Evening star., 1926-10-31
Theater Conditions Ranging
From Great Big Play to No
Play at All.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.

to educate the public taste by the
selection of dramas thus calculated
to wound moral sensibilitles, but the
uplifting of the masses is here, as
everywhere, hard proposition.
X X * X
Young Oscar Hammerstein is con-
cerned in the book of Lady Fair. y
The late Oscar Hammerstein was a
grand opera impresario of the tradl-
tional school. He had never heard
of the butter and egg man. and
when it became necessary to go
broke did so on his own account.
There may be an influence of hered-
ity involved in the fact that the pres
ent Hammerstein is associated with
an entertainment that defers to the
spirit of the olden time by carrying
a genuinely, not to say aggreSsively.
homely chorus.
x x !:
The ballet. too. came in for its
share of derision among those who
dealt in ready made humor, now OBJ
solete, such as the mother-in nlaW joke
or the orange peel on which people
slip and break leg. 1t was no fan
ciful fiction; they were homely, in
deed, for the chorus and the ballet,
too. was mears of providing in old
age for singers who had been stars
i'll their day. though drawing nothing
like the pay claimed by successful
soloists in America. 1T is easier by
far to restore the plumpness of a
stocking than to revive by method,
however we'll learned, the youthful
roundness Of a voice.
x x x =
Many OF the chorus members
found themselves in line, obscurely
contributing to the performance OF
work which had once lifted their
own names to fame as they held the
center of the stage. The line was
Italian chorus the work often lacked
precision, for the simple reason that
the chorus people had nearly all been
principals at one time. Though de
prived of position, they still had tenn
permanent. and kept on striking the
poses and making the gestures they
deemed suitable to the meaning of
their words. 1t is not to be sus-
pected that any American producer
will be so reverential of the past as
TO go back to the acting and disci-
pllne. as well as to the facial express
sion. of the chorus in those dear old
palnly days.
X x x *
The saddest news from the Belasco
there was no news. A dark theater
is depressing incident in a season S
career, but the closing of The Oar
ing Duchess" was too sudden to per
NIT engaging a substitute. Three
more attractions booked for the next
few weeks have either quit or are
wavering: "Twelve Miles Out. -
Francis Star" and The Jest" Belas-
CO is on his way over from Balti-
more with another play by Willard
Mack, whose Fanny was recently
seen here, with Miss Brice personally
providing the title. Mr.. Mack was
to appear in the play here, but with
drew from the cast because of over
work, thereby losing the distinction
of having his photograph displayed
with banner prominence. Mr.. Bclas-
CO is the only author who can nudge
the actor over and claim full share
OF the big print and the spotlight.
Whether this new play. is an effort
to outdo Ladies of the Evening" in
audacity, with opportunity for direct
comparison at Washington theaters,
cannot be known. The title has a
sensuous Tilt, but the author has
more of liking for such grown-up
toys as revolvers and handouts than
for the psychologists of the smirchy
side OF the great cities.
:: !. :: :;
A great deal OF ingenuity is shown
in the construction of titles for musi-
Cal shows. Having had no, No,
Nanctte. we will now have Yes,
Yes, Yvette" The latter a perfect
ALTERATION also, if you could manage
to pronounce the ~" with disregard
of the names French origin. 1t is
clever title. and if lines in the per-
forlnance show even this amount of
literary ingenuity. they may revive
the faltering faith in-current lyricis1n.