New Musical on Broadway

13 Daughters (book, music and lyrics by Eaton Magoon Jr.) conscientiously adds its mite to making this Broadway's flabbiest season in years. About equally lavish and leaden, 13 Daughters takes place in 19th century Hawaii and stars Don Ameche as an amiably wily Chinese millionaire with 13 daughters to marry off. If that is not trouble enough, there is a Hawaiian custom that no daughter can marry till the eldest does, and a Hawaiian curse that none of Ameche's shall marry at all. Before the ban gives way to the banns, there is a lot of Hawaiian -or Hawaiian-type -music and dancing, and sighing and song, and love by a stream, and rollicking in a valley and baritoning on a beach. Throughout it all. Ameche scatters such philosophic petals as "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bushel."

Perhaps, had there never been a King and I. a South Pacific--no. that won't help. Well, perhaps had there never be fore been any exotic musicals at all. 13 Daughters would have emerged a real curiosity instead of a curio, the libretto could have been forgiven its dullness, and what is lilting in the music would have blotted out what is banal. But on a Broad way that has offered exotic musicals and to spare, even what is reasonably good in 13 Daughters-such as a few of Rod Alexander's dances--still seems reminiscent of something that was better. What alone stand out. for elegance and atmosphere, are George Jenkins' sets.

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