The Washington herald., 1918-09-03

New York, Sept f-There 10 a loi
OF tviddle-twaddle about the business
I OF acting. Gum-chewing chorus grid
/ who leap ceftly from white-tilet
/ csfeterias 70 the tufted Limousine lift
! delight In painting pictures OF ths
] hardships OF a stage career. Thes
] churn rhetoric to a sob sisters Glib.
berish IN their descriptions and dwell
with emphasis upon the essential
temperament needed; 70 say nothing
OF the long hours Of burning the mid.
night lamp.
Broadway is filled with ,truttius
| peacocks-actors who blame theif
| gray hairs to hard work and disSp@
! pointments II would seem that acts
4 ing was the most difficult profession
/ in all the world. There Is no rosy
path TO stardom-the road 10 clogged
with Jagged rocks and only those Of
I COURAGEOUS spirit achieve THEFT
/ nepenthe-the flashing Of their name
| in electric lights on the Great White
| Way. That is the Thespisn's story
/ and he sticks 70 Il.
However be that as It may 20 quote
q Georgemonroeisn. the fact remains
J that the two most successful plays ID
New York the past season. financially
and artistically, were Bin! Bang"
] ana lip zap 1dpnHhh
These two musical connections were
staged and produced by 1msteur
who had never been behind the foot.
lights before "Biff, Bang" was 'hs
work OF recruits at the Pelham Bay
naval station. and "Yip! Ysp, Yap-
hank" was the work Of the boyt
from Camp Upton.
Even the female parts were tsken
by the men. II might be ina sined
! that patriotic fervor would Re re-
! sponsible for much Of the success Oi
the two productions. but critics and
the public agreed that. leaving out
the patriotic side. the two shows have
never been equalled for fun. music
and genuine acting.
In Zip, Yap' Ysphanki" which
may be sent 10 France. the boys had
the advantage OF the services Of SerEt.
Irving Berlin. But Berlin is not an
actor. He is q song Writer--the SlO6s =
O1o-a-yesr pluto0rst Of Tin Pan Alley.
The men wrote their play and
staged IL in about a months time.
Most musical productions Tehesrss
six weeks AMI then try Il cut on ths
dog paterson or Atlantic City
for another SIX weeks before IL is
brought 20 broadway. Many Of the
actors did not know left center"
ana other stage terms from a mule .
ear. They exploded a lot OF fslsz
ari tinscled theories about stars
work. And they did II without thu
fanfare OF press agency.
New Y"rI, is becoming neiEhborly
At last. 'Elock parties" are giving
tn" City Cf Strangers a Emsll-tOWu
atmosphere The block parties
consists c&ieny IN closing a block
to traffic for the night CoIored
lanterns are lt-hed and music
strikes up and everyone comes 0l.
Of his shell for the evening and az
teIW;.rd for cts 80 crawl back into
IL.
The closed block can develop as
&c tcnishin= resources There is old
fashioned cake: prizes for different
kinds OF games OF skill and there 10
always 4 band OF a hurdy-Eurdy. A
prize is offered for the best dec
GRATED home
Next door neighbors OF years
standing get acquainted. Many
surprisingly talented people are
dug up on the block The block
party is one of the amazing feats
Of the new spirit that has swept
over the country since the var was
declared.
The negro section Of Harlem.
known joUrnalistically as the
Black Belt. has given New York a
fine example OF thrift Negroes now
have more than 500. OoO. 600 invested
in Harlem real estate property.
New apartment houses for negroes
are going up rapidly. There are
theaters. hotels. saloons. movie
palaces. millinery shops. drug
stores and groceries pstronized
. only bv the negroes