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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1923)
New York Theaters By I'BRCY HAMMOND. Newr York. Deo. la. k i~n ROADWAY la pure again, now ax that its four naughty plays have been cleansed by their managers. The police force and the reformers admit that they are pretty veil satisfied with the drama's pres ent conduct and have turned their attention to other mischief-makers. Last week the district attorney re quested the public to complain to him in case it found anything in the tneaters worth blushing about. Only one protest was registered, and that was against "Hamlet.” It was said in objection to “Hamlet1' that some of Ophelia's language was unladylike and that ,lt contained too many mur ders. By way of compromise the questionable speeches were amended, but fhe homicides were all allowed to remain. The Identity of the four frotvard entertainments is still more or less a secret. Rumors are abroad that Ed ward Knobiock's "The Lullaby” was one of them, because Miss Florence Deed's role is that of a plain-spoken wanton. Leon Gordon's "White Cargo" was said also to be guilty in its exposure of delinquency in the South seas. The two others which affronted the moral sagamores, how ever, have not been definitely dis closed. Suspicion ranges from Miss Irene Bordoni's "Little Miss Blue beard" to Cyril Maude's “Aren’t We All?” Several revues, of course, were scolded, incidentally, for • undressing in public, but no one pays much at tention to that. The newspapers were all agog on their front pages about the mysterious quartet of erring dramas. In editor ials they discussed methods of ren dering then) more snowy. But none of them published a list of the culprits under surveillance. Consequently we •iJ&K re left trembling In terror lest we should go to see one of them and be harmed. We consulted the advertise ments for omens of impurity and found nothing therein to Indicate that all was not exemplary. Excepting, it may be, Mr Carroll's "Vanities," of which the fleshly announcements ex claim that it "Exalts the Human Form." Here was a problem in journalistic conduct. Shall the press print the names of the transgressors and thus warn the virtuous to stay away? By so doing It will also inform the wicked where they may go to be further de moralized. Or shall It be silent about tlie frail shows and, by not exposing them, imperil the Innocent and pre serve the guilty? The fact that the names of the sus pected plays have been kept a secret indicates that cynicism exists In the breasts of our managing editors. Skilled tn mass psychology, they know best how to apply their learning and experience to the amendment of hu man peccadillos. Also, eager for public service and the good of the many, they estimate that sinful per sons are more numerous than Ingen ues. So they concern themselves more with the welfare of the ninety and-plne who desire to stray from the r,dd than they do with the one who j prefers to remain upon the reserva tion. Although it is reported that Miss Mary Nash and "The Lady” were neglected by the drama-lovers of other ^ cities, they seem to b« established tn York ns one of the apples of its eve. Beginning as they did on the night that Miss Jane Cowl began to perform "Pelleas and Metlsande,” they had a fine audience at the Empire. It was not, perhaps, the cream of our playgoers, for nearly all the dramatic critics honored Miss Cowl and Maeter link with their presence. The only re viewers I saw at Miss Nash's pre miere were Mr. Benrhley of "Life," KVlcey Allen of “Women's Wear.” Miss Georgette CarneiUe of “The Bronx Home News.” and Mr. Ham tnond of The Tribune. In “The Lady” Miss Nash does ev erything there is to do tn acting, from a sad old lady to a riant music hall girl in shapely crushed-strawberry lights. And she does them well. The play is an old fashioned rip-snorter with new trimmings—at one moment resembling Drury I«ane of the early ’90s, at the next the Moscow Art theater In “The Claws of Life." Here are some of the feats performed by Miss Nash in the play at the Empire . . In the prologue she is the gray-haired chatelaine of a dance house In Havre. ... In the first act she is Polly Pearl, singing "Give Her a Violet” in her dressing room at the Finsbury Empire, In London, and secretly married to Heonard Ht. Aubyns, a fascinating ne'er-do-well . . . In the second act she Is a i eglec-ted bride, having trouble with her no-good husband upon a terrace at Monte Carlo. ... In the third act she staggers wanly into a V i'llwilei cabaret in Marseilles and is C’-'d^t'-rsunded by Its friendly proprietress to join the show—in I he vicinity of which she has her baby. And where, also, she outwits. In a stormy episode, her cruel father-in-law, who demands possession of the child. In the fourth n' t she 1s an elderly flower girl, selling bouquets in a remote street in I sand on And In the epilogue, which complete* the circle of the play, she is again In the Brtx ton liar at Havre, a pathetic onlooker when her long-lost son, a visiting sailor, kills one of h!s fellow seamen. Put Mr . Ditrichsteln mid Miss LoIh Klsher together in a play and It has .an advantage. Especially In ease Mr. Ditrichsteln is east as a polished .New York millionaire of 50 and Miss Fisher as Ills girlish and trouble some bride. Tills felicitous combina tion of girciimstances oceura In Miss Gladys Unger's "The Business Widow." It would, of course. t>c more felicitous If the comedy—an adaptation from the German—were lean routine In Its topic and leas striving, in Its manner, to please. However, It is moderately diverting— a fair example of anxious mediocrity. Mr. Ditrichsteln plays a well groomed and elderly oil merchant who lias married his ward, a pretty moron of 20. Ills habits are com mercial, and he Is more Interested In derricks and pipe lines than he Is In Mah Jong and late hours. Instead of going about with her to tea parties and dancing clubs, he Immerses him self III kerosene and Its profitable by products. Ho considering herself neglected, Ida silly bride acquire# an eV*idnilror, a handsome Greek Interior decorator and an expert In many of the latest footsteps. . . You luivu seen It nil u score of time* In other plays. . . . Mr. Ditrichsteln con tinue* to lie faithful to his petroleums ^o-si COMING TO THE 0RAMDEI S Jli'u' AT THf £MPf?E $S 1 - - """" ] ATTHS GAVE TV <^>esSJ e cot-c in *L / OHT /V / W CONVINIG TO THE 0RAN DEI5 ( Kaj-yl UStrrcati at the crpheu/a Vi*te and Jett{pit' would' until, lgnittd l>y his domestic crises, he Warms up and wins her back. . The end of the comedy leaves you with the suspicion that within a fort night Mr. Ditrichsteln will have re turned selfishly to his Interest In fuels, leaving Miss Kisher again to look for outside dlvertlsment. You fear that almost before you get home she is taking up a saxophone player with broad shoulders and a romantic vocabulary; or a godlike man-milliner w.ho can quote Omar Khayyam and who posses* fascinating nook habit* He’s Not Coming Hack. Sessup Hayakawa is not coming l)itck to Hollywood—not no more, never. ' For the last couple or three weeks, now, Mrs. Sessue has been beating rugs and running the camuum cleafi er and doing other odd callsthentics, assisted by the servants, up at the Huyukawa big mansion on Argyle av enue. She said Sessue was going to stay In Ijondon for "a couple of years, maybe more; who knows?" and as soon as she got the cleaning done she was going back to join him. And here just the other day she had a gardener put a big sign out on the front lawn of the house, and the sign says, "For Sale." What the Theaters Offer DIRECT from return engage ments in St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha and other cities, "Light nin' ” will pay another visit to the Brandois theater Sunday, December 23. beginning an engagement of four nights and Christmas matinee. John tJolden has retained Thomas Jeffer son as Lightnin' Bill Jones; Bessie Bacon as the vaudeville actress; Stuart Fox as John Marvin; Charles E. Evans us the Reno judge; Frank Thornton as Raymond Thomas and Mart E. Heisey as the.sheriff. Mr. Jefferson is a son of the late Joseph Jefferson, who created "Rip Van Winkle," and Miss Baron is a daugh ter of Frank Bacon, who wrote "Lightnin’" in collaboration with Winchell Smith. The production was staged under Mr. Smith's personal di rection. In the hands of Thomas Jef ferson, Lightnin' Bill is the .same gentle vagabond that his father made of "Rip Van Winkle" and it is pre dicted that the younger Jefferson will occupy the same s|»ot in the hearts of today's theatergoers that his dis tinguished sire held with their grand parents. "Lightnin's'* courtroom scene is also rated ns a strong factor in its success. Never before have the elements of farce, comedy and grip ping melodrama been so happily blended. Throughout this scene the audience is swayed from tears to laughter and when the f.nal curtain descends on Bill's Inquiry* "Didje ever git that $6 I sent yuh?" the tension d!*api>ears in a tumult of merriment and applause. A prehoiiday entertainment is the vaudeville menu at the World theater this week. Dave Vine and Luella Temple top line the show in their big comedy success, "Making Non sense an Art." It is to laugh at Vine's many eccentricities, while Miss Temple is a splendid foil for his amusing absurdities. "Shadow land" and the Loomas troupe are added features. A company of six danc ng girls in "Shadow land" offer a series of dancing studies that have no counterpart on the variety stage. The Loomas troupe. eight transconti nental coined ans. "From the Bottom to the Top.’’ presenting R whirlwind program of knockabout feature*. Chuck Haas, cowboy comedian, for droll witticisms and clever tricks with a rope. IK'lores Lopez, the "Spanish Nightingale.” offers a serler of up-to-date song numbers. Olgc and Nichols, Russian entertainers, of f<r something new in dancing. Wll liam Russell in & clever screen come d.v, "How Times Have Changed,” provides the full length photoplay feature. * Next Saturday the noted mystic, Alexander, heads the World Christ mas show. His uncanny ability to answer questions, along with his demonstrations of mystic slste writ ing and spirit painting, has gained for Alexander the reputation of one of vaudeville’s greatest headline at tractions. Karyl Norman, popularly known as "The Creole Fashion Plate." head lines this week's bill at the Orpheum. Though a featured star in the "Green wich Village Follies." which played Omaha last week, the lure of vaude villa again proved too strong for Karyl Norman, so he left the big ex travngnnza and arranged a. program of silvery songs and a great array of gorgeous gowns, which he presents as "The Tuneful Song Shop." Since the fair sex Is noted for its delight in clothes and in tailing about them, this should be the most talked of event In Omaha this week. On the same bill are Homer B. Ma son and Marguerite Keller, who pre sent a sketch, "Married." written by Porter Emerson Browne. author of "A Fool There Was." Smart farce will never h« able to pay Its debt to this clever team and their present vehicle is the smartest they have ever appeared In. Jean Sothern.who has distinguished herself over the foot lights, and In Hollywood studios, pre sents a bit of femininity with a mas culine twist In the sketch. "Girls Will Be Boys.” wr.tlen by the popular playwright, Paul Gerard Smith, Other attractions on this week's bill are Bob Anderson and his polo pony, Joe Borne and Lou Gaut, eccentric dancers extraordinary: Willie Schenk company presenting a European sur The Tuesday Musical Club Presents The UKRAINIAN NATIONAL CHORUS AUDITORIUM "•IltV’.W DEC. 29 Tickets Now on Sale—$1.00 to $2.50 Exempt From War Tax THIS WEEK Commencing TODAY’S MATINEE PRESENTS "THE TUNEFUL SONG SHOP*® with KENO CLARK and BOBBIE SlMONDS (SI WILLIE SCHENK CO. , Featuring MISS MARGARETE in a European Surprise BOB ANDERSON and POLO PONY Star of Stag# and Scraan JEAN SOTKERN In a Bit of Faminlnity with • Masculine Twist “GIRJLS WILL BF. BOVS** By Paul Garard Smith JOE ROME ant' LOU GAUT Whan Extrema* Meet prise, and Russell Carr and 'Grace In a military ventriloquial scene. Obadiah Jones is the leading comedy character in "Oh, Oh, Oba diah," the musical farce which the Graves Hros. Players are offering for their newest bill at the Empress this week. Roy Kinalow is "Obadiah,” which is a certainty that there will be laughter and lots of it. Palmer Hines, under whose direction all Em press plays are produced plays the part of Harold Churchill,” a tender youth of 26 who still believes in Santa Claus. Miss Kidd, a new member of the oompany, is of the roubrette type and comes with a good reputation. The action is laid In a small country home and there In something doing every minute the curtain is up. "Sis Hopkins,” the rural comedy classic. Is scheduled for the week I starting next Saturdsx. Current photoplax featuri.e Include the crook ice ••■llama, "Crooked Alley," and six rounds of the new j Fighting Bloo.l ’ series. Columbia burlesque which has been providing t i teetelnment for patrons of Gayety the • sr continues In "Breezy Times," Mils week's offering. Spe dal interns- wiil be roused through the arrival of Jamie Coughlin a* fea tured comedian with the "Breezy Times" company. Supporting Cough lin will he George Leon, Fred Hall. Charles \\ e-son, Carl Mnseman. , Alice Jay. Alice Turner and l-llva Kddv us idayers in (he burlee'itics, and leaders of the IS chorus girts. Pretty scenery, iri frequent shifts, end gorgeous costuming in many changes are promised as ornate em bellishments in the arrangement for staging the offering. Today's matinee starts at 3. "Some one has declared a hearty laugh the rarest experience of men— he is right,” says Lou Powers, the principal comedian of "Good Morn ing Dearie” to he seen at the Bran dels, December 27, 28 and 29. At the Brandeis theater on Decem ber 31 and January 1 and 2 Guy Rates Post will present Edward J. Locke's unusual play. "The Climax." As Luigi Oolfanti, music teacher and maestro of opera, training the voice of a beautiful young girl and loving ly guarding her for her great future In the walls of his New'York studio, Mr. Post holds his audience in an ab sorption of Interest so intense and still that the hush may almost be felt In the great dramatic moments of "The Climax." a play serious enough to make the unthinking think, funny enough to amuse everyone, pure enough to make clergy and laity re joice, and good enough to live. Among this season's musical com edy productions, none deserves more praise than Schwab & Kusell's "The Gingham Girl." which ran a year on Broadway, and which will be at the Brandeis theater three days, starting February 28. Pola Negri has finished work on "Shadows of Paris," taken from the Andre Picard's play, "Mon Homme." GOSH ALL HEMLOCK!V There’s a Heap of Laffs A~waitin ’ fer You—Come on Down 2:00 4:20 ’ 6:55 9:15 Week Days at 3:15, 7:00, 9:15 Continuous Daily From 1 P. M. GRAVES BROS. PLAYERS Company of 28 Favorites Offer the Rip-Roaring Rural Mu$ical Farce “OH, OH, OBADIAH” Staged and Produced by Palmer Hines Roy Kinslow as “Obadiah” Screen Feature CROOKED ALLEY Myitsry Melodrama— and Sixth Round “FIGHTING BLOOD" New Series For tbe Convenience OF SHOPPERS The Last Night Show Does Not Begin Until 9:15 P. M. Next «mo unoinuc” Next Saturday 010 nUllMnO Saturday VINE & TEMPLE “Making Nonsense an Art" LOOMAS TROUPE Eifht transcontinental comedians in a unique comedy. “SHADOW LAND” Six clever girl* in a fantastic spectacle. CHUCK HAAS "Cowboy Comedian" DOLORES LOPEZ "SpanUh Nightingale" OLGA & NICHOLAS Whirlwind Dantert ARTHUR HAYS at the Wurlitxer WM. RUSSELL in “Times Have Changed” A tertian comedy that it different Seven Days, Starting SATURDAY . Special extraordinary en \ gagement of the master mentalist. 3 ‘THE MAN W WHO KNOWS" W introducing his world-famous “Simla Seance" ALEXANDER With honest pride I announce the return of Mr. Guy Bates Post to the speaking stage. More than a quarter century ago Mr. Post rapped at the door of “opportunity” in that great maelstrom metropolis—New York. The an swer to his knock was gruelling days and sleepless nights. Every heartfelt “wail” echoed and re-echoed in his brain until the “wail” turned to “I will.” Today the “then youngster” bears, carries, controls more honors, more weight, more followers than any other man in his profession. i All America honors his achievements. He has the distinction of having entertained more men and women within a given period than any other person, in his line, who ever lived. In every city in which he has appeared he has established new records from point of financial receipts. From “National Border to Border,” on every side, he has been acclaimed “THE LEADER.” The consensus of many of America’s foremost critics is: “His intensity disturbs and arrests. As the greatness of his genius governs the trend of thought, arousing the genius that is—to a greater or lesser degree—the thing that governs, controls, dwarfs or magnifies the actions— attitudes—good or bad qualities — that makes or mars humanism. By his genius compelling his auditors to feel they are parcel and part of the play — causing their pulses to throb with his, their hearts yearn, glow, ache, and are glad with the beats of his heart, until actor and audience become welded as one—fused in the finesse of a single thought.” THE PLAY—“The Climax,” by Edw. J. Locke, a play filled with suspense that comes spontaneously from that soul, secreted in every normal person's breast of thinking age interspersed with natural eff rverscing comedy that bvhbles into chuckles and bursts into roars, causing tears to recede into the ducts from whence they spring, at the critical moment when more sorrow would be anguish, more selfishness produce pain. A play serious enough to make you think, funny enough to make everyone laugh, clean enough to please the clergy, good enough to live. Hi* appearance in Omaha will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Nights, Dec. 31-Jan. 1-2, and Holiday Matinee Tuesday (New Year’s) and a Popular Matinea Wednesday—a total of five performance*. Mr. Po*t’» appearance in Omaha will be the dramatic event of the decade. MELVILLE B. RAYMOND. Director of Tour In every city where Mr. Post has appeared capacity audiences have prevailed, and Omaha will not be an exception. Immediate reservation* by mail are earnestly requested. Prices range from 50c to $2.00 for Matinee Wednesday—50c to $2.50 for New Year’s Matinee and $1.00 to $3.00 for night performance*. C. J. SUTPHEN. Manager Brandeis Theater