A Smash-Hit for Gaynor

ta"A peck of fun" "exuberant" "delightful" and many other bright adjectives sum up the feelings of the New York critics about Lend An Ear, the Broadway musical written single-handed by Charles Gaynor '29, which opened at the National Theater, December 17.

Brooks Atkinson, theater critic of TheNew York Times, paid high tribute when he wrote: "From first to last this is the most enjoyable bantam revue that has dissipated the normal boredom of Broadway for quite a long time."

In the opinion of Newsweek, the lyrics are glib, the music is engaging if not startlingly original, and the sketches range from first rate to hilariously funny. Just why the Gaynor production has captured The Great White Way is a question posed and answered by the analytical magazine, Time, in their Dec. 27 review of the play. "It has the greatest of assets for an intimate revue .... a satiric eye and a sassy tongue."

Another New York daily, The HeraldTribune, is equally happy about Lend AnEar. Howard Barnes, theater critic, says: "The show's delights are mixed. It makes a broad sweep in its satirical commentary skipping from a dancing class of the early century to an elegant take-off of the more shoddy musical comedies which were popular in the late '20's." The last mentioned sketch, which Mr. Gaynor calls

"The Gladiola Girl," is the almost unanimous choice of the press as the high point of the show.

For Gaynor, author of former Dartmouth Carnival shows, his Broadway hit represents practically a life ambition—and something that is probably unique in Dartmouth alumni achievement.