The Washington times., 1920-11-07
Polls Promises Exotic Revel
With Greenwich Village Shoqv


atrical season is early to be punctu-
ated with considerable spice and
flourish comes the announcement that
tomorrow night the much-talked-
about Greenwich Village Follies, the
unique and daring spectacle which
draws it's inspiration and many of its
satirical manouvers from New fork.s
famous Bohemian community, will
course into Polls for week OF
exotic revel.
As might we'll be anticipated OF
production emanating from such an
unconventional quarter, the "Follies'
spurns the accepted blueprints which
govern the construction OF the revues
which employ a maximum of music
and femininity in their makeup. IL
is without the marked professional
flavor which identifies its contempo-
raries.
To begin with, IL was produced in
the Greenwich Village Theater, far
from Broadway's madding throng, a
theater seating barely 400 persons, in
a quarter noted for its eccentric IL
artistical1y ambitious inhabitants. For
Greenwich Village, let 1t be known.
is the community where turks the
disciple of many an unsung cult and
creed. the seething center OF radical
"isms" where neither notions or emo
tons are tethered by the grim
statutes of convention.
Its success was immediate. Great
crowds flocked nightly to Sheridan
Square TO witness this artistic tri-
umph and to wonder at the daring
and ingenuity of it's creators. Soon
the drab little theater proved I'M
equal to the task of caring for its
audiences and the Follies moved up
to the incandescent district on Broad
way to the Nora Bayes Theater. There
it breasted the crest of success for
seven months, the mecca .of every
pilgrim to the shrine of theatrical
novelty and sensation.
The "Follies" weaves together q
startling variety of amusement. both
optical and auricular in a colorful
and unconventional manner. 1t in
tetlaces sharp satire with uproarious
burlesque crashing salvos of jazz
with lyrics that are light and airy;
ultra modern fashion creations with
the batiks of the ancient Hindus;
stately minuets with the exotic
dances of the Orient. 1t is indeed n
spiced sequence OF amazing contrasts.
In its company of players-the same
popularity in the metropolis--are
James Watts. caricaturist of the art
of Pavlowa and Farrar; Ted Lewis.
the jazz king, and his Laughing from
bones" AL Herman, celebrated burnt
cork comic: Verna Gordon. patron of
the fantastic dance: the Hickey
Brothers, Jane Carroll, Mabelle Jau-
nay, Irene Olsen, Warner Gault,
Emile Fitzgerald, and the Greenwich
Village Quartet.
Encompassing this array are the
twenty famous artists models, the
most toasted and most photographed
group of choristers extant.
Speaking of sworn circulation
statements, Gertrude Coates, a Titan
haired beauty of the group of artists
models in the Greenwich Village Fol-
lies, IL she cared to. might file n
claim with the Librarian Of Congress
which would make the 100000 a
week or 100000 a day--estimated By
some of our leading newspapers and
periodicals--look like the attendance
at a prohibition rally in Havana. Miss
Coates unquestionably holds the
worlds record for ornamenting the
magazine and periodical covers on
display at every newsstand. In fact,
she might file an affidavit claiming
their gross and get away with 1t.
In support OF this the facts are
that before her debut on the stage
with the Follies in New York at the
Greenwich Village Theater, she was
the favored model of such prolific
illustrators In color as James Mont
gomery Flagg, Joseph Lydfcker, and
Malcolm Strauss. In addition to her
beauty and regularity of features, II
was the red hair that accounted for
IL all.
The elementary colors OF the circus
printers are red on yellow, and any
old photographer or zinc etcher or
haif-tonc printer will tell you that
the elementary colors FOR illustration
with some life In II are red and black
black for the key plate, which out
lines the beautiful face. and red for
The touch OF pink In the checks, the
ruby lips, and the lure of the hair.
And many an old color mixer has
sworn with impotence as he ground
nut the elusiye red OF the Coates