The Washington times., 1930-10-27
ED WYNN ARRIVES IN
"A SWELL MUSICAL
Nv ANDREW r. KELLEY

When ] first saw Eu wynn III
Simple Simon" at the Ziegfeld
Theater last June, 1t impressed
me as the funniest show this
mad wag had ever appeared In,
and by at least 200 laughs better
than anything produced on
Broadway all last season, !.
Last night saw 1t again ana
II there was q Pulitzer prize for
an engaging musical comedy
stuffed with droll nonsense 1t
would be q pleasure to check
e:ld double check Simple Simon" "
Not q Speck Of smut in long
two acts and what a lesson in
getting laughs Ed Wynn could
give the comics who dip into the
dirt barrel for shiny Jokes.
Simple Simon" is as refresh
ing as a cool east wind on a
last August afternoon, If you
know what I mean. This Mother
Goose tale Of the shopkeeper
from Ferryman Avenue who falls
asleep and dreams what would
happen If he owned Alladin's
lamp is jammed to the bursting
point with everything from
chuckles to outlaws, most Of them
bear the Ed Wynn label, which
means they are original, and
during the important spells given
for relaxation, the eye is en-
tranced by the lovely Harriet
Hoctor, ballerina for two Spectacu-
larly beautiful ballets.
Fitting this imposing production
built for the ziegfeld stage into
the snug confines Of the BelaSco
Theater area has been neatly con-
trived and scenes ranging from
d Coney Island midway to the en-
chated forest and the hunting
room of King Coles palace offer
congenial Joseph Urban settings
Of colorful splendor in which two
score of Broadway'S fairest are
seen from time to time.
II Love the Woods" says Ed
Wynn and so does everybody else
when this com edian strolls
through them. It would hardly
be a Wynn show without Wynn
inventions and SO we have the
contraption designed to perplex
mice, the night shirt which will
not wrinkle, the trick violin, the
cigarette lighter with modern i'm
provementS. AS for Ed Wynn'S
horse it knows how to dunk
doughnuts among other things.
The hunting ballet devised by
Seymour Felix and danced by
Harriet Hoctor and 16 vividly cos
TUNED coryphees is probably as
strikingly a pretty scene as you
will witness in a season Of thea
ter-going. These girls take the
hurdles with a grace that is a
real delight.
OF the secondary principals the
audience choice was for Wini
Shaw, a sort of combination
Helen Morga n-Ethelind Terry
brunette who warbled "Ten Cents
A Dance" I'm Yours" and
Love Me Or Leave Me-" the lat
ter two numbers accompanied by
Maestro Wynn on a miniature
piano.
Promising juveniles are Carter
de Haven. jr., and Marjorie de
Haven, children of the nimble
Carter de Haven, of an earlier
era. This Marjorie is carbon
copy Of the flaming Flatbush
flapper, Clara Bow. which means
that she is a cute trick, well
curved.
Others who contributed to a
merry evening were Jack SquireS,
William Ferry (the Frog Mani ,
Margarite Breen, Hansford Viii
son, Gil Squires, Harry Shannon,
Master George Offerman, Joseph
Schrode and Pete La Della.
"Send for Me" is the most
hummable of the Richard Rod
gers-Lorenz Hart music, which
was played by an augmented or
cheStrai
AS one Laurelite to another,
let me advise:
"Play Simple Simon across
the board in the laugh stakes.
You can't miss. It's a Wynner." :"