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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1922)
Agnes - Brienmann, Dancer of the Danish Follies. C) Kadel Herbert. a? Si , - Da ,w jA 1 f " - i- " '- v . LAV . j 3 :irTlX 4f4 o tot, J y 7 -w' life. -Af 1 r-? Jasf jStee What's Thrilling Stolid, Denmark Bare Knees and Pink Tights and a Leading Lady That Comes Right Out f " 3-' y r r 1 V Shimmies in Front of All the Folks r COPENHAGKN. TOURISTS an members of the Copenhagen for eign colony are chuck ling up their sleeves at the good people of Denmark, Norway and Sweden over the "big thrill" these placid Scandinavians ara getting out of the very Frenchy Follies which recently opened at a leading Copenhagen theatre. The show has shattered the usual Norse calm with all the effect of a hula dancer prancing into a prayer meeting. Society and bohemia hall it as a daring departure from the humdrum. Ministers aTe calling on their flocks to stay away from the "disgraceful spectacle." Stock holm and Christianla are howling for a tour. Seats are sold out weeks aheadN Everywhere one goes he Is asked, in a whisper, "Have you seen the Follies?" Visitors from the Continent or America buy front-row seats, expecting something daringly extraordinary Instead, they are mildly amused, somewhat bored shocked not at all. And they go out grinning at their gasping neighbors and wondering where on earth these. Danea and Swedes have been for the past ten yearsf For the show that is startling .Scandi navia is what the Americana term "old stuff." Copenhagen's "sensation" is noth ing more than the Follies father used to like back in the days when bead breast plates were the nadir of naughtiness and the comedian got a roar every Ume he mentioned pajamas. , i. This is the answer the Follies, a type of Stage entertainment in troduced to the rest o? the world long ago, has just reached Scandi navia. And its people are thrilled by costumed that would now be considered passe in Paris or h'ew York; they are cracking their ribs at gray-bearded "gags" which went out of fash ion with the ex tinct runway. The first Follies are said to have teen given tha world b y Buda Teat. That was ions time be fore the war. when the Hun- . parian capital yielded nothing in spice or gayety to any European city. It was the first city to start the "revue" as opposed t o the stereotyped musi- , 1 comedy or operetta; and the novelty quickly spread to other countries. Paris gave the Follies interna-. tional fame with the Folies Ber-r-rts. in about the man agers introduced the institution to the States, The Idea then traveled back -across the water to London, Berlin and Vi enna.' But there was x' t v ' 1 i 4 A Phologfaph of Mary Leigh i (Below), Illustrating the Kilts Eng lish Theatregoers Prefer to Tights, i 1 When MUs KU Anderson Appeared in This Ostrich Headdress, the Danes Gasped and the Tourists Yawned. F - s - i .jiw11 '" 1 v'tt' .s t ' ' , ' & r j,--" 'V' ? J - f - i f- -x f , s 4 V , : .-. - i I , A 1 f one part of the world to which Fol lies failed to penetrate. Scandinavia, cool and serene, takes its entertain ment leisurely. Even Copenhagen, which claims to be - the capital f Scandinavian art life and culture prettiest girls he could find. : 3' sing them with due re- -rd to curves and dimples. And he called on his cos ! turner. ! There was the first hitch. The producer, as best be could, described what he wanted. The costumer blinked. A yard of chiffon and a few dozen beads! It sounded Interesting, but impossible. Muffs instead of skirts! V-backs to the waist! This was something, entirely new creased his or dozen beautiful Scandivanian blondes who c h e s t r a. He couldn't see themselves trotting out be lassoed all the fore a Copenhagen audience in white tights. The producer, undaunted, filled . particularly "snappy in Ae ostrich feather headdress of Miss KiS Anderson. ' "But wouldn't such a thing be prohibited in New York?" untraveled Copenhagen folic demand, innocently and sincerely. ' "It wasn't when I. saw it back in 1909," reply their American friends. "That sort of thing Is a little bit out of date on Broadway. They've gone back to clothes, you see. The two best musical shows of the present season don't share a single pair ol their places and got another leading lady willing to risk a cold. He was eambllne . tights between them heavily on the show. He was betting that l anyway!" conn, Scandinavians, under the skin, are no dif- To which the French reply thai ferent from New Yorkers and Parisians. Paris, like New York, has bad a re And he won. vulsion against the undraped. ThA The morting after the "first night" of mst, ;Ta?sl ' . . . , aY 1b Mile. Lysette Chambrai. Hei Copenhagen's first Follies the newspapers fame reatg on tne cogt gne weari bristled with reviews. Some of the ad jec- in ' the season's biggest ; revue, is lives cheered loudly for the new show; which she takes the role of Joan ol Arc and appears in chain armor cov LO me ijanisn mma. other, rnarul nn thalr tfu inH ahnntal The costumer told the producer he was tkT . ering her from head to heel!; perfectly willing to do What he could, but eiur0 wt ETen gobeMlded Londonerg Vefnsf he frankly admitted he never had made was 0Ter tn6 house was sold out far in. to. indulge in. exclamations over th such costumes and he verr much doubted advance, all CoDenhasen was talkinie about Follies when they come to Concn- 1" he could make them. It was necessary, the Follies, and the news was speeding to Sn. England, they say, no longer the producer found, to send to Paris to v a o j .- .i rets excited; about . tights. Th have the job done. patrons or the music halls prefer r11Tfri1tv nnmhor twn re mo win fr thing Spicy In Denmark. SWaeeer kilts , iand 1nat a nn at was content to jog along with mus, first costumes arrived and a dress re- Most of the comment centered abbut dimpled knees; for example, the cos- cai comeaies, aero Data ana in sen hearsal was ordered. The Swedish ac- 'M agues unesmuui, wao since sne ap- tume. oi May Leigh, one i of the cur tress who was to be starred in the new show rushed out of - her dressing room, s hakingyn the manager's face a handful C silk and surer spangles. plays for the highbrow s. That is, tt was so content until recently, when one of Copenhagen's producers woke up to the fact that ct barrels of bullion had been 'comea'H---,-vlo exnect me to wear this?' she by the backers of a different kmd ; "demanded. Just this? of girly-glrly show. -'TCertainly.'. replied the manager..-' "It'a "111 start the Danish Follies! he modeled after the costume Yvorihe Daunt decided. : X, wore in her last success in Paris." V peared In the Follies, at any rate has be- rent favorites along Piccadilly. come lamous as "the most shapely gin in So the French and the Americans Denmark." In the first act Miss Brien- and the British -chuckle up thPir tnann trips out in short silver-toned tights, sleeves when the' Swedes and h with a breast-shield of the same hue. Her . Danes and the Norwegians tali only other ornament Is a diamond-studded about the "naughty-Frencay nWet. Fonies. But the Scandl- This Is the costume which Copenhagen - navians. even if they don't theatregoers describe either as "terrible" see the joke, are good- His librettist he set to work "I wonder she didn't freeze to death, or daring," accordinsr to their lights. But natured about it. translating all the wise cracks that thei!" exploded the leading lady. "GiTe several Americans say they recognize i mile. Chamhra Vi saw service on Broadway, and the me something to wear or give me my-re- as a "dead ringer" for a costume worn In ten years late,' tuey say.. f. A. r.h A!l boulevards back in history. He lease-" one of Mr. Ziegfelds Follies of pre-war "We're getting thrilled and p. fr i i iT iiT ordered extra spotlight and in- She got ler release, along with half a date. Likewise, they fall to anjthji Uk 1U" i. -t " I J Mile. Yvonne)' Daunt, in the Costume a Swedish Star Refined to Wear, Copyright. 1BS21 by ZntomaUeea! Temtura Sarrloi. lac Oret BrlUla Xishts
