The Washington herald., 1920-08-22
New York City
A show in the Making.
BY o. o. Mcintyre.

a
requires about five weeks for the
average musical comedy to be
beaten into shape. 1t is a slow,
discouraging progress. All the lit
tie human foibles, jealousies and
chickering's must be smoothed out
every hour or so.
The stage director and the pro-
ducer are the hardest working of
the aggregation-the former being
in complete control although al
ways accepting the suggestions OF
the latter.
The stage director cannot speak
GROSSLY to girls any more. They
will not stand for II. Since the
actors have formed their various or
ganizations they are we'll protected
and the days of the shouting; curs-
ing director are gone.
The director calls his chorus. girls
"Dears" or Ladies'" If he becomes )
impatient he claps his hands sharply
but that is about all. Girls new to
the chorus are difficult TO train but
the old timers follow Instructions
with no hesitancy. -. -, e..
Many OF them smoke cigarettes
and eat sandwiches while doing
their dance steps-thus expressing
their freedom. They wear. rompers
land sandals. their legs and arms
being bare.
The principals never rehearse to-
gether until the final days. They
become too Jealous of parts other
wise and il is during the last few
days that the director must use his
Il IfVnI l.
he or she is really the most i'm
portant member of the aggregation
David Belasco called the people
Of the stage world children" They
are figUratively and literally. The
average age in musical comedy is
about 90 and few are more than %.
The chorus men hold themselves
aloof from the company. They
seem TO feel certain lack Of dig
nifty in the calling despite the fact
that many present day stars began
in the chorus ranks.
Tho dress rehearsal is held the
night before the opening. They
generally give the entire show
twice and owing to the nervousness
of the next night with no sleep in
between the strain is a severe one,
y
bursts. Nearly always the star has
to be persuaded at the last moment
to continue in the production. 1t
isn't so much temperament as Just
general fatigue.
Alter the first night. the perform
ors gather on the. stage and await
the verdict of the critics. They
know about two hours later wheth-
er or not the show has a chance.
In this particular production there
was much good fellowship. But
there was a certain dignity about
it. They do not call each other nv
hrst names. But they encourage
and are free with praise. After
the premiere the director who will
go his separate way, generally
makes a speech thanking the com
pany for its Corporation.
That stopped Him!
A young man in a white fame,
suit and other summer reEaIia walk
ed up to the pretty news stand
girl in a big hotel the other aft
ernoOn and Boldly asked for a cigar.
He had been adrairing the girl from
"a lobby chair for some days. The
soft down on his upper lip held
the girls eyes in fascinated stare.
After he had selected the cigar.
he said, AREN'T YOU going to light
it for me-" with the insinuating
smile Of a screen hero. The match
was struck and the youth pured
and beamed through his hOrn-rim-
med spectacIes.
Il do hope it doesn't make you
sick" said the girl behind the coun-
ter sympathetiCalIy. And right there
another romance was blighted.
New York's Peaceful spot.
peaceful spots in New York 1t
ever changing city. an oasis of YER
dure and peacefulness in a busy
district. 1t stands just as it stood
eighty years ago, occupying the
same acre and a half that Samuel
Ruggles mapped out when he es-
tablished it on a farm site in lS4O.
In the Old-fashioned houses that
line its sides live families whose
grandparents and great-grandpar-
ents occupied the same houses and
took their recreations in Gramercy
Park just as their descendants do
now.
The park is under lock and key.
But it is nothing more than a pool
ing OF front yards. Anybody can
have access to it that lives on or
near the park and is willing to
pay a small sum for a key. Back
in 1857, amuel Ruggles wanted to
make that particular. section. then
pure. countryside, a desirable loca-
tiOn for residences.
SO he set aside the plot that later
became the park and stipulated that
it should for the use yof sixty
families living near by. and that
above all, business should never in
trude on the square. And business
never has intruded on 'Gramercy,
which is more than Fifth.avenue can
say.
Something TO Talk About.
Charles Dillingham; is to open his
season with the new S5 a seat price.
Of course, it is a Fred Stone show
and people will pay it for awhile,
but Dillingham; is setting a bad pre-
Cedent. No doubt dozens of produC-
tiOns due to- open this fall will
boost the price. As a s. seat from
the speCulatOr-and that is where
most of them go-will cost the ulti-
mate consumer about $40 or $12 it
looks like a good season ahead. I'm
less the public should revolt, but
that isn't likely. New Workers like
high prices. 1t gives them some-
thing to brag about-and something
to write home and tell the folks.
Cabnrets on the Wane.
According to dance orchestra
leaders, the most popular fox trot
for the summer season is one called
AT Ching -A-Ling' Jazz Bazaar"
Dancing is confined to the road