Life, 1928-03-15 · page 20 of 34
Life — March 15, 1928 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is a **theater guide** from Life magazine listing current Broadway productions with brief critical assessments. It's organized into categories: "More or Less Serious," "Comedy and Things Like That," and "Eye and Ear Entertainment." The accompanying **cartoon** depicts a waiter and guest at what appears to be a restaurant or theater lobby. The waiter asks if the guest was "expecting another lady, sir?" The guest replies they expected "a tall, stout woman with a fiery look in her eye"—likely a satirical jab at a specific well-known woman of the era, though the specific identity isn't clear from the image alone. The joke appears to be about mistaken identity or romantic expectations being disappointed, typical of Life's humor. The cartoon complements the theater section by capturing the social comedies being performed on stage—the awkward social situations and romantic mishaps that dominate contemporary plays.
📄 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 theatr More or Less Serious The Clutching Claw. Forrest—You ought to be able to guess from the name just how this plans to play on your spine. It may and it may not succeed, Coquette. Marine Elliott’s—Helen Hayes giv- ing a beautiful performance in a tender little tragedy Diversion. Forty- Ninth St—The sorrows of a youth who loved an e pretty fairly poignant by R: iT leen Nesbitt, with Guy Standi c father. Dracula, Fulton—Troubles wth blood vampires and Escape. Bowth—The trail vict across the moors, excitingly told by Gals- worthy and appealinaly acted by Leslie Howard AFree Soul. Klaie—Not a play you will ever regret. missing, but good h for an evening off. Kay Johnson is the lady in the c: The Furies. Shubert—With Laurette Taylor To be reviewed later. Interference. Lyceum—Meclodrama of love and intrigue. ‘Of the old school but worth while because of A. E. Matthews and associates skiing Henry V. Hampden's—To be reviewed later The Ladder. Belmoni—Free seats but don't bother, The Merchant of Venice. Broadhurst—George Arliss and Peggy Wood as whoever those, two characters are in “The Merchant of Venice,” and very good too. The Mystery Man. Bayes—Haven’t you any- thing else you can do? Napoleon. Empire—With Lionel Atwill. To be reviewed later. The Passing of the Third Floor Back. IWallack’s —A revival by Butler Davenport, if you are interested Porgy. | Republic—An impressively authentic cross-section of Negro life, done by Negroes. One of the Theatre Guild's current successes. Quicksand, Masque—With Robert Ames Rope. Biltmare—To be reviewed la The Silent House. and deadly gas-chambers comb pleasant evening for Allan Din Shandle The Spider. Century—Last fall's trick mystery play back again, pring 3100. Littl—Sonething of a jumble which it is hardly worth while to figure out. trange Interlude. John Golden—A five-hour ma by \Eugene O'Neill which is effective up certain point but constantly what is known nn Fontanne and the entire cast doa difficult job with skill. The Trial of Mary Dugan. National—At least one murder trial which holds your attention from beginning to end. Twelve Thousand. Garrick—With Basil Sydney and Mary Ellis. To be reviewed later, Within the Law. Cosmopolitan—One of a series of revivals of old favorites. Violet Heming in the lead. The Wrecker. Cort—To be reviewed later, Comedy and Things Like That And So to Bed. Bijou—A pleasant little love affair of Mr. Samuel Pepys’ of which you never heard before, Wallace Eddinger as the amorous diarist Atlas and Eva. Mansfeld—A fairly conven- tional little home comedy which might fave been very good indeed. Harry Delf wrote it and is starred The Bachelor Father. Belasco—With June Walker. To be reviewed next week. Burlesque. Plymouth—Hal Skelly and Bar- Stanwyck as the dancers whose love over- e rygors of the burlesque wheel. A good show, for the most part Cock Robin. Forty-Eighth St—Beatrice Her- forl's curtain speech turns this moderately inter- esting murder mystery into a fine bit of comedy. The Command to Love. Longacre—The cle- ment of sex in international affairs shown with explicit clarity by Mary Nash and Basil Rath- one, The Doctor's Dilemma. Guild—Good. if slightly dated, Shaw, very well done. Excess Baggage. Ritz—Much the same story as that of “Burlesque.” only applied to vaudeville, with a smash ish. Minam Hopkins and Eric Dressler a team Warten: Were you expecting another lady, sir? Guest: Is—sh-she a tall, stout woman with a fiery look in her eye? mentioned, The Ivory Door. Charles Hopkins—Some- ing for whimsey-lovers, of which there are evidently quite a number. Our Betters. Henry Miller's—Reviewed in this issue. Paris Bound. Music Bor—A deft and witt handling of the problem of marital infidelity, with Madge Kennedy heading the cast. The Queen's Husband. Playhouse—Roland Young as one of the quieter kings who nevertheless packed quite a wallop on occasion. Good, Tousing entertainment. The Royal Family. Selwyn—Some delightful dialogue in the midst of the chaos of a temper. amental household, The Shannons of Broadway. Martin Beck— Some excellent comedy, some effective pathos and some of the old hoke, all made into a swell show by the Gleasons. ya Sh! the Octopust Royale—To be reviewed ater. These Modern Women. Eltinge—C hrystal Herne as the wife who had ideas but not much else. A moderately important lesson. Whispering Friends. 1/udson—One of George M. Cohan's fesser works. Eye and Ear Entertainment A Connecticut Yankee. — Vanderbilt— swell music incidental to a modern and amu: version of the Mark Twain book. Gaxton and Constance Carpenter. The Five O'Clock Girl. Forty-Fourth St— A smart show, with Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw Funny Face. Alrin—The best individual dan ing in town (the Astaires), with Victor Moore William Kent to be comical. Golden Dawn. — Hammerstein's—Something elaborate in operettas. Good News. Forty-Sixth St—Collegiate ma- sical comedy which has set a pace for the season. Mary Lawlor and Gus Shy. Harry Lauder. Knickerdocker—Still staymg over his allotted time. Keep Shufflin'. Daly’s—Negro, show, with Miller and Lyles. To be reviewed later. Manhattan Mary. A pollo—Ed Wynn at his best. assisted by Low Holtz. The Merry Malones. — Frlanger’s—Henry Dixey in a very moderate musical show. My Maryland. — Jolson’s — The Barbara Frietchie incident set to music. Rain or ‘Shine. Cohan—Joe Cook a show in himself. with Tom Howard to help him. Terrific nightly. New Amsterdam—Marilyn Miller Jack Donahue in one of Mr. Ziegfeld’s inevitabl Successes. Show Boat. Zies/eld—Some fine singing and a big show. “Charles Winninger, Jules Bledsoe. Puck and White, and Helen Morgan. Sunny Days. {mperici—To be reviewed later. Take the Air. Waldorf—Will Mahoney being funny enough for any two shows. The Three Musketeers. Lyric—With Dennis King and Vivienne Segal. To be reviewed later Experiments American Laboratory—222 East S4th_ St Better than most Little Theatre work, thanks to the direction of Boleslavsky. Repertory includes “At the Gate of the Kingdom,” “Granite” and “Dr. Knock.” Civic Repertory—108 West 14th St. The highly successful “Eva Le Gallienne crusade for ines: nsive drama. ‘The Good Hope,” “Cradle Song.” “Three Sisters.” “Improvisations in June,” and others. Greenwich Village Theatre—An experiment in mixed entertainment. comprising a one-act play (now “Napoleon's Barber”), a movie, and some singing. i . Hoboken Blues. Playwrights'—The Newer Drama in its chaotic state. Hot Pan. — Provincetown—Something which might have been good had it been better done. 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