Evening star., 1939-01-02

and what lies beyond and this, his :"
Too. for time he also quadrupled 8.
in this while Frank Craven was on
holiday.
Now the ubiquitous DR.. Wilder
is represented again on Broadway
in a new field and with a support
ing cast and production that sounds
like Hollywood fantasy. This time
he has written farce, a humorous
charade called The Merchant of
Yonkers" and 1t is a combination of
several moods.
1t tells the story of the Wander
gelder family in the Dutch high top
country above New York City in the
early 1905. Horace Vandergelder
is wealthy and established mer-
chant who decides to shop for an
other and much younger wife. The
old gentleman does, but at the same
time his chief clerk and his assist
ant, both men who have passed the
age of 80 and, contemplating the
time when they will become old
enough to make improper sugges-
tions that will inspire lady to slap
their faces, decide to have some fun
out of life even though it may cost
them their jobs.
So they go into New York from
Yonkers Town and begin gay
round with the very pretty girl
their Vandergelder boss has plans
of marrying But, before he can
meet her he is trapped into mar
riage with the Mrs. Levi who has
been acting as sort of a marriage
broker and thrusts herself in as a
substitute bride when the younger
victim finds an equally young groom.
Wilder uses in this the same an
cient device of Greek drama that
he used in "Our Town"-the COM
mentator. At various intervals the
characters in the play step forward
to the footlights and comment upon
what is happening.
For instance, the dialogue is in
terrupted once while Mrs. Levi steps
out of character and confidentially
explains to the audience that she
has a philosophy that human beings
should have "only one vice at a
time" She has discovered that
everyone has faults and that there
Is a chance that all of us may be
lechers. liars, misers or drunkards.
But" she argues, none of us
should ever be lecherous liars or
miserly drunkards. Too much of
good thing or too much of a bad
thing Is too much"
Here is a good and unpretentious
farce, but it is frequently overdone
and one suspects that there is q
ballyhoo of too many names. The
producer is Herman Shumlin, the
man who presented Grand Hotel"
The director is Max Reinhardt and
he has staged the amusing but ap-
parently simple farce with the pre-
tentiousness of circus parade.
Jane Cowl, playing beautifully in
a forcibly comic role::' June Walker,
Percy Waram and Nydia Westman
give the play cast that is exciting
IN performance.
1t is an intriguing story and one
that DR.. Wilder candidly confesses
isn't his own IDEA. He based his
plot upon comedy that Johann
Nestroy wrote in Vienna in 1912,
and Nestroy just as honestly adj
mitted that he based his story upon
an English script he picked up, but
he couldn't recall where.
George NJ. Cohan Takes
A Busman's Holiday.
George M. Cohan took busman's
holiday Christmas week.
He returned to Broadway from
his tour In I'D Rather Be Right"
and spent most of the time either
talking baseball or going to see
shows.
Hamlet" appears to be becoming
permanent Broadway resident.
First there were the two productions
Of Leslie Howard and John Gielgud
last season. Now current is Maurice
Evans production of Hamlet" in
its entirety, the performance run
ming from $50 to 1870 pm. And
now Robert Morley, who is currently
starring in oscar Wilde" is plan
ming to do the melancholy Dane
as his next. Are we developing a
tournament for q champion Ham
let?
Mrs. Catharine Olsen of Peoria,
Ind, came to Broadway last week to
see her sons antics in the Olsen and
johnson musical comedy, "Hellza-
poppin." Like the. other customers
at that hilarious madhouse, she had
delightful time, but wondered II
she hasn't suddenly gone q bit mad.
l.