Life, 1925-03-19 · page 21 of 36
Life — March 19, 1925 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a **theater guide** with brief, witty reviews of Broadway shows circa the 1920s. The text is notably cynical—reviewers dismiss productions as "tepid," morally questionable, or absurdly long-running ("just making a fool of us by lasting so long"). The **cartoon** by Cesare Sivieri depicts **Al Jolson** in "Big Boy" at the Winter Garden Theatre. The silhouette shows a performer in blackface makeup (standard for Jolson's act), striking an exaggerated theatrical pose—one hand raised dramatically, legs splayed in vaudeville showmanship. The caption identifies this as entertainment, though modern readers would recognize blackface as a deeply racist performance practice that was mainstream in 1920s popular entertainment but is now condemned. The juxtaposition captures the era's theatrical culture: Jolson was a major star, and the guide reviews him neutrally as "magnificent," reflecting period attitudes that accepted such performances uncritically.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
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. More or Less Serious Cape Smoke. Martin Beck—South African excitement, with noises. Dancing. Mothers. Marine Elliott's—A short shrift (or is it “shift"?) for gay daughters. The Dark Angel. plays about love after the war. well done. oe Desire Under the Elms. Ear! Carroll— t ss the censors have closed it, one of the st moral plays in town. The Dove. Empire—One hundred and three per cent. grease paint, with Holbrook Bhan and Judith Anderson giving excellent imutations of Mexicans, The Dunce Boy. Punch and Judy—To be reviewed later. Houses of Sand. Hudson—You wouldn't beleve it if we told you, Ladies of the vening. Lyceum—Mr. B ‘o's contribution to social ethics, the drama, and the Belasco drawing-account. Michel Auclair. Provincetown—To be re- viewed next week. ' . My Son. Nora Bayes—This play is just king a fool of us by lasting so long. Night Hawk. Bijou—Reviewed in Old English, Rits—A delicious character- tion by George Arliss. Processional ‘ortyNinth — St.—People scem to be just beginning to realize that this of the biggest things of the season. Rat. Colonial—Paris underworld— visiting society dame—bad Apache—you know the sort of thing. Silence. Nationel—H. B, Warner in solid 1 crook thriller, Starlight. Broadhurst—To be ext week. . They Knew What They Wanted. Klow € fecund atmosphere of California and its 1 on three residents, played superbly b; line Lord, Richard “Bennett and Glen Jers. What Price Glory? Plymouth—One of the things about the war that America can be proudest o White Cargo. Comedy—The effect of heat various manifestations on the Nordic The’ Wild Duck. viewed in this issue, Comedy and Things Like That Abie’s Irish Rose. Republic—We've got se old pains in the back coming on us gain. Every spring we have them. Anadne. —Garrick—Laura Hope Crews Jing a delicate touch to extra-heavy Milne. Candida. Ambassador—Shaw's satisfying medy, done as it should be done. The Fall Guy. Litinge—To be reviewed ter The Firebrand. Morosco—Entertaining urs participated in by the agile Benvenuto Cellini, mayed’ by Joseph Schildkr: The’ Guardsman. Longacre—One of the Affecting and this reviewed Forty-Eighth St.—Re- Booth—Lynn Fontanne 1 Alfred Lunt giving every reason in the world for seeing Molnar's comedy The Handy Man. Thirty-Ninth St.—To be reviewed later. The Harem. Betasc extramarital dalliance. Not so clean a play s“The Stranger in the House.” Hell's Bells. Daly's—Just fair. Is Zat_ So? Chanin’s—Reai umor in its element. Loggetheads. Gaicty—To be reviewed next Mrs. Partridge Presents —. Belmont— Blanche Bates in a delightful reversal of sev- eral current problems. Pigs. Little—Clean, but not so clean as to < stupid. Quarantine. Henry Miller’s—Fun under the supervision of the Board of Health. Helen Hayes and Sidney Blackmer, Lenore Ulric in American She Had to Know. Times Square—Grace George in a comedy such as she has been looking for. The’ Show-Of. Playhouse—Just as good as ever, which is the best. White ‘Collars. ‘CortRan a year on the Pacific Coast. ‘The Youngest. Globe—Henry Hull and Genevieve Tobin in a gentlemanly version of “Cinderella.” Eye and Ear Entertainment Artists and Models. Casino—Not so good. Betty Lee. Forty-Fourth St—Pretty tepid. Big Boy. Winter Garden—A magnificent evening with Al Jolson. China Rose. Wallock"s—Very tepid indeed. Lady, Be Good!) Liberty-One of the best, with the Astaires, Walter Catlett and a splen: did Gershwin score. . Louie the Fourteenth. Cosmopolitan—To be reviewed next week. AL JOLSON 1 The Love Song. Century—Good music in a costly setting Music Box Revue. Music Bor—A_ good evening's fare, with Fannie Brice heading a large and satisfying cast. My Girl Vanderbilt—All right. Natja. Knickerbocker—The score is based on Tschaikowsky, so it must be good. Patience. Greenwich Village—A pathetic revival. Puzzles of 1925. Fulton—Elsie Janis in the midst of a good show, including Jimmy Hussey. Rose-Marie. recommendation, . _ Sky High. Shubert—Reviewed in this issue. : The Student Prince. Fifty-Ninth St.— Probably the best all-around singing in to Topsy and Evi Som H. Harris—' Duncan Sisters, our favorite two-part singers, in what is left of “Uncle Tom's Cabin.” Ziegfeld Follies. Yew Amsterdam—A new edition. To be reviewed later. sym- Imperiat—Doesn't need our comicbooks.com