Springfield Weekly Republican

Here and There In the Theater

BROADWAY MUTATIONS
By LOUISE MACE
MUSICAL COMEDY seems to be losing its dramatic inhibitions and going in strongly for legitimate wayfaring. "The Cat and the Fiddle" provides a case in point. Though its finest emphasis was on the musical portion, first the librettist and then the director insisted upon realness in character portrayal. The production was inhabited by believable persons who managed not only to justify their presence by immediate means, but also to create a sense of background and belonging that were not of mushroom growth. Of course this clearer-cut characterization has obtained in other musical productions, such as "Smilin' Through," "The Vagabond King" and "The Student Prince," but, with the possible exception of "Smilin' Through," it has been merely superimposed in raised figures on the general pageantry of production. There was no pageantry, as such, in "The Cat and the Fiddle." Only the score took precedence. Perhaps audiences are growing a bit tired of the parade of beauty, costumes and exotic scenes. It is not only pleasant but it is necessary for spectators to believe, within reasonable limits, in stage beings, otherwise a direct duty of this make-believe world is denied at the outset. Another piece which has been highly successful in Philadelphia and which is heading toward New York with well-founded expectations of becoming a smash hit, is "Music in the Air." According to Quaker City reviewers this too contains well-modeled characters that might, in all logic, step from the musical frame and still remain effective.

WITH NOVEMBER here and two months of the new theater year in the past, the show shops of Broadway are not as alluring as they might be. There have been, so far, 28 new productions and of these 15 have been taken off within a two or three weeks' period; some have lasted less than a week. This means that over 50 per cent have failed. The first play of the season to command critical and popular acclaim was Rachel Crothers's "When Ladies Meet." Next to reach the hit mark was Grace George's adaptation of "Mademoiselle," in which she and Alice Brady are the co-stars. Edna Ferber's and George Kaufmann's "Dinner at Eight" is the one play to capture the unequivocal admiration of both critics and audiences. So much was expected of the Theater Guild's production of "The Good Earth" that hopes were in sad need of stimulation when it was found that this great novel of Chinese peasant life failed to stir with the epic drama inherent in the printed pages. Now, with the approaching holidays bringing with them the inevitable ebb in attendance, producers are looking toward the first of the year for the definite upturn of the theater.

DESPITE the feeble activity in New York, the road is happy and comparatively speaking business is better here than there. This is due, of course, to the long drouth and to the fact that the pick of last season's successes are being judiciously routed to reawaken the outposts' well occasioned indifference. The day of fat box-office returns is still delayed and will not return until the country is once more in the heedless clutch of a boom. It is interesting to note in this respect the figures gathered by Variety. That journal points out that in 1929 straight shows getting from $12,000 to $14,000 a week were considered only moderately successful, while the so-so musicals drew $20,000 weekly. Now, in 1932, for acknowledged hits to corral even these sums is regarded as more than satisfactory. Thus does a changing calendar confound order and hope.