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The Playgoer

"Keep Off The Grass"

Ray Bolger stole the show in "On Your Toes." He stole the show in "The Wizard of Oz." He can now be seen stealing the show at the Shubert. Flicking his gawky legs about the stage with more finesse than ever before, second-billed Bolger is farther out in front than the Dodgers after their first ten games.

Jimmy Durante's methodical performance, on the other hand, lacks the zest and originality of his usual ad-lib burlesque. Ilka Chase, also prominent in the comedy sequences, carries off one of the show's funniest scenes with Durante and Bolger in "Rhett, Scarlett, and Ashley." Typical crack out of the mouth of academy award winner, "Scarlett O'Leigh" is: "Mr. Selznick made me--he made me over night."

Sex and larynx appeal exude from Jane Froman in the budding song hits, "Look Out For My Heart," "Clear Out of This World," and "I'm In The Mood." Lyrics in the last barely slip by the Boston censors. On the hotter side of the song-leader, Virginia O'Brien sings four torrid arrangements in the Andrews Sisters manner. Giving the audience everything from dinner with the Roosevelts to a boudoir rendezvous with a dozen bare, telephoning Petty girls, "Keep Off the Grass" may not fulfill all extravagant pre-opening predictions; but with Bolger down-stage, its security on Broad-way is unquestionable.

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