WMfMiwmmimmmmmmmHammssmmm mumsamwammnma ,1 CLOSE-UPS BROOKLYN EAGLE/SUN., JULY 22, 1945 • 21 PLAYTHINGS *»^ Beethoven and the Ballet Gertrude Lawrence Rings Up the Curtain Lawrence Brooks of 'Song of Norway' Featured at Stadium Concerts Of Her Own Drama Between Two Wars Proves Right Shy at Singing His Own Praises Beethoven and the ballet ''will vlej By VIOLET BROWN By ROBERT FRANCIS for audiences during the sixth week, Gertrude Lawrence was in a touring company at Yarmouth In This corner dropped into "The Song of Norway" the other night of stadium concerts. Record crowds 1911 when her big chance to go to London came. The only trouble to hear Lawrence-Brooks, who is the Edvard Grieg of the show, sing are expected for performances of | vas she hadn't a shilling to pay her fare. Six soldiers In a regiment his namesake's beautiful melodies. Larry has been at the'chore nearly the Beethoven Ninth Sympony and! of gunners drilling nearby decided to take a "filer" on her and a year now and the customers are still pouring in to hear him. A nice the dance program by Alicia Mar- financed her Journey. They escorted her to the London Express and start for a young baritone at his first Broadway try. waved her on her way. "Best of luck, Gertie!" they called. "Don't kova ahd Anton Dolin. Under the It is also pleasant to report that Larry's success hasn't gone to direction of Fabien Sevitzky, the let us down." .his head. music of Beethoven may be. heard /'Why should it?" he grins. "After all, I just met the right people. • • ~ .She didn't. And a whole era later she went back to blitzed Eng­ at the stadium three evenings this! I might just, as well still be knocking my brains out chasing odd radio land- just Before D-Day to join ENSA, the British USO. With it she week. The Markova-Dolin evening j ; jobs. toured the Western Front to within sound of Von Rtfndstedv s next Saturday, presenting the. "There a re. Jihj.ee. people to whom I'll always be eternally grateful," . mortars,.trying to pay back to the GIs and the"Tommies what.she famous dancers with a company ofi owed to those World War I gunners who gave Gertrude Lawrence, he goes on.- "When I came down to New" York from Portland in four other soloists Is one of the big­ ft chance'to become a star, before they sailed for Flanders. 1931 I didn't know a soul and,I didn't.have much else but nerve. gest nights-of .the stadium season.] Estelle Liebling thought I might have something and took me on for Maurice Abravanel will conduct for She tells what happened In between In a sparkling autobiography this concert. called "A Star/Danced," Just published by Doubleday, Doran/ It vocal lessons practically for-nothing. Gave me more time than her best-paying pupils,- too—and scouted me radio jobs. I'm not likely Tomorrow, Fabien Sevitzky. dis­ Is written with the same apparent artlessness, the skill disguised by tinguished conductor of the Indian­ to forget that. Then a couple of years ago I auditioned for a Summer spontaneity, that marcher acting. Since it Is the story of ah actress, PERENNIAL "MAMA"—Mady Christians (left) and apolis Symphony Orchestra, will of­ job at Camp Tamiment. Two boys, Bob Wright and George, Forrester, fer familiar classics for .his seventh It is all theater. And since It Is also the story of a woman with a Frances Heflin, whojdoes the remembering in "I Remember heart, It has real drama. were in charge of the Saturday night shows. I guess they liked me. stadium concert in the series of ten Marrfa/'-the John Van Druten play at the Music Box. Anyway, after a £i-\veek Summer session they wangled me three concerts under his leadership. In She was born Gertrude Alexandra Dagmar Lawrence Klasen, addition to the Beethoven 'Third! daughter of a stage-struck English woman who had to pad her tights weeks at the Copacabana. Guess Monte Proser must have liked me, Concerto with Ania Dorfmann at' when she appeared in the chorus, and of a Dane who was fonder of too, because I stayed there six months. the piano, Mr. Sevitzky has pro-BIRUT' A RAMOSKA, who "Of course," Larry smiles, "Bob and George had the music and grammed the. Hadley Overture, "In the. bottle than-of his family. Her career really began one bank Comden and Green Team Got Bohemia"; Brahms' Symphony No. .will be soprano soioist for lyrics for this show in mirw that Summer at Tamiment. And they holiday in Brighton when she sang a little song called "It Ain't All 3 in F major and the popular Polka the performance of Bee­ Honey, and It Ain't All Jam^' (Noel Coward was to use the Inci­ 7 used to say, when and if it came off, I was the guy to be Grieg. But and Fugue from Weinberger's opera, dent later In "Cavalcade.") She was six then. When she was ten 'On the Town the Hard Way I never took it too seriously." "Schwanda, the Bagpiper." \^A^ thoven's Ninth of "Choral" she had cards printed reading, "Little, Gertie Lawrence, Child Actress No'fairy godmothers with magic i also 26, was no boy wonder. He lived In the meantime, Larry continued at the Copa until a talent Tuesday will see an all-Russian Symphony at the Lewisohn and Danseuse.'_Not long after she was on her own. wands lurk behind the success story | in movies and at concerts. He was-i scout for Warners dropped in one night and'bld him for a screen test. program including two major sym­ of Betty. Comden and Adolph j a Wight but bad student. Stadium Wednesday and "I'd never.seen California,' he chuckles, "and it seemed like a phonies and an overture; Kabalev- Her first break, came soon after her Tommies seH$ her to London Green, authors and performers of| Finally, Brooklyn and Bronx met. sky's Overture to "Colas Breugnon"; Thursday evenings. when Beatrice Lillie, for whom she was understudy, was thrown from "On the Town," who found recog-JThfcn they met three other persons, good chance to get there. I took the test and after the usual post­ with .Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" a horse. "Little Gertie" was/pregnant at tlae U:nd but for seven nltion the hard way, and worked j also looking for jobs on the stage, ponements, they offered me a six-month contract while they looked Symphony, No. 6, in,B minor and every bit of the way for It. JThe five pooled resources and late around ior a spot to-use me. No dice for me on that! I'd have gone the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony. where of the symphonic version^of months, to the steady delight of her audiences, she starred in "Char­ They met back In 1938 on the un- in '38 the "Revuers" were horn at .this madern composition, through iot's Revue." The day Miss Lillie came back to her part, Gertrude crazy. But I was lucky again. Edwin Lester hired me for the lead employment beat. Betty was doing J the Village Vanguard. Little by little SymphonyThe Beethove, will nb eNint presenteh ord Choral,Wed- which Milhaud describes for the Lawrence crawled into a nursing room and at the height of- the the "Subway Circuit" (Newark tojcolumnists and public alike passed in 'Sally.' He was prepping this show, too, at the time and this was American and Allied armies the Brooklyn, walk-ons six nights and the word around, and the quintetl what I wanted. But they'd already engaged Walter Castle for the nesday and Thursday, with Mri.|prench provinces in which they . biggest Zeppelin raid on London had her daughter Pamela. The" Sevitzky in the podium; the Philhar-; dom. For both three matinees for $5 pecyveek) andlmoved uptown and upstairs to the part, too, sb it was 'Sally' or nothing.' {ougnt for world free episode barely interrupted her career. She went on to become the Adolph was . a "camp follower"!Rainbow Roof. Next, the Music Hall. monlc-Symphony Orchestra, t h e. the orchestral and dance number* Apparently, however, Messrs. Wright and Forrester didn't forget Schola Cantorum of N'ew York andj Saturday program, the noted —tA»fi»r-rtf_t.tc^_pf>ntinPi-it.s, & member of the gay, sophisticated set (Bronx hillbilly waiting tables at Then. Muslcraft recorded their act. of the four young vocal artists. Including conductor Maurice Abravanel will headed by the then Prince ofWales She came to America wltrr rflrimmffr-^r^t^--w4iilft-^alting^or-_a-Thp.y_ ikehi, hack to. the basement the Tamiment talks', because when Castle decided to withdraw from break—just any kind of break, mis- though after a radio contract fell Biruta Ramoska, soprano; Nan[conduct _he Philharmonic Sym- Chariot; she went back to Europe with Gershwin's "Oh, Kay!" She "Norway,',' Larry was immediately tap3>edTo^te^nTo~"triS~Grleg"shoes— Merriman, conTralto; Donald" Dame, j phony"" OTcneitTaT ter). through. The World's Fair saw them at the end of the second week. fell In love with a titled English gentleman and received a betel nut Betty, tall, dark and sultry of;next. They toured the night clubs tenor, and Edwin Fowler, baritone,' Instead of a ruby she expected from an Indian prince. £>he met her voice, was born in Brooklyn 26!and ended up in Hollywood—on a "So you see." laughs Larry, "there's nothing to get swell-headed with Hugh Ross as choral conductor about.