Th
e Theater
Sera,
|
By ARTHUR POLLOCK
Will Morrissey, Belated Troubadour, Comes to the
Selwyn Theater With a Luckless Band of
Troupers in “Keep It Clean.”
‘Will Morrissey, stage-struck as ever, is in town again with a new
show. He keeps on doing the same thing over and over again. He's
hipped on the theater. Probably he hasn't an enemy in the world and
all his creditors like him, but he insists upon getting together a show
every now and then, and his shows are of the kind that only his
creditor could enjoy. Me has a winning manner,
He doesn't seem to
care about anything in the world. And every time he comes along
with a new entertainment of his own concocting one looks forward to
seeing it and him, hoping, almost expecting, that it will be good fun—
and knowing all the time that it will be perfectly terrible,
Last night a couple of friends of @
“Keep It Clean”
his presented at the Selwyn Theater
A revue. Assembled by Will
his revue called “Keep It Clean.” It
Morrissey and presented at the
proved to be up to his standard. He
Selwyn ‘Theater by William
came out after the curtain had been
Duffy and John Hickey Jr.
up about five minutes and kidded
Sketches by Jimmy Duffy and
Mr. Morrissey. Music by Mr.
the audience, himself“and “Keep It
Clean,” and for those few minutes
Archer
Duffy, Mr. Morrissey, Harry
and seven
others,
it looked promising. He said, in his
way, that it would be terrible.
Staged by Mr. Morrissey and
His way~of saying it aroused the
‘Russell E. Markert.
expectation that it would not. But
he was right. And just this sort of
together. ‘They did not sing very well
thing he has been doing year after
but were a pleasant couple, Midgie
year since the Armistice. Some one
Miller, one of the large-type mem-
ought to speak to him about it, or
bers of the company. and Mrs. Will
Morrissey, is an agreeable ind un-
pension him or get him a good job
pretentious woman.
“Keep It Clean,” which is not al-
But, on the other hand, Mile
together clea
called an “intimate
Amerique and Neville danced, and
musical revue.” Intimate in this in-
Jimmy Duffy was one of the comedi-
stance means incompetent, musica!
means nothing at all and revue
and Douglas Stanbury
means merely
mitting a large
with his heart palpitating loudly on
number of thi
j-rate
rformers to
his sleeve, and Jimmy Carr, smiling
forcefully and sweating fiercely, re~
do whatever they thinl
cited, with aid from his orchestra,
Will Morrissey himself has fun
“ ‘Boots’ as Kipling did not write it.”
in him. He can't get it out with any
Perhaps Mr. Carr's orchestra was as
When
n
e of expértness, but it is there.
lively a portion of the bill as any,
he takes to writing humor-
but it insisted upon being
ainful.
ously,
laying author to sketches
‘Mr, Morrissey is a likable show-
and satires, he is at his worst. You
collector. That merel
makes mat-
wouldn't give him credit, then, for
ters worse. You would like to see
having @ funny bone in his body.
him hit it just once, he persists so
Let him climb on the stage and
boldly, and when he fails, as he al-
talk. and he can entertain, But in
m
riabl;
does, you come away
addition to him there are practically
feeling sad al
ut it.
It would be
no players in the cast who seem to
much pleasanter to lend him money.
be there for any better reason than
‘There is a song called “Hot-Cha.
the fact that they couldn’t get into
tha” that orchestras may play quite
any other revue, Well, there are the
often.
Russell Markert Dancers, a group of
‘The music is by Lester Lee, Jimmy
tall, nicely proportioned girls who
Duffy, Harry Archer, Benny Ryan,
dance in rows. They are about as
James Hanley, Clarence Gaskil, Vio-
near as “Keep It Clean” comes to
linsky, Charles Tobias, Harry Con-
being healthful for the eye. And a
verse ‘and Will Morrissey.
It took
girl named Pauline Gaskin dances
only two men, however,
contrive
unostentatiously,
gracefully,
too.
the sketches—Jimmy Duffy and Mr.
There is nothing remarkable about
Morrissey. But they did the work of
her, but she hasn't the heavy-witted
a dozen hacks,
air of most of the others and ap-
You can't keep @ good man down,
Pears to be happy. She was a nice
nor Will Morrissey.
note in a laborious evening. And
He should have been a troubadour
Karol Kane, who did not strain, and
in the Middle Ages. He has the tem-
Sidney Hawkins, who showed no
perament, and some of the jokes of
signs of thinking himself a singer
“Keep It Clean" were new then.
‘he was the violinist in the grimac-
‘This revue is Will Morrissey's own
ing Jammy Carr's orchestra), sang
fault.
io