The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-06-27

late to save the evening. Herbert has written some amusing lines but there is no overall holding of interest in Kiss and Tell" a fact of which he himself must be well aware.
 The play is notable chiefly for giving Patricia Kirkland her first chance on Broadway. The 18-year- old girl is the daughter of Nancy Carroll, the famous screen star of IA years ago, and Jack Kirk land, who made a play out of Tobacco Road" and a million or so out of the play. She resembles her mother and did a noble job of carrying the play for almost its entire distance. She definitely has it.
 Miss Kirkland plays the role of a 15-year old daughter of a wealthy, temperamental commercial photographer who has been married four times. The girl has lived with her mother, who mar ried a second time, and has had a hit-and-miss upbringing in hotels with the result that she drinks, smokes and Swears like veteran. She drops in on her father for a stay shortly after he has married his much younger fourth wife and is properly astonished at her sophisti- cation but doesn't consider doing anything about it.
 The girl pretends to be l9, falls in love with one of her fathers models but the youngn man flees in horror when he discovers her true age. However, as a result of this and in trying to keep her fathers fourth marriage from the rocks the girl changes her out look on life and prepares to face it as a 15-year old in the first real home she has known.
 Frank Conroy, Zolya Talma Ellen Mahar, Godfrey Lumb, Julie Warren, Norma Clerc, Donald Mur- phy, Joan Wetmore and George Bax- ter are the other important play CTS in the generally goor cast as- sembled by Producer Gilbert Miller
 Strictly Scandalous," is notable chiefly because it brings back to the stage Janet Beecher after an absence of about 12 years. Miss Beecher does about all anyone could be expected to do with the role of a famous woman writer, traveller and leeturer who has had three children by three men and never bothered to marry any of the fathers. But when the two older children want to marry it is necessary to establish a solid family tree for the benefit of the particular prospective in-laws so she invites the three men to rally round for inspection while the kids pick the one they want to marry their mother and pose as the father of all three. They can't decide but the author hits upon the ideaf having the mother run for Congress. It seems this will make her respectable.
 Supporting Miss Beecher are Nino Pipitone, Jr., William Berens, Dorothy Vaughan, Elizabeth Burt Paul McVey, Anne Henderson, Jean de Briac, Gene Gary and Boyd Da- wis. Charles Leonard in association with Thomas McQuillan, put on the play.
 ANOTHER of those attempts to do old-time melodrama in a beer hall atmosphere has been made by Selected Artists, Inc, in association with Alan Corelli, at the old Cen. tral Opera House uptown. Their play is Broken Hearts of Broad way" an original by Ralph Matson rather than a revival of one of the traditional Gay Nineties pieces However, it has all of the old vii- liam and virtue triumphant ingredi- ents. The venture suffers greatly from the size of the hall, poor acoustics and a general lack of in- spiration in the production.