The Denver Jewish news., 1922-12-13
Review OF
the Roialto
> By DIXIE HINES

New York. Dec. 0.-As bad as we
are led to suspect ''hOOtch' to bel 1t
cannot be as bad as the play which
seeks to glorify it under the title of
The Bootleggers" The scribe whose
typewriter puts down these lines may
not be nn authority on Illicit whiskey.
hut be freely confesses to 1 speak
easy acquaintance with 1t, and up to
the time of going to press none has
come under his observation that gave
him such an uncomfortable evening us
the play which seeks to expose the cor
r,Ipt methods Of the law enforcement
officers. And the pity is that much
Of the matter written into this play
by VIII A. Page is unquestionably
true He has made the mistake Of
writing with butchers clenver in
stead Of a rapier, and In bringing into
all the old theatrical tricks
known to melodrama writers for sew
eral decades past. And to make 1t
worse 1t Ia 80 badly acted that even
the high lights in Mr.. Payne's script
are all but lost to effect. In fact
.-The Bootleggers." which happens to
I've one Of the plays produced this
week, was pretty bad example Of
what prohibition has brought MS to-
Liza" is another all-colored musical
play. Irwin c. Miller wrote the book.
which is not a strong competitor for
popularity however You may look ut
1t. Mr.. Miller is fortunate, how
ever. in having as an associate Nat
Pinkart who wrote the music-and 1t
ls most ingratiating-and Nat Vincent
n hoo added some special lyrics. But
when compared with the chorus all
Nanager, director. composer, ibrettist
and principals-must give way. Here
is the liveiiest, most agile, most active
and most personable chorus in New
York. There is no step too. intri-
cate for them to perform in unison,
and as much as the. audience enjoyed
the performance, they did not enjoy 1t
as much as did the principals and the
the chorus. There
is a thread Of story but it became
lost SO many times that we almost had
II be reminded when it recurred. The
singers, principals and chorus. girls
and boys. worked with a vim. And
when they were relied upon there was
never a dull moment. Visitors to New
York, seeking novelty in the theatre.
might try Daly's Sixty-third street
theatre and Liza" Here they will
find 1t in abundance.
Whenever musical play bears the
Of Charles Dillingham; 1t
Is accepted in advance as an event
Of interest, and seldom are those SO
disappointed. 1.-THE Bunch
and Judy" is a new play at the Globe
Anne Caldwell did the book
with the assistance Of Hugh Ford.
md Jerome Kern, who wields a melo-
tlious pen, wrote the music. Adele
and Fred Astaire, the dancers. Johnny
the comedian, Grace Hayes and
the six Brown brothers and Ray
DOOley are among those present In
the cast, but they have company in
the persons Of several well known
players and AZ active a group of dane
crs a1d singers in the chorus as the
city boasts 1t is, like all produc-
tions from the Dillingham; workshop,
a1d effectively staged.
Judy is a musical comedy queen who
leaves the "bunch" Of her theatre
pals to marry the heir of a Scottish
peer. repents and returns to her own
kingdom Of dance and song. This is
enough to direct the mind of the audi
ence. The rest is made up of active
agile dancers and some per-
sonable featured members Of the cast
many of whom possess voices which
are above musical comedy average
much higher.