Putnam patriot., 1928-01-19

by a master artist. Three bands play
ed constantly. A great throng moved
.up and down the fower-lined stair
ways. But the scene on the floor in
terested us most. Out in the center
or trailing around the room were hun
dreds of youths. In a circle around
the outside. were the dancers. But
were they dancing? Well, certainly
IL was not dancing as dancing was,
say, in 1900, 1910, 1920. or even lat
er. This was a procession Of con-
versation to the sound of expensive
music. Now and then a youth would
literally grab one of the slim young
things from the arms Of another. Then
a second youth would grab her few
feet further along. 1t was all disor-
ganized, new, modern, unbeautiful,
and ungraceful. But what matter,
they called il a good time. and that,
after all, is apparently the principal
aim of this youth of today, as it was
of our day, too.
SHOW Boat"
Of the many theatrical openings
that took place during the holidays, 10
our way of thinking by all odds the
most notable was that Of Florenz
Zegfeld in his superb production of
the musical play based on Edna Fer
ber's best-selier, SHOW Boat" and
called by that name. In his own
Ziegfeld Theatre, the producer of
1.-The Foll;es" hitherto known as the
"Gloryfier of the American Girl" sud
denly did something which is unique,
beautiful to see, and record of
American life that should remain pop
ular for long time 10 come. Mr..
Ziegfeld has almost literally followed
Miss Ferber's book for his libretto. To
this material he has added choruses
and costumes and actors, all of whom
glorify the story. In the matter of
scenery and costuming alone "Show
Boat" is a tour-de force. Here one
sees the hustle period hrst, then an
enhancing audience within the ia.
nous river showboat itself. Then
there is the Midway Plaisance of the
Worlds Fair at Chicago in 1898 with
appropriate costuming. The day OF
the pompadour is revived in a scene
in the Sherman House in Chicago,
where the famous gold pieces shine
out of the tessalated floor of the lob
by. Another scene and the day OF
"Gibson Girl is upon us, and finally
for a rather wicked contrast the play
ends with the jazz and the abbreviat-
ed energetics of this life Of today. But
all through the piece moves the con-
sistent and dramatic story of these
people Of the Mississippi and Chicago
Of one or two decades ago. Mr.. Zieg-
field has contributed splendidly TO the
season. Perhaps the youth Of the day
won't like il too much, but anyone who
has reached the age Of forty will be
amused, interested and certainly rem
iniscent.
Performing the Barsymores
There is. of course, no family in the
American Theatre so deserving of at
tention as the Barrymore-Drew clan.
Mr.. Drew and his enterprising mother
are gone, and so are Georgianna Drew
Barrymore and the great Maurice
However, there remain John of Ham
let" and the movies, Ethel of high
comedy and the purple velvet voice,
and Lionel of the higher character
roles. Vaguely about these personal
tiles, Miss Ferber and the very clever
Mr.. George Kaufman have written a
play which has been presented by the
ever successful Jed Harris. The cast
includes that superb actress, Haidee
Wright, in the role Of an ancient ira
gedienne and head of the clan, Ann
Andrews as a possible Miss Ethel
Barrymore, Otto Cruger as a some
what caricatured John Barrymore,
and other excellent players in minor
roles. Around the private lives, the
woes, the eccentricities, the ambitions
and above all, the love Of the theatre,
Of these people is woven an amusing
and interesting play. One who knows
the theatre will not soon forget the
climax of the second act when Miss
Andrews, with a scarce half hour left
before her performance begins and at
the close of wearing and difficult day
rises TO dramatic heights within her
own home, denounces the theatre, her
life and her career. II have given my
last performance on the stagep she
cries Historically. The butler enters.
"Juliel" he yells. cts eight o'clock
my Godll" cries the actress, and runs
for the theatre.
The Opera Bucks Up
Things haven't been going so well
at the Metropolitan this year as we
have noted before in this column. 1t
has been tepid season. There have
MT been any events of much inter
est unless one expects Miss Rosa
Ponselle's superb singing in the title
role Of the revived Norma" Mostly
it has been the old hackneyed things
over and over again. Even the sub
scribers were beginning 70 get a bit
restless. But now there are signs Of
Improvement. Madame Jeritza, cer-
tainly no longer the acclaimed favor
lite that she was a year or two ago,
essayed Carmen" this week thereby
succeeding 70 another Of the roles
which were for so long the exclusive
property of Miss Geraldine Farrar.
Then the Wagnerians are returning
and last Saturday there was magnifi
cent performance Of die Meister-
singer" with Bohnen singing Hans
Sachs superbly. This week comes
Tristan" with a new soprano in
Madame Kappel whose performances
ct Munich this summer have long
been the talk Of the critics. CALI
Curci has Joined the company and
back with her have come the colora-
ture roles that the standees love so
well. The opera Is bucking up a bit
hut the standard Ia bv M means the