SOME MONTHS AGO I commented on the criticism by John
Barber, of the Daily Express, of a midnight matinee in aid of the Actors' Orphanage. Mr. Barber was impressed only by the 'glorious' singing of Alfred Drake : unfortunately for Mr. Barber, Alfred Drake did not sing that evening, owing to a throat infection. Mr. Barber has now gone one better. His latest achievement, I understand, was duly noted on television in This Week; but for those who, like myself, did not see that worthy programme, here are the facts. In the early editions of the Express for Friday, November 1¢, Mr. Barber's criticism of the new Drury Lane musical Fanny opened ecstatically : Fanny is the best-looking American show I have ever seen at the Lane. The scenery, enchantingly pretty, evokes the waterfront of Marseilles . . . it swings you liltingly into deepest France. . . . Magnificent ! After that, admittedly, Mr. Barber had some criticisms; but it is unlikely that many readers stayed with Mr. Barber farther than his introductory paragraphs. These (and the headline : THE BEST LOOKER I'VE EVER SEEN . . . FANNY) WOUld Suggest that Mr. Barber enjoyed himself. But did he? In the later editions of the Express, that same day, the headline is ALAS! WHAT SAD DAYS AT THE LANE!, and Mr. Barber's opening paragraph is : The latest musical from Broadway (in its third year there) landed in London last night like a sack of wet sand. song after song raised only a dry spatter of applause. Not one was encored. I could feel the good will of the audience ebbing all round me. And so did mine. Where before Mr. Barber merely saw performances that did not exist, he is now able to see them double. COLUMNISTS AND COMMENTATORS have been keeping an eye on the obvious play for the apposite quotation; but all of us, I fear, missed a sitter last week :
Alack, our terrene moon Is now eclipsed, and it portends alone The fall of Antony.
The eclipse of the moon (November 18) took place at a time when most of us were asleep; and it was obscured by cloud. Oracularly speaking, therefore, the omens could be interpreted either way. Oracles are like that.
OXFORD SUPERIOR IN FIELD EVENTS
Cambridge beat Oxford by four events to three in the inter- University field events competition at Cambridge yesterday. —Manchester Guardian, November 23. Ah, that effortless Dark Blue superiority PHAROS
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