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—6— Th£ Mansion of flehing Hearts I t has never been safe to judge a shows reception from out-of-town tryouts , Anna had learned that from Higgledy~Piggledy} which early reviewers had convinced her was going to be a Held triumph. But it was hard not to get carried away with the advance reception accorded to Miss Innocence. The huge company took off from New York to Philadelphia on November 18, complete with three baggage cars, parlor car, and two day coaches.They opened at the venerable Chestnut Street Theater on November 23, It was a visually stunning show, and Ludwig Englander s tunes were so catchy that the gallery was whistling along by the second encore, Anna was a litde disappointed that one of the biggest hits was not hers but that of Shirley Kellogg, who sang the jazzy "Yankiana Rag" in a nightclub scene. There was also a "Three Weeks" song—complete with tiger skin—ribbing Elinor Glyns bestselling and heavybreathing novel of that name, Annas own numbers included "A Nicer Little Girl Than You," 'Tve Lost My Little Brown Bear" (those teddies were still trailing her), and her now-required "eye song," "I Wonder What s the Matter with My Eyes" (one reviewer suggested it was about time she saw an oculist), Everyone agreed that Miss Innocence managed to re-create the best effects from Anna s previous shows, straining out the unwelcome bits and more shocking sexual innuendo. Comparing it to the Parisian Model, one Philadelphia critic wrote, "In times past we have felt it to be our duty to criticize some of Mr, Ziegfeld s productions severely for their audacities. On the present occasion it is a real pleasure to be able to commend almost without reservation the entertainment he has presented. It is gay and frivolous, to be sure, but gayety and frivolity T H E MANSION OF ACHING HEARTS 125 are not sins in themselves and in a world that is sometimes a little gray for adults are welcome and enjoyable." After its successful preview, Miss Innocence opened in New York on November 30, 1908, at the New York Theater. Part of Hammersteins colossal Olympia complex in Times Square, the New York had been called the Music Hall until changing its name in 1899. Since then it had premiered George M. Cohans smash hits Little Johnny Jones and Forty-Five Minutesfrom Broadway, as well as the spectacular drama Quo VadisP The theaters two star dressing rooms were combined into one for Anna, the walls and bench covered with thick red plush; her delicate velvet sofa was improbably publicized as having belonged to Mme de Pompadour. Ziegfeld erected another electric sign out front, despite the disaster with the Parisian Model eyes. This time, a huge eight-ton sign, eighty feet long and forty feet high, was placed atop the New York marquee, its light bulbs spelling out the oddly worded come-on, "Ziegfeld s Musical Production, Anna Held, in Miss Innocence"The letters were surrounded by moving lightning bolts. 'Ziegfeld promoted it as the largest sign in America, containing eleven miles of wires and holding twenty-three hundred light bulbs. Ziegfeld attempted what was to be his last publicity stunt for Anna, though it was somewhat halfhearted. He released a story to the newspapers that the enormous sign had somehow ignited the colorful bunting hanging over the theaters marquee. Anna, rehearsing inside, noticed the smoke, "leaned out the window," and pulled the flaming fabric inside, where it would presumably be safer. This got very little press: It had been a long time since those milk baths and horse rescues. There was scarcely a discouraging word from the hard-to-please New York critics about Miss Innocence; they all but fell over themselves to praise both Anna and her show. "Miss Held has never been in anything that suits her requirements so well as the part of Anna," read a typical review, adding that "Mr. Smiths book is better than can usually be found among the musical offerings of the day, and throughout the two acts and several scenes there is sprinkled any quantity of fun, even if the story is lost in a maze of pretty girls and gorgeous surroundings." The plot began in Vienna and took Anna to Paris, the Rhine, and several mythical lands; as one critic wrote, "To say that this is a magnificent production is putting it mildly. The eye is constantly feasted with a vision of beautiful girls...

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