector’s son, Regis Toomey, and falls in love with him. When told Toomey's real name—son of the man she has sworn to get—the girl's hate of his father overcomes her love for the boy. Supplementary short features, includ- ing Freddy Clark and his R. K. Olians, round out the bill. METROPOLITAN—"Honey,” With Nancy Carroll. A sunny, romantic musical comedy of the South, starring Nancy Carroll and titled “Honey,” is the attraction at Warner Bros.” Metropolitan Theater this week, Adapted from the noted stage play, “Come Out of the Kitchen,” by A. E. Thomas, “Honey” features song hits and amusing dialogue, with three romances breaking into flower at the same time. Nancy Carroll, last seen here in “Sweetie,” is supported ing man, Stanley Smith, and a cast of competent funsters, including Skeets Gallagher, Lillian Roth (the new “it” girl of the screen), Hai ‘Green, Zasu Pitts and J “Honey” tells the story of how the son and daughter of an aristocratic but impoverished Virginia family leased their mansion to a wealthy New York matron for a few weeks to assist their absent parents out of a financial diffi- culty. e matron arrives, accompanied by her pretty daughter and the latter's flance. The servants, however, fail to appear, so the two young Virginians are compelled to assume the respective roles of butler and cook. The prospec- tive son-in-law of the New York matron falls in love with the pretty little cook, while the daughter of the dowager loses her heart to the butler. Complications ensue and a good time is had by all except the dictatorial mother. A selected program of short subjects accompanies the feature film, FOX—“Let’s Go Places.” “Let’'s Go Places,” the screen attrac- tion for the current week at the Fox theater, is described in the announce- menm musical romance from the Willl x studios telling how to “crash” the talkies. The feature has the musical comedy favorites that have local theater, including Sharon Lynn, whose “Turn on the Heat” in “Sunny Side Up” and “The Snake Dance” in “Happy Days” will be remembered; Frank Richardson, who sang “Walkin' ‘With Susie” in “Fox Movietone Folles,” and was prominently cast .in “Sunny S Guthaading. and important _of and very nf many “others” is the Ziegfeld stage comedian, Walter Catlett, Ji h Hm staff, Lola Lane and delightful lif Dixie Lee. The story concerns a {outhml artist in Manhattan who id rather play the piano than draw commedical pic- tures of things the ladies wear. 'Fm; desire gets him fired and with a friend and about $300 between them they decide to break into the movies, They do—and how! But are plenty of ices, songs, dances, inside views of the Hollywood studios, and many other adventures before the youth's first picture has its world tage will be seen a Fanchon “idea” built around the magnificent old columris of Greece; with a long list of entertainers to be intro- | duced by Alexander Callam, permanent master of ceremonies, including Rome and Gaut, comedians; Niles Marsh, Maxine Evelyn, Billy Rolls, Dorothy Henley and, of course, a new bevy of Sunkist Beauties. The Fox Orchestra t|lx;d b!flx;x Movietone News will complete e bill EARLE—“Hello, Sister,” With Olive Borden. Helen Kane, pretty singer of “boop doop” songs, which made her na- tionally famous, is greeting her Wash- ington friends in person from the stage of Warner Bros.' Earle Theater this week, and also introducing a group of new song hits. On the screen is a merry comedy- drama of modern youth, “Hello, Sister,” featuring Olive Borden with Lloyd Hl'llgtl:es. é‘x zw;n'-}{n‘t'ur{;. bill marked 'fiy be; inning of the y opening policy a 51: Earle. Friday midnight shows will be continued. “Hello, Sister,” concerns a harum- scarum fllpfer whose grandfather dies, Jeaving a will which stipulates that his immense fortune is to go to his wild granddaughter provided for six months she refrains from habits of dissipation. During this period of enforced right- eousness the girl falls in love with a poor young lawyer. He tells her he cannot marry her because of her wealth, Her determined effort to win his affec- tion at the expense of the anticipated fortune leads to a surprising climax. Among the subsidiary features are Vitaphone Varieties, The Evening Star- Universal and Pathe newsreels and :nlllic by the Earle Symphony Orches- ra. PALACE—"“Roadhouse Nights.” Helen Morgan, noted night club en- tertainer, appears at Loew's Palace this week in “Roadhouse Nights,” a new kind of picture of thrills and laughs. Charles Ruggles plays an im- rtant role in this picture. Fred Koh- ler as a big rum-runner with an itchy trigger finger; Clayton, Jackson and Durante, a famous night club comedy trio, also are features of the picture. The story concerns' the efforts of a newspaper reporter to get inside infor- mation of a rum-running plot and the efforts ot Sam Horner, the runner, to prevent it. A love story is introduced when Horner's girl is found to be the child] sweetheart of the reporter. In spite of threats, plots and facing the business end of a heavy automatic the reporter succeeds in getting his story | through in a manner that thrills. On the stage, Pat Henning, dancer supreme, is featured in “Southern Mel- odies,” which comes direct from the Capitol Theater in New York City. Bobby Gillette as guest master of ceremonies and a banjo fiend; the three Dennis sis- DANCING._ to | Jewish Communit; ‘will “Framed,” a talking drama of the, made its predecessor so popular at the | f: THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MARCH 23, 1930—PART FOUR. ters, harmony queens; four flash devils, acrobatic marvels; Berta Donn, soprano, and a ballet of Chester Hale girls com plete the cast. s ? earst tone News; short subjects, Charles G organ and the Palace - .:o::h:lete the program. BALTIMORE PLAYERS—Tonight. ‘The Baltimore Y Phy!h%mpe will give 2 performance of tI three-act play “Martyrs” Sunday night at the Center. The pro- 1 be iven to the Jewish National Fund of Washington. Money raised by this organization is devoted to the purchase of land in Palestine. E. Milton Altfeld of Baltimore fis the author of the play, which deals wirth Jewish life in the Holy Land. The play was presented several times at the Maryland Theater and, it is said, re- cefved m&h praise. Though an amateur troupe, the players have considerable stage experience. GORST, “The Bird Man"—Wednesday. Charles Crawford Gorst's entertainin program, “The Musical Genius of Birds,” will bring to a close the third season of the Community Institute at Central High School Wednesday eve- ning at 8:15 o'clock. For years Mr. Gorst's unusual “bird program” has been a Spring favorite of lecture courses, and there is scarcely a section of the country into which he has not whistied his way. His. ability to imitate bird calls has been developed until he has some 800 distinct songs at his command. What as a boyish pastime has been supplemented by & study of American bird life so com- plete as to place Mr. Gorst in the front rank of naturalists in this field. He has discovered a strange parallel between certain bird songs and so-called human music, and will tell many anecdotes of his trips, and reproduce as many bird songs as time permits. . The groups of pictures which the “Bird Man” displays on the stage during his lecture are in reality large paintings which he prepared himself to assist his audiences in recognizing and later identifying the birds, A special matinee for school children will be given Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock, at McKinley High School. EASTERN HIGH SPRING PLAY. Eastern High School will present its annual Spring play, “The Man From Home,” a four-act comedy by Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson. It will be given Thursday and Friday eve- nings in the auditorium of the school. The scene of the play is laid in Sor- rento, Italy, at a hotel overlooking the Bay of Naples. Grand dukes, countesses, Englishmen and an American provide amusing and dramatic situations. The players, some of whom al- ternate in certain roles, are headed by Newell Lusby and Tom Nally, with Gwenllian Davis. Supporting are Ma- rion Webb, Marguerite Teachum, Robert McCormick, Joseph Rabbit, Mildred Duryee, Sylvia Donovitz, Malcolm Shut- ters, Gilbert Lee, Charles Chamberlain, Charles Wise, Joseph Chernicoff, John Caponiti, Cuvier Metzler and Gilbert Kennerly. Faculty direction is in charge of Miss Olivia Taylor, assisted by Miss Ella Monk, Miss Ethel Prince, Miss Lillian Wines, Miss Rosemary Arnold. Miss Gertrude Walter, Miss Marie Didden, Miss Catherine Lantel and Miss K. HARRY LAUDER, Saturday. Sir Harry Lauder, who has been called also the “Knight of Good Cheer” and the “Ambassador of Friendship, will appear at the Washington Audi- torium next Saturday night only in his characteristic entertainment. Sir Harry needs no introduction to Washington, the mere announcement that the famous singing comedian is returning with a collection of new songs and characterizations, and that these Lauderisms are meeting with the same success as marked his uniqu: songs cn earlier visits to the United States, should tax . the Auditorfum to its capacity. ‘The new Lauder songs are full of the homely sentiment and unsophisticated love-making that has always character- ized the singer's offerings. -Each will have its appropriate costume and scenic background. The revivals will include the most descriptive and popular of old avorites. The supporting company this season is credited with :being excep-. tional and with a note of novelly run- ning through the entire program, Tech to Do “Robif Hood.” The Tech High Schoél Opera Club will nt De Koven’s.comic opera, “Robin Hood,” in the McKinley Audi- torium April 11-12. . ‘The club has a long list of success- ful opera presentations fo its credit. Very successful performances of “Robin Hood” were given in 1918 and 1924, in the Central Auditorium. It has also produced “The Wizard of the Nile,” “The Mikado,” “Iolanthe,” “Pinafore, “San Toy,” “Gondoliers,” “Dolly Var- den,” “Pirates of Penzance” and “Chimes of Normandy.” A feature of the coming presentation of “Robin Hood” will be the Tech Sym- phony Orchestra of 65 pieces, under | the direction of Dore Walten. This ol the oldest musical organiza- tion in the local schools, was founded 26 years ago. Elaborate scenery and costumes are being prepared. Ruth Chatterton’s Story. LTHOUGH “Honey,” the attraction at the Metropolitan, suggests all the qualities that have endeared Nancy Carroll to movie fans, nevertheless in a former life and under a different name it has done as nicely for an even greater actress. Back in 1916 “Honey” was a stage play called “Come Out of the Kitchen,” and its star was a certain lady named Ruth Chatterton. Ruth then was at the peak of her theatrical career, hav- ing played with Henry Miller in “Daddy Long Legs” and other notable plays. It was after “Come Out of the Kitchen” had spun out its pleasin, existence that Miss Chatterton seeme to have difficulty in finding the right kind of play. Barrie's “Mary Rose” in 1920 found her as lovely as ever, but the play didn’t win box-office approval, and it wasn't really until a lucky tide happened to land her on the es Of Hollywood a year or so ago that she was allowed to play the kind of role again that had previously marked her as one of our foremost—and Washing- ton’s favorite—actresses, AUDITORIUM AS A FASCINATING CUT-THROAT WARNER Continues the part of the Cisco Kid in his new picture, star played the same character through “In Old Arizona.” Born on a Tulip Farm. EPPIE DE VRIES, prima donna of “The Mt Widow,” now at Poli’s, was born on a Dutch tulip farm in Hol- land. Her father was Dutch, her mother French. A daughter of the lowlands and bred in the stern puritanism of the Dutch Reformed Church, she seemed anything but the ideal for “a world’s sweetheart"—a shy little lass of 8, at the edge of a tulip fleld, wearing wood- en sabots, wide pleated stiff skirt, flow- er-patterned apron, a kerchief round her shoulders, and the white, nunlike address peculiar to the Hollanders. But beyond her horizon of dikes and canals a dim star twinkled over a nar- row door that led in some mysterious way to a stage career and the adulation of an admiring world. It was a very youthful Bepple who slipped away from home with a travel- ing circus, but the parental arm reached after her and in two days she was milk- ing the sweet-breathed kine again, cul- tivating her tulips and dreaming. ‘The time came, however, when she won a place in the chorus of the Rem- brandt Theater. Amsterdam. Haunting the wings of the stage until, from chorus “Journey’s End.” ** JOURNEY'S END,” whose imminent lp})rolch to Washington will be looked forward to doubtless with spirited anticipation, is at the moment celebrat- ing its first birthday anniversary on the New York stage. In the midst of quaffing its jolly good health and wondering how such a very good thing could have ever happened to be, one is told the rather startli news that this war play is being pla; by 55 companies in no less than 20 countries all around the world. Fur- thermore, that Mr. Sherriff, the young and thoroughly bewildered author, rises every morning of the week with some $600 in his pockets. All of which isn’t so bad when one considers that he wrote it purely for a 'an:u amateur theatrical company, with his eye not lued to Broadway or the theatrical ighways and byways of London. That Mr. She 3 moments, teaches youth of the land what to do with an oar while paddll amidst the “Backs” and “Cams” of d, should have written this play with no BAXTER "?he Arizona Kid.” The to lead, she became familiar with every line and bar of Paul Lincke's German operetta, “Gri-Gri,” her chance came when the prima donna was stricken. Disaster loomed. Who could take her place? “I can,” sald a slim little chorister, only to be greeted by a peal of derisive laughter. Ultimately the composer tried her out and the next night she stepped into the lead and never went back to the chorus again. The green-painted door of the white-walled Dutch farmhouse was closed on her, presumably forever, for even in the hour of her triumph her people could not forgive her. One night a quietly dressed, elderly | woman crept unobtrusively into a seat and watched Beppie as “Gri-Grl.” The laudits of the audience made her hold er head & bit higher than she had ever done. “Isn't she splendid?” chorused the folks around her. “Such acting, such beauty, such grace! Holland ought to bexmud of her!” iping the tears of joy from her eye, the quiet little old lady faintl; h “Yes, for she is my own da A sweet little story, eh, wl thoughts of Broadway glorification is a healthy sign, one which has done much for the theater since. In the first place it has proved that originality is not to | be scorned and in the second place that a play can be a play even when there is no conflict between the sexes. ‘Thoroughly abashed, one is told, were the first producers who looked over the manuscript when they discovered that Mr. Sherriff had ignored the weaker and yet more glamorous sex. They even had the nerve, for which they have been' doing penance since, to return the play very politely to the young author, with the remark that he had better “patch it up a bit.” Mr. Sherriff, however, was unwilling to do the patching, with the result that it has proved to be what Alexander Woolcott calls “the greatest play ever written.” Its progress in and about the country is a matter of history. It seems to have conguena the people of almost every land. What it will do to Washington of a gamble to suggest that it should do very nicely Mdea.' Great Color Camera Plant. THE largest motion picture camera department in the world is the boast of the Technicolor Corporation, whose 35 skilled cameramen carry working tools worth $400,000 when they leave their Hollywood headquarters each morning for the various studios ‘where color films are being made. That sum is an approximate valuation of Technicolor’s supply of the sensitive cameras which are rapidly changing the screen from drab black and white into gorgeous natural hues. Although it maintains the largest camera department in the picture col- ony, Technicolor is not a producer of motion pictures. Its cameramen work for such producers as Warner Bros., Paramount, Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer, First National, Radio, United Artists, Universal and Tiffany. A technicolor camera, without equip- ment, costs $10,000 to build. With the equipment and general tuning up re- quired, the cost mounts to between $13,000 and $15,000. The first techni- color camera—the result of an enor- mous expenditure in money, research, experiment and mechanical skill—re- corded its first scene in Miami, Fla., on Thanksgiving day of 1921. Since f | then the technicolor camera has taken rank alongside the microphone in bringing realism to the screen. ‘Who are the men who turn the cranks of the technicolor cameras! The roster includes men who have photo- LAST 3 DAYS Mar. 24, 25, 26 N., TUES,, WED. EVES. AND WED. MATINEE HENRI GRESSITT Presents the Famous Tragedian ROBERT DOWNING -.iv:: In a Revival of the Clas: “VIRGINIUS” SPECIAL PRICES Nights—$1.50, $1.00, 75¢, 50c Mat.—$1.00, 75¢, 50c riam, Hotel Willard, T. Arthur Smith & A. A. A. WASHINGTON AUDITORIUM N. Y. Ave. N.W. " ONE NIGHT ONLY SATURDAY, MARCH 29 FESTIVAL OF SONG AND LAUGHTER WILLIAM MORRIS presents SirHARRY LAUDER 'THE ENTERTAINER SUPREME" inOLD FAVORITES and NEW SONG HITS THE MERRIEST EVENT OF THE YEAR! * PRICES, $2.50, $2, $1.50, $1 Seat Sale at Auditoriu; Hotel Willard, T. Arthur Smith & A. A. A many of the finest films ever in black and white, as well as a select group of cameramen who have been specializing in color photography for several years. Edward T. Esta- brook, head of the department, has been a technicolor cameraman for six years, Prior to that he worked in black and white photography in Hollywood studios, and as a news photographer | for Underwood & Underwood and New York dailies. The staff includes cam “Metropolis,” riety’ 'and other Ufa films outs for their clever came: he A angles, and one of Par Gilks, for many yeal mount’s ace cameramen. Coming Attractions. “JOURNEY'S END"—March 30. ‘The announcement of the coming of journey’s End,” to Poli's theater, ‘week of March 30, should be of unusual interest. Each of the allied powers in the great war has recently dramatized its experiences of conflict. Prance had its ““Tomb of the Unknown Warrior,” tl United States its 'hat Price Glory?” and England its “Journey’s End.” Each etgruud the individual reactions of a different nation. The English play, how- ever, has had a world-wide appeal. Although written from a distinctly British viewpoint, and dealing with es- sentially English types, it has been a sensétion of sensations wherever it has played. Four notable dramatic efforts with the great war as their background have been produced since the war; three were English, “Havoc,” “Wings Over Europe” and “Journey’s End.” “Journey's End,” when it was shown in New York last Winter, it is said, scored a success even greater than tha tremendous ovation it received when it opened in London. It has an irresistible human appeal. A group of men in a frontline dug- out in France, during & few days, are walting for a great German attack, which they know will come, and that it will overwhelm them. In the tense days of expectancy and dread, all bar- riers of nationalism and racial types are broken down, leaving only the raw and essentially fine stuff of which humanity is made. “Journey’s End” hits home, doubly s0 to those of us who were in the war. Written by Robert C. Sheriff, a for- mer lleutenant in a Surrey regiment, it presents actual experiences and pic- tures men whom the author really knew. The company to be seen here and which will play the larger cities of the East is the same that played through an extended run in Boston the early part of the season, and in Philadelphia, Where it packed the Lyric theater for several weeks. It includes Richard Bird. Henry Stephenson, John Parrich, Charles Esdale and Arthur Stenning. “BEST SHOW IN TOWN.” “Best Show in Town” is announced for the Gayety Theater next week, with its laugh elements, songs, dances and unique features intrusted to burlesquers of fine repute. Reggy White is starred with three clever and attractive singing and danc- ing girls, Evelyn Dubois, ts Rush and Marie Miller; Bob Startzman, an eccentric comedian; Lou_Cestello, singing and dancing comic; Ed Lalor, Jack Staib and Sammy Rice. There is also a chorus of pretty girls. Lauder Returns SIR HARRY LAUDER, | Who comes to the Auditorfum on the evening of Saturday, March 29, for a single performance. A New Crook Story. **QLIGHTLY SCARLET,” featuring Clive Brook and Evelyn Brent, a dynamic screen story of smart society, will be seen at the Earle Theater be- ginning Friday of this week. It is described a thrilling romance of crooks who prey upon the socially g;:'mmem in the gay continental cen- of Paris and Nice. Miss Brent is introduced as the unwilling worker for the master mind of a band of interna- tional jewel thieves. She falls in love with a mysterious Englishman. Their F-th continually cross, as their lves ie in lines of danger. There is a surprising twist to the story which upsets conventions. In the cast are Paul Lukas, Helen Ware and Claude Allister. “CHARLES GORST " The “Bird-Man"" “Musical Genius of Birds” Wednesday, March 26; 8:15 P.M. Central ‘Community Center 15th and Clifton Sts. Tickets, $1. at T. Arthur Smith's, the A A. A, the Wwiliard, and at the door. GAYETY THEATRE JIMMY LAKE (Himself) IN PERSON and “HIS OWN SHOW” POI l! s Bei Tomorrow Night inees Thurs. and Sat. AND NOW THE GREATEST OF ALL NHITS/' The Joisons Theatre Musical Comedy Company presenis THE WORLD'S #MOST FAMOUS' OPERETTA s, » Eve 50c, §1.50, $2, $2.50. Sat. POPULAR BARGAIN MAT THURS NEXT SUNDAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 100 PEOPLE FEATURING THE INMORTAL MERRY W/DW WAITZ ' 3 at., 50¢, $1, $1.50, $2 , 50c, $1, $1.50 MATS. THUR. | MAIL ORDERS NOW AND BAT. SEATS WED. ‘The play that is sweeping the world / GILBERT MILLER with Maurice Browne) presents & R.C.SHERIFF Presented Jith \the Same Company as Th 4 150, o4, S350 ot Bt Doring Its it AMUSEMENTS. New Plays on Broadway Theatrical News and Comment URGENEV'S “A Month in the Country,” presented as the fifth play of the Theater Guild's present season, is supposed to take its audience back to the Russia of the ’40s of the last century, and to one of those comfortable old country houses which disappeared with the revolution. ‘The crisis in which its principal characters find themselves—a married woman and her young ward both in love with the young tutor who has been brought to the house to teach the older woman's young son—might arrive anywhere, to be sure, but it was rather more likely to happen in one of those old-fashioned Russian 'ntle- folks' nests” than in Western or our own country. Given this situation, the moody Rus- sian temperament, the fashion of idle- ness or comparative idleness, for thi master’s family, and such a “jam” a ‘Turgenev depicted here was by no means unlikely. And a woman like Natalia Petrovna in the play, pure, innocent of heart, sensible in most cir- cumstances, might, partly because of her innocence and inexperience, find herself swept off her feet by a sudden gust of passion. Such was the case in the Islaev house- hold, when into that isolated little oasis came the attractive young tutor, Bieliaev, to teach Natalia Petrovna’s 10-year-old boy Kolia; to wander about the estate, brother-and-sister fashion, with her orphan ward, Viera, a girl of 17; and to look with a suitably shy and deferential admiration at the lady of the manor, who was still only 29. ‘The lonely Viera, without quite real- izing what was happening to her, fell head over heels in love with this Prince Charming, who was so gay and alive and clever about everything; and the older woman—for in the '40s, of course, the mother of a 10-year-old boy was quite “old"—Afrst laughed at her weak- ness, then opened her eyes in fright, and finally closed them in desperation, hopelessly jealous of her own “daugh- ter,” and helpless before the unexpected and overpowering romance of this sec- ond blooming. It was a thoroughly “Russian” situa- tion, in the old-fashioned understand- ing of the word, and peculiarly appropriate to the art of Turgenev, with its quality at once urbane and penetrating, its gift for revealing the possibility slightly sickly, but no less real struggles of the human heart. No “well made” play here; no sharp, dy- namic climaxes—simply some ‘“nice” people, such as Turgenev himself knew 8o well, taken in a moment of emotion- al crisis, and depicted in the manner of one who was, by nature, rather more the novelist than the dramatist. ‘The plece is excellently played by Alla Zazimova and the Guild company, and whether or not it finds favor with & large public, its presentation in En, lish was thoroughly worth while an another of the many instances in which the Theater Guild deserves the public's gratitude. L 'RS. FISKE is back in town, with the revival of Sheridan’s “The Rivals,” which she played for some- thing like 70 weeks on tour, in celebra- tion of the 150th anniversary of the famous old comedy, before bringing it to New York. ‘The pleasant formality and elegance of the eighteenth century diction, the humors of Mrs. Malaprop and Bob Acres, the fine-lady petulance and die-away manners of Lydia Languish and Julia Melville, are delightful | enough after the rough language and | rougher behavior of which we see and hear so much nowadays in the theate: and Mrs. Fiske's Mrs. Malaprop re- veals our first comedienne at her best. The others in the cast brought back many memories of pleasant evenings in the theater in addition to making a new one. “Jimmie” Powers was Bob Acres, and the veteran Andrew Mack appeared as Sir Lucius O'Trigger and embellished several of his entrances and exits with snatches of the well re- membered tenor of his old Irish plays. Miss Margery Maude was a charming Lydia Languish and Miss Betty Linley, said to be a lineal descendant of the Betty Linley who was Sheridan’s wife, was a pretty and sufficlently senti- SALE OF SEASON mental Julis. Rollo Peters made s fine figure of a dashing young officer as Capt. Jack Absolute, and Pedro de Cordoba was an appropriately Byronic (if the anchronism may be permitted) Faulkland, although inclined, possibly, to drop a bit too much into the Shakespearean voice. But all fitted the picture in their different ways ahd gave the audience an evening of pleds- ure, welcome and refreshing enough.:t » 1 OVE, HONOR AND BETRAY!" One of the worst. An adaptatisn from the French, in which three men rise from the tomb and discuss their amorous adventures with the female who, in different ways, did each of them to death. It may have been less distasteful in its original Prench, but it is difficult to picture the piece as anything but dull and rather dis- gusting. Lk ¢¢]PENNY ARCADE” is another crook play, all about “bulls,” ‘“gats” “rods” and so on, with the murder committed this time in the penny arcade of a cheap amusement park. Nothing wonderful, but with a really likable honesty and genuineness, nev- ertheless. Eric Dressler is the “Angel” Harrigan of the story—a cheerful young man who has done time for something or other, and now is the handy man about Ma Delano’s penny arcade, with flip tongue, a bright smile and a heart of gold. James Cagney is Ma Delano’s son—a weak fish, who gets into bad company and a bootlegging ‘“racket,” and finally, in self-defense, kills the bad man who is trying to “give him the works.” Joan Blondell and Valerie Bergere are others in the capable cast. ‘The hot-dog stand, the photograph gal- lery, the slot machines, the penny pitch and all the rest of the back- gn’lg\d, human and otherwise, are true e. ——— . . - Loew's Carnival Under Way. LO!W;B Bpflnd g carnival is now seri- ously under way at the Palace Thelwr. with "Rotd{mlue Nights” and “Southern Melodies” straight from the Capitol Theater in New York. Attractions for the near future will include Gary Cooper in" “Only the Brav “‘Wfllllm Haines in “Free and Eas) ‘The Lummox,” Joan Crawford in “Montana Moon,” and John Gilbert in “Redemption.” Furthermore, a host of Broadway entertainers are said to be coming, among them Ted Healy, Phil Baker, Sophie Tucker, Belle Baker, Lita Gray Chaplin, George Price, a “former motion_picture star” by the name of Anita Stewart, and & young man who calls himself Wesley Eddy and who may be known in these parts, Lewis Stone has been added to the cast of the new Greta Garbo picture, “Romance.” Clarence Brown is d.fi'ecunx for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, NANA and gentlemen by thousands are attending “Nana's" farewell receptions at 1417 G St. . Admission 25c. Dr. Samuel D. Schmalhausen “The Cult of Personal Pleasurs’ Monday, March 24~ 4:30 p.m. The Willard Auspices Junior League of Washingten Tickets—Wi Social Bureau or 1 onn. Ave. je FLORA McGILL ) MEZZO-CONTRALTO IN RECITAL MILDRED KOLB SCHULZE nd Accompanist MAYFLOWER HOTEL FRIDAY, APRIL sale M 4 'ilson- | &t nirean, Drovp'n 1806 G B0 TICKETS OPENS Buch o r 0 wsky'! miss the nest existing art work in the TOMORROW MORNING FOR METROPOLITAN OPERA COMPANY Frem the Metrovolitan Overa GUILO GATTI-CASAZZI, FOX THEATER 3 PERFORMANCES—APRIL 23, 24, 25 el LA BOHEME” nori. Gisit, Tivbett Ev Fri. Mat. s urs. 4ANDREA CHENIER? ronsette, Martinellt, De Luea “TRAVIATA” Bori, Tibbett, Tokatyan Chorus—Orchestra, éS—Corpc de Ballet Beason tickets §30, §24, $31. §18 $15, 12, g0 NATIONAL 7 (agre in Washinston effering exclusively a0 and foreign stars POPULAR 5’:"-. $2.50, $2.00, $1.50, s Dise, Gasg oon-Grenns - TONIGHT and WEEK e first rank. $1.00 and 50¢ $1.50, $1.00 and 50c PRICES s, war, 5200, 51.50, $1.00 and 50¢ SMART NEW MusicaL 0@ COMEDY jfim by DOROTHY HEYWARD & MOSS HART Music by JOSEPH MEVER +[risby WILLIAM MOLL dditional Sings by WILLIAM B.FRIEDLANDER JOYCE BARBOUR - JERRY NORRIS - NEIL ROY EARLE S, DEWEY - JUNE O'DEA - HARRY SHANNON With. a CAST of Sixty and. Ol BRANDEAUX BALLETT “Production staged by MR.FRI EDLANDER, producer of “Little Jessie James" *A'conlight” *Mercenary Mary® NEXT WEEK STARTING MONDAY—SEATS SHLLING 8. E. COCHRAN and CLIFFORD BROOKE Offer NATIONAL THEATRE PLAYERS in The R Nights 50c Make season reservations now, H BURTON @ . MOTORING THRU OLMES FRANCE ntie Comedy Drama “HOLIDAY” By Philip Barry, Plymouth Theater N. V. Success. First time bere. to $1.25. Mats. Wed. & Sat., B0c & 75¢ seats T MAR 27 2 From the Pyrenees to Brittany An Epic of the Open Road PICTURED VIVIDLY—DESCRIBED DRAMATICALLY SEATS SELLING—$1.50, $1.00, 75¢ and 80c