Judge, 1924-10-04 · page 18 of 37
Judge — October 4, 1924 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is critic George Jean Nathan's review of recent Broadway shows. The main subject is **Hassard Short**, a theatrical producer who abandoned the "elevator business" (likely referring to his signature use of elaborate mechanical stage platforms in earlier revues) to produce "The Ritz Revue." Nathan praises Short's new show for abandoning gimmicky stagecraft—no more prima ballerinas descending through trapdoors. The review celebrates that Short has injected "masculinity" into his typically effete musical comedies, comparing his improved style to producers Ziegfeld and George White. The illustrated vignettes mock performers in other current shows: Joe Cook and Dave Chasin's exchange about vocation is a joke about August theater work; Georgia Caine and G.P. Huntley's scene jokes about naming a daughter "Marjorie" despite her birth name being "Herman"—likely satirizing period gender conventions or theatrical absurdity. The cartoons and text together form typical Broadway gossip and satire for the magazine's audience.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Five Latest by George Jean Nathan I i] AssarD Suort has retired | from the elevator business P| and entered the music show ' field. His first exhibit since the abandonment of his erstwhile trade is called “The Ritz Revue.” It is the best thing he has done. Aside from a couple of movable platforms al number of —stereo- curtains all of his former s seem to disap- peared. Not once is a houri hoisted | | elegantly into the air, not once is the prima ballerina allowed to descend majestically through a trapdoor. The effect is eminently pleasing. A flat stage that has always been good } enough for Pavlowa Genée should be good enough for chorus hoofers. have and One of the most gratifying things j about Short’s new show is the note of masculinity that he has got into it. Hitherto, his revues and musical comedies have alway's impressed. the | onlooker as being just a trifle lizzie. j | Not so this time. Short has injected something of the Ziegfeld and George | White quality into this new one, | | He has learned to discriminate be- tween delicacy and mere ladyl e is some honest humor in the show, well handled by Charlotte Greenwood, Eddie Conrad, Jay Bren- nan and Stanley Rogers (the latter the successor to the lamented Bert ‘ Will and Gla Wi—Eve she has her ha Joe Cook and Dave Chasin in “Vanities.” Joe Cook—You say you've worked before? What was your vocation? Dave Cuastx—The last two weeks in August. ( Georgia Caine and G. P. Huntley in “Be Yourself.” “['m waiting for my daughter) Marjorie.” “So her name's Marjorie?” “No! Her name’s Herman, but we call her Marjorie becaus she’s a girl,” comicbooks.com