Salt Lake Telegram | 1940-04-09 | Page 7 | Leigh Wins Laurels as 'Juliet'

Leigh Wins Wills Laurels LaUl els elsAs As Juliet SAN FRANCISCO UP Vivien CR-Vivien Vivien Leigh transformed herself with remarkable re- re remarkable remarkable re re- ease from Scarlett OHara O'Hara of the screen to td t Juliet of the he the stage in her premiere with her jer real life Romeo Laurence Olivier here Monday night A packed house of fashionable first fighters approved their Romeo and Juliet but lacked the tie enthusiasm of the crowds that lined ined the sidewalks for hours to see ee the film and stage stars come and nd go The lights were turned up after fter four curtain calls It is altogether a remarkable production reduction said John Hobart drama rama critic of the San Francisco Chronicle They have approached i ia a stage classic creatively and they are re playing Romeo and Juliet like genuine enuine artists with their hearts and nd souls The obvious youth and good looks of f both Miss Leigh and Olivier added to the credibility of the play lay Miss Leigh appeared to be behe bethe bethe the he lovely and innocent child about whom Shakespeare wrote It put no strain on the audiences audience's Imagination imagination imagination nation to believe the words she spoke poke and the lines describing her 1 Equally pleasing was the artistry of the settings which brought the theold theold theold old town of Verona back to life A revolving stage speeded up the production but it still took more thim than han three hours and a half Notable in a good supporting cast were Edmond OBrien O'Brien as Mer- Mer Dame May Whitty as Juliet's nurse Alexander Knox as Friar Laurence aurence and Halliwell Hobbes as Capulet Miss Leigh and Olivier who first played together some five years years ago plan to be married some time after they finish taking Romeo and Juliet on tour and after their divorces become final The new version of the old story will run for only six nights in San Francisco The The production is slated to open in Chicago April 17 and to move into New York early in May for a three months' months run