The Washington times., 1929-09-30
GLEANINGS
::AND:
SCREENINGS
BY ANDREW X. KELLEY

really curious can evade the ban
by journeying to Quincy, Mass,
where the O'Neill play will be
given official sanctuary at the
Quincy theater.
When l was a lad Quincy was
noted as the site of the ances-
trail home of the Adamses and
the place where we chang
trolley cars for the not fashit
able but cool watering pl
known as Hough's Neck. 1t also
boast the Fore River Shipyards.
On the Old Colony division of
the n. Y. n. H. e. H. Railroad,
it bears the same geographical
relation to Boston, as say Laurel
to Washington.
Quincy, Mass, thus gets on
the theatrical map. Up to now
it has never even had the dis
tinction of being a one night
tank town for Broadway at
fractions. The Guild will run
special trains and busses from
Park Square, Boston, direct to
the theater. 1t will be a mod
ern miracle if the Theater
Guild Guild can detour enough
paying patrons to make this
engagement profitable. Still
the guild works miracles and the
agitation over the Hub censor
ship has excited enough anger,
curiousity and general public
interest to stimulate ticket
sales.
Radio Keith -Orpheum loves to
boast that nothing in it's thea
ters can ever offend women or
children. Nevertheless Beatrice
Lille playing the New York
Palace, last week was per-
mitted to put over &C D."
without a murmur, although
many acts have been cancelled
for less. Take it from No. 2
actors who were warned to
eliminate "cock-eyed" and any
thing that sounded like damn
if you have a title the Palace
house manager is hard of hear
ing.
Florenz Ziegfeld had to use
his understudy insurance for
Eddie Cantor for the first time
over the weekend. The $4,000
star of "Whoopee" developed a
sore throat and was unable to
appear Friday or Saturday.
"Ziggy' shot Buddy Doyle into
the role and the $1,000 comic
who has been around the New
Amsterdam Theater all year
waiting for such an emergency
saved $4,000 in receipts. Can
tor will be back in the show
tonight.
Between the lines of the good
news that Mrs. Katie Wilson
Greene will sponsor $1,5OO,OO0
opera house for Washington lies
a belief that the National Capt.
tai will support a real season of
opera, provided society can have
its brilliant lobby parades and
attendance at the better music
programs became THE Thing"
Making opera pay it's way in
Washington without the "dia-
mond horseshoe" and rich set
tings for social show-off is an
uphill task. There are not
enough genuine music lovers
to meet the Metropolitan Opera
House guarantees and real
society, when it dons it's $780,
900 necklaces and priceless
tiaras wants a congenial prone
made for black velvet and gems,
not to mention lorgnette gaping.
For a REAL season of opera,
the music critic confines his
observations on the stage doings
and fine voices to a column.
The society editor and her aides
write full page on every
event and have enough left over
for another page of Sunday
aftermaths.
Grand opera cannot be sold
today in Washington on the
civic pride argument alone.
Transpose all of the civic pride
you can scrape together in weeks
of campaigning into box-office
cash and you will still have
unsold boxes in the ticket racks.
Mr.. insults Chicago organiza-
tion discovered that. Society
must take it up. and the social
register folks refuse to become
interested in profitable volume
while the settings and back
grounds lack brilliance and
sparkle.
Mrs. Greene's project visions
opera nights that will vie for
magnificence with the glories of
the Metropolitan, with it's boxes
of millionaires. and a billion
aire or two-in Horseshow Row.
There will be the President and
the First Lady in the Executive
box, members of the Cabinet
and their wives, the colorfully
decorated diplomats and their
ladies, the Who's Who of Wash
ington society, including Junior
League debs and the reigning
eligible males. Sandwiched in
somewhere in the balcony will
be the minority who will attend
because LA Boheme" is the
opera and Rosa Ponselle is sing
ing. | leave out the Vice Presi-
dent and the Speaker until the
order of their precedence is
established.
A Washington that will vie
with continental canit ole os q