Life, 1923-03-01 · page 21 of 36
Life — March 1, 1923 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is a **theater review guide** from Life magazine's "Confidential Guide" section, listing Broadway shows and entertainments currently running. It's organized into categories: "More or Less Serious" plays and "Comedy and Things Like That," plus "Eye and Ear Entertainment" (musicals/revues). The reviews are snappy, one-line judgments—some praising ("Rain" is "the biggest hit of the year"), others sarcastic. Notably, **"Abie's Irish Rose" gets mocked** ("Where do the people come from who keep this going?"), suggesting it was a popular but critically dismissed show. The **cartoon at bottom** (credited to Barret) depicts various theatrical characters in exaggerated caricature—likely representing different show types or comedic stereotypes common to 1920s theater. The page reflects the vibrant Broadway scene of the early 1920s, when theater was America's primary entertainment before cinema dominated.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
More or Less Serious Dagmar. Selwyn.—Nazimova in something with a paper cover. The Fool. Times Square.—Religion made easy for beginners. Hail and Farewell. viewed later. Morosco.—To be re- Icebound. Sam H. Harris.—Reviewed in this issue. It Is the Law. with cut-backs, The Last Warning. — Klaw.—Murder mystery which you take’ personally. The Love Child. George M. Cohan’s.— French home-life, mostly illegal. Gaiety—A steady, Nora Bayes.—Melodrama Loyalties. absorbing play, well acted. The Masked Woman. in the lecher’s chambers. The Merchant of Venice. David Warfield as Shylock. The Moscow Art Theatre. _ Fifty-Ninth St—The most impressive Russian embassy this country has had for some time. Eltinge.—Midnight Lyceum.— Peer Gynt. duction of a Schildkraut. Rain. Maxine Elliott’s—The biggest hit f the year, showing that people don't mind 1 good crack in the eye now and then. Es: pecially when Jeanne Eagels hands it out. Garrick.—A spectacular _pro- poem-play, with Joseph Romeo and Juliet. Henry Miller—Jane Cowl making Juliet credible. R. U. R. Frazee—The human race and what may happen to it, shown in a thrilling fantasy. Owing to the time it takes to print Lire, readers should verify from the daily newspapers the continuance of the attractions at the theatres mentioned. _ Seventh Heaven. Booth.—Helen Menken in an emotional outburst. A Square Peg. Punch and Judy.—Ameri- can family play, showing a business woman miscast as a mother. Will Shakespeare. National.—An_effec- tively poetic interpretation of the poet's early career. Comedy and Things Like That Abie’s Irish Rose. Republic—Where do the people come from who keep this going? You don’t see them out in the day-time. Anything Might Happen. Comedy.—To be reviewed later. Give and Take. Forty-Ninth St.—Out of the same barrel as “Abie's Irish Rose.” Kiki. Belasco.—Still at it. The Laughing Lady. viewed in’ this issue. Mey the 3rd. Thirty-Ninth St.—Pleasant- ly radical views on marriage. Merton of the Movies. Cort.—Glenn Hunter making it more than mere comedy. The Old Soak. Plymouth—A genial attack on Prohibition. Polly Preferred. _Little.—Another __ play kidding the movies, with quite a number of laughs concealed in’ it. Rita Coventry. Bijou.—To be reviewed next week. Longacre,—Re- Rose Briar. Empire.—Billie Burke in a little something by Booth Tarkington. Secrets. Fulton.—Sentiment through three generations, with Margaret Lawrence. So This Is London! Hudson.—Caricatures of British and Americans, ; # g You and I. later. Belmont.—To be reviewed Eye and Ear Entertainment Better lose much Caroline. grade music. Chauve-Souris. Century Roof.—Singing and dancing by Russian enthusiasts. The Clinging Vine. Knickerbocker.— Peggy Wood in a hit. The Dancing Girl. Winter Garden—An improvement on its predecessors. Times. Hippodrome.—You can't by taking a chance. Ambassador.—Excellent high- .The Gingham Girl. Earl Carroll.—All right. Glory. Vanderbilt-—Tuneful and well acted. Greenwich Village Follies. Shubert.— Spectacularly beautiful. Lady Butterfly. about The Lady in Ermine. musical comedy. Little Nellie Kelly. it moves fast. Liza. Daly’s.—Moves even faster, thanks to the indefatigable Negro company. Music Box Revue. Music Box.—Elaborate. Sally, Irene and Mary. Forty-Fourth St. —Still ‘holding their own Globe.—Nothing to brag Century.—Typical Liberty.—At least, Sun Showers. Astor.—Not quite. Up She Goes. Playhouse—Very satis- factory. _ Wildflower. Casino.—Reviewed in this issue Ziegfeld Follies. New Amsterdam.— Several new acts and, thank Heaven, still Will Rogers. comicbooks.com