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'Windy City', Three Men on the Horses, Has Looks and Music, But Weak Plot (Reprinted from yesterday's final edition)
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| Title | 'Windy City', Three Men on the Horses, Has Looks and Music, But Weak Plot (Reprinted from yesterday's final edition) |
| Creator | Leonard, William |
| Description | Leonard reviews the music, comedy, sets and performances of this Thursday night show enthusiastically, but laments a plot that he describes as "riddled with holes through which you could drive a State Street car." Part of the trouble is what he sees as the inability of the audience to find sympathy for the "shiftless" protagonist, a character who seems to not want to work and to be unable to break his familial gambling habits. This reviewer felt that because the plot "took itself seriously" it was impossible to ignore its shortcomings. Of Dunham's choreography, he writes: "a vivid contribution to the show, " if not quite as anthropologically correct for South State Street as the dances were for the West Indies in "Tropical Review". |
| Collection | SCRC Text (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) |
| Subcollection | Katherine Dunham Papers |
| Original Publication Source | Chicago Journal of Commerce |
| Place Written | Chicago, IL |
| Date(s) | 1946-05-18 |
| Subjects -titles | Windy City |
| Subjects -people | Yordan, Phillip (Author) ; Jurman, Walter (music) ; Webster, Paul Francis (lyrics) ; Dunham, Katherine (choreography) ; Mielziner, Joe (sets) ; Conte, John ; Miller, Susan ; Shean, Al ; Williams, Frances ; Faye, Joey ; Smith, Loring ; Hertz, Ralph |
| Other topics | Great Northern Theater |
| Collection ID/Box# | FP20_7_F1DUNHAM_B102_F14_04 |
| Rights Statement | For permission to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise use this image, please contact the Special Collections Research Center, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Phone: + 1 (618) 453-2516. Email: http://reftrack.lib.siu.edu/reft100.aspx?key=SCRCEmail&cllcid=SCRR |
| Transcript | ^Windy City^^ Three Men on the Horses, Has Looks and Music, But Weak Plot
By William Leonard
WINDY CITY" is a beautiful show, imaginatively mounf, -1 ed and well equipped in the music and comedy depait- mencs, but built around a story riddled with holes through which you could drive a State Street car. i
If it were an orthodox musical comedy that opened at the. Great Northern last night, you could follow the estabhshed custom of ignoring the boOk and concentrating on the girls and gags, but this is not a musical comedy. It is a "pla\- njth music and the plot takes itself seriously, which ]- I ;omething of i pit\
^
O
bool so eiTatic leneie Phuip Yordan bame tjpewriter from ^nna Liioasta
somewhat morbid
musical "iet im
piessionistically u
thp garish honkj
tonfc belt of South
State Sti
mterestiRK often
a eenuintlv thrill
mg entertainment
Windy City n
the storj of the
ambhig O Briehs
thrpe migraton
buds without a
headtjuaiter iii a
Ireet hotel shirfcmg
1j ing the morning
line Pnncipalh it % tlie stoiy of
Danni the youngest who thmks he
m love with a ynj et in a First
aid di\e but who e aidor doesn t
rn h:m to Ihe exticme of doing
manual laboi
D^nnj hi faChei ind hn giin i father decide lunaccountibh j i t their lifetime phllo opi of antipath( to honest toil) that the\ should buv the cornei cigai stoie and spm ¦
idp fn ii is hard to c WIS using the ; which c^me
1^
I Sii^ai Miller ieathei who cheap stite laboi and
lilm 1
the )
0|P t
He
I uiBs -1 sad cig enlitl d It s Time I Hafl A Bua 1 p £. e to 11'
I pition samt of ^amblei Thespectif
I of Jinunj Casino appears and pre s rts 1 im ith a lucicv hurch n which he runs two dollais int, 3
I enou h moiiej to bu^ the cigii bu i ness B1 8 "aml-lpr o tne core this mu°- who ju t praied tor f break tries to double his winnings n ce ji oie—ird wirds up sins even Ins ougmal deuce
Windj Cit( his a difficult time t iin up one smpatny lor a feu^ too hiltle&s to work and too unitliable to leaie the gamnifc table utll h s pioflts It tiles to evpiiul ira la 1 mu iLian who cant pla\
WA.:^ki (—
"WINDY CITY"
^^ZTlz
Uir"Dair
Fat
0 ™/ F \
ConfluC S N0P5
4-ThE caf
..,
..¦
Hr
CO.
"^¦'
-Sou
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c
vfe
H S le
Got Susa
SElw'j'a'lf
0 'n
heaier
B I'Si hi er
1 Faye
Scene
\i*4kf.
outlet n
A ho
bioken
t rhyme m art t
paint and who f nds jiis
itement of gambling
veij convncing e'^
I such a fellow "^
coesnt cuns itj^e
HAPPY TAPSTRESS. Bef, Bruce hoofs beguilingiy in thi Shubert's "Up In Central Park."
theatrical terms
ncket( ston moves thiou'jh
hilf dozen highly effective sets bv
Jo Mielziner who has ut hzed a
touch of thp samp snip w fh which
he designed The Glais Mena^ene
bolstered W th a i excellent SPOre bi Walfer Jjiman ii I trickl glovf tight hrlca bj Paul Pzancis Webstei
Katheiine Dunham s thoieogia phi doesn t mirror the atmospheie of south State 'itiect as accuratelj Tropical Re\ue did the West Indies yet the dances are a ilvid cDntnbutlon to the show So is Rose Bogc anoff s costuming luridly ai d exaggeratedly depicting
the garishnesB of the neighborhood as seen in Danny's mind's eye.
As for the cast, Richard Kollmar has assembled a roster with scarcely a weakness!
Danny is played by John Conte; whose lack of experience is apparent, though In unimportant degree, tn' his acting, but whose'singing gives lad much of the charm the role j cries for.
Susan Miller, as the girl who tires ( of waiting for him to change his f \, has an exciting way with a; song, and a personality that regis- ' ¦;er3 across the footlights.
The veteran Ai Sliean plays' cVamps" O'Brien, and Lor Ing smith plays the middle generation, Danny's father. Tliey are a grand jiir ri =talwirf= and their Gamblers Luilaby sung n co pa r wi h Dai nj as they turn for the night n heir sleazy ho.e room is a wonderfully begu line la i ent that a hand cappe a life s ha dlj wortl- the ri^k t s not e ery l-o e Seab scult is
Prances Williams is o hand to ¦iing two song and s g them well in a role com] etely detached fio n the rest of tl e book
Joey Pave as a haple s bu lesque clow Jack Diamoi d as the b riv producer Ralph Hertz a tl e cigar store owne md Tom Pedi s the bark'ep ai effect cha acteriaa on e fel ke ome broid car cature that gi e W ndv City a boo t Majoi |
| Original Format | review |
| Original dimensions (cm.) | 26 x 19 |
| Digital Object Type | Image |
| Digital File Format | .tif |
| Digital File Publisher | Special Collections Research Center, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University Carbondale. |
| Language | English |
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