Evening star., 1938-05-18

that sort which is described as "r
moments of tragedy which strike home
as effectively as, say one of Joe Louis
hefty rights.
Juno and the Paycock" becomes
so real when the Abbey Players bring
it before you that you almost forget
it is just something you are watch
ing on stage. Through the first
two acts you revel in the gay Irish
comedy which is the essence OF the
life of the Boyles, Juno" the sturdy
guiding hand. and the "Paycock," a
wastrel If there ever was one. II
always is the comedy of pathos. OF
course, the sort of comedy which
has made Chaplin some one you never
will forget. but it is comedy that is
SO hilarious you can call it nothing
but farce.
Then the third act comes up and
you suddenly are smitten right be-
tween the eyes with tragedy in just
about as many forms as tragedy car
take. It would take some one who
lived there at the time to say def
nitely. but watching Juno and the
Paycock" you come to feel that this
is the Ireland of the days OF the
revolution. of those days which were
so sad for Ireland You feel it Is
the true essence of the Irish nature
strange though the play may seem
that it is completely natural in its
commingling of high comedy with
deep tragedy. that these are Ireland
and the Irish.
The playing Of Juno and the
Paycock" by the Abbey Players is. OF
course, notable for the fact that II
brings back Barry Fitzgerald to the
National stage. Mr.. Fitzgerald. as
the "Paycock." is-well. he is stupen-
dous. He makes you laugh and he
makes you cry, but the most impor-
tant thing is that he makes you
believe in the reasons why you laugh
and cry. 1t would be easy, too. to
20 on about the others-Eileen Grove,
Arthur Shields, F. j. Mccormick,
Maureen Delaney. Aideen O'Connor-
for they all are just about as perfect
as they could be, but there isn't space.
The most important thing is that
you do not pass up the Abbey Players,
This afternoon they do THE New
Gossoon" and tonight it is ]. M.
synge's "Playboy of the Western
World"
MOT so long back Tommy Dorsey
4 y tried a stunt on the Earle stage.
You remember that after the show one
night the Dorsey lads held forth on
the stage for an hour or more while
the young of the town were permitted
to disport themselves madly in swing
dancing.
So now comes Sammy Kaye, the
fellow who rhymes with Swing and
sway" bringing his orchestra to the
Capitol for the week beginning Friday,
also bringing an idea which carries
Mr.. Dorsey's step farther. Every
show Mr.. Kaye will have roped of a
portion Of the stage, where local ad-
diets of the big apple, the shag. the
Indy hop may shag, big apple or
Indy hop to their little hearts content.
This, however, does not mean Mr..
Hayes outfit, which started. Incl
dentally, when all the lads were still
in Ohio University some half dozen
years ago, is devoted to gashouse- dis
trict brawling with musical instru-
ments. The Sammy Kaye music
which makes you swing and sway falls
in that classification known as sweet
swing, as you we'll know If you own a
radio.
The Kaye aggregation is, in fact,
the only sweet band to come up to
the top ranks in recent years. The
other outfits which have leaped into
sudden prominence have been devoted
entirely to riding the ears of anything
from popular tunes to opera. What
makes Sammy's future look rosy is
the fact that the other boys who can
play tunes as well as gentle swing
have been around for o long, long
time and still make a lot Of money.
Mr.. Lombardo, Mr.. Wering, Mr.. Du-
chin, Mr.. King and some Of the others
who remember that saxophones and
trumpets are not exactly in the rhythm
section do not have to work for
coffee-and yet. So Mr.. Sammy Kaye
probably can face the future without
too much trepidation.
\ i X X
MR.. F. COWLES STRICKLAND,
AVA the Civic Theater's director, was
a very happy lad as he munched
quietly on his lettuce for yesterdays
lunch. Mr.. Strickland was happy
because he had gotten his production
of ". =. one-third of nation :" on
the boards for the first Of those two
benefits and 1t appeared as though
he would have a show for the people
next Sunday night. But when pressed
for information as to how q. one
third Of . nation :" had gone all