| Show PERCY PER HAMMONDS HAMMOND'S NEWS LETT- LETT LEITER By Ity s BELMONT DELMONT DA DAVIS 15 During the last lut fortnight all of o the th excitement In theatrical circles seems to have been cornered by that astuto astute and brilliant showman sho Mr Florenz The first bomb that the glorifier of our country's girlhood threw Into Inlo the th midst ot c tho season mid tranquil tranquil- tranquilIty tranquility tranquil tranquil-Ky Ity was his bis lie new offering No Poolin Not that the tho th night first audience found No n a superlative entertainment although It held much of beauty but It did find Mr ZI glorified young ladles ladies with very ery few exceptions clad In garments as modest as the bathing suits suite worn by our grand grand- grandmothers grandmothers rand i mothers Even those beauties In Mr Den Ben DenAll BerAll All were us com coin covered as ns It if they were con con- an nn airplane voyage to the tue tinIs North Pole Metal Metai suits worn bi by b drivers In search of or sea deep treas- treas treasure ur treas-ur ure afford their wc little more protection than dos does the ment meet of Mr Ills Ills-gm's divinities Tho tights and stockings of a de- de decade de decade cade ago ato were ere In evidence very every overy where Nudity ha hal hai been stopped at the tho th stare stage door All the pictoN of the evening e seemed to need was th the appearance of oC Mr himself In rompers On tho the follow following In day the th review revlow- reviewers ers era gave caTe Mr full credit for his reforms but as will happen In the th case caso of the true tru cru- cru cru crusader the th Impresario having drunk of or victory hurled his bomb bomb Not satisfied with i hll purified his own on show he h e ewas was out to clean up all nil Broadway Nudity must 1 lie be e banished from our el stage Mr JIll Goorge White must ascend to his garret and drag do do n 1 his long forgotten trunks of oC tights Mr Earl Eari Carroll Carroli and the Shubert must visit their favorite sto storehouses and open up the dusty packing cases cues of ot musty stockings and period dresses of ot many man flounces and end ie e all concealing pet pet- petticoat pet petticoat And then to show that his effort was as entirely sincere and to give It an air of oC locality legality Mr feld called on John S Sumner see sec secretary sec secretary rotary of tho the Society for tor the tha Sup Sup- Suppression Sup Suppression of Vice ice to form a II play jury that would be empowered to sweep nudity and salaciousness from our stage it ie To those of oC us who nho have known Mr for tor th-so th many years ears as R a a restless genius and ft a natural leader of his craft bis Is jia sudden change of oC front came as no rent great surprise However we wo are ara a II little surprised when Mr says SIlS It U Is because I unco unconsciously set lIet the style for tor nudity In the tho then then- ter ter by virtue of ot the artistic Ben BenAll BenAll BenAll All HIl Haggin tableaux aux that I nm am joIning up with Mr Mt Sumner In nn an endeavor to clean up the stage stas-e from the Inside Somehow It Is difficult to im- im a lne the th usually alert drowsing at Ills his own re rehearsal white while the th artistic ln led him from to nudity t o wo we still cling to our belief bellet that ho he hoIs heis heIs Is a n leader among amone men Was as It not Mr feld who In the Paris revue discovered the nucleus of oC that particular kind of oC entertain entertain ment which for many years bad ad adno no rival rhal Also It if our memory serves us us It was In the th final tab tab- tableau tableau tab tableau leau ot of a Follies that a 0 young girl nas as seen een perched on a high pedestal and with one breast bared We imagine It mus must have been th the first Incident ot of Its kind because we remember that the tho next day It was the th talk ct ef the town and peo- peo people pl peo-pl pIe wondered It if could get away with it It An And 1 history will show that he did get s-et away with It and and so o successfully that In time there was practically nothing to tAke off oft ot of the ladles who decorated his stage stace Ot Of course cours In Inthe inthe the meantime te le had bad acquired imi- imi Imi Imitators hall halt a II dozen pM producers Id- Id fol 10 Red io-Red ed the recipe of the tha Follies Not always alwa's successfully but at aleast least they could undress undre their thelt cho- cho cho chorus ru girls and s as s says SIlS the present season presents an orgie ot of nudity Under Uder these conditions ZI again RS becomes become a leader lIe II even throws his trademark ot of the tho Fol Follies lies title titio overboard and clothes his chorus In old ral- ral It would appear that has has- hasing av ing polished the tho Kind of ot entertain entertain- merit lIe h had created to Its highest pol point t of perfection there remained three alternatives for him from which to choose choos To carryon carry on with the old recipe to create a new form of entertainment nt nt or to revive an old one That he ha was right In choosIng the tho last seems to bo aol aol- amply amply ply justified by the tho lines of oC pros pros- pro buyers buyer patiently waiting nt at atthe athe the Globe box elItes attics but so tar far as aw we are arc concerned we w should have been glad clad to lo see e him hint continue along alon the old road To us u nl- nl al always ways has hag been at nt least a II few tew jumps ahead of ot his Ills nearest competitor There was a distinction a 0 feeling for the beautiful that no other pro pro- producer producer pro producer ducer e seems ms to Not that No toes bee not enjoy both distinction and beauty but I frankly confess that a as IlS a x possible reformer I much prefer Ben All ln HILSs former nude tableaux to James Barton Darton In a n sketch called The Th Pest There were other mo- mo moments moments mo moments ments during the evening when en Mr Kr Barton assumed humorous proper proper- proportions proportions more a comedian especially those thos In wh-c wh which I he appeared with that delightful artist Rac Rae Dooley who seemed to have ha a II pacifying effect on her partners partner's broad broader r methods Who ho of us will forget MI Miss Hiss Dooley when she fed W Y C Fields In the Ue last and most perfect of ot all nil the th Fol Fol the lIes lies tho finest revue we wo have havi hav seen een In this or 01 any other land The peak penk of No nt at least to us was waa when Miss Greta Nissen appeared In her 0 own pan pan- pantomime Mlle Mile Bluebeard Here was at a ft his ls best gathering Miss s Nissan Nissen Fokine Urban about him nn and dl directing ecUng their efforts Into a perfect performance a gem that satisfied every sense We e have seen Miss Nissen In la pictures and In pantomime and brilliant as we found her on the screen we bell believe vo the th latter Is the th proper medium for her ner art and her exquisite exquisite site lt personality It If pantomime Is Islo isto lato to lo take Its proper place In this surely we e could find no noone noone noone one to Instruct us In this almost forgotten art so well equipped ns as Miss lUss Nissen I I |
