Evening star., 1924-12-02
FEDERAL WORKERS
OFFER GOOD SHOW
Little Tint of AmateurIsm
Seen in 'zUncIe Sans
FOIIieSs"

Patterned closely along the lines or
a successful Broadway musical COM
edy with clever limitations OIL such
celebrities a Nat Wills and WIN hos-
ers. the Government clerks revue, Ia
beled Uncle Sans Follies," opened at
the President Theater last night Tor
weeks run under the auspices OF
the District branch of the Federation
of Federal Employees Union.
\ chorus of beauties, the pick OF
the Federal departments; talented
singers and dancers. q Jazz orches
ira and all other essential elements OF
a professional musical revue can be
found in Uncle Sans Follies.' Nov
ing swiftly and gingerly. the show
from the outset cast off all advance
suspicion Of amateurishness and sur
priSed even the promoters, who shell
tered a feeling until the curtain rose
on the premiere that the training Pc
riod had been a little too aboreVi-
ated. No doubt exists that mayor
portion of the credit for the success
Of the show will be given to Brooke
Johns, late of the Ziegfeld "Follies."
who two weeks ago, took the revue,
then in it's crude state, and nodded
a snappy potpourri of entertainment
that equals. If it does not surpass,
some brands served to Washington
theater audiences by road companies.
Little Stage Fright Apparent.
As a -Volstead beverage Is said
to improve with age, so Uncle SANS
Follies" is destined TO get better and
better with each performance. Brief
attacks Of stage fright and plainly
subdued nervousness by several or the
girls in the chorus obviously VIII
wear off in the subsequent appear
ances before the footlights. The prin-
cipals, however, handled their parts
like veterans.
The settings were the most preten-
tiouS probably ever corraled for an
amateur performance. True, some OF
the scenery had been seen before at
WaShngton'S legitimate theaters. but
this did not detraet from its effective
ness
Helen r Gallagher. a dainty and
vivacious miss from the Department
of Justice, opened the revue with
concise prologue. explaining that
Government clerks are as versatile
before the footlights as they are at a
typewriter. The clerks then started
in to prove ii by singing one of
Brooke Johns own songs. "Cuddle
Cp''
Fashion Revue Good.
The piece de resistance of the show
is dazzling fashion revue, which
gives Uncle Sans beauties an oppor-
tunity to display their charms to best
advantage Royal Tinker and Miss
Goldie Gringer add a touch of color to
the fashion show by singing during
the introduction of the mannikins.
Wilbur Smith, in Bits of Nonsense
a la Nat Wills" would have stopped
the show if the stage directors had
permitted him. CARRIED as modern
"Box Car Benny" Smith belched forth
q line of comedy chatter that rocked
the theater with laughter. and closed
his act with some jazz interpretations
on the violin that would do credit to
a professional vaudeville entertainer.
Other comedy bits were introduced
by Dick Nash, Washington's own VIII
Rogers, who twirled a lariat as ex-
pertIy as the legitimate model. and
Tom Murray and 'Spotty" Harvey,
billed as 1.-TWO Shock Troops-with
Couple of Shocks"
Dance Numbers Excellent.
The terpsichorcan specialties in.
cluded a Spanish tango, admirably
executed by Jerry Ripp and Ida Belt;
an excellent dancing quartet COM
posed of Messrs. Mulroe, kuehling,
Bishop and Raftery, and Hawaiian
hula hula dance by a member of the
Aloha Players, in which she outgiided
Gilda Grey
Goldie Gringer in light opera. the
Harmonious Quartet, Lois Gladding,
Betty Tucker, Austin Shaw and Miss
Helen Gallagher, scored decided hits
in the vocal part of the program. A
touch of local flavor was given the
show with the singing of "Bucky Boy"
in which the principals and chorus ap-
pear in the uniforms of Washington
base ball players.
Among the other features were a
recital by Miss Fannie Gluckstein,
dramatic soprano; Marc Cohen, mon
ologist; jazz selections by McNally's
Band, and a brief sketch, Down on
the Farm" which came as the finale.