THE PUBLIC TASTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 11 (Supplement)

THE PUBLIC TASTE.

NEW YORK QUESTIONNAIRE. PREFERENCE FOR CLASSICS^ What tho public wants," is a. pbraso that tho great, tho near-great .and the psuedo-greut ot the entertainment world have ever bandied back and forth with a glibness and -conviction that have had no reflection in the precarious and uncertain nature of tho show business. Some of the ruoro astuto showmen have even ventured to declare that they could not tell what tho public wants, since the public itself, following the tendency of human nature in general, did not know. However, tho famous Roxy Theatre in New York, which supplies entertaiuments covering all varieties of music and dancing, recently decided to gain an adequate gauge of tho public's sentiments. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed in equal numbers on each day of tho week so as to reach the representative types of audience. The results were in many respects surprising. The classical votes led tho field as a five-to-one shot. The modern and the popular were tied for yrcond place, but each received only one-fifth as many votes as tho classical. In tho field of terpsichore, tho ballet, whose genesis was in Greece, was again awarded the la_urol by the public. The classic ballet received almost three times as many votes as tho modern. That the public is not insensible to the beauty of line, colour and design is evidenced by the fact that scenery, costumes and lighting came fourth in popularity and the choral numbers last. Concerning specified tastes, a large number of individual preferences were registered for opera, either in excerpt form, by single aria or by an entire act. Although Wagner, Bach, Beethoven and even Gershwin aro mentioned by name, the composer who holds first place in the greatest number of hearts is Victor Herbert. Tho three widest preferences in the field of dancing* are distributed among ballets, Patricia Bowman and tap dancing. The most gratifying result of the experiment was the satisfaction with things as they arc. Indeed, rather insistent were the demands of "what entertainment transgressions to avoid. Emphatic pleas were made to shun vulgarisms and breaches of good tast<j, jazz, masters of ceremonies, male dancers, gang pictures, war pictures, acrobatic dancing, religion and sex. Among constructive suggestions, operettas in condensed form led- the _ list. This is a form which has been intermittently presented at the lloxy. Comedians, fairy talcs, guest stars, pantomime, silent pictures, Irish plays and educational subjects aro among the unfulfilled desires of the patient public. At least one patron, who asked for a revival of Over the Hill,". will get his wish. For .that production is soon to be made in a new sound ln tho Hollywood studios of the-Fox lilm Corporation.