... By Horace Horsnell The Lisbon Story (Hippodrome) LIBRETTISTS who seek to break away from hampering convention in their writing of -'books for musical plays need all the encouragement they can get. They are a kind of perpetual pioneers, faced with pitfalls and problems that might well daunt genius itself. Few are as fortunate-- or for that' matter as successful-- as Da Ponte, who adapted the ...

... TU By Horace Horsnell Living Room (Garrick) ONCE upon a time there were two kindly old maids named Vicky and Deborah who lived with Molly, their niece, in a fool's paradise somewhere up north. They were neither rich nor poor, but just com fortable. Their father had left, them a little house property for what they had fondly assumed was life. And since Molly, their only relative, was an orphan, ...

... By Horace Horsnell The Russians (Playhouse) A HUNDRED years separate the writing of that lovely play, A Month in the Country, from that of this heroic contemporary melodrama; and though they are both Russian, they have as little in common as peace and war. For whereas Turgenev approaches his theme romantically, and handles it as a poet, Konstantin Simonov, author of The Russians, writes as a ...

... By Horace Horsnell Everyman: International Ballet (Lyric) IN the old days one of the minor pleasures of the ballet was the Argument, or synopsis of the plot, printed on the programme. This was written in a style all its own, romantic and elusive; and, often less explicit than the action it sought to explain, it fascinated rather than enlightened. One read it hurriedly before the house-lights ...