Musical Comedy Version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" Opens at Sam Harris Theater

  "Topsy and Eva" arrived at the Sam H. Harris Theater last night, accompanied by enthusiastic reports of its Western success. There is every reason to believe that it will equal that success in New York.

  This musical comedy version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is made excellent entertainment, almost entirely by the effort of the Duncan Sisters. What the Marx Brothers do for "I'll Say She Is," the Duncan Sisters do for "Topsy and Eva." The important feature of the evening was the emergence of Rosetta Duncan as one of the major comics of the day. She has the blackface role of Topsy, and she plays it with an enthusiasm and a skill that is irresistible. Her sister, Vivian, has the less showy part of Eva, but she has the distinction of being that rarest of beings, the musical comedy ingenue, who can be self-consciously and aggressively coy and make you like it and want more.

  Very free use has been made of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the names of the characters and the period being the chief features retained. The music, which the Duncan Sisters wrote, is always pleasant, and in one or two numbers something more than that.

  The work of the pickaninny chorus is so good that one is not surprised on looking at the program to find that it is composed of the London Palace Girls. The supporting cast is helped by the presence of Harriet Hocter, a charming little dancer. All these features would go to make a pleasant show, and the presence of the Duncans makes it something akin to a triumph.

R.W.