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carpet has been especially designed and woven to harmonize with the surroundings. 

 The immense mural covering one entire length of the room is title "The Drama of Cotton" and measures 75 feet long by 20 feet high. It, too, comes under the heading of "largest," for it is the largest mural of its kind in the country. 

 The draperies are metal to insure fire-proofing. They have painted in brilliant white and gold enamel especially prepared by du Pont. The surprise pink ceiling of the rear alcoe has been designed to give a definite sun-tan effect. 

 There are four entrances to the raised stage. Stairs rising above the bandstand at the rear of the stage lead to a small balcony which features a "Curtain of Glass." It is formed of strings of faceted glass and may be used to give the effect of a curtain of rain. 

  Adjoining the main room is the bar which features murals of tropical and southern motif. Chief among them are "New Orleans in 1900," "Swing Band" and "Tropical Madness." An amusing effect has been obtained by portraying sepian nudes in the likenesses of Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow and other well-known movie stars. 

Ziegfeld for the Colored Race

 Herman Stark is the man who is responsible for the Cotton Club and for its tremendous success in its new home. Although head of the world's most famous negro night club, he is quiet and unassuming, preferring to remain in the background so that his entertainers may be free to render their fullest work and to receive the plaudits of the public. 

 The colored race is deeply grateful to this white man, for his constant aim is to glorify their proficiencies. Stark never pauses in his search for fresh sepian talent. As soon as one Cotton Club Parade has been successfully launched, he begins the search for new faces for the next edition. 
  
 The major domo of the Cotton Club spends two months of every year touring the United States in his quest for new singers, dancers, musicians and novelty performers. These trips frequently yield new stars for the Cotton Club firmament, but have also been known to furnish but one copper-colored girl for the chorus ensemble. 

  The unending search continues, however, for Herman Stark has but to look at his record for fresh inspiration for further wanderings. 

 Cotton Club Stars

  One night Herman Stark sat with Irving Mills in a small cabaret listening to a sepian maestro with a queer way of singing. They were advised that he had been a failure at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, but Stark felt that they boy had stardust in his blood. He put him in front of a new band at the Cotton Club, and the result was a superb performance. The maestro with the queer way of singing was Cab Calloway, his hi-de-highness of ho-de-ho. Today Calloway is one of the most sought-after entertainers in the theaterical world. Such is the quiet, unobtrusive manner in which Herman Stark produces new sensations as if from a hat. It was not so long ago that he selected Josephine Baker from his own chorus line. Today she is the sensation of two continents. Ethel Waters rose to fame at the Cotton Club when she was given the opportunity to sing "Stormy Weather." Since then she has starred in many Broadway productions. Duke Ellington catapulted to new heights at the Harlem club, and so did the Berry Brothers. Clarence Robinson became dance director of the Palladium and Leicester Square Theatres in London as a result of his work at the Cotton Club. The Nicholas Brothers were introduced at the sepian palace one year ago. Since then they have been billed above Lew Leslie's "Blackbirds" in England. Nor is the success ledger limited to new-comers. 58-year-old Bill Robinson returned to Broadway for the first time in several years to open at the new Cotton Club. He scored the most triumphant success of any night-club season.

Songs and Dances

Fully as famous as the Cotton Club stars are the song hits and unique dances that form an integral part of every Cotton Club Parade. The music for each Cotton Club show is especially written by the best song composers in the land. Thus it is that the Cotton Club tunes never fail to become the most popular favorites of the season. Cab Calloway's immediate success was influenced to a great degree by a tantalizing young lady known as "Minnie, the Moocher." "Minnie" has weathered many seasons and now rates a prominent place as the greatest scat song ever written. As previously mentioned, Ethel Waters rose to stardom with "Stormy Weather." "Truckin'" was last year's hit tune, and others have included "I Love a Parade," "Kickin' the Gong Around," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "Minnie the Moocher's Weddin' Day." Every year the Cotton Club introduces a new dance. The new step is always something sensational, something which catches the imagination of the dance world and spreads across the nation like a forest fire. Every year Harlem turns to the Cotton Club for its new ballroom craze. And the Cotton Club has yet to disappoint. It was at the sepian palace that the torrid undulations of the "Black Bottom" were first revealed to a startled world. Then came the "Lindy Hop" and "Truckin'," which are still running the gamut of terpsichorean madness. At the Broadway Cotton Club has come a new routine to capture the hearts of ballroom maniacs. Titled "Suzi-Q," its lyrics describe it as "a big improvement on the Truckin' movement." And so the dancers of the world are finding it, for "Suzi-Q" is the order of the day and will not be downed.