Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-23
The Summer Shows
! BY Percy Hammond.

"HYS Is the time Of year when the
dramas that have passed all
other tests undergo their Sc
i verest examination. Many plays
that are competent to entertain
us on the 'lone Winter evenings" fail
to be amusing in the hotter hours, and
they wither and fade away when SUBJ
jected to Summers crucible inquiries.
Only the most oaken OF the exhibitions
are able to survive the parching in
fiuences of June, July and August, and
those that do so are entitled to be
named in O list Of human necessities.
In such q catalogue the following
shows, plays and dramas have q right
to be included. They have proved
themselves superior to both heat and
humidity, and they stand erect and
vital, triumphant over the hostility of
temperature to art:
Bird in Hand"-In which what
might have been a good play, by John
Drinkwater, Is turned into an obse-
Quious farce.
"Whoopee" ziegfeld piano.
rama, distinguished by pretty, un-
ashamed Broadway girls and by Eddie
Cantor, a prominent and expert revue
Journeys End"-A fne play about
the British as they fought the World
War. In it you see the drama in its
best behavior, relating In subtle COM
bination Of truth and tricks, some vivid
incidents of Armageddon. Though not
so lively as what Price Glory" 1t is
the soberest of the pacifist war plays.
1.-The Little Show'-This is bright
essay in urban revue, sponsored by
Dwight Deere Wiman, scion of the
famous Deere family, which Is re-
nowned for its manufacture of agri-
rsn1f kv~aN re how a
bred an agrarian, Mr.. Wiman knows his
way through the dramas metropolis,
and, with the assistance of city chap,
the junior william A. Brady, he gives
an exhilarating show at a tenth of what
it costs ziegfeld, Earl Carroll or George
White.
"street scenev-The winner of the
Pulitzer prize for the seasons best
circus. An exciting superchromo Of
Street Scene" Is as good carnival as
Broadway offers. Its actors are con-
scientious, its stage-direction shrewd,
and In case you are not too faStidiouS,
you will join the University of Column
bia in acclaiming Street Scene" as the
winner of this years Pulitzer derby.
THE Perfect Alibi"-Graceful MUIR
dering in mystery romance by A. A..
Milne, who does his best to reconcile
LIlc AfueTlCuU DOA OLIlCe 10 EIlBllSu ART.
Let Us Be Gay"-Miss Francine
Larrimore, the heroine of this work by
Phillip Barry, Is not so alluring as
might be possible. disdaining, as she
does, the counterfeit destinations OF the
lipstick and rouge pot. So the honors
OF the play 60 to Miss Charlotte Gran
vile, who represents q humorous dow
ager, with none of the routine gestures
expected from impersonations of the
kind. A smart, well done comedy is
Let Us Be Gay" worthy Of attend
aIlce in sunshine or in snow.
THE Camel Through the Needles
Eye"-A Theater Guild enterprise and
q first-ciass triviality from the CONT
nent 1t reveals Miss Miriam Hopkins
as an actress of ability when under the
spell of Mr.. Moeller of the Theater
Guild. the deftest Of the dramas
drum majors.
After Dark"-what once was re-
garded as hopelessiy inpudent prank
by Christopher Morley and his ASSOC
ciates Is now one Of the big shots Of