Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-02
Chapter 3
BY BILLY ROSE

mainstay OF the Russian theater.
1t still is, but the most tragic
performance I witnessed last
summer was the real life drama
OF show people knuckling under
to the political dictum, Thou
shalt not think"
Despite this mental deep
freeze, there's lot of entertain
ment in the USSR for the the
ater-goer who doesn't mind
candy coated Journalism and
time-tested staginess. Take. for
instance, the Bolshoi Ballots
version of Romeo and Juliet"
This is undoubtedly the most
spectacular example of tradi-
tional ballet to be seen anywhere
on this bilious green earth. When
playing its own theater in Mos
COW, the Bolshoi employs cast
Of over TOO, and scenically it
makes the City Center Ballet Of
New York look like a magic
lantern show.
Another big league ballet
troupe is the one Photographed
by Igor MoiSeyev, which my old
friend, Sol Hurok, is planning
to bring to the United States
next year. The high spot of its
repertoire is THE Partisan
Dance" and I predict that this
number will shiver the chan
deliers of every theater it plays
over here.
Attraction No. 8 in my book is
the Red Army Ensemble Of 200
male singers, dancers and inStru-
mentalists. For theatrical flair
and firepower I've never seen
its equal.
Puppet Show Is Tops
No. 4 on my Soviet Hit Parade
is Obraztsov's Puppet Show. 1t is
witty, satiric and gay as cotton
candy. 1t presents few language
barriers, and it's my bunch that
it would sell out for five years in
a small New York theater.
AS for Soviet drama, the acting
is almost invariably good; the
direction. for the most part, REM
iniscent of THE Outlaws Christ
mas" The .theater in Russia
doesn't go in for long runs; it is
virtually all repertory. and dur
ing the season as many as $50
different plays are presented in a
single week in Moscow. A third
of the productions are the polit-
ically safe classics. The rest are
variations on the theme of Boy
Meets Tractor, Girl Meets Trac-
tor. Work Norm Doubled!
In Leningrad. I caught a per-
Torrance of Verdis Don Carlo"
at the Molotov Theater. The
voices were not up to those at the
Met, but the total effect was
pretty much the samoa mu-
scum in which sopranos and
tenorS have replaced the paint
ings and sculpture.
l also saw THE Seven Beau
ties" danced by the Leningrad
Ballet, an outfit which certain
critics rate ahead of the Bolshoi.
This group darn near repealed
the law of gravity and the seem
cry was scrumptious, if you care
for elaborate scenery. The aud
fence hung on to every minute.
found their hunger for some
thing beautiful, to offset the
drabneSS of their lives, more
than a mite touching.
The only operetta l got to
see was Countess Martha" JtI
bored me 80 years ago in New
York, and bored me even more
three decades later. 1t survives
because of one Schmaltz-herring
melody. PLAY Gypsies-Dance
Gypsies" but the rest is so much
tzigana and tedium.
Anti-U. S. Plays Dropped
Incidentally, the SovietsI
stopped putting on anti-Ameri-
can plays about year ago. One
Of their top theater men, after
a vodka too many, confided that
this Hate-the-U United States
campaign had been written of
by the Ministry Of Culture as an
expensive failure. The reason:
the shows were box office
flops.
Earlier in this piece, I listed
what / considered the four top
shows in Russia. Actually. there
are four other productions
which, for pure showmanship,
are even more impressive: Cd
The New Subway. 90 the GUM
Department Store, 49, the Maui
soleum starring Lenin and Sta
lin, and "a the Agricultural
Exposition.
Every station on the Moscow
and Leningrad subways is part
palace, part art museum. Out
side of the Winter Palace of the
Car, I never saw so much mar
bic and gold-and-white trim, and
so many crystal chandeliers,
murals, m osaics and bronze
fittings. In one depot / counted
96 statues. Providing the nee
essary dramatic contrast were
the passengers IN the air-con-
ditioned trains--Weary Willies.
in clothes we wouldn't put on to
clean the cellar.
The GUM Department Store
is almost as long as Red Square.
which it faces, and it. too,
houses enough crystal and gilt
10 put all the kings back in
business. But there's precious
little one can buy without hook.
ing his children. Shoes are $50
a pair. bar Of chocolate s5.25.
and bits Of porcelain tagged $50
could be duplicated in lany Of
our five-and dimes.
Tomb Rates a Rave
The tomb where Lenin and
Stain are on display rates a rave.
review for its staging and light
ing. The approach is dimly lit.
and one proceeds slowly down a
series Of red marble levels. At