The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-10-26
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York.-Backstage notes: The New Lork license commission CT wants to clean up the Broadway stage, and the Broadway stage wants to clean up lot of money Maybe the city ought to pay pro- ducers to plough under every thlrd manuscript.
 think it would be nice if au. thorities did something about the punsters who are applying their questionable talents to titles. One forthcoming show will be tagged Sexes and Sevens"; another, "Oepidus Wrecks."
 Mildred Natwick, not yet 30. wins praise for her work in the role of a dour old grandmother of so in "The Distaff Side" And last sea- son she played an elderly house. keeper in another English impor- tation. Her current play, by the way, may as well hang up La dies Only" sign. A recent matinee had full house and 20 standees, and not a male in the place except stagehands and actors Earl Car rolls next show will be a combina- tion musical and moyie-with front, back and side projection providing moving scenery Helen Hayes won't go on tour in Mary of Scotland" as planned.
 Silent Title Role
 The easiest title role ever play ed on Broadway Is Frank King don's part in "A Sleeping Clergy man." He just sleeps :. Lillian Gish, who always before has been cast in roles of sweetness and light. plays scarlet stroller in the sensational Within the Gates" .. The American direc- tor and producers of "Continental Varieties" had quite time with their small but cosmopolitan cast Lucienne- Boyer speaks French, Escudero, the dancer, French with q Spanish accent; his gypsies, i Spanish dialect; Raphael, the con certina artist, Hungarian and Rus sian; Lydia Chaliapine, Russian, German, French and Italian. The bosses despaired of ever hiring enough interpreters, and finallf. put the show together with ges- lures. Worked out all right.
 Trend of the times: When Yvonne Printemps first appeared Oi ASi OAh NaJs HI LJSuF oRGIiliP night tickets sold for $27.50. She Is greater actress now, but pre- miere ppasteboards brought only $5.50 the other evening They have been passing a question: naire on superstitions among the company of Life Begins at S:40''. And the conclusion is that the modern theater puts little stock in jinxes. Only one tradi- tion rcmains-it's bad luck to whistle in a dressing room. Collan Sets a n Record That's a nice, sentimental ges- ture George M. Cohan made, in deciding to take the whole com pany of "Ah, Wilderness to North Brookfield, Mass, for one-night stand. It will be the smallest town ever to draw a topnotch star and original troupe from smash hit on Broadway.
 None of Mr Cohan's co-players ever had heard of North Brook field. But that happens to be the town of Cohan's boyhood. Also of Connie Macks. America's First actor and base balls hero went back there for a home-town- boys make-good celebration last July, and Cohan promised the home folks he'd let them see him on the stage.
 He said he'd pay all expenses, and that admission to the show would be free. But the town neee- cd money for local charity. so Cohan agreed that the 500 seats all that could be packed into the town hall, even though they were folding chairs borrowed from the local undertaker-would be sold for S1. George NJ. Conan in Eugene O'Neill's great success. "Ah, Wilderness''-Be Seats, $1 that's another record.
 
 Chameleon Hair
 For weeks, the local band has been rehearsing some of Cohan's songs, especially Venus, My Shin. ing Star" which was his first one, and written in North Brookfield. 1t was there, too, that he wrote a play, Fifty Miles from Boston,"
 Incidentally, the home folks will notice quite change In George since he visited them last summer, He's a platinum blonde these days and will be for sev- eral more weeks. When he was making a movie called Gam bling. in one of the eastern stu dios recently, they put a prepara- tion on his hair which turned 1t purple, then pink, now platinum. People who know him very we'll call him George Harlow Conan.