Evening Star Newspaper, January 10, 1933, Page 23

From the Front Row Reviews and News of Washington’s Theaters. Part of True Story of “Rasputin and the Empress.” CCORDING to Donald Hen- derson Clarke, novelist, and chief literary factotum for the M-G-M office, on the s night that “Rasputin and ! the Empress” (the Ethel-John-Lion- el Barrymore film soon coming to Washington), had its premiere at the Astor The- was taking | B Bt e T | at Paris, Maria ,Rasputin, daughter of the Russian religi- | ous fanatic whose influence on the imperial family is the | story of the film, was mak- ing her debut in the Parisian | circus with a | pony act, and for all she knew Prince Yousoupoff, enemy of her father, and now resident in Paris, may have been one of the audience J who watched her put her horses | through their paces. | _ A Parls reviewer describes Maria | Rasputin as a woman of strong | frame, and more than average | height, with a hard, almost mascu- line, face and with eyes of an opaque | lightness W the famous, hypnotic eyes of her'father. Informed that in America they ‘were showing a film based upon her father’s life and violent death, she became reminiscent, relating memo- ! ries of her father and endeavoring | to make clear some of the false im- pressions which have sprung up about his now legendary figure. She took care to point out that al- | though he wore monk's clothing he never had been a monk, and also | stated that his friendship with the Czarina and his influence over the | court were only due to the fact that ' the Czarina appreciated his sincerity’ ! and his warm friendship for her, This last, she said, was doubly valu- able to the Empress because of her ty at the court, where she | was always considered an alien, having been born a princess of | Hesse, John Barrymore | _When the interviewer inquired about her father’s death, Mme. Ras- putin became vehement in her de- nouncements. “I swear on the heads of my two children,” she cried, “that You- | ff drank from the same cup | with my father. For months he cul- tivated my father’s friendship. Every day he came to see him and pray with him and always called him father. He did not come as a man to fight openly with my father, he came as a friend and won his love and his trust.” ! Maria Rasputin says her father | was found in the river with his )‘:;da held out in a gesture of bless- ‘When asked about her plans for the future, this lady, a widow now | with two children to support, an- swered: “Work! That is all I can do. | Today here at the Cirque d'Hiver, | tomorrow at Riga, always on the ! move and always the people come to see me under my father’s name —=a ‘murdered’ name—in order that PALAISROYAL "DOWNSTAIRS™ H"flfl"lflu.., !,l Hls daughter and her children may ve.” Women Faint at “A Farewell to Arms.” 'HE potency of the Hemingway cinema drama at Loew's Palace is being felt in i.ore ways than one. Comes a note this morning from M. E. Y. to the following effect: “I can easily believe that the ‘hard- bolled critics’ cried at ‘A Farewell to Arms.’ Because I felt the ending so intensely that it made me faint—it was so real, Helen Hayes' acting, that I felt as though I was dying, too. It's true—ask the attendant how many people got that way in the theater. Helen Hayes is mar- velous!” Promise has been made by Sam H. Harris, producer of “Of Thee I Sing,” which is coming to the Na- tional the week of January 30, that not only will the cast be intact, but no changes have been made even in the chorus, “Not a spangle mis- sing,” the motto of this show. When “Design for Living” is offered on Broadway, tickets for the ovening performance will be $11. Half of the total receipts will then be turned over to the unemployed. Washington’s Drama Guild is busy rehearsing for “Olympia,” the Sidney Howard version of the Molnar play, which will be presented January 26 and 27 at the Wardman Park Theater. ‘Tonight The Pelican Club, which has been called “Washington's artistic retreat,” and which is located in the rear of 2112 Massa- chusetts avenue, will present Theo- dore Tiller's Marionettes. Perform- ances of the “Puppet Foljjes of 1933” will be given at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Everett Stevens, pianist, will ac- company the puppets for the songs and dances, and those in charge of the puppet strings and voices will be Romaine Stevens, Clifford Adams and Mr. Tiller. Thursday night, the Club Mad- rillon will feature two new perform- ers—a pair of “flash dancers,” Linda and Drigo—as additional “show ma- teral” along with Kimmy Ray and Ted Holt. E. de 5. M. MUSIC Two Fine Artists Presented at Willard. UTH WILSON, a young vio- linist of more than usual tal- ent, and Edna Fischer Hall, contralto, were the artists heard in the last concert of the Musical Artists of America se- ries given at the Willard Hotel last evening. A large and enthusiastic audience welcomed a program of classical numbers, which included here and there modern compositions for variety. Generous applause was given the several encores added. Miss Wilson chose a program with a sufficient number of tricky move- ments to prove her capability, and in the greater majority of these she came through with flying colors. She is & violinist who promises a future of still bigger things, and she has the innate musicianship and tech- nical foundation to accomplish this. She has temperament which is .at once her strength and her weakness, for, while giving her emotional power, it interferes with that most impor- tant necessity—a calm, singing tone. When her restrain and con- District //////’7 7 7l | ™ Y W N b4 Presenting the New 1933 Prints! . . . “Fruit-of-the-Loom” Cotton resses Regular $1.00 Values! Think of what you get in this finely tailored of one of America’ New 1933 prints. wash fabrics! 79 Sale! Dresses s most famous Tricky style points—such as puff sleeves, mesh lace irims and countless others. Sizes 14 to 52—Plenty of Extra Sizes THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, Appearing in New Play NOTED ARTISTS TO BE SEEN HERE IN “DESIGN FOR LIVING.” Lynn Fontanne and Noel Coward in a scene from Mr. Coward's new play, “Design for Living,” which is coming here next week prior to its New York D. C, TUESDAY, cution that was full of vigor and certainty. It was decidedly her most outstanding performance from & technical and interpretive view- point. In the arrangement of * Del Mio Dolce Amor,” the Schubert- Wilhelmj “Ave Maria” and Debussy’s “En Bateau” there were some ques- tionable phrasings, and the Pug- nani-Kreisler “Praeludium” held a perilous moment or two technically. Two modern and difficult num- from Bloch’s suite, ," were given with careful consideration of their illusive inner content and with every thought of their artistic possibilities. She fin- ished the program with a spirited and temperamental playing of the :rflhms-loncmm “Hungarian Dance 0. 2.” A large share of the success of the evening was due to the excellent ac- companiments of Winifred Lakeman. Miss Wilson explained that she had met Mrs. Lakeman for the first time only four hours previously, when she had called upon her to replace her accompanist, who was to have arrived by plane from St. Louis and was detained by bad weather. Mrs. JANUARY 10, 1933. keen that ske was a truly support- ing accompanist while playing her solo passages with artistic insight, luscious tone and technical ease. Edna Fischer Hall sang two groups of songs, in which the “Lungi Dal Caro Bene” of Sacchi; “Ewig” Wolf; “Over the Steppe” of Gret- chaninoff, and Griffes’ “By a Lonley Forest Pathway' were the most finely given. Mrs. Hall has a beautiful voice, with both great depth and height in its range, and she uses it with true artistic simplicity and lack of striv- ing for effect. Her success was a decided one, and she gave a generous amount of encores that were well chosen to display her rich tone. Minna Niemann was a most sym- pethetic and capable accompanist. A.E. Pearl Waugh Lectures at Y. W. C. A. A ‘TALK on the principles of piano technic as expounded by Tobias Matthay was given by Pearl Waugh at the Y, W. C. A. yesterday morn- ing. Miss Waugh gave a summary of the ideas of weight touch and principles of progression and illus. trated them with specially written exercises as well as excerpts from classical compositions. Miss Waugh, who recently attend- ed the meeting of the Tobias Mat- thay Association in New York, spoke of the consideration that was being given to the means of awakening interest in music in people of mod- erate ability. She emphasized the fact that it is better for every one to play a little themselves than to be merely a listener and that thought had been given to devising a meth- od whereby the long hours of study were shortened by the substitution of certain principles which brought the desired result, She spoke of the plano as the “player’s tool” and that a thorough knowledge of the instrument and its construction was a fundamental nec- essity. She covered briefly the ques- tions of weight in tone, the swo com- pulsory conditions of poise and re- lease and muscular activity. Miss Waugh advised teachers as to the method of imparting information to children and how to give out the same to the adult beginner. In clear and interesting manner, she ex- plained away the difficulties that is met at the beginning of piano study B—7 and gave apt illustrations of thelr remedy. Saturday afternoon Miss Waugh is giving another talk on the Tobias Matthay method at her studio, to which she has invited all teachers who are interested to be presgxt, A |E. de S. MELCHER TALKS ON THEATER TOMORROW Edward de S. Melcher, dramatic editor of The Star, will discuss “The | Theater, Yesterday, Today and Tomor- | row” in'an address tomorrow night be- | fore the Pierce Hall Players at theiy | open meeting in Pierce Hall, Fifteenth | and Harvard streets. « Norma Simonson, sponsored by Mrs. | Flora McGill Keefer, will sing a group | of songs, | Radde Emery. accompanied by Dorothy The hosts will include members of the council, K. Hilding Beij, Mabel van Dyke, Frederic Staebnr, Marjorie Brock- ets, Ina Hawes, Sedgley Thornbury, Mrs Oliver Irish, Paul Alexander and William G. Eliot. Mrs. Prederic Staebner will serve refreshments, assisted by Mrs grmmg; G. Eliot, Mrs. H. L. Knight and peeigy. . Lakeman not only gave a fine mu- | sical support, but she played with | . Miss Wilson's opening number was | ‘warm, B he thie thabrwas of ex- the “Brahms Sonota No. 3 in D | treme beauty, especially in the Minor.” She played it with true and | Braham's “Sonata.” Her under- deep emotional feeling and free exe- standing and adjustment were so NEW—5th Floor Dress Shops DRESSES for Little Women that really FIT § 50 —in the length 1 —in the sleeves —at the waistline Jacket frocks and coat dresses, one-piece styles with bolero effects, cape effects. 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We are holding demonstrations of baking with Electric These demonstrations are not only interesting, but they give you FACTS about two very important features in economical and suc- cessful cooking. Washington Flour has no real competitor in any flour. It’s made expressly for family use —and Mrs. Zimmer, the Home Economics Expert, shows you just why—and how simple it is to get PERFECT results. Tomorrow—Wednesday—at 2 P.M. In OGur Model Electric Kitchen The Electric Range as designed and made by “General Electric” is the last word in efficiency and economy. Come in and see the baking done in this wonderful Range—and sample what has been baked right before your eyes. Ask all the questions that may occur to you. They will be answered painstakingly—eand practically. 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