The Washington herald., 1919-05-26
SUNDAY THEATER OPENINGS
National-ssseandaIs Of l01O.o
nv EARLE nORgEY

National-"seandals of 1e1o.o
BY EARLE DORSEY.
When one hurries through O day
light-saving dinner and makes for
the National in the cool of a May
evening to witness the initial per-
formance of something musical and
girly that promises to be different.
it's puzzling to burst in on an un-
expurgated burlesQue show and fnd
Ninth
1t Is. in fact. more than puxzling.
for q passing acquaintance with Mr..
Jarooe's Gayety and the policy that
governs the presentation of bur-
lesque at that theater convinces one.
before the end of the FIRST act of
George Whites Scandals" that Mr..
Jarooe would probably bar certain
portions of the entertainment from
presentation at the Gayety.
We have never. in all our life.
sought the leather medal that a
grateful community usually holds
out to the chief pillars of its civic
moral tone 1t has never been our
custom to cavil at q story in the
smart Set or to look askance. NOR
ally speaking. at the display of
neither anatomy that usually forms
the inevitable concomitant of the
Sil-and-music form of entertain
msnt. In fact. we even believed
that Annette Kellermann improved
certain motion picture she made
by appearing entirely in the nude,
but-and we want to emphasize
that but-when q young man gath
: ers together a flock of performers,
hires q battalion of scene painters
10 get him up some scenery, en-
cages a couple of journeymen play
carpenters to fix him up q libretto
and q book and then relies chiefly
on brutally disgusting. leer-inspir-
ing gags to add motivation to
mis- show. we feel inclined to draw
the line.
George White has assembled in This
scandals of 1s19." a cast OF players
that ought to know better. He has
staged his production with some at
tempt at splendor, but il attains not
even the gorgeousness OF a Winter
Garden product. Its music is 80 per
cent Of the incidental variety. its book
is manifestly of the machine type. and
its comedy-well, that's already been
commented on.
to resolve itself into a travesty of cur
ent year. There are skits on the FOR
nation of a New York aerial police
force. the projected plan to establish
alcoholic oases beyond the three-mils
ocean limit. the recent murder trials
centering about prominent Long Is
land women, the sleeping sickness
epidemic and Bolshevism. Among
these are sandwiched songs and
dances, none of which rise above the
usual musical comedy standard, un-
less one excerpts two songs. ''Girls Are
Like the Weather to Me-" and IN Be
There"
Mr.. White. a dancer himself and pro-
ducer of the Scandals" danced
capably and manifested the severe
physical strain under which he has
been laboring. Ann Pennington. once
a dancer. gave a frank exhibition of
the Pennington calves. knees and
thighs. Mabel withee, late of Little
Simplicity" came through now and
then with a new gown and Yvette
Rugel demonstrated a real ability to
sing and look charming at the same
moment La Sylphe. a dancer. is
the best dancer on the bin. George
Bickel and Ed Lee wrothe skood un-
der the male comedy portion of the
program. though their knees fire.
auently gave way. fguratively speak
ing. with the effort
At 1l:30 last night, THE Scandals
were still in full swing. which in
dicates that some elaborate chopping
must be done to the various numbers,
After careful look at Mr. White
product. II seems safe to say that
there are still no ''Follies" save
ziegfeld's and the Winter Garden con-
tinues to run second. Mr.. White
seems to have incorporated ideas into
his piece. but they have been executed
execrably. 1t is likely that some exl
tensive remodeling will be started al
Cnce which may yield better results