Putnam patriot., 1930-01-16


 billy. They have provided splendid choruses and casts and adequate scenery. "The Babes in Toyland" is, in many ways the best of the series. And then there are two other per fectiy swell musical hits, Fifty Mi- lion Frenchmen" with Cole Porter music and "Sons O Guns" in which Jack Donahue and Lily Damita carry A good melange of music and dancing to great success.
 Of all the musical pieces that we have seen. We liked best Wake Up and Dream. the London revue inl- ported to the Selwyn Theatre oy Charles B. Cochrane with an excel lent east headed by Jack Buchanan, of first Chariot Revue" fame. In fact. Wake Up and Dream IS built on Chariot lines-skits, songs, dances and speciality numbers. Mir. Buchan- an. who Is probably the best-dressed man in the theatre, has a suave hu- mour that has not little distinction. He dances well, acts well and general ly holds the show together. Then there is lilly Leseh. the German dancer who attained some fame with the Reinhardt troupe, contributing a very original number in the interpretation of Ravei nocturne entirely through the rhythm of the hands. Also present is the little sister of the justly famed Raquel Meller. This member of the family contributes to the current pageant one distinctive and very dramatic Spanish dance. Her second number is what in the days of our fathers would have been described at any country fair as an ordinary bit of "hootchie-cootehie." The lady We found te be a very second rate Mel Ter. It is too bad. too. that in spite of all Mir. Buchanan's efforts and those of his fellow artists, the hit of the evening should be two gentlemen who perform the front and hind legs of an imitation horse. However, this Is the case. The fifteen minutes of this particular horse in Wake Up and Dream" are the best in the show. The music of Wake Up and Dream" is by Cole Porter, whose Fifty Mill lion Frenchmen" is a hit just down the street. Mir. Porter's music is in- graduating enough, His lyrics are poisonous.
 Mrs. Fiske. Juror
 Down at Erlanger's the other night we went to see Mrs. Fiske in Ladies of the Jury" in which a society lady upsets a court and then belabors a jury into her way of thinking. Mrs. Fiske was Mrs. Fiske, as usual. The mannerisms of the First Actress in- crease as the years roll on. The suavity of her comedy performance rests upon her assured technique. The play. which starts as comedy, rapidly becomes farce but seldom does one see so splendid a performance as is con iributed by each and every member of the particular cast. It furnishes an amusing evening.
 The day after Christmas, that unique if not almost phenomenal art ist. Miss Ruth Draper. returned to the Comedy Theatre for her annual season of monoIogues. 1t will be remembered that last year Miss Draper took the same theatre for a two weeks engage ment and played to capacity houses for three months. Alone on an empty stage, Miss Draper peoples 1t with voice and gesture in many characters of many nations. She provides comedy. pathos. poignant drama and tragedy. Her performance is frequently more thrilling than whole band of num- sers and her comedy is as rich as one ands in any theatre today She has made for herself a place iG rhe inter- national theatre that Is absolutely alone in its uEique character.
 When the Argentina finally eame to America last winter and startled New York with the glory of her dancing, she established a vogue, for dancers have sprung up like mushrooms all over the place. Every Sunday evening theatres and music halls are given over to the visiting dancers. We found most interesting of those we have seen, KreuzberR and Georgi, German danc- CTS from the Salzburg troupe, highly gifted and imaginative. But we com plain of these dancers. There is some thing that pals when dancing is pre- sented on a bare stage to the accom- raniment of a single piano. And the long dull waits between numbers are boresome. too. We wish the dancers would fill in the spaces. They sadly need filling.
 And now as the old year goes, New York looks about and finds itself even more changed than at the end of 1928 Higher and higher the city grows. More and more crowded are the streets. Greater are the problems of the government. Down at City Hall Mayor Jimmy" Walker enters on a new term. Ships sail to the east and to the west and trains are already bearing the winter crowds to the south. ft is just another year, after all.
 -J. J. ".