Page 36 - 1938

but we grabbed her elbow. “Please tell us,” we said, our voice humble and pleading. “You really don’t know? I” she said wonderingly, and opening her pocketbook she gave us a folder which read as follows :
Somerville & Davidson
we wish to announce a new venture in
the making of clothes . . . we design individually for each of you and make gowns exactly styled for
your personality . . . please make appointments in advance
We went home, and going to a full-length mirror stared long and earnestly at our trusty grey suit.
PRIVATE LIVES
We went to the opening night of After Finals, What?, written, incidentally, by Dorothy Runyon in collaboration with Gertrude Robinson. We liked it so well we de­ cided to find out something about the private lives of the cast. Meg Coates, who takes the part of Angela, lives, while she is not rehearsing, on a ferry which plows up and down the Hudson. The idea is to-get-away-from-it-all. Betty Gustafson, who plays Midge, the blind singer, spends half her extra time composing light operas, and the other half teaching around at various schools and conservatories, among which is her Alma Mater. Gertrude Robinson, besides writing the score, directs the orchestra, and spends the rest of her time on a private canary farm, where she is developing a breed of bird that can carry a tune. She hopes eventually to work them up to harmonizing. When this happens we shall certainly go and see—or should we say hear—for ourselves.
BOOKS
Speaking of seeing and hearing, we would like to do something we don't usually do in this column—that is, recommend books. There are two we would like to put in a good word for. The first is See and Hear by Helen Thomas and Barbara Rausch. Miss Thomas is pretty well known in the musical world and is considered the authority on most branches of music. Miss Rausch, of whom everyone has heard at some time in the last year, has written in rapid succession everything from novels to biographies. The combination of the two authors is perfect, and theirs is the first book on the opera we have ever read clear through. It tells enough and not too much, and after reading it we went to the opera and actually heard more than we sazv . . . and please remember the Metropoli­ tan still clings to the old scenery idea.
The other book is History of New York by Louise Hunn. Besides being factually correct, it pleased us for tw'o reasons: (1) It was funny enough to keep us chuckling even when we had ten assignments to do. (2) It kept us awake (and chuckling) till five in the morning, which hasn’t happened since Gone With the Wind.
DAUGHTER
This is a little item we think well worthy of note. The other day it was reported to us that the winner of a certain school ping-pong tournament was the daughter of the Women’s Tennis Champion, best known by her maiden name of Ruth Van Ness. We would like to point out the age at which—on a small scale—the young one is following in her mother’s footsteps. Ruth, Jr., boasts six happy years.
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