New-York tribune., 1922-08-29
The Theaters-By Percy Hammona
Afr. Whites New ssScandals' 7
+ lis To Be Commend =. as
Something Like ..Mr.
Ziegfeld's ssFollies'

Thsater. with sssusia by George aershwsn
and book and lyrics by Sud dc sylvia. Roy
Tss gss An shs s e.. asTss sss wass sas sa nsster
vaash han: Tsnsis l.ighsnss, Charles WI
ksus. Ce7etta Ryan, Jack McsSowans Rich
ara Bold and rseay, many Others.
Having selected Mr.. ziegfeId ns his
,astern, Sfr. Georgic White. the "scan-
daiss mans proves himself to be no
slouch at imitation. His new play at
the Globe 1'heater Is rich reflection
Of the ziegfeId extrayaganzas, gay
agrry of ragtimc and motion, wcnen
and vaudeville, endeavoring at times to
travesty life as it SINNERS in the flesh
pots. The young isnpressario is a
shoofer'' Of renown, and so he makes
that art one of the leading features
Of his show. The jazzes, the jigs and
the shimmies blossom as the rose,
therefore, on desert libretto.
Not altogether desert, however, fer
early in the play one of the pretty
ladies' Is heard to remark that she has
country place at Abscess-on-the-H Hud-
son. Scarcely moment later, Mr.. w.
c. Fields wooes you by shouting to an
o5her pretty lady: "You go to helli"
But il is not because Of these and
similar feats of libretto that the
Scandals" moves you to enthusiasm.
You like the Scandals" for its celebrity
in changing the ornamental scene; the
heavy pranks Of its clowns; its
unabashed young women in their sly,
!ialf-nudity, and for Mr. Paul G. White
mans orchestra, whose cunning saxo-
phones and sliphorns discourse most
eloquent noises. It was hard to tell
last evening who was the hit of the
show, Ziegfeld or Whiteman.
We begin our pleasures in the "Scan-
dalsD gravely, as the ancients used to
do, with a Broadway burlesque of
adam and Eve" during which score
of leggy vestals watt their gentle and
undressed shanks about in gestures
satirical of the Garden of Eden. After
while the locality changes: and
whence do you think our magic carpet
transports US? Why, to "a Congested
Corner in New York" with Mr.. Frank
lin Ardelle officiating as a very funny
traffic policeman, and Mr.. Fields i'm
personating his victim, in one of those
vaudeville motor cars which explode
and disintegrate, comically. When, you
inquire anxiously, shall we get to the
stage door of Broadway theater, with
the grnf stage door keeper, and the
performers entering in proud exits !?
Be patient. We shall reach there inn
.nediately after Mr.. Jack McGovern
sings a soft song about the erstwhile
Eeroines of the drama, and they APP
PEAR, one to each verse, represented by
chorus girls behind transparent cur
tain. 1t is called Little Cinderella
tives," andit celebrates, sentimentally,
the little Cinderella girls who have in
recent years woven themselves about
the hearts of US drama-loyers.
But, You say, there is a baseball
scene in the "Follies,' by Mr.. Lardner.
Shall we have no baseball scene in the
'Scandals'?" Again be patient. Here it
is, in skit by Mr.. Fields, entitled "The
Big Leaguers," in which several per-
formers toss baseball to and fro, in
travesty of the national pastime. You
know the kind; when comic foul is
hit with q funny bat, they all look up
into the air until, eventually, it comes
down. Perhaps you will have to hurry
in order TO see the baseball scene, for
last evening it seemed to be on it's way
TO the Abbey.
Mitigating the effect of this some
what lugubrious episode is the mouse
like comedy of Mr.. Lester Allen, who
careens about in his daffy way, a rough
guy with dainty aspects. Also the
usual song "hit,' entitled ~ Found a
Four-Leaf Clover rendered by Miss
Coietta Ryan with important top-notes.
Also the Whiteman Observation-Disclosures,
who jazzily enrapture the attendance
with their seductive harmonies. There
is decorative finish to the first half
Of the entertainment of those big,
smashing stairway things in black and
white, wherein. If we applaud enough
as, Of course, we do. the shapeiy la
dies involved divest themselves Of
their sable garments and are enjoyably
exposed in their underclothing.
In the "Folliesy there is timely com
ment, BY Miss Gilda Gray and associ-
ates, on the topic OF the negroid
dramas prevalence in New York. So,
indeed, is there in the Scandals in
what appears to be an amusing black
face satire, entitled "Blue Monday
Blues" Other ingratiating incidents
include Mr.. White, who looks very
tired. and who, when he is not dane.
ing, impersonates, with pathos, q dis
Ausicned Broadway producer, harried
by naughty salaries and humble re.
celpts. lie says that he yearns foi
those happy days when his wages Tor
performing for ntharc u,ac can -,