Evening star. [volume], January 10, 1932, Image 43

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
- i AMUSEMENT SECTION . ~ - . • "I
Stage and Screen I Motor, Aviation,
News and Gossip Radio Programs
4_10Pagea ~~ WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 10, 1932.
w
BEN
, LYON .
COMPROMISED
metropolitan
Washington Interested
In Kaufman’s Satire on
Our Political Affairs
New York Stage Hit, “Of Thee I Sing," Prods “the
High an d Mighty” of the Capital— Distant
Drums” Splendidly Mounted and Directed.
By W. H. Landvoigt.
NEW YORK and its compel
ling theater will have its
fling, regardless of eco
nomic conditions, world
perils, even the towering clouds
of war which the timid and far
seeing may discern upon the dis
tant horizon. Let but the metro
politan box office respond joyously
to suggestion, no matter what the
theme, who the writer, or when
the time, and the product is then
and there due for launching, with
out concern for the consequences
or after effects. The occasion that
calls forth this daring observation
in a column heretofore disposed
to devote itself primarily to the
flux of the drama as Washington
receives or is promised it, is what.
has been proclaimed “the first j
great hit of the current New York ;
season,” known by the title “Of
Thee I Sing.” Its book is the in
spiration of George Kaufman,
whom one of the critics calls “the
premier wag of librettos.” It is
embalmed in the eccentric meto
dies, or otherwise of the still
rising young composer George
Gershwin, and it is endowed with
a title borrowed from our well
beloved national hymn “America.”
This New York show, described
as “a seriously jocular burlesque
of American politics,” apparently, |
has met with such a rousing pop
ular response that even the big
press associations have caught up
the echoes and are broadcasting
them to the world at large. From
details gathered from the dis
patches, this latest emanation
from the two famous Georges looks
like nothing more than a
sly attempt to make fools
of our elders in the high places,
and perhaps of the inhabitants of
our country as well. One of the
sanest reviewers closes his com
ment with the suggestion that “it
is funnier than government and
not nearly so dangerous.” Do we
deserve it?
JT is, perhaps, meet with “the
X eternal fitness of things” that
this padded brick of irresponsible
satire should find its place upon
the legitimate stage. Those who
know all about such matters have
long educated the students that
follow their wake with the notion
that the theater is the proper
forum for all themes, especially
the life and customs of the times.
But if “Of Thee I Sing” does pic
ture the life and manners of the
present day, it does it, apparently,
with a deft regard for the proprie
ties, and if our high and mighties
should present an absurd front
in the face of difficulties de
manding profound thought from
intelligent minds, why shouldn’t
our satirists like Mr. Kaufman,
who is noted for a “trenchant
wit,” prod them through the hide
and far into the quick? It may
serve to stimulate the ingenuity of
their wisdom and produce good
results. This show not only bur
lesques our elders, from the pin
nacle of the State down, but if
rightly interpreted it seems to put
the fool’s cap on the people who,
In the final analysis, are respon
sible for it all. And right here
is where we voteless citizens of
the District have our innings.
We are not to blame either way,
and so, with perfect propriety, we
may indulge in the raucous laugh
ter that rings throughout the
land, blameless even for our own
sad plight.
* * * *
ONE has often heard that “a
good play is better far than
a good sermon.” If there be
nothing else with which to arouse
the sleeping statesmanship of this
“the greatest country on the face
of the earth,” why isn’t it permis
sible to try a little of the gall
steeped satire of our young
geniuses of the theater to awaken
it to a realizing sense of its near
ness to a pot that is close to
boiling over. Politics, the prime
motivation of our national activi
ties, perhaps has had far too little
#
of the castigation of the American
theater. Ridicule will turn a trick
when all else fails. True, in “Of
Thee I Sing” the sting has been
tempered, but there is an evident
purpose to administer the mirror
treatment, nevertheless.
* * * *
JV/fEANWHELE, our season of
1 aristocratic “shreds and
patches” continues—the storm
center now at the National Thea
ter—with the Washington presen
tation of Eugene O’Neill’s “Mourn
ing Becomes- Electra.” Public in
terest has been manifested in this
O’Neill masterpiece to such an
extent in the advance seat sales
that an extraordinary engage
ment seems inevitable. Beyond1
and extending well into February,
the advance notices are promis
ing one thing after another,
mostly plays that have delighted
other days and which have been
recalled for a hopeful resur
rection.
* * * *
^yASHINGTON bowed low the
past week under the honor
of being the first city in the
whole wide world to witness the
stage presentation of Dan Toth
eroh’s new play, “Distant Drums,”
under the masterful direction of
Guthrie McClintic and with the
gifted actress, Pauline Lord, as its
star. Like the mysterious “call”
of the play itself seemed to come
a deeper call for a change in title
for a clearer identification of the
theme, if for no other purpose.
The play is tense, rugged realism,
unrelieved by even the semblance
of comedy sunlight. It held a
large audience with its power
while many, like the writer <?f this
column, groped along in vain en
deavor to discover what it was
all about. Yet, withal, it was
gripping and wonderfully well
played, as indeed it should be,
for it is a drama of characteriza
tions, none more puzzling than
the mysterious Eunice, whom The
Star reviewer faithfully and fully
described, and who, without know
ing why herself, had an impelling
urge “to go out there” and find
her fate with the Indians that
persisted in following her cara
van. One waited in vain for a
thrill or an overpowering climax
The most impressive moment
came when the despairing ox
cart Oregon seekers, men and
women, reverently knelt to recite
the Lord’s prayer. The play ap
parently stands in need of further
attention, but not in its mounting
or its direction.
Flyers in Hollywood.
VJEN LYON, featured in “Compro
mised." the First National picture
at the Metropolitan, is one of the most
enthusiastic flyers of the profession,
which is said to contain a larger per
centage of air-minded people than any
other—except, of course, those wholly
devoted to aviation.
In Hollywood stars, directors, camera
men, even property boys, appear to own
planes, and the airports in the vicinity
are crowded with student flyers who
during their working hours engage in
the business of making moving pictures
move. , . .
Many of the stars are ranked as expert
aviators. Ben Lyon, for example, holds
a lieutenant’s commission in the Army
Air Reserves. Wallace Beery, Paul Lu
kas, Clarence Brown and many others
are duly accredited transport pilots, as
licensed by the United States Depart
ment of Commerce. Scores of others in
Hollywood hold limited licenses of the
various degrees.'
Chief among the flying women is Bebe
Daniels <Mrs. Ben Lyon to you), who
was rather a pioneer among cloud
exploring motion picture stars. Bebe
was the first woman to make a flight
over the city of New York and the first
screen star to make a transcontinental
trip by air. She made the flight from
Los Angeles to New York three years
ago, riding the mail relay without stop
for rest. Bebe and Ben often fly to
work in the mornings and home again
at night. They reside at Santa Monica,
on the ocean front, not far from Clover
Field, starting point of the Army round
the-world flight of six or sev?n years ago
K
SYLVIA SIDNEY
♦ladies of THE JI& HOUSE i
W FLORENCE REED
♦MOURNING becomes electra*
NATIONAL.
&... ' ■
BOR! 5
KARLOFF
*GUiLTy
generation
KEITH S
TKe
Motion Picture
Album
BY ROBERT E. SHERWOOD
THERE is an understandable
tendency at this season to look
forward into the possibly rosy
future rather than backward
into the unquestionably glum
past. Indeed, the world In general has
every reason to say "Let bygones be
bygones, and come what may, it’s al
most bound to be an improvement.”
It is as well, therefore, to pay some
attention to the hopeful announcements
of the major movie producers, for
these contain absolute assurance that
1932 will provide the greatest wealth of
sure-fire entertainment in the history
of the screen. If you believe the ad
vance advertisements, every picture
that is released from now on will be
"outstandingly magnificient” or, at the
least, "magnificently outstanding."
Following are some of the livelier
prospects for the new year:
Ernst Lubitsch has two productions
for early presentation—"One Hour With
You,” a Chevalier frivol with Jeanette
MacDonald, and "The Man I Killed.”
with Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll
and Phillips Holmes.
In view of the bewildering box-of
fice success of “Dracula” and "Frank
enstein,” there will be several shockers,
although the wise ones of Hollywood
realize that this sort of thing may
! easily be overdone. “Dr. Jekyll and
Mr Hyde” has already been revealed
| (and have you noticed that Frederic
March, in his fearful Hyde make-up,
I bears a weird resemblance to Clark
I Gable?). "Murders in the Rue Morgue”
will be along soon, as will "The
Menace.” "Freaks” and "Tarzen,” in all
of which the element of horror is said
to be predominant. Another one, en
titled "Almost Married,” is the story of
a maniacal musician who goes about
strangling his best pals and severest
critics.
An attempt to deal with the danger
1 ously controversial subject of prohibi
tion will be made in "The Wet Parade.”
adapted from Upton Sinclair’s novel.
It will be directed by Victor Fleming,
who hasn't been represented on the
screen since "Common Clay.”
Marlene Dietrich, who also has been
absent for too long a stretch, will ap
pear under the inevitable direction of
Josef von Sternberg in “Shanghai Ex
press,” with an impressive supporting
i cast which includes Clive Brook, Anna
May Wong and Warner Oland.
"Union Depot,” with Douglas Fair
banks, jr„ and Joan Blondell, is highly
regarded, and "Forbidden,” with Bar
bara Stanwyck and Adolphe Menjou,
is modestly described by its sponsors
as "the greatest love story ever filmed.”
From England has been imported
"Michael and Mary,” of which Herr
bert Marshall and Edna Best are the
stars and A. A. Milne the author.
Those who have seen this proclaim it
to be by all odds the best picture that
| the British studios have produced—
I which is considered by some churls as
faint praise.
"Arsene Lupin,” recently completed,
will bring the brothers Barrymore to
gether publicly for the first time since
their unforgettable appearance in “The
Jest,” 13 years ago.
Another co-starring prospect is that
of Maurice Chevalier and Marlene
Dietrich—as attractive a merger of in
ternational talents as one could im
agine. Which suggests that George
Arliss (of England) might well be
teamed with Lupe Velez (of Mexico)
and Greta Garbo (of Sweden) with the
Four Marxes (of Great Neck).
It seems that in 1932 there will be
the same glaring lack of real movie
comedy that has prevailed ever since
the advent of sound. Harold Lloyd will
probably contribute one picture, and
Laurel and Hardy, Marie Dressier and
Tolly Moran and the Cohens and
- •: -11 be heard from at intervals.
JOBVNA HOWLAND, FERDINAND MUNIER, MINNA GOMBELL
"stepping sisters " - *=■<=> -x
Stage and Screen Attractions This Week
NATIONAL—“Mourning Becomes Electra.” Opens tomorrow,
5:30 p.m.
GAYETY—“Peaches” Browning (burlesque). This afternoon
and evening.
ON THE SCREEN.
FOX—“Steppng Sisters.” This afternoon and evening.
EARLE—“Forbidden.” This afternoon and evening.
PALACE—“Ladies of the Big House.” This afternoon and eve
ning.
R-K-O KEITH'S—“Guilty Generation.” This afternoon and
evening.
COLUMBIA—“Private Lives.” This afternoon and evening.
METROPOLITAN—"Compromised.” This afternoon and eve
ning.
RIALTO—“Strictly Dishonorabe.” This afternoon and evening.
England Sends Competent
Group of Stage Artists
Foreign Delegation Scores New York Hit With
The Devil Passes —British Players
of Note in This Country.
By Percy Hammond.
NO MATTER how grievously our
feelings may be hurt by Great
Britain's testy attitude toward
us, our wounds are repaired, in
a measure, by the friendly
medications of the actors she sends
hither. Much of the relief now afforded
by the drama is due to the delight we
experience through the playing of these
amiable and talented ministrants from
abroad. They inhabit the Broadway
stages in large numbers, giving life to
the fables thereon narrated and charm
ing us with the glamour of their per
sonalities, the aptitude of their tech
nique and the discernment of their
interpretations. Through their benev
olent opiates we are enabled to forget
and forgive the cruel darts thrust into
our breasts by British patriots and jour
nalists and to dream that all our
mother countrymen are as kindly as the
people of their theaters. Whenever I
am made indignant by the warlike
sneers of Lord Beaverbrook, the Satur
day Review or Punch, for instance, I
visit a Times Square play house and
there, under the influence of the
drama’s envoys, I am mollified. The
watchword, “Buy British!” may some
times be hearkened to with profit in
the U. S. A.
Tne ioreign aeitK»wuii w o^ai
ing (or it was last week) in Benn
Levy’s “The Devil Passes” is a particu
larly efficient anodyne. In it are such
soothing elements ^s Basil Rathbone,
Ernest Cossart, Robert Loraine, Miss
Cecelia Loftus and Miss Diana Wyn
yard all of them from the land of
oaken hearts or its far-flung dominions.
The author also hails from London,
and I hear that his work, regarded as
blasphemous by the lord chancellor,
was forbidden performance in England,
except in semi-privacy. For the play
represents two clergymen of the estab
lished church as having diabolical pre
dilections—one of them tossed by an
ambition to denounce God and the
other inclined to pave hell with the
yearnings of his fellow men. When you
see Mr Rathbone’s impersonation of the
sinister priest, exhaling an atmosphere
of blended brimstone and Easter lily,
you will understand how significant are
the efforts of our guest actors in allay
ing International fretfulness.
It is one of Mr. Levy’s ingenious de
vices to employ a game of ‘'truth ’ as
the basis of his fantasy. What, the
pseudo Satan asks the members of a
house party, what is your most ardent
t
desire? None of them asks for youth,
friendship, riches, health or the other
conventional requests of such petitioners,
but they aspire to create beauty, to com
pose masterpieces of literature, to enjoy
a perfect love and to relax permanently
upon the restful cushions of comfort.
Opportunity is offered all of them to
possess their heart's desire, but at the
end none save Mr. Loraine has nerve
enough to commit the evil deeds nec
essary to gratify his cravings. This
perhaps overoptimistic Impression is
conveyed by Mr. Levy in adroit ex
amples of stagecraft and the tickling
lingo of characters in a literate drama.
Cne of his effective tricks occurs at the
end of a scene in the second act. While
the audience hangs on the tenterhooks
of curiosity to see the mischievous
chaplain of whom it has heard so much,
a servant, opening the door, announces
“the Rev. Nicholas Lucy!” Whereupon
the curtain falls—before he enters.
In our gratefulness to our cordial
step-kin we must not forget that the
pleasures of "The Devil Passes” are en
nancea uy me periurmauces ui iwu
Yankee artists, Miss Mary Nash and
Arthur Byron, both of whom add to
the pacifying harmonies of the occa
sion. Miss Nash appears as an egre
gious stage star whose idea of paradise
is to hear hands clapped in tribute to
her exhibitions. It is she who, tempted
by the passing devil to break a con
tract, refuses to do so, though such a
breach of ethics would permit her to
imitate Lady Macbeth under the au
spices of Granville Barker. Mr. Selwyn,
the producer, may get a laugh out of
that. The presence of Mr. Byron as
the Autumnal lover is, of course, an en
gaging feature of the display.
Although it is difficult now and then
to keep our tempers in the lace of
British impatience with our gaucher
ies, social, political and commercial,
let us continue to be thankful for her
benefactions to our stage. It would be
a drabber place were it not for the gra
cious emissaries from across the pond.
What would we do without Miss Bea
trice Lillie and Mrs. Patrick Campbell?
The sight of Mr. Merivale, Miss Adri
enne Allen and Henry Stephenson in
“Cynara” makes amends for many a
brutal calumny uttered against us In
the House of Commons.
Washington s
Players
What Various Organizations Are
Doing and Propose to Do.
“ICEBOUND”—January 14-16.
'T'HE Takoma Players will present
"Icebound,” the 1923 Pulitzer Prize
play, by Owen Davis, at Community
Hall, Maple and Tulip avenues, Takoma
Park, Md., Thursday, Friday and Satur
day evenings, January 14, 15 and 16, at
8:20 p.m.
The cast, headed by Paul Mattlx,
includes F. B. Linton, Franc Schreimer
Caskey, Mary Alexander and E. Clyde
Shade, who w’ill also direct the produc
tion. The play is presented under aus
pices of the Ladies' Aid Society of the
Presbyterian Church.
“LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN”—
January 21.
'"THE first full-length play offering of
the Columbia Players this season
will be a modernized presentation of
“Lady Windermere’s Fan,” under the
direction of Frank E. Jamison, to be
given at the Wilson Teachers’ College,
Eleventh and Harvard streets, the
evening of January 21.
Mr. Jamison, who has had a long
career as director and actor, has ar
ranged the Wilde drama to meet pres
ent-day dramatic conventions without
in any way altering the story or losing
the sparkle of humor. Janet Jackson
will play Lady Windermere, Paul Alex
ander, Lord Darlington, the villain, and
Aurora Poston, Mrs. Erlynne.
The large cast includes Charles Mc
Culluch, Bessie Mills, Mary Turregano,
Phillip Cole, Jane Garlich, Dorothy
Riess, S. Allen Foster, Mary Cato,
Delma Smith Robert Miller and Dor
othy White.
Tickets may be secured at the door
on the evening of the performance or
by telephoning Iva Davis, Potomac
1370.
The winner of the contest for the
selection of a title for the play given
recently among a group of one-act
sketches will be announced at this per
formance.
“SEE NAPLES AND DIE.”
'T'HE Drama Guild of Washington
announces its second production of
the current season, Elmer Rice's com
edy, "See Naples and Die,”*in the
Wardman Park Theater January 29
and 30.
Rehearsals begin this week, with
Dennis Connell directing 18 players in
the piece, which gives a new field to
the group, who filled the house last
November with the thick melodrama
of "The Trial of Mary Dugan.” Edwin
C. Berryman, who scored a direct hit as
the brother of Mary Dugan, has the
masculine lead in the hilarious comedy
by the author of “Street Scene.” He
is cast opposite Dorothy Crosby, with
whom already he has teamed success
fully locally.
Described as “comic opera without
music,” the play is a broad-brushed
portrait of some Americans among the
Continental types gathered in a ro
mantic spot on the blue bay of Naples.
It has plot in the opera bouffe man
ner, but what amazed and delighted
the followers of Elmer Rice in it is its
sparkling quips and gallant, light pace.
In “See Napes and Die” Ida G. Mat
tingly comes back, as one of those
American matrons who would scatter
sunshine and light while cutting her
spaghetti and doing her Italian. Man
nix Walker, the blond prince who
stopped the show in last year’s “The
Queen’s Husband,” plays a princely
blackmailer; Eileen Fowler, an Arts
Club and National Stock player, a Balkan
enchantress, and Helen Sheckells the
sister of the heiress-heroine.
>
BARBARA STANWYCK
♦FORBIDDEN"- £AKL£
REGINALD DENNY and NORMA SHEARER.
"PR.IVATE LIVES" — C.O i-U bA B /A
Entering Famous Sport
Of Critics by Selecting
The Season’s “Ten Best’’
Also Adding the "Ten Worst" Pictures of the
Twelve Months Just Gone—Outstanding
Performances;—Hollywood Moves to
New York for Holidays.
By E. de S. Melcher.
THIS is that hectic time of
year when cinema review
ers bite their pencils, pucker
their brows and annoy their
audiences by suggesting to them
what, in their own small opinion,
were the 10 best pictures of the
past year. And since nobody real
ly cares what they think, except
those who are too weary to want
to think for themselves, it seems
as though perhaps this year would
be a good time to stop all this
foolishness. And yet, upon think
ing it over, because 1931 closed
with such definite relief at being
no more, perhaps a good way to
sing a post-swan song at it would
be to heckle it a bit further by
doing just what we said we
wouldn’t.
And so after feverishly cogitat
ing over the picture triumphs
and discouragements of the past
season, and after taking into ac
count only those films which we
can remember (those who had
sleeping potions in them can’t be
taken into consideration) some
thing like a list of the 10 best
films has been compiled, and the
10 best performances, and the 10
worst all-around films—which, of
course, is the most fun of all. So,
herewith, with many apologies,
and with a last groan at the
snuffed out year, and with a
“hoop-la” for the future, we pre
sent our small, humble and totally
negligible list (unless you happen
to agree with us).
The 10 best fims would seem to
have been (and these viewed only
in our local cinema hothouses):
“Bad Girl.”
“The Guardsman.”
“Street Scene.”
“Five Star Final.”
“The Front Page.”
“City Lights.”
“Little Caesar.”
“Skippy.”
“Cimmaron.”
“Monkey Business.”
* * * *
"THE 10 (or 11) best performances
A were as follows: Helen Hayes
in “The Sin of Madelon Claudet”;
Lionel Barrymore in “A Free
Soul”; Marie Dressier inJ’Min and
Bill”; James Dunn in "Bad Girl”;
Lunt-Fontanne in “The Guards
man”; Jackie Cooper in “The
Champ”; Greta Garbo in any
thing; Edward G. Robinson in
“Little Caesar”; Charles Chaplin
in “City Lights,” and Robert Wil
liams ip “Platinum Blonde.”
There having been so many
more sterling performers than
there were pictures during the
past season, it doesn’t seem fair
not to add to this list such accom
plishments as those given by Les
lie Howard and Ann Harding in
“Devotion”; Marlene Dietrich in
“Dishonored”; Sylvia Sidney in
“The American Tragedy” and
“Street Scene”; Robert Ames in
“Rebound”; George Arlis in “The
Millionaire”; Adolphe Menjou in
“The Front Page”; Miriam Hop
kins in “Twenty-Four Hours”;
Maurice Chevalier in “The Smil
ing Lieutenant”; Colin Clive in
“Frankenstein”; Norma Shearer
in “Strangers May Kiss”; Wallace
Beery in “The Champ”; Minna
Gombel and Sally Eilers in “Bad
Girl”; Estelle Taylor in “Street
Scene”; James Cagney in ’'The
Public Enemy” and “Blonde {
Crazy”; Richard Dix in “Cimma- j
ron”; Ann Harding in “Eastj
Lynn”; John Barrymore in “Sven- j
gali,” and Phillips Lord in “Way
Back Home.”
* * * *
AND now the-10 worst—ah, what
treasures to pick from! Here j
is a list which may cause tears,
but which will cause no more than i
i
i
did the process of reviewing them:
“The Road to Singapore,” "The
Woman Between,” “Confessions of
a Co-Ed,” “Working Girls,” “The
Great Lover,” “Her Majesty, Love,”
“Peach o’ Reno,” “Expensive
Women,” “Friends and Lovers”
and “The Road to Reno.”
* * * *
QVER Manhattan way great has
been the excitement lately.
While screen scribblers have been
whetting their pencils and their
imaginations as to the best and
the worst of the year, cinema
players have been celebrating the
New Year with high and wide and
handsome vacations. What does
a film star do during his, or her,
yearly recreation period? (It very
often doesn’t come yearly.) From
this observer’s vantage point,
which wasn’t such a bad one, the
various avenues and theaters and
more or less public eating pavil
ions were crowded with Holly
woodiana. You had only to turn
the corner to find your favorite
star turning her corner. Among
the sights were: Nancy Carroll
enjoying that hugely amusing new
satire on our own political city,
“Of Thee I Sing,” which the
Gershwin family has had such a
good time with. (Miss Carroll,
splendidly coiffed so that her red
locks were nicely visible, was sit
ting fourth row center with her
new husband, Bolton Mallory.)
And on the stage one of filmdom’s
favorite daughters, Lois Moran,
proving that she is even comelier
than one had ever dared imagine
behind the footlights: Greta
Garbo eating a hasty lunch at
Voisin’s, and sneaking out without
being photographed: Lily an Tash
man seen with her husband, Ed
mund Lowe, at the theater and
then later at a private function
Wltnoui/ IVU. luwc, omimjr uuuu
sitting atop the most expensive
hotel and biting his fingernails in
anticipation of the incoming of a
Hollywood train: Ramon Novarro
greeting Miss Garbo at his hotel
twice and not being told where
the lady is dwelling; pianist Horo
witz playing his new “Carmen”
improvisation for Miss Tashman,
Mr. Novarro, Miss Elsie Arden and
Mr. Hearst, jr.; the telephone
wires buzzing between New York
and Hollywood, the conversation
being “I’m sorry, I’m not feeling
well, I won’t be able to get back
to work for another week”; Mr
Thalberg answering with a groan;
Sidney Howard, back from Holly
wood, wandering through the
Pennsylvania Station, looking per
haps for new material; Mr. Ste
phen Cochrane atop an apart
ment hotel saying: “The National
is dark”—which was true then.
Romberg’s Lovely Operetta.
CTILL fresh and sparkling after're
^ newed Broadway acclaim, following
the remarkable total of almost 700
performances to date, not to mention
gratifying engagements In Chicago and
Boston, “The Student Prince," Sigmund
Romberg’s gloriously delightful oper
etta, will be brought to the Belasco for
the week commencing Sunday night,
January 24. It Is promised with en
tirely new dress and scenic investiture.
This celebrated operetta, possessed of
Romberg’s most beautiful score and
based upon the story of "Old Heidel
berg,” continues to flash high on the
theatrical horizon. In the cast of play
ers first mention is accorded to George
Hassell, the heavyweight comedian, as
the comic valet Lutz; Allan Prior as
the Prince, and Gertrude Lang, famous
prima donna, as Kathie, along with
Hollis Daveny, Charles Chesney, Lee
Beggs, Marion Weeks, Margaret Can
trell, Gus Alexander and Belle Sylvia.
*