Donna Montran joins company of “Chin Chin” – November 1919

On November 7th, 1919, Variety, mentions that Donna
Montran received a production engagement for “Chin Chin.” It must have been
extremely exciting for Donna.  Chin Chin
was a Broadway production which opened at the Globe Theater on October 20th,
1914, and ran until July 3rd, 1915 (295 performances). 

On March 5th,
1915, Victor Light Opera Company made a recording of “The Gems from Chin
Chin”.  Below is a link to that recording. 

In 1919, Chin Chin was on the road as a comedy extravaganza
on a nationwide tour.  The performance
company consisted of over 60 people, which we will later see caused its own
problems.

We can’t tell exactly when Donna joined the company,
but for simplicity, I assume she was on her way by the 7th when Varity reported her
engagement and joined the company while it was in Omaha.

Chin Chin was playing at the Brandeis Theatre in
Omaha when I believe she probably joined the company on November 7th
and 8th, 1919 with a matinee on Saturday, the 8th as
well.

The Omaha World Herald, on November 8th, in
their regular series Plays and Players, reported:

“Brandeis – ‘Chin Chin.’

Omaha World Herald – Saturday, November 8, 1919 Courtesy GenealogyBank.com

The boys and girls who went to Chin Chin” last night had a good
time. It was the kind of a show that appeals to boys and girls. There was
plenty of downright foolishness, plenty of slap-stick comedy, plenty of lively
gingles. But if anybody expected more than that – Well anybody who did was
disappointed.

The biggest hit of the evening was the saxophone sextet, otherwise
known as Tom Brown’s clown band. It was a vaudeville “scream.” “Chin Chin,” in
fact, was more nearly a series of vaudeville acts than a comedy unit; the plot,
such as it was, was so loosely hung that it gave opportunity for almost any
sort of stunt, and stunts of most varied sort accepted the opportunity.
Walter Wills and Roy Binder were, of course, far and away the ablest
of the cast. Each held five separate and distinct parts at one or another
period of the three acts and both deserved the applause of those who care for
rough comedy.
Marian Sleeman, as the “Lady of the Lamp” in the “Chin Chin” version
of the old fairy story of Aladdi, [sic] easily outranked the other feminine voices in
the company, but Violet Tree, in the minor part of “Fan-Tan” won real
recognition by her cute sprightliness.

“Chin Chin” is playing a returning engagement  which ends tonight after a matinee and
evening performance.

New Brandeis Theatre Building (c. 1910-1920) From the collections of the Omaha Public Library

The Brandeis Theatre was the premier theater in Omaha at the time. The seven story building was built in 1910 on Douglas street between 17th & 18th Streets. According to Nebraska Memories, it was dubbed “the most beautiful theater in America.” It first featured stage attractions and later converted to movies. The building was demolished in 1959 for a parking garage.

Next – Donna has delays on the way to Denver.