Evening star., 1932-03-27

TX Phelps and wakes within it q
i catalog Of the performances
that made the deepest i'm
pressions" on him In so years Of thea
ter going The list Of these enduring
works, as printed in Scribner's for
Aprtl, reveals the doctor In his nobler
affections for the drama and includes
none OF the trivialities that must have
given him lasting thrills, as they have
most patrons OF the stage. No pine
invades the austerity OF the record
Oberkmmersau and ends with Every
man." As one reads It's majestic con-
tents one Is awed and perhaps little
ashamed that ones own memories are
so full of items insignificant as art,
but notable as entertainment. Here
are the milestones In DR., Phelps so
years Of travel on the high priori"
road
The Passion Play at oberammergaaa
sdsn ssQ Boo.s ssssA n n'rnsssss III ysass sss
i@ns TS9 r3s''!i iS aG Mr PAP Fsct s%s s.ns,
ADAMS in Bsrriss What Every Woman
sssS.. saS.s d f1saaos @aD0 9GFes San SG an d
lette. Helen Hayes; Louis Calvert In Dear
Rrutus" wslter Hsmpden in 60, rCyrsno de de
sont les Anaires" Moscow Artistic Thea
ter Company in The Cherry Orchard, ="
Company Winthrop Ames in Maetsrllneks 5
Blue BIRD New y1.o York - TRsstS Hss o. qu!lab IN
s:uS'ss e S;s .9 Hs!4i: p, p5oasssS. S%
throp Am.sl in Gaisworthys strife,
oTsavi Gran oI;s D.m%s nras Ssnn: ShaM
Mathison in "Eyeryman."
It will be seen that DR. Phelps does
not mention his adolescent adventures
in the theater, emitting them, perhaps,
as unworthy inclusion in recollections
SO stately Some Of these, I suspect.
made deeper impressions on him than
Turgenev's "A Month in the Country"
or Gorki's "NachtaZyl" Did he as q
boy never see Robert Downing In THE
Gladiator" nor Oliver Doud Byron and
his son, Arthur. in Across the Con-
tinent"? Where was he when DupreZ
and Benedicts Minstrels came TO New
Haven, splitting a week with George
Ober in DIR. Jekyll and Mr., Hyde"
Jeffys Lewis in La Belle Russo" and
Claire Scott in "Lucretia Borgia"?
There was material for deep impressions
in all Of that now shadowy brood as
there was in the performances Of John
Mccullough, Fannie Davenport, Hal
Reid and Joseph Jefferson.
But other quivering contacts are re-
called, increasing in dignity II not In
Importance as times winged feet few
me from childhood to maturity. They
are set down as they fash into my mind
without much deliberation-a fieeting
inventory OF impressions that seem to
be indelible:
wi in ri
Cecilia Lotus in III I We're King,'' Mrs. Mrs.
SSsmDbslI II The sssons S4oi Mrs. TanSSsrayi
ssssT PAN. PS"D Miss Ethsi 's.rry%oTs Ss IN IN
c2ss oosRn sRG A. pf; hSHs chs2e:
ESs E.S4y s ssa. ocsp,n Hfffi in
%Sssy kns Henry na a VIII as. May HSnFS sGax in in
assss " al FSss f oa FSs EoSss ssf
Depths" Miss Katharine Cornell in "A Bill
of John o:sEorthGys hSy
Jed Harris production Of Broadway"
MR.. zIEGFELD, as is his helpful
IVA habit after a Ziegfeld premiere,
lards the lean decisions of this referee
with judgments of his own, sending the
same by telegraph from his sick bed to
mine, His several dispatches oppose
the opinion that "Hot-Cha!" is not the
greatest show on earth, and also contain
informal statistics tending to prove that
its prosperity Is beyong the dreams of
ayarice, Are you listening?
Regret to hear you are i'll. was
dragged out of my dress rehearsal and
have had serious attack Of bronchial
pneumonia, and I missed my opening,
the first one In 81 years, and nearly the
last, I guess. ! only know that what
my show was in Washington and Pitts
burgh. where We broke all records. Here
in New York this week we beat the
critics approved and stamped 'sophisti-
Gated shows by thousands, breaking all
records. know, because happen to
have a third interest IN the theaters
where the most pronounced OF all
sophisticated shows are playing. Chi
cago, your old town, turned down
sophisticated show hard and proper
Brown and Henderson never attempted
to write for the so-called sophisticated
mind. Their songs have encircled the
world and brought cheer and happiness
to millions and make millions for them
selves, $3.50, 900 cash for each OF four
talking pictures. not sophisticated, but
all can understand them, Henderson's
music and rhymes have made the
worlds pulse beat faster, yet all this Is
not 'sophistication.' Do me q favor,