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THE TIMES PICAYUNE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1942

PATRIOTIC SHOW GROWS SMOOTHER

"China Night" was celebrated Tuesday at the "It's Fun to Be Free" show running through this week at the St. Charles theater. Miss Anna May Wong, actress, and Miss Lee Ya Ching, aviatrix, were guest stars.

Tonight's program will honor Greece and will offer Dean Alfange and Carl Carmer as guest speakers.

Miss Wong and Miss Ching related anecdotes and experiences which charmed their audience into calling them back for bows and applause. They were introduced by Gsing Wang, Chinese vice-consul in New Orleans, whose good humor and courageous spirit were a match for the attractive visitors and an admirable representation of their valiant nation. Tribute to China was paid by Edward Alexander Parsons, general vice-chairman of the production.

Show Is Improved
Tuseday night's show was a great improvement over the opening performance, which was delayed and hampered by the last-minute arrival of costumes and sets and the usual "first night" panic. The narrators, Mrs. Eberhard Deutsch and Walker Ellis in the first half, and Miss Maud Hollingsworth and Ed Dillon in the second half, project the stirring lines of the piece with clarity and good dramatic effect.

Leading players include Ed Miranne as Patrick Henry; Ed Dillon as Thomas Jefferson; Fred Madden as Benjamin Franklin; Rufus Prados as Nathan Hale; Josef Lehman as Haym Salomon; Leo Van Os as George Washington; Herbert McGoey as Andrew Jackson; Charles Planchard as Abraham Lincoln; John Flynn as Admiral Dewey; Walter Brodtman as a pioneer. Misses Inez Gonzales, Dorothy Gill and Claire Rotis represent different critical periods in American history and King Nungesser appears as a new boy.

The aforementioned are all in the first act, which was written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Broadway playwrights. The third act, written by staff members of the Louisiana writer's project, dramatizes tense moments during the past 10 years.

Later Period Revealed
Outstanding characters in the third act are George Oxford as General Charles De Gaulle; Eugene Sonfield as Hitler; Miss Edna May Stroebel as Madame Chiang Kai-Shek; Spencer Riggs as Ignace Paderewski; and Henry Groffman as Stalin.

Walter C. Carey is general chairman and master of ceremonies. Harry A. Huguenot is the director, Rene Salomon and Edward Larman have charge of the. music. Robert M. Stewart is managing director; J. H. Randolph Feltus, chairman of publicity; Mrs. Muriel F. Francis, arrangements; Mrs. Heda Koch von Meysenbug and Mrs. Lillian B. Pitkin, tickets; and Mrs. Marjorie Williams, secretary.

The professional comedy team, Chick and Lee, who appeared opening night, were missed on the second performances. They unloosed a load of laughs and the show needs a light touch.

–A. D. T.