Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-07-23
B. PRIEsTLEY's "Danee,

fairly successful run last
Winter, reappeared with q
new cast as the only novelty Of
the Broadway week. Again, as in
recent weeks, the real news was in
the suburban Summer playhouses.
At Pelham, Lew Fields appeared
IN Elmer Greensfelder's Broom
sticks, Amen; Moffat Johnston
and Chrystal Herne in Career"
at Summit, N. j., and Edith Bar
rett and Henry Hull in Episode
Limited" at Charles Hopkins
Theater at Huntington, Lon z
Island. All three were new plays.
Ethel Barrymore, Cecilia Lotus,
Ian Keith, Montague Love and
Margery Maude were among the
well known players appearing at
revivalS in other nearby Summer
theaterS. Milton Aborn, to whom
New York owes the opportunity
1t has enjoyed both this season
and last to hear again the Gilbert
and Sullivan operettas, will start
9 season OF light opera revivals on
July q, beginning with 1.-The b.
hemian Girl" The Theater Guild
announces six new plays for its
Autumn season, the first OF which
will probably be 1.-The School for
Husbands" a rhymed adaptation
OF Moliere's "L'Ecole des Maris."
HE press-agent's perpetual quest, of
course, is for something to hang his
story on, some generalization, analogy
or what not which will serve to carry
his sales talk about his play. The num-
Der of social tendencies, drifts this way
and that, contrasts between today and
yesterday, thus discovered during q the
atrical season, is formidable.
Summertime revue is tried for ex-
ample, In the concert room Of q New
York hotel. Promptly the little shows
public relations counsel reports the fol-
lowing social phenomenon to the dra-
matte editors desks:
"Once more the drama takes itself
into the inns, very much IN the manner
it did In the -Elizabethan era. For
there were no theaters In London when
Good Queen Bess acceded to the Eng
lish throne. The inns were natural
places Of public assemblages, and their
courtyards were SO convenient for the
performances given by the strolling
players Of the day that when England
did respond more freely to the renais-
sance, 1t was after the fashion Of the
innyard that the theaters were con-
structed. While there are, numerically,
al too many theaters in New York today,
there might Is well be none ut all for
the purposes Of any group Of profess
sional theater workers who take the In
tiatf tn nlax ~
their own craftsmanship without the
benefit Of Q wealthy angel Such q
group Is the one assembled by" etc.
This particular little entertainment,
which lasted about one night, was char
acterized by the youthfulness and
bounce Of its semi professional artists. q
fact which made more than usually
puzzling the inclusion Of one Of those
numbers 90 curiously fashionable nova
days, in which the supposed fun u
based on sexual degeneracy. The num-
Der was called THE Best Man Wins. /"
and the point lay In the fact that the
man" who won the pretty young girl
for whose favor two young fellows were
contending, was neither of the latter.
but the young woman who happened to
be with them.
The ef1eminats young man has long
been Q fixture Of the rougher sorts Of
English and American burlesque, but it
could always be said for old-fashioned
comedy on this subject that the fun lay
quite Is much in the absurd external
contrast between the lah-de-dah young
man and the rough-necks he was played
against, - it did In abnormAlity as such,
There was . good deal of harmless
roughing Of the mammals boy" type in
such stage humor There seems no such
excuse for the quite explicit references
to degeneracy in both sexes which are
found, nowadays, In many revues and
musical comedies. Here y real subject
for an essay, . trend as noticeable - 1t
Is unpleasant, but no press agent, 50 lar
comment seriously on 1t.
IN pink Parade" (Dutton), . volume
of gossipy recollection of London
theaters. music halls, sporting clubs, etc,
By J. B. Booth. formerly one Of the
writer's for the London Pink 'Un," We
find several of those Americans and
Americanisms known only to this type
of British humor.
- "As stood one morning." writes Mr..
Booth, 'on an island in the Strand.
waiting for q lull in the trafic. to the
constable on point duty lounged an
American citizen with the lonsegait and
swinging arms Of free and independ-
ent gorilla, miniature American nag
and funny little hat complete
"'Say, of1cer,' he intoned, after stor-
ing his chewing gum in some mysteri-
GUS place where, while readily accessible,
it did not interfere with his freedom of
speech, where's the nearest suds artist?'
For q moment traffic problems pre-
vented an official reply. and the stranger
became impatiently explanatory.
"I want . scrape merchant he
whined.
Waving the trafhc on. the admirable
British ofrcial turned on his importuner,
and inspected him briefly. Then, with
exquisite politeness. he replied in the
visitors own tongue.
There's o joint two blocks down
on the left where they'll run q cutter
over your DIAL he replied calmly, and
leaving then, resumed my way, pom
dering. Could Paris asentilave done
that-little conversation book and all?