Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-02

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however. The Dublin engage
ment will be the only one In
the British Isles. After that
Good VIII Ambassador" moves
to. Of all places. Atlantic City
on March 26 for Q week end
there prior to the New York
opening.
Whatever its fate henceforth,
Good win Ambassador" has
made q place for itself in
theatrical annals. It will be the
first production ever to arrive
on Broadway by way Of Dublin
and Atlantic City. It's out-of-
town tryout Is way out. man.
MAN OF PURPOSE-There's
a young man In town right now
who may be at q turning point
in his career. His name is
Keefe Brasselle and he is at
the Lotus, demonstrating three
times a night that a young
(34) man can display old time
showmanship II his show BUSH
ness family launched him in it
young. About rs years ago it
was for Mr.. Brasselle. He
stepped from behind a set of
drums in a band in his native
Elyria, Ohio. to become a
singer. later turned to comedy,
too. He learned his trade in
small clubs. burlesque, vaude-
vile, became q movie leading
man and stellar entertainer in
Las Vegas.
He now is aiming in another
direction, which is why this
could be a turning point In
the Brasselle career.
Right now. more than any
thing else in the world, ]
want to do a Broadway show, !"
he was saying the other night.
You can get tagged for a big
musical while making movies
or trying to bring cheer into
the lives Of the losers at Vegas.
but M, Brasselle thinks there's
a faster way,
This is the direct approach
OF invading the Broadway Sec
tor there to be caught by pro-
ducers in the act Of rolling an
audience in the aisles. This is
why Mr. Brasselle Is facing his
first live audiences in three
and a half years. The Lotus
engagement Is a prelude to
New York's Latin Quarter,
where he hopes to take Broad
way by storm.
Should you see him at the
Lotus which is not a bad idea
at all. you are not likely to re.
main skeptical Of his chances
for that musical. His best
known movie role was the title
one in The Eddie Cantor
Story" and his style, while not
copying any one Of them, re-
minds you of some notable en-.
tertainers Of that earlier era.
Its major ingredient is a
not easily def1nable quality
called showmanship, which en-
braces a lot Of things, with
talent not necessarily the most
important It involves, among
other things. personality, the
knack for establishing rapport
with an audience, obvious re-
lish IN your work and not mere
~ willingness but eagerness to
work your head of to enter
tain receptive onlookers..
The Snowman also can be
identified by an act that has
been conceived and created
with care and then polished,
not one tossed together. That's
what Mr.. Brasselle has, along
with the ability to sell q song
and a fair for mimicry. There
viii be no surprise around here
when he gets that musical
show.
AFTER Beverly
Lawrence, pretty and talented
singer-pianist at the Shoreham
Blue Room, has been held over
to headline this weeks show,
tomorrow through Saturday
night. She gets support from
the dancing Mattison Trio and
from, Of course. Bob Cross fine
orchestra. ApartneSs will
rear its ugly head when those
TogetherneSS awards are passed
out next Monday at the Stat
Ter. And there is not much any
body can do about 1t. The
awards were to be made by
Mr.. and Mrs. Tony Owen
Donna Reed and Pvt. and
Mrs. Steve Lawrence, two cou-
piles fittingly together. But Mrs.
Lawrence. Eydie Gorme. has
a singing date in Las Vegas.
And there will Mr., Lawrence
be, inadvertently representing
Apartness at the Togetherness
awards. Never one to let
a headline grow cold, Lee
Zeiger Of the Casino Royal
rushed to book a singer the
other day. Tommy Leonetti
starts a one-week engagement
at the Casino tonight.