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areeemetic tar

She Was Original "RoseMarie" Heroin andStar vith Basil Sydney.

By Charles Collins.HE cir-iumambient cinema.which has gorged itself uponthe real life drama, the reallife opera, and the real life

everything else until it resembles apython that has swallowed a herdof goats, has begun to exploit asing ing' star named Mary EIlis in aIlght-minded and amusing froliccalIed ••Paris in Spring." She ts newto movie patrons; she Is also new todrama and opera foIlowers in thisregion; nevertheless she had hershare of fame before the films adopt-

ed her. Ther fore, I take pleasurein serving as master of ceremoniesfor this abundant and eager beautywho is, incidentally, the best actressthat the movies have adopted be-cause of her lyr-Ic talent,If Miss Ellis' voice surpriscs you

with its power and brilliance whenshe sings "Bon Jour. Mam'seIle"and the several other ditties thatrun through ••Paris in Spning," reomember that her stage debut wasmade in the Metropolitan Operahouse, New York. in "SUoI' An-gelica " [lUIS], and that she alsosang there in ••The Blue Bird" and••Louise." Also remember that shesang the title role in "Rose Marie,"an operetta that was a national hitin 1924 and lU~5.

Former Co-Sf rwith Basil Sydn y.If her acting surprises you with

its tluidity, its conviction, its easyrelease of a high deg-ree of personalappeal, remember that she has hada disting-uished career in the drama.During the seven years of her co-starring association with Basil Syd-ney. in New York and London-never in Chicaao-i-she proved herselfan actress of the first tlight. 'l'herewas a time when this team of dra-matic stars were almost like anotherLunt and Fontanne.'l'he chief reason why I am writ-

in;; about Miss EIlis at length. how-ever, is that she recently became myfavorite theatrical character. al-though I never saw her act exceptas the camera has recorded her in••Paris in Sprin:;." I read a book inwhich some of her characteristicsand exploits were recorded, andstraightway began to yearn for aglimpse of Mary EIlis.This book is "'1'he Curtain Falls,"

by Joseph Verner Reed-the me-moirs of a rich and stagestruclcyoung man who, from 1929 to 1933,had an extravagant tling as a the.atrical impresario. It is one of themost interesting documents regard.in:; the American legitimate theaterof this period that I have discov-ered. Rich with humor, it revealsthe wild, romantic craziness of theinstitution in a way that is betterthan fiction. For a time it held aplace on the ••best seIler" lists.

Mary Ellis in"Children of Darkness."I\' ry Ellis is one of the heroines

of Mr. Reed's fantastic confessions.J'ane Cowl is the other. but her sharein the tale is another story. Quota-tions are now in order.The first impression, at the start

of rehersals for "Children of Dark-ness ":••She wasn't really beautfful, I

thought; but there ,..vas about herappearance somethin:; that was ar-resting. . . . She seemed like atlame that was not burnmg, butwhich might transform itself intotire."As rehersals progressed. and Mr.

Reed became more fascinated, MissEll s slowly developed a tempera-mental streak that harried the soulof the director, Lester Lonergan.Eventually he resig-ned. A side-Iight:••You are always trying to hide me

or give me an impossible position.But I won't have it! I won't! Iwon't! I won't!" She walked at him,fire and fury blazing from her eyes."Do we play it my way? "••Somehow I feel sick," 1\1:1'.Reed

adds ••• Poor Mr. Lonergan!"

Pic+ure of aBac Stage Tantrum.), fter the tryout performance of

"Children of Darkness" in Pitts-burgh [December. 1929]. Mr. Reedfelt low in his mind. The play hadgO\1ebadly. Everything about it, in-cluding the actrng of Miss Ellis andher husband, Basil Sydney, had beensogg'y, Then came a dressing roomconference between the boob man-

IT SEEMSSHE1S CALLED

II A YII

Lady Yukon Cam-eron is the way she isaddressed and Isothe way she is pro-grammed on the va-riety bills. She is ahandsome singer whohas been for severalyears the footlightpartner of AI Trahan,comedian. They area p pea r i n g in thestag show at theP a Iace this we k.[:l.la.uriceSeymour Photo.]

azers, Macgowan and Reed, andtheir stars."1<'uriously she stamped her foot.

"Joseph, you tell me. How wall theplay?'•••Rotten: I said. in deep. concen-

tra ted dejection." •And how was my perform-

ance"! '" , Terrible.'"A shriek rent the air .•• ,.r Jars

and pots and tubes and paint-stickssplintered through the air. MaryEllis. in a prostrate heap, landed onthe tloor. Little round jars scurriedoff into corners of the room."••• You fiend! You fiend!' she

shrieked, fighting up from the floorinto a recumbent position. •That'smy thanks-let me go. Basil. don'ttouch me-for alI my work. for allmy slaving'. week in and week out.to help you and this g. d. play!'"Miss Ellis' tantrum continues for

two pages in ••As the CurtainIr'alls." The scene lasted for houri.'I'heri came the reconciliation. ButMiss EIlts. although calmed,wouldn't shake hands with Reed-••not until I know from your owneyes. not from your words. that youthink I'm the best actress you eversaw."At the New York premiers, how-

ever, Miss Ellis won her point. Herprophecy about Reed's conversioncame true. She acted like an en.chantr ess, and George Jean Nathanproclaimed ••Children of Darkness Of

one of the season's best plays.

Change of Cast.When ••Dodsworth" begins its

tour in September Ileona Powerswill have the part played in NewYork by Fay Bainter. Miss Bainterwill have the leading role in a MaxGordon production on Broadway.

Enjoy thefloor show.

INNE~R

hinetaa tHE Palace theater's vaudevillebill headlines two personall-ties for its current program-Anna May Wong and AI

Trahan. Miss Wong. well knownto film audtencec and to those stagepatrons who saw her several sum-

mel'S ago in a play built from anEdgar Wallace thriller. is back illAmerica after a long sojourn in Elu-rope. She entertains with a series ofsong sketches that gained a voguefor her in London. '.rrahan. accom-panied as usual by ••Lady" Yukon aCameron. has a variant of his pianoact familiar to vaudeville audiences.Also on the bill are Stan Kava-naugh. a juggler; Don Lee and Lou-ise in a dancing turn. assisted bythe Sinclair Twins. and the F'otrrHazel Mangean girls in an acrobaticact.

Rudy ValIee is appearing' at theChicago theater this week. Theradio singer and orchestra leaderpresents his Connecticut Yankees,with entertainers who have been de-veloped on his radio programs. Be-sides Vallee. the performers are theStewart Sisters, Ann Graham, Mar-garet Padula, Al Bernie, Frank 1<'1'1.selle, Red Stanley. and the Kiesc-wetter Four.

MHc. Renee Villon in her "WhitePeacock Dance" headlines in thestage show at the Oriental .heatsr

Chic gol a y b i l l sCONTINUED:

"j\'Olll,," play by Andre Obey;North Shore Drama festival, inCentral school playhouse atGlencoe; second week.

"rllhree Men 011 a Horse," com-edy; Harris theater; nineleenthweek.

"'Uncle tI10lll'S Uabln," melodramarevival; Show Boat Dixiana,north branch at Diversey nark-way; opens Thursday.

WI::EKL Y CHA~ G·ES:P .!a,ce thealer: Vaudeville andcinema; Anna May 'Nong, .<\1'Trahan, headliners.

ChIcago theater: Vaudeville andcinema; Rudy Vallee, headliner.

State-Lake theater: Vaudevilleand cinema; '!'om Patrjcola,Frank WaIlace, headliners.

Oriental theater: Vaudeville andcinema; Renee ViIIon, headliner.

Rialto theater: Burlesque; AdaLeonard in "}<'ootlight l!'lashes."

this week. The bill contains twelveacts and scenic numbers. Mlle. Vil-Ion formerly appeared at the Am-bassadeurs in Paris and the Kit Katclub in London.

The headliners of the vaudevillebill at the State-Lake theater areTom Patrtccla, star of many Broad.way revues. and Frank Wallace,hero of newspaper stories about amarriage license which linked hisname with that of Mae West. Bothare fine dancers. Patricola is assist.ed by Dorothy Daly. while Wallacehas a partner called Trixie La Mae.

ewIon

Continent Ioom Aug. 16

'Apple Dance' Feature ofNew Vanity Fair Show;Empire Room Changes.

O'1'TOK. EITEL of the Stevenshotel has engaged SeymourSimons and his twelve-pieceorchestra for the Continental

room, beginning Friday evening,Aug. 16. 'l'his will be the lars-estmusical unit to appear in the Con-tinental room. Lydia and Joresco,called" Poets of the Dance "; JackieGreen, a. mimic; Alice Blue, vocal-ist and pianist, and Therese Rudolph,solo dancers. are featured in thecabaret show. Simons is well knownthrough his accomplishments as acomposer of popular songs.

The New Vanity Fair featuresCorrine in an ••apple dance," an

undressed ballet specialty whichcame out of the Parisian revue at theFrench Casino. Other performersare Leslie, Ayres, and Gold, come-dlans; Coley Worth, last seen in EarlCarroll's ••Sketch Book "; DarleneWalders, and acrobatic dancer, andRuthie Barnes. tap dancer. Al Kvaleis bandmaster.

Veloz and Yolanda, the dancers,entered their tenth record break-

ing week in the Empire room lastThursday, Aug. I, with the advent oftwo news acts In the cabaret show.The three nonchalants were replacedby; Rollo Pickert. who dances onstilts. The Veloz and Yolanda or-chestra, with Shep Fields directing,continues to play for dancing andthe tloor show. spelled at interludesby the Embassy Four. Cardini, thejuggler. remains for another weekbefore making- his debut in the eastas a dramatic actor.

Horace Heidt and his Brigadierscontinue in the Silver Forest of

the Drake hotel. Last week all rec-ords for attendance were surpassed.

Frankie Masters. band leaderand master of ceremonies of

the ••Ice Carnival" at the Col.lege Inn. is offering another newsong authored by his personal songwriter, Walter Hirsch. entitled••Keep Cool in the College Jnn." Inthe skating show are the Four Ncl-son Sisters in sports costumes; JackSmalley. presenting an Argentinetango on skates; Oscar Johnson andEddie Shlpstad, comedians; NorvalBaptie in a double number withLeVerne Busher; Roy Shipstad andBess Ehrhart and Bobby McLean.

At the Cocoanut Grove, Gus Van,singing comedian. offers a pro-

gram of character songs which in-cludes the old favorites which he andSchenk used in vaudeville. Featuredin the Morton Grove cafe show arethe Clymas troupe in a Europeannovelty act; Nellie Nelson. singer;Billy Burns, acrobatic tap dancer.and Paul Batchelor's sixteen dane.ing girls. BiII Hogan and his Cali.tOL'nians continue to play for theshow and dancing, Skip Morr, theDixie Debs. and Rita O'Hayer arefeatured singers with the band.

Harry's New York cabaret offers'I'rudye Davidson, exotic dancer;

the 'I'exa.s debutantes in dance num-bel'S. and F'reddy Marcus as masterof ceremonies .

Rivervi.ew Park recently openedthe Caaino Gardens with an open

ah- theater. Several singers. inBavarian peasant costumes. singthe tunes of their native land.

HE spectacle by Franz Werfelknown as ••'I'he Road of Prom-ise," which Max Reinhardt willstage for Meyer Weisgal in

New York in October. deals with thehistory of the various large scaleoppressions of the Jews. The Ger.man director will present the workon a five level stage, necessitating alarge size thcater. 'I'he score is thework of Kurt Weill.The show begins in the present

day, depicting a kingdom busy inthe hysterics of pogroms, and there-after employs the flashback method,on the various levels of the stage, toenvisage other oppressions, includingthe Exodus from Eyypt .

Inglng

cNor h Shore Group GetBrilliant Young Actor sGue Star in " oeh."

A L'l'HOUGH he Is still in histwenties. Burgess Meredith.Who appears in the title roleof Andre O'Bey's "Noah," the

third presentation of the NorthShore Drama festival at the Cen-tral school theater, Glencoe, has al-ready reached a high position in thetheater. Born in Cleveland, he wentto New York when he was 10 yearsof age on a singing scholarship andfor four years was a choir boy atthe Cathedral of St. John the Di-vine.

••Somehow. I landed at Amherstcollege," Meredith remarks, but heremained there for only one year.Following his college period he be.came a reporter in Cleveland forseveral months and after this heworked in a department store. Thenhe was an ordinary seaman for a.half year on ships cruising betweenthe United States and South Amer-ica.Six years ago Meredith joined Eva

Le Gallienne's company and waswith her for three years. In ••Alicein Wonderland" he played threeparts-the Duck, the Dormouse,and Tweedledee. He also appearedin Miss Le Gallienne's revivals ofH Ltliorn;" H Peler Pan," H Romeoand Juliet,'· and other plays of herl·epertoire.In 1932 he played the leading

rOle in ••Little Old Boy." As thetap dancing senior ill ••She LovesIe Not" he scored a Broadway sue-cess.During the last season in New

York Meredith played with Kath-arine Cornell in ••Flowers of theF'orest " and in her revival of ••TheBarretts of Wimpole Street." Broad-way also saw him last season in•. Hide and Seek," ••Hipper's Holi-day," and ••Battleship Gertie."In ••Noah" Meredith plays the

role originated in America by PierreF'resnay, who for his performancein this play was selected by theStage magazine as giving the bestindividual performance of an actoron Broadway last season. WithF'resnay, Meredith received specialmention for his "brilliant handling

tar

I FLOOSHOW T

TH T s

Alice Blue is promi-nent in tho bill ofcab are t entertain-ment in the Conti·nental room of theStevens hotel, in sup-port of the dancingstars, Lydia and Je-resco. She is a vocal.ist and also a pianist.[Maul'ice Seymour Photo.]

HE '1'heater Guild has preparedfor the new season to tho ex-tent of buying eleven playmanuscripts. Add to that total

three options on plays now in prepa-ration by MaxwelI Anderson, JohnWexley, and Eugene O'Neill.The first Guild play is to be ••The

Taming of the Shrew" in a produc-tion devised by Alfred Lunt andLynn Fontanne. It will open Oct. 7at the Guild theater, New York, witha supporting cast including RexO'Malley, Richard Worf, SidneyGreenstreet. Dorothy Mathews,Edith King, and George Meader. Ithas been directed by Harry WagslaffGribble.Second on the list is the operatic

version of U Porgy," now being com-pleted by George Gershwin, Du BoseHeyward. and Ira Gershwin. It isdue In New York Oct. 21 at a the.ater still to be announced.Third Is to be the Ladtslas Fodor

comedy, ••Love Is Not Simple," inwhich Ina Claire wlII return to thecune.The season usually offer d Guild

subscribers in New York consists ofsix plays. ]'01' the remaining threethe organization has to choose from:••Daughters of Atreus," by RobertTurney. directed by Philip Moeller;"The Trojan Women" and ••Aga-memnon" in new translations, byEdith Hamilton; ••The King of theMountains," by Roser F'lud: ••IfThis Be '1'reason,', by John HaynesHolmes; ••'I'he Postman AlwaysRings '1'wiee," by James Cain;••Storm Song," by Denis Johnston,and ••Something to Live ]'01'," byGeorge O'Neil.'1'he Theater Guild's plans for its

Chicago subscribers have not beenannounced.

or an almost impossible role" in••F'lowers of the I"orest.'·'l'he final play of the Glencoe sea-

son will be ••Prospect Avenue," byAshton Stevens. Chicago dramacritic. It wlII have its premiere onAug. 19, with 'l'om Powers, Kath-erine Krug, and Whitford Kane illthe leading roles,

Broadway Revue.June Knight, recently of the films

and of ••Take a Chance," has beenengaged by Sam H. Harris for aleading rOle in ••Jubilee." Also en-gaged for the Moss Hart-Cole Portermusical show are Charles Waltersand Dorothy Fox, dancers, who wereIn "Parade." 'I'he scenery wlII bedesigned by Jo Mielziner.

AMUSEMENTS.

Night. 8:35Matinee~ 2 :35

, NCLE TOM'S CABIN" willbe revived as tho annlver .• Isary play aboard the show \boat Dlxiana when the I

floating thcater celebrates lis ftrstbirthday on the Chicago river nextThursday evening. During the year Ion the north branch of the Chicago Iriver at the Dlversey parkway Ibridge, the Dixlana has presented Itwelve old time melodramas. I

••No Mother to Guide Her" Wa:J \the tlrst revival. Then came ••The IConvict's Daughter," •• The Fatal IWedding," ••Nellie, the Beautiful ICloak Model," ••A Little Outcast,"; I••Bertha, the Sewin:; Machine Girl," I••'1'he James Boys in Missouri ."· l"Human Hearts," "Forgiven at the 1Altar," "While the City Sleeps,"· Iand the current production, ••Only; "a Shop Girl." \Although the plays are produced \

in exactly the same manner as they Iwere in the olden days, the mood of ;the audience has changed. The pres-entations are not burlesqued by the \performers, but the old-fashioned cos- I

tumes, dialog, and scenery provide !hilarious amusement tor present day Iaudiences. The free outdoor dancing' ,on the upper deck of the Dixianaafter the performance is in keepingwith the traditions of the Mississippiriver show boats.

In

dChic g

Aft r oon Ii ht

SHOW BOAT DIXIA;NAChicazo River at Divcrsey Pkwy. Bri e

Reservatlons Armitage 97001'()NIGIi1' at 8:15-IiOe, 7lie If S1.00-Pllt8 Ta"

"Only a Shop Girl" ~~~rng~~8fo~

LONG-RUN 1STAGESENSATION

Wed. & SMatineeso 0 0ENTIRE HOUSE