Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1930, Page 43

Thea ter, Screen and Music AMUSEMENT SECTION The Part 4—14 Pages WASHINGTON, D, NORMA TERRIS o MURRAY - /7 "Cameo Kirby “Fox POLI'S—George White's “Scandals.” | EORGE WHITE'S tenth edition | of “Scandals,” setting a new | standard in revues for origi- | nality in gorgeous scenics and colorful costume background, | will begin a week’s | engagement at Po- 1i's Theater tomor- Tow evening “Seandals” in- varlably brings with it a new dance creation and for the current extrav- aganza thegeniusof Mr. White, creator of the ‘“Charles- ton” the “Black Bottom” a n d “Pickin’ _Cotton,” outstanding dance inventions of past seasons, brings in- to play a new dance known as “Bot- Carolyn Nolte. toms Up,” as one of the highlights of the musical sea- | son. William K. Wells, Lew Brown and George White devised the sketches and | Cliff Friend and George White wrote | both lyrics and mu ince revues | the way of extravaganz Man of one of the funniest bit seen in the the called announced as f buffoonery note ‘struck in this | year" S " is the new talent, | young men and women who, though talented, have hitherto not been seen in Broadway productions. The new cast | features, in addition to Willie and a- | gene Howard, and the “Queen of Revue Singers,” Pri v Mitchell and Durant, Evelyn Wilson' Marietta, | the Abott Specialty Dancers, Carolyn | Nolte, Florence Robinson, Fred Lyon. | Harry Morrissey and a company of 50 +~Scandals” beauties. | MRTROPOLITAN OPERA— Wednesday TEE Metropolitan Opera Co. will open its brief Washingtor v nesday evening at the When “La Boheme” will be sung, with Beniamino Gigli, Paolo Ananian, Lu- crezia Bori, Ezio Pinza, Nannette Guil- ford and Lawrence Tibbett in the im- portant_roles. “Andrea Chenier” will be sung Thurs- day night with a cast including Rose Ponselle, Giovanni Martinelli and Giu- seppe De Luca. This opera will also have incidental dances by the corps de ballet. The closing opera, “La Traviata,” will be sung Friday afternoon with Lucrezia Bori and Lawrence Tibbett. Others in the cast include Minnie Egener, Philine Fox Falco, Armand Tokatyan, Alfred Gan- | dolfi and Paolo Ananian. There will be no performance on Friday night. Vincenzo Bellezza will conduct for “La Boheme” and “La Traviata” and “Tullio Serafin the performance of “An- drea Chenier.” NATIONAL—"The Honor of the Fam- ily,” by National Players. OF all the distinguished portraits that Otis Skinner has contributed to the stage, none is better or more pleas- antly remembered than “The Honor of the Family.” It is this salty farce that the Nationa! Players have elected to do for the new week beginning tomorrow evening, and Walter Gilbert thus in- @ herits his second “fai” role in that way, weeks, 2 | unscrupulous woman and her design- | tation of this Otis Skinner masterpiece. | soubrettes; SNTAGE and SCREEN 7. HEF SO AL JOLSON ond LOWELLSHERMAN - /n " Msmmrey /V\e'fropoh'hsn dzefle 7[7'30/” *The HoNOR of the FAMILY National | ~ Harry Ricuman- J.HAROLD /n"Puttirontte itz Ealzac wrote a tale, “Un Menage de Garcon,” which_inspired Emile Fabre to make a comedy of it, which, in turn provoked Paul Potter to Americanize it. For years it served popularly as the prize plece in Otis Skinner'’s repertoire. It was last seen in Washington five years ago with Mr. Skinner in the role of the blustery Col. Brideau. Returning from one of the many Na- poleonic_sieges, Col. Brideau discovers his uncle's menage in the care of an ing escort. The uncle, weak and feeble, has no resistance to offer against this forceful pair and, before Col. Brideau appears on the scene, it seems that the family wealth is about to be dissipated to the advantage of the schemers. The tactics invoked by the boisterous Bri- deau_supply two hours of the solidist merriment_possible. Walter Gilbert will have the support of the National Players in the presen- GAYETY—“Hello Paree!” GAILING under the same banner for the past three seasons and finding no reason for changing its title, “Hello " one of burlesque’s outstanding again makes its bid for applause at jayety Theater this week, alto- gether revised and reconstructed, and claiming to be in harmony with the best that can be gained from current sources in the matter of the very newest ideas, smart fun and unique song hits. Lee Hickman, tramp comedian, and Mildred Franklin, dramatic and singing favorite, are featured. Others in the cast are Eleanor Abbie and Eida Langer, Milt Davis, second come- | dian; Ala Bard, juvenile; Dorothy K. | Fuller, ingenue and blues singer; Billy | Woodall, straight business, and a large | d lovely chorus, which works over- | time in the funny scenes, “Shenan- | doah” and “The Punch Bowl.” MISS HAWKE'S CARNIVAL. JEXT Saturday afternoon for the Belasco Theater is announced one of the prettiest Spring dancing festivals presented, when Miss Minnie | Hawke presents her dancing class in| revue. Besides a great many group and specialty numbers, a playlet, “The| | Sleeping Beauty,” will be offered. Mrs. | Goring Bliss is responsible for its dra- | matization. Among the numbers included in the | dancing carnival will be a novel tap { dance by a group of 32 girls, a Hun- garian peasant dance, an Indian song and dance, an Oriental ballet, besides many other interesting and picturesque group and solo dances. In all, there| I | will be about 100 children taking part.| | ranging from 3 to 15 years of age. | “Tickets_may be procured from Miss Hawke, 1731 Q street. | . Blue Eyes Coming In. | T seems that in the oid days a pair of {4 blue eyes almost automatically | barred their possessors from the black | and white screen. | say so many Ziegfeld beauties failed to | ence, however, was such that she has | make good in Hollywood. But now that | one out of every four pictures produced being photographed in technicolor, | the blue-eyed blondes are getting their | thing of & precedent in introducing That's why they | The reception given her by the audi- chance. | technicolor camera. Marilyn Miller, star of “Sall is a good example of a | lovely blonde who doesn't photograph to such advantage in black lkno but who—as most of the W W by now—looks grand in Light blue eyes are easy for the ! houses throughout the countr: d white, | terested in her—Miss Wilson was sing lhmudxlnk there at the time—that he signed _ bher up immediately, Columbia " BeBE DANIELS and Daisy BeLmore- In Alias Frenck Gertre? RKO. Keiths Hsmpdens Hamlet. JDURING his seven consecutive years as an actor-manager in New York, managing and directing his own the- ater, Walter Hampden has produced and appeared in seven of Shakespeare's plays: “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” “Othello,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “The Tam- ing of the Shrew,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “King Henry V.” Mr. Hampden first_played Hamlet at the age of 25 years. He had been play- ing Laertes to the Hamlet of H. B. Irving, who suddenly became ill, and Hampden_stepped into his place—the youngest Hamlet ever to have appeared on the London stage. He played the role for a week and made so profound an impression by his interpretation that A. B. Walkley, the celebrated London critic, after seeing his_performance, wrote: “The acting of Walter Hampden is the most sig- nificant development in the English theater since the advent of Forbes- Robertson.” Subsequently, Mr. Hampden played a special engagement as Romeo in Glas- gow with such success that a very lim- ited engagement was extended to 11 weeks—a British record for “Romeo and Juliet” to this day. Know One Another. RVING CUMMINGS, well known in Washington from the old Garrett stock company days, who directed “Cameo Kirby,” which was recently completed on the Fox Movietone lot, has established what seems to be some- the members of his cast one to another at the beginning of a production. “I found,” says Cummings, “that the usual_policy of assembing a cast most of whom did not know the director, nor one the other, and plunging into the routine of production with them, caused an unpleasant restraint that often led to irritating incidents and seriously hampered the filming. “Since the observance of soclal in- troduction served so well in ‘Cameo Kirby’ I'm adopting it as a permanent custom for all my productions.” Which would seem to indicate that handshak- ing around the lot is to be a permanent appendage to the dull routine of the grease-paint life in the movies after s. .How‘Evelyr‘a Won Out. VELYN WILSON has spent 16 of “ her 21 Summers amusing audiences behind the footlights. At the age of 5, while visiting a Jocal “nickelodeon” in Chicago, her native city, she was induced by the proprietor to sing from the stage. Her reward was a bag of candy and a half dollar. been on the stage ever since. With her sister, Miss Wilson has played in vaudeville houses from coast to coast. She then appeared in a series of musical comedies in motion picture She owes her appearance in “Scan- dals” to George White's strolling into a picture theater and becoming so in | for very often the melody you dote on l HARTMAN - Stage and Screen Attractions This Week POLI'S—George White's “Scandals.” Opens tomorrow evening. METROPOLITAN OPERA—Opens Wednesday evening with “La Boheme.” NATIONAL—“The Honor of the Family,” by National Players. Tomorrow evening. GAYETY—“Hello Paree!” This afternoon and evening. COLUMBIA—“Puttin’ on the Ritz.” This afternoon and evening. METROPOLITAN—“Mammy.” evening. FOX—“Cameo Kirby.” This afternoon and evening. R-K-O KEITH'S—"“Alias French Gertle.” This afternoon and This afternoon and evening. EARLE—“Show Girl in Hollywood.” This afternoon and evening. PALACE—“Montana Moon.” This afternoon and evening. RIALTO—“Captain of the Guard.” This afternoon and evening. LITTLE—‘DAMAGED SOULS.” This afternoon and evening. Picking Melodies. ‘*A MUSICAL show,” says George ‘White, “succeeds or fails on the strength of its music. It is difficult for playgoers to take comedy away with them, but if the tunes are catchy and original in conception, those Who see the show sing, whistle and hum the numbers. Others who haven't seen the show hear the melodies, make inquiries as to what show the songs are to be found and the result is a constant flow of new customers. “All producers know the truth of this, yet the most difficult thing confronting the manager is to select songs that will become popular. Picking melodies is | not an easy task, for the songs thnt‘ sound good to you may not stand up in | the show. The,_ job, then, is to use an | intuitive sense that somehow brings you to the right selection. If you go wrong, your show naturally suffers. If, how- ever, you have chosen rightly, your show becomes one of the big successes. “I try to weigh the songs for my shows on several standpoints. There are such things as production numbers and there are others you hope will be- come the talk of the town. It is these latter songs that require extraordinary attention. The song must be gauged only from the audience’s standpoint, is too mmc-;ltla to bele'ullir“m;;nunud by your au enee.i vt wi seen, is so importan} ing that it easily becomes the problem of the gravest consequence in concocting a successful revue.” George White, as playgoers kno ben a lucky picker of melodies. “Black Bottom,” “Birth of the Blues,” “This Is My Lucky Day,” “Crest of a Wave” and “Pickin’ Cotton” are only a few of the song hits 1n his productions. This year the new ‘“Scandals” introduces “Bottoms Up,” “Bigger and Better Than Ever” and “Sitting in the Sun.” R 0 Amos 'n' Andy. THE news that Amos 'n’ Andy have signed a contract to appear in the talkies seems to have struck the four corners of the globe with the same impetus that the Declaration of Inde- pendence or the Boston Tea Party hit the American colonies. At any rate, the offices of Radio Pictures are said to have changed suddenly from the com- parative quiet of well modulated sobri- ety to something like a rough-house of joy. And the principal impresarios of his company have been smoking cigars and dining at the Ritz ever since. All of which is perhaps incidental to the fact that the name of their first talkie is likely to be “Check and Double Check,” and that Amos 'n’ Andy are the first radio stars to step from the broadcasting studios to star in talk~ Bictures, i , has undiy Star. SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 20, 1930. o & EAN and CLAIRE Motor, Aviation and Radio News e Jack MuLwacL + and ALICE WHITE - I Show Gyrlin //o//)/wooo’- Earle DAVE?CHOOLER - o Pslace (S¥sge) “Seaside Park.” EASIDE PARK is rapidly rising to replace the old amusement devices at Chesapeake Beach. The old board- walk has been completely torn away, and the beach landscape, it is an- nounced, will be much improved when the new season opens. A spacious new dance hall, well un- der way, will be found on an elevation near the beach to catch the cool breezes that come in from the water, and near it will be constructed the largest swimming pool north of Miami, with a graduated depth to make enjoy- ment of water sports possible to swim- mers of all degrees of experience. New rides and concessions also will be much in_evidence. Elaborate plans are under way for the beach this year. The new motor road will shorten the distance from Washington considerably, and improved service via the Chesapeake Beach Rail- way will make the park readily acces- sible from this city. Now an ‘Associate Producer’ MRS, JAMES GLEASON takes her place in the ranks of the Nation's progressive women, according to an- nouncement from Harry Cohn that she has been signed as “associate producer” at Columbia studios. ‘The job is the only one of its kind held by a woman in Hollywood. “I do not know the full extent of my duties yet,” said Mrs. Gleason, “but Mr. Cohn tells me there are plenty of them. The actress is the wife of James Glea- son, actor, playwright, scenarist and dialogue writer, Russell Gleason, film juvenile. Mrs. Gleason, it is explained, has gone into every phase of stage mechanics, both acting and writing; she has collaborated with her husband in both stage and screen stories, and later appeared with him in the productions. “I want to direct eventually,” Mrs. Gleason admits. John Boles in Person. JOHN BOLES is appearing three times at the Rialto Theater today in con- nection with the showing there of his latest picture, “Captain of the Guard,” in which he sings four popular numbers and leads choruses in two or three other numbers. Mr. Boles will appear about 3:30 in the afterncon and . robaly 7:30 apd 9:30 at night, and the mother of | h COLUMBIA—*"Puttin’ on the Rits.” “P UTTIN' ON THE RITZ," fea- | turing Broadway's favorite songster, Harry Richman, is the screen attraction at Loew’s Columbia for the current week. It is a United Artist picture, which has in the supporting c a s t Joan Bennett, \ James Gleason, Alleen Pringle and Lilyan Tashman, and boasts of music written by Irving Berlin. ‘There is a strong dramatic plot in the fast-stepping, mistaken for the owner of a music publishing company by a young show girl Who has written a song. Her effort is not 50 good, but the concelted young man combines parts of it with a song of his own and thinks he has a hit. His atti- tude in trying to convince the pub- lishers loses him his job. He and the girl then team up in a vaudeville act, where they are successful. They are asked to_join 'a_Broadway show, and prove to be the hits of the production. Success begins tp go to the young man’s ead. He forgets his partner in his attentions to a soclety woman who is interested in him because he is “such a clown.” Then he drinks poisoned liquor and loses his eyesight. His girl partner is kept in ignorance of it and continues Joan Bennett, alone in the show. One night he hears her sing the song they once sang to- . | gether, and then something else hap- ns. pens. “Hot Dog,” an all-talkie canine com- edy, with dialogue, is one of the inter- short subjects announced. Dogs of all pedigrees and breeds enact a play to roars of laughter from the audience. The Hearst Metrotone News, short sub- Jects and the Columbia Orchestra com- plete the program. METROPOLITAN—“Mammy.” A CAPTAIN oFMeI N A i i JOAN CRAWFORD a1 MACK BROWN-#7"Montans Moor” g e UARDS - s e e E JOHN. Isce seen and heard in “Mammy,” the War= ner Bros. and Vitaphone super featurs at Warner Bros.' Metropolitan Theater this week. Jelson, whose vigorous personality and unique style of making every song he sings a sure-fire hit, is in his nat- ural element in “Mammy,” for he is cast as a blackface minstrel. The story and the songs of “Mammy” were written by no less an entertain- ment expert than Irving Berlin. Jol- son sings six new Berlin numbers and also contributes many of his old hits, putting new life into such favorties as “Southland,” “St. Louis Blues” and “Yes, Sir, That's My Baby.” He is supported by a cast of excel- lence in a story that contains a mini- mum of “hokum” and a wealth of sin- cere sentimental appeal, with many of the lavish musical episodes fllmed in the improved Technicolor. R-K-O KEITH'S—“Alias Fremeh Gertie.” ** ALIAS FRENCH GERTIE,” Radio Pictures’ talking screen adaptation of Bayard Veiller's play, “The Chatter- box,” bringing together for the first time on the screen Debe Daniels and Ben Lyon, is the Easter week's offering at R-K-O Keith’s. “Alias French Gertie” is described as a dramatic inside picture of the society “racket” as practiced by smooth-work- ing “French” maids and their male ac- complices, It concerns the adventures of Gertie, always scheming and plan- ning successful coups on the rich, with the ald of an accomplice. Then sud- denly, after nie % caught and sentenced to a year in jail, she realizes that the %rl:'e‘ is too h!lfl;.“nshe loves Ji artigan, now la in jail, but when he is released :?wm%muguu the racket because of his insistence, Eventu- ally, however, she qu"h but his &r;e i of her entreaties, 0st proves the e ploture was, divecied George picture was Archainbaud, and the su) L4 ers include Robert Emmett Betty Pierce, John Ince and Daisy Bel- more. “Up the Congo,” shown as an added attraction, concerns two women who mix with the savage tribes of the Dark L JOLSON, and at his best, accord- ing to announcement, is to be es, _giants Page.),