Putnam patriot., 1926-11-26


 New York City. Nov 24. 1926. On Monday night of last week. at the lm- perial Theatre, Vinton Freedley Of Pomfret and New York. and also of the highly successful theatrical firm of Aarons < Freedley, produced what promises tO be one of the hits of the New York. theatrical season. a musical comedy entitled "Oh. Kayi" of which the bright particular star is Miss Gertrude Lawrence, the charming young Englishwoman who came to America with the original Chariot Revue" company and has remained to become very shining star in her own right.
 This is Mir Freedieys third really big success in New York. Two years ago he and MT. Aarons registered their first big success with Lady. Be Good delightful evening. starring the dancing Astaires. brother and sis ter. who are today still playing the same piece to crowded houses in Lon d8u. Then last year came "Tip-Toes. Y musical melangc which held the boards for il season and is still a val uahle property eB the road But of all tbrir productions. Mir Freedley and his partner seem Co have hit their big nHsf success with ''0h. kayi
 j Brooks Atkinson. astHtr critic of The New York Times, hailed the new production with the following wordz af eemmeudation
 Musical comedy seldom proves more intensely delightful than '0h. Kay Inc new piece at the Imperial, with q -ersIceabla book by Guy Bolton and r. C Hndehnuse, specialists in eellab- HHatiaH. and rich score by George Gershwia. Usually it is sufficient to credit as sponsors only the authors #aud the composer But the dIstiuc= ton of "Oh, kay [" k its excellent ] blending of all the creative arts of musical entcftainment-the arts of #stagiup no less than those ef eompos= ling and designing For half the en= iayment of the new musical play comes from the dancing. the comic pauto= m1me and the drilling of q large com fpauy Mr Lee and Mir. Harwood have matched the authors at every turning with inventive and imaginative direct ing
 Miss Lawrence Stars
 Alter twa appearances tn America 8s ra-stur in the English Chariot Re eue Gertrude Lawrence now appears sz principal in this new comedy. And Che u1at hejne what it is. she comes as #ths =tpf of titled English bootleg |raf whose yacht hovers of our arid shore. amid the excursions and |alarum- t Federal inspectors t"The difference between bottlegger and a Federal inspector, says the merlin mating Victor Moore. ''is chat one of them wears badge n3 Most of us huec heard Miss Lawrence singing va fi5us musical=hall tunes in good voice and excellent taste. with wanton twinkle If comedy in her eyes.
 tu her present role she gives eXpres- sion to that mimic quality more than ever before with versatility barely indicated in the Chariot Revues in which Beatrice Lillie cut such uproar- ious capers Miss Lillie by the way, was among those present last evening. So obliging k the book of "Oh, Kay" that Miss Lawrence may play not only the love-siek English lady but also the Gockney serving maid who performs tricks on long roll of 1 French bread and affects domestic | aAftAAAft tit itt-t NAtA sAH A AAN ARttA' i dian she does not paint the Lillie, but she keeps the enjoyment varied and broad
 Comedy of Bootlegging
 Most of this entertainment has to do with cargo of forbidden liquor and as scurvy a lot of bad puns as ever scuttled rum-runner The supercil- ious duke with the dapper Gerald Smith up on that part. and shorty Mctee. butfooned by Victor Moore have concealed shipment in the ca. pacious cellar of Jimmy Winter. rep resented engagagiugly by Oscar shaw A it happens now and then on tho musical stage. Jimmy Winter is facing the matrimonial firing squad with a vixen faneee whom he does not relish And all this time strange English lady seems vastly preferable Well things go from bad Co worse until the wedding begins solemnly on the efrer- veseeut terrace at Jimmy's luxurious 1 Long Island villa. In the nick of time Federal inspectors, genuine as well as bogus. intervene ou the side of law i and love
 A the extemporaneous butler. battler or hottler (to speak from the hook1 Mir Moore totters languidlS through long roulade of indiscrimi- nate comedy and uuseemly imperti-