If honest effort and perseverance count for anything in this world, the Messrs. Lee and J. J. Shubert are just bound to get ahead.

Here they put together a nice little formula some time ago, about a mythical Kingdom, and a prince, and a little mistaken identity, and an American girl, and that horrid vulture "duty to state" which comes along and spoils everything, while the chorus girls mourn and strive to look desperately fetching in their pastel frocks.

And having made but a million or so out of this formula under the title of "Student Prince", the Messrs. Lee and J. J. Shubert probably sat right down and cried. But note the moral. Did they give up? No, sir! Those plucky boys put new clothes on the saw horse, and came right back with "Princess Flavia", another pleasing operetta, done in a bigger and better way.

Thus comes "Castles in the Air". It starts out in a Westchester country estate (favorite hunting ground for second acts) and then jumps squarely in the middle of Latavia, with a standing army, a villainous chancellor with mustachies, and all the sword-flashing and heel-clicking in the world. And there you are.

The first act doesn't prove a great deal. There is one song however, which ought to be given a Pulitzer prize for something or other. Dorothy wilkins, as the opera singer, and John Law take care of it in great shape. It is a splendid burlesque of the thrills of a Galli-Curoi redeal record, turning them into practical giggles and sly little snickers. The lyric fits so whimsically and attractively into these thrills that the song is excellent.

There is one other song, "Lantern of Love". You've probably heard it, but that doesn't matter. By the end of the first act you'll be humming it, whistling it, beating time to it. At the end of the second act you will hardly be able to wait until you reach the lobby to give your own special version of it. And when you go home (the play has threoacts), the left hind wheel of the trolley, which will be flat, will rhythmically impress that tune on your soul, if you have one, for ever and ever.

The characters don't really matter. The effective handling of large-group singing and dancing, the music, costumes, atmosphere, are what make the play. We will say, though, that you'll have a surprise when you see the hero, Roy Cropper. He was a new one one us...But we like him. Bernard Cranville is very pleasing and wears a silk hat well, in addition to being funny once in a while. But one fears that not a great deal can be said for the leading lady. Miss Briggs.

The second act is a corker. There is real drama there, too, strange as it may seem, and thrilling suspense. That haunting, beautifully-mournful Lata vian legend will chase cerie shivers up and down your back. And the mass staging is superb. Miss McCormick dances, the chorus dances, and a set of little rag dolls dance, all well.

The end of the act is striking, but a bit overdone. As the prince starts to take the heroine in his arms for a final embrace, General Slodak dramatically thrusts the Latavian flag between them; the queen stands sternly pointing to it, the heroine collapses and is partially supported by the comedian, the prince stands, hands clenched in awful agony. Thus the tableau remains motionless through three or four curtains. It was like the living statues one used to see at the circus. One always wonders what would happen if one of the statues had to sneeze or actually did get the proverbial hiccoughs.

The third act is just stuck on to fool you. They do have a happy ending after all, because the prince says, in substance, "To hell with dear old Latavia. Send for a minister." This is also worthy of some kind of a Pulitzer prize.

But don't miss this show. And sit near the front--the chorus is worth it. The ones who sing are covered up with lots of clothes, and stuck in the background, so that's all right.

Don't be surprised if strange things happen to you. You'll probably give your seat to a lady on the way home, and go out for fencing the next day. And if you don't hum "Lantern of Love" all through your Chem. 2 exam the next day, you are either deaf or hard-boiled.