Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-03-14

y - 49, - -
lea is the Forty-Fourth Street
Theatre in New York.
THEY arc giving out from
Johann Strauss over there and
making with the glockenspiel,
THE NAME OF the Shoic is
RoSdhHdd, nee Die FlcdermGuS
rom Old Vienna.
OF ALL the Strauses or
StrausseS, Johann, Richard,
Hans and Fritz. the most
StrauSSiest OF all is Johann
JOHANN iUrote The Blue
Danube. And the Blue Danube
Is centrifugal force in three
quarters time.
LIKE waltzeS so much that
7 otter spend my evenings in
the revolving doors OF the Wal
dorf Astoria.
WALTZING Is my favorite
form Of trespasSing. And Rosa
linda translates freely into a
waltz In three acts and pro-
logue.
THE PLOT is something out
Of a package OF Crackerjack.
The performers are there TO
amuse you and not TO educate
you.
THE FIRST act Is mostly
spade work. You can spend
that time fixing your hat on
those two hooks under your seat.
I have never done that trick in
the dark yet.
THE SECOND act is the
works. There is plenty OF sing
ing. plenty OF fun and plenty
OF Waiting.
Is ! HAVE neper seen such an
Gpprectdtipe audience tn any
theatre in my short but inter
eSttnp career. 1t really ioent for
the Strauss rotary 5ipe in extra
large sizes.
AND at the finish OF the Sec
ond act with the cast whirling
like soap in a boiler I thought
the audience would pirouette
around the aisles.
81 THE SHOW Is good right
through TO the finale OF the third
act and finishes on an up-beat.
] counted eleren curtain calls at
the finish on a Monday NIGHT.
That in Itself Is more surprising
than perspirdtion on O fish.
WHILE. as ] said, the first
act is spade work. and bit on
the si1rill side, the show soon
irons itself out. There are some
things about 1t that stood out
like Daniel Webster's eyebrows.
FIRST. Is the leader of the
large orchestra. He sure handles
that baton like he was beating
n bastinado on the feet OF the
Muse Terpsichore.
HE TAKES bows all evening
and throws his weight around
like a wolf trapped by the tail
THE ORCHESTRA itself Is
amazing in that II stretches the
span from Droscenium TO pros
cenium. The sight OF so many
musicians was allergic 10 my
juke- box background.
Il THERE ARE five lady musi-
Clans in the orchestra. The men
are either all going to war or the
women are coming back from IL.
THE REST OF the orchestra
Is run-ot-the-miIl. Except the
lady tCho plays the harp Ike
she iDds grating boss radish on q
bdrbed tcire fence. AnytOdv.
iDhen an orchestra gets going IL
looks like somebody tDds cook
ing UP q mess OF elboips. And
they are almost done.
THE FACT that the title role
OF RoSalinda is so tough that one
soprano sings II in the evening
and another soprano gargles II
at the matinees. This is the
plot of Box and Cox by Gilbert
and Sullivan.
J HEARD the Monddy etc
ming soprano rafting the plaS-
ter. Her decibels tUere IN need
OF no tr1nSJuStonS.
RALPH HERBERT sings
Gabriel Won Eisenstein while
Virginia McWatters plays Adele
okay. Prince Orlofsky looks like
a Good Humor man who has
been decorated for hanging up
the most mileage per quart Of
ice cream.
ORLOFsKY handles the
comedy very well. But the sur
prise OF all Is Frosch played by
Louis Sorin. ! remember him
rs Lou Sorrenson. the straight
man Of the -Four Marx Brothers.
SORIN proves my contention
that straight man requires no
comics TO get a laugh. And in
this show Lou gets them right
from the upper.
AS A BIT OF concession 10 Bill
Fields and Jimmy Durante.
must confess that Lou does
stage drunk and paints his nose
red. would call Lou a straight
man who has warped on the
edges.
II YOU must have an inkllng
of the plot Il is Cinderella. the
Two Dromios. The Boys from
syracuse and the Girls from
Perth Amboy.