Armed with the whimsical title "Madame Axel from Greece," the brothers Minsky no doubt felt their battle to be half won, and with characteristic lavishness they have placed another brilliant and scintillating extravaganza before the public. Of Greece or the Grecian damsel aforementioned there is not the slightest mention once the curtain has risen -- but the title is a good one, and it has a flavor all its own. This flavor is heightened by the customary sale during the intermission of artistic booklets ("the raciest, spiciest little novelty we've set at your disposal in a long time, gentlemen") and is lent sweetness as Orpheus, embodied in orchestra leader Joe Riseman, tunes the opening overture.
A recital of the twenty or more scenes which comprise the whole of this beggars' opera would be, or ought to be, wearisome. Suffice it to say that there is one called "Under the Bed" in which that rather impolite article of furniture plays a prominent role. A hatrack in one corner, Belladonna enthroned in the other, a succession of male intruders, a bawdy denouement--and the lights fade mercifully. In a trice the stage is re-illuminated to reveal what is programmatically termed the Beauty Chorus industriously kicking away. And here we have an amusing spectacle, for it is quite palpable even to a jaundiced eye that many of these charmers have not been long on the boards. Some kick this way, some wave feebly in that, and others seem present in body only -- they simply stand there. Of the artists who disrobed at intervals in the program, perhaps the most alluring was Miss Joan Dare, but other members of the audience loudly held that Miss Nora (Hotcha) Ford outstripped them all. As for their vocal efforts at popular songs, one must confess that while those heard were sweet, those unheard were sweeter.
Eloquently set forward by its sponsors as ". . . boiling over with sizzling, syncopating rhythm . . .", the offering at the Park Theater is not of pristine quality. The chorus is as usual but another testimonial to the proverb that beauty, unlike fine wine or Dunhill briars, does not improve with age and constant handling. Let this be no deterrent, however, to those who view life with the comic spirit, for such will find the entertainment eminently laughable. And since no smoking is allowed at the Park Theater, the stage is always clearly visible.
