Newspapers / Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.) / Feb. 26, 1937, edition 1 / Page 17
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Jr ( 'vjfy&fa J9BHH ;*:'VV. *. By Norman Siegel RAMA, the Rip Van Winkle of radio, has descended from its drowsy perch this season to be- D t.vinc dll ii 11 jjui Let 111/ I evivnyiiig part of the national radio playbill. Long dormant on the kilocycles, drama first answered the challenge of the sightless air channels through the weekly “Radio Theater” series, which j#esents Hollywood movie stars in ether versions of noted plays and motion pic tures. Mary Pickford. also a movie star, attempted to establish drama on the airwaves with a series a few sea sons ago, but failed to rate a curtain call. This season, however, it is being definitely established, not by amateurs or movie players, if there be a dif ference between the two groups, but by two veterans of the legitimate stage —Ethel Barrymore and Helen Hayes. In bringing the stage to radio and with it some semblance of radio drama, lwss Barrymore and Miss Hayes have approached the problem of radio drama from two different aspects. Miss Barry- I||, v more is carrying on the tradition of her family through revivals of her former stage successes. Miss Hayes is appear ing in a specially written dramatic se rial. Miss Hayes seems very serene about her broadcasts. Miss Barrymore indulges in all the floweriness and elaborate display of personal feelings that trade-marked the old theater. Both have appeared in radio before —Miss Barrymore as an occasional guest performer and Miss Hayes in a poorly written and badly directed se rial. The great Ethel in the past remained true to the Barrymore tradition of the unusual. Once she recited a portion of the Bible on a commercial program. Another time she did “Minnie the Moocher,” or some other equally im possible thing. And when she finally decided to announce her retirement from the stage, she did it between “yowzahs” on a Ben Bernie broadcast. But that wasn’t all there was. There was some more. For shortly after her surprising announcement of retirement came the equally surprising statement that she had been signed to do a radio drama series. In this series Miss Bar rymore is attempting to recapture in condensed capsules some of the glory of her life on the stage. Reviving her old hits, with some of the members of the original cast also taking their roles in the radio version, Wow Hayes and Barrymore put Drama on Hie Air Ethel Barrymore, who clowned in her first radio appearance, but now is "strictly business.” Miss Barrymore, right, studies her script care fully during rehearsal while the rest of the cast crowds about her. . . . Miss Hayes goes through all the facial expressions she would use on the stage. Below are two candid camera shots of her before the . mike. —1 » i I 3jlp: : ***>■ jgpjpr % & Miss Barrymore is bringing to the air waves some of the finest things that have been done on the stage. CTARTING with “Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines,” her radio revivals include “The Doll’s House,” “Trelawney of the Wells,” “Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire,” “The Lady of the Camelias,” “Declasse,” “Claire de Lune,” “The Second Mrs. Tanqueray,” “The Constant Wife,” “School for Scandal” and “The King dom of God.” Ethel Barrymore in the studio is as interesting to watch as was Ethel Bar rymore on the stage. Arriving for re hearsal her coat is taken by a page boy whom she knows by name. She keeps her hat on and smokes cigarets at the end of a long holder. Seated in a large armchair she studies her script with the aid of glasses. The rest of the cast groups about her. Since the cast is changed weekly, she makes it her business to see that every body knows everybody else. One of her best friends is the control operator. Though she has spent many years in the theater she waits for every direc torial hint and cue. She also picks out all of the incidental music for her plays and spends much time discussing it with Gus Haenschen, the musical di rector of her show. Miss Barrymore usually wears state ly black to her broadcasts. She doesn’t try to act over the air, but talks di rectly to the microphone. She prides herself on her microphone technique. And despite her dramatic experience, she is tense and nervous up to the mo ment the program is on the air, in fact up to about a half minute after it is on. Then the tenseness fades completely. During the commercial interludes, if you can call them such, she slips from i-*m£ ~fm3M " r^WK • tfjfS J&s\*Wm) |gjJH\: iMt^ MPmct., WmbA -—) !flr '{Wr behind the mike and walks back and forth nodding to other members of the cast. She goes into the control room to talk to Pierre Dickston, one of the engineers. She never looks in her mir ror while in the studio. She realizes that it is only her voice that counts. Both Miss Barrymore and Miss Hayes are the same in that they don’t permit studio audiences. Miss Barrymore is against an audience because of the na ture of her plays. She believes they would have to be done in costume if an audience were present. And then, too, she remembers the time she stalked off the stage on an opening night dur ing the war when she discovered a woman in the third row knitting. She doesn’t miss applause, for with the final announcement on the program she is in the control room to inquire how the show sounded over the air The report is always favorable. While radio is the sole outlet for Miss Barrymore’s drama this season. Helen Hayes sandwiches the air waves in be tween her Broadway performances in “Victoria Regina.” The tiny actress, the birth of whose child caused so much excitement in the press, finds radio a stimulating contrast to her stage and movie work. CHE had no idea of radio and its tech- nique when she went into the busi ness of broadcasting last year. Pro duction men and studio directors feared to offer her suggestions at the start. However, they soon discovered that she took direction willingly and showed less temperament than many of the lesser known radio actors. She has never been late or a radio rehearsal. In fact, she usually is the first one to arrive at the studio. Miss Hayes was also confused by radio sound effects at the start. She laughed hysterically when she first saw a grown woman portray a crying baby in front of the microphone, and re marked, “This is the nuttiest business I’ve ever been in.” - 1 —' ■"■' - —-■*« Helen Hayes broadcasting in the “zipper dress.” beneath which is the Victorian nightgown which she wears in “Victoria Regina.” She broadcasts her current program wearing what she calls her “Zipper Dress.” It is a red slipper satin af fair made in Victorian style with puffed sleeves. She also wears a match ing cape and hood to the studio. Under neath the “Zipper Dress” she wears the costume in which she makes her en trance in “Victoria Regina.” It is a Victorian nightgown. Her hair and face are also made up for the stage play. For immediately after the broadcast she rushes down a special elevator into a special auto that whisks her to the theater in time for her to be present at the opening of the stage play. Then off goes the “Zipper Dress,” a few last minute touches are made, and Miss Hayes is ready. It is a rather amusing sight to see this ( dignified little Victorian creature stand ing in front of the microphone giving control room signals and chewing gum for all she is worth. Gum chewing is a radio habit. She never did it before. Picked it up (the habit) in the studio where drinking wa ter between scenes is taboo. Before the mike. Miss Hayes goes through all of the gestures prompted by her lines. She stands pigeon-toed at the mike, a habit that originally led to her going on the stage as Lew Fields discovered her at a dancing school recital, where she had been sent to correct her stance Like Miss Barrymore she uses glasses to read her lines at rehearsals in the studio. No recording on her program are ever made. She once heard her voice dur ing a “rush” in the movies and she sounded so different from what she ex pected and thought, that she now won’t listen to herself on a record. She se lected her current radio vehicle for its comedy and light touch—a direct con trast to the heavy dramatics of “Vic toria Regina.”
Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 26, 1937, edition 1
17
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