New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-21
BROADWAY TO PARIS"
New Winter Garden Review Is
SpIendiferOuS.
COST INESTlMABLE
scenery, Costumes, Girls and
Gertrude Hoffman,
Galore.

Notbjnr hitherto on view at the Winter
Garden has equalled the extravaganza Of
q. latest production. Gertrude Hoffmanns
rsyiew. Broadway to Paris" is as gilt
,,ring as the Great White Way at theatre
lime and advertises almost as many
,,ipgs. II also advertises the bottomless
bounty Of managers in this golden age
and the infinite energy both of producer
and Of actors. There is something Nero
man about the Iecklessness in eXpendi-
ture Of time. money and energy in the
Entertainment offered last night for the
first time here.
As Il was a review, It was necessarily
not original In fact the anticipated
erowl of the people who are always de-
handing origina'I,N was silenced by the
speaker who appeared before the curtain
at the beginuing aul explained that every
thing in the show had been 'cribbed"
from something else. And after that
Gertrude Hoffman, was revealed as a
vampire in the Dance Dracula, with Lee
Chapin. II is impossible for Miss Hoff-
mann 10 be vulgar, no matter what she
does. She belongs to that sheer Amer
lean type which is light-spirited and
pvmph-like through everything. Her
vampire dance. in spite of her hanks and
hanks of ominous looking red hair, her
cruelty rouged lips and heavy eyes, was
graceful and full Of youth.
Later in the evening The Garden
OF Girls" with Miss Hoffman, as the
principal girl, supported by a ballet Of
nymphs and chased by a trio of fsuns
through pink Towering woods, brought
this dancer outdoors, where, as matter
Of fact, the spirit Of her dancing belongs.
This garden Of girls was one of the most
attractive features of the long pro-
gramme OF specialtes.
There is not even as much of con-
tinuous story in the new review as there
is in the romantic plots which are Matched
in the Hippodrome spectacles. 1T is sim
ply one thing after another, all the
things happening in or near Paris and
largely at the Theatre Olympia. Scenes
are laid on the stage of the theatre, on
the Champs Elysees, at Enghien, in and
out Of cafes, at the Paris motordrome,
etc, The interior Of the Cafe American
Is one Of the most lavish scenes and at
the same time the most successful one
as a spectacle.
Among the profusion Of features Mile.
Bordoni struck a moderate and quite
pleasing note in a little French song,
which she followed with her first effort
in English BE It recorded that the Eng
lish was perfectly good. too.
The classic turkey trot was revived In
new garb by the celebrated Maurice, who,
with Florence Walton as a partner, exc
cuted several difficult examples Of the
now historic dance. What was the rage
Of last season still clings 10 this.
One distinct novelty, by the way in
yaded the stage given over TO the re
view" II was the discovery of real
use for the chorus boys. About dozen
Of them came into the Cafe American
dressed as girls, and nobody guessed un-
III they began TO sing. The situation in
musical comedy has been growing op-
pressive for chorus boys lately, because
they are being done away with alto
gether in favor Of girls. Girls dressed
as boys are so much more charming, of
course, than real boys. Now there will
be a new opening for the boys. How in
tereSting.
other leading contributors to the enter
tainment i'm its various parts were Marion
Sunshine, Sam Mann and Louise Dresser,
while behind the scenes of the entire per-
formance stalked Ned Wayburn, in large,
Practically the whole production danced
in the palm Of Mr.. Wayburn's hand, re-
yealng to a nicely his ideas of perpetual
motion. Book and lyrics by George
Bronson Howard and Harold Atteridge,
and music by Max Hoffman, and Anatol
Friedland also formed a feature Of a
programme which seemed very long In
deed. A little late fall pruning would
improve this lavish jungle Of entertain
ment