The Washington herald., 1921-01-02
New York
Day by Day
By o. o. MCINTYRE.

NEW YORK, jan. 1T has beer
some time since Broadway hailed {
new star, so the arrival of MarilynI
Miller. whose dancing toes have
long been a feature of the Follies
TO stardom brought out the most
distinguished first night crowd since
the days of Maude Adams.
Among those in the first rows
were William r. Hearst, William
Rhinelander Stewart. Col. William
Hayward, the w. K. Vanderbilts
| George Gould, Mr.. and Mrs. Vincent
Astor-aRd of course the usual first
nighters and the critics.
1t was another triumph for Zieg-
Eeld-who discovered Marilynn Mil
Ter. Not so many years ago she was
a colorless little girl at the Winter
Garden with a property smile of
vaudeville origin. Like the lady who
smashes her way through the paper
hoops at the circus and alights on
the horse with a smile, Marilynn
Miller hoped about on her tip toes
! and smiled.
But there was some indefnable
| charm about her. Still she got no
where until she made her appear
| ance in the Follies and then she be-
came only featured dancer.
In the meanwhile Marilynn Miller
was in the hands of tutors and in
structors. To the surprise of first
nighters she revealed 4 marvellous
voice. In another act she revealed
an ability to accent a French lady
as well as Gaby herself. She was
in Paris for three months Studying
to acquire this accent.
Too, she had stage presence, a re-
markably soft and winning stage
voice and her dramatic moments
easily brought the lump in the
| throat. Zeigfeld had taken MARI
lynn Miller. the toe dancer, and re-
made her into one of the crowning
stage stars of several seasons.
She is not starring alone, it is
true, for she has the presence of
the agile and comical Leon Enrol,
but neither needs the aid of the
other. The play is called Sally
and it will be running on Broadway
| next summer and perhaps next win
| ter.
Incidentally the mention of Maude
Adams recalls tho rumors along
| Broadway that her stage days are
over. Since suffering an attack of
| influenza while on a Southern tour
loved star has been absent from
the stage and there is a possibility
that her retirement will be perma-
nent.
Miss Adams not only definitely
| declined to appear in Mary Rose. -
the latest Barrie play, staged under
the Frohman management at the
Empire, bnt she caused the impress
sion to go out among her managers
that she had no intention of return
ing to the stage.
Maude Adams is 4S years old.
Her ability is in the masterfuI way
she pOrtrays youth. Perhaps she
feels that it is better to retire now
than to wait for a public to tire
Of her.
In New York last week six hun
dred two, three and fve-reeI
pictures were sold at very low
prices. 1t represented the film
failures" of the year and rep
resented more than $1,00O,OOO of
cost. and two years work. Several
years ago there was no such a
thing as a screen failure but the
movie public is discriminating now
and unless a thing is exceptionally
good it fails.
Near New York's Fountain of
Culture"-the Metropolitan Opera
House-a Congress of World Won
ders" has opened. 1t is the old
circus side show in a vacant store
room. Inside one may renew ac-
quaintances with a glass blower, a
sword swallower, a monkey boy
born in Madagascar, Mile, Serpen,
tine, spineless wonder; a living
skeleton and a magician. Automo-
bile mechanics and button workers
are not the only people out of work
this winter. The circus freaks are
having a rough summer and winter
of late. They used to loaf all win
ter but now the demand for work
In the summer Is so slight that they
must work the year around.
A fairly successful writer made
the following statement at tine
Writers Club weekly luncheon.
I. When 1 started to write short sto-
rles L laid my plots in New York
and tried to describe life about
which 1 knew little. Ny stories
came back. 1 turned then to writ
ing about the Missouri scenes
knew in my boyhood. When 1 began
writing about things I knew about,
my stories were accepted. At Irst
1 used my relatives as, Characters
When I'd used them all up started
in with the neighbors. A writer. to
find success, must write about peo-
PIE and localities he knows"
Hat boys used to have a plate ~
nickels and dimes on the table near
the cloak room. This was "bait"
Those who checked their hats and
coats saw the change and felt the
psychological urge. But the hat
boys have grown bolder. Their
plate is now filled with Quarters
half-dollars and dollar bills-and
in one place 1 saw five dollar hill
They seem resentfur now at a ouar-
ter tip. The half-doIlar tip Is about
right and the dollar bill will even
get a Think you.'' 1t is strange,
but this graft shows no sign of
abating. People do not seem to re-
alize that the boys do not get the
money-along Broadway It goes 10
a man who is millionaire and who
has made 1t all from this miserable
form of bePpfnp