The New York Clipper (December 1919)

10 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER December 31, 1919 CITY (Ijutbalf) The Four Faldrens opened a show that was of big time calibre. They offered a novelty acrobatic act In which aome very difficult and entertaining stunts were shown. There are only three working member* of the act, the fourth acting as a sort of "props" and man- ager rolled into one. Darling; and Dorley, a man-and-woman song and dance team, have one thing that stands out in their tarn, and that is a dance number In which they do some fancy stepping, with the honse entirely darkened, so that electric lights on their shoes show only their feet moving. This bit is somewhat novel. They should use It to close their act. They ■cored very nicely. "Ail's Fair," a laughable little sketch, with two men and a woman, was on third. The 'plot of the play la briefly this. Albert wants to marry Constance, out she Is too Jealous to be agreeable, so lie and Beggie hit upon a scheme whereby they teach, her a lesson. Beggie poses as a burglar, who turned crooked because a woman turned him down. The scheme works wonderfully well, and-all ends happily. The news reel offered a short interruption at this juncture. . " Prank and ToMe. playing a return engage- ment, offered their song and dance - revue. with as great success as they, did the last time they played here. Their numbers went over for individual hits and they scored' heavily. Arthur Lloyd might bill himself as the card and ticket man. He offers several new wrinkles In the card trick line, and then goes on to say that he boasts of being able to pro- duce any kind of a card or ticket, the audi- ence might ask for, and, what Is more Im- portant, he does It. They lost couldn't stomp him. and he was a not "Ye Old Song Staoppe." a song and dance revue, could easily hold Its own against any song and dance revue on the boards today. It Is a revue in which the old and new songs vie with each other for popularity,- Seven girls and two men comprise the turn, which Is a treat from beginning to end. The folks in It can really sing snd dance, which is not always the case In a revue. Van and Vernon, with the advantage of position and a friendly audience went over with a tremendons bang that re-echoed for two encores, snd some bows. Red and Blondy have one of the fastest and most entertaining tumbling acts we have seen In a blue moon. They work so smoothly and so unconcernedly that It Is a pleasure to wstch them. The most difficult tumbling or risky stunts are treated as Jokes by them. They watted off with a huge bit tucked under their arms. Harry Carey In "A Gun Fighting Gentle- " was the feature picture. B. K. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS (Continued from Page •) JEFFERSON (Last half) Orvlllc Stanun, The Toung Hercules" opened the show with his novelty strong man offering. Hla act Is different from other strong man turns. Inasmuch as he possesses the ability to sing, tell stories, draw, and do various outer entertaining things, as well. He Is a marvel of physical culture, and his act went over with a big bang. Morstl and Harris were on second with a comedy singing and talking act In which Hiss Harris takes the part of a newspaper reporter Interviewing Moratl. a great •tenor. Moratl has a robust tenor voice that he employs well. The act was reedved with favor. Georgia Campbell and Boys, the .latter numbering three, offered a southern singing act that went over nicely. Miss Campbell Is costumed at a bene of the days of '61. and the boyg are also dressed In the habit of that period. Mam Behn la one of those spontaneous comediennes who radiates sunshine all over the place. - She Is a tall blonde With a lik- able personality and knows how. to put a number across. ' She sang several comedy numbers, and concluded with a ballad. She took an encore. . . _ "His Taking Way" Is one of those girlie acts that starts nowhere and ends In the same place. There are two men and six girls In It The piece Is supposed to be a travesty on the movies, and hss some redeeming points, such as pretty girls, some good gags here and there (mostly there), and a couple of fellows who can dance exceedingly well. The act went over very nicely, all things con- sidered. Cervo, the accordeonlst Is back with us again. He offers a number of varied selec- tions upon bis Instrument which he plays well, and scored a good slsed bit taking an encore. Most of his numbers are of the pop- ular variety. Conroy and O'Donnell offered the conven- tional black and white face act They are dressed ss postmen, and their talk Is built ground the dally lives of the mailmen. The talk Is rather witty, although time-worn In spots. They sing several parodies, and get away with It unite easily. - • The Sam Yen Troupe closed the show, presenting their Chinese novelty jugsiing set The turn contains jnaxllnc contortion, and what not In a most entertaining coiriblnstlon. William Desmond In "The Blue Bandana" I the feature picture. . S. K. AUDUBON (Last half) Devltt, Burns and Torrance, with their "toy-shop" novelty, started a short vaudeville bill of five acta. The offering pleases, for it contains a great many novel features. The acrobatic work Is done well and the scene, In which the giant operated by the "doll," eats everything In sight, delighted the children. Benle IUiino started her offering with a snappy opening and offered a number of Imi- tations, which, while not very faithful, gave her an opportunity to display some excellent eccentric dancing. This youthful girl is destined for better time, for she has ability that is sure-fire. The act win be fully re- viewed under ''New Acts." Louise Carter, and ber company of a young man and girl, scored a hit which will be re-' merabered for a long time In this bouse. Not only did they stop i the show, bnt the news reel, which followed, had to be stopped after the second scene was on to allow the lights to go up so that Miss Carter could quiet the applause of the audience by taking another bow. The playlet' la a classic, and the dra- matic work of Miss Carter brought tears to the eyes of many of the audience. ■The story tells of a mother who Is expect- ing her boy back from the war, and, waiting with her, Is the boy's sweetheart. He re- turns, but Instead of his hand being wounded. as they have been told, he la totally blind, as a result of shell-shock. Unknown to the andlence, as well as the boy, bis mother and sweetheart decide to give him a shock, work- ing on the theory that this shock will cure the blindness which Itself resulted from a shock. So his sweetheart pretends that she has married another while be has been away, and bis mother pretends to go Insane. When be sees his mother is mad, be loses all reason himself and tries to kill the girl. The strain through which he goes brings the desired re- sult and he can see again. There cannot be too much praise for Mlaa Carter's perform- ance, in the role of the mother. The boy snd girl also give a splendid account of them- selves. Willing and Jordan are using the same material they have been presenting for the paat few years. Most of the songs are special numbers, but there are one or two old pub- lished ones in the routine that could bs re- placed with newer material. Both have a nice appearance and sing well. Natalie Parrarrl and company closed the vaudeville with their dance offering. Miss Parrarrl la supported by two men. both of whom dance exceptionally well. Miss For rarri herself displayed very good ability, and the act found favor. G. J. H. HARLEM OPERA HOUSE (Ust haul) Stanley and Dale followed the pictures with a dance offering. The men nave a good variety of steps and the ability to put them over. However, when reviewed, it seemed that they were evidently In need of a little more rehearsing In some of the steps, for there were a few that were awkwardly done. They went off with a good amount of ap- plause to their credit for an opening turn. It Is seldom that an act using a set In full stage and built along musical tabloid linen. Is found in second spot bnt after seeing "The New Doctor," one doesn't wonder why this act was placed in a spot so early on the bill. The offering la handled by two girls and two. men, one of whom takes off the role of Hebrew comedian with a "wop" dialect The other man possesses a good voice and has that for an asset. The girls also sing, fairly well. The outstanding fault of all of them la the meehanleal method In which they read their lines. All In all. the act needs what its title calls for—"A (New Doctor." TUyon and Rogers, working In "rube" make-up, also as old men. offered a variety turn in which the rumbling bits were the best They pot over a few gags which are old enough to be forgotten, and undoubtedly were by this audience, for they brought a lot of laughs. As the act la primarily a tumbling offering. It Is a good one. The stunts done by the oalr are exceptional. The 8hlrley Sisters and Bnd Bernte pre- sented their new song cycle and were a solid bit The new numbers In the act are done well and the costumes worn by the girls Eretty. Bernle. In addition to being a cork- lg good pianist, sings well and aids mater- ially towards the success of the act Although he was not billed, and his name was not put oat on the signboard, Jimmy Flynn was accorded a big hand on hie en- trance. Flynn now has a pianist with him in the person of Walter Donecan. who also puts over one comedy number bv himself. Flynn sang a ballad and an anti-Bed number. Al. Fields has a very clever monologue Which is replete with laughs from start to finish. It netted him an encore here. George N. Brown and BUlle Weston closed the show with their walking act and gave a good account of themselves. O. J. H. VICTORIA (Last half) A vaudeville bill of five acts was opened by Fred and Lydla Weaver, who perform feats in midair, suspended by their teeth. -The act runs along with considerable speed • and Is taken out of the rut Into which acts of this, calibre are likely to fall by a touch of the artistic. This gives the torn a double appeal for, besides the artistic way in which the var- ious feats are done, they are quite difficult Bill Dooley, working In second spot de- served to work In next to closing. He la a young chap that has been endowed with a wealth of versatility and has used It to make his act distinctively different from other singles. Dancing Is probably his forte, although he is a good story teller and strug- gles bravely through several songs. His Im- pression of Bernard Granville doing the drunk-dance was excellently done, and made a good finish to a fast act As a rope-splnner, Dooley shows that he took more than a cor-' respondence school course- In the art. and handles the lines just lopg enough not to be tiresome, while hla Impression of Fred Stone, at the end of the rope spinning bit is very good. After finishing bis present contracts, Dooley should add a bit of polish here and there, after which be should find no difficulty In landing with both feet on the big time. "What's It All About?" should have been the name of the sketch offered by Townsend Wilbur snd company. It is full • of hokem, poorly written lines, most of which are old, and replete with plays on words. It's the old, old story of the young man who wants the daughter's hand, and father objects. Then, to test the young man's love for the girl, the father dlagulsea hlmaelf and sounds out the suitor. Closing line as follows: "Now that you have proved you really love my daughter, take her, my boy, and be nappy." (Or words to that effect) The young man has considerable personality, and It la his work that saves the playlet from the rocks. Frank Wslmsley and Mae Keating do songs and patter in one and got a number of laughs from a generously duoosed audience. The man plays tbe most foolish kind of a nut we have ever seen In vaudeville—but, to tbe reviewer, he appeared Insipidly foolish. The act closed with a song by walmsley. Marine Douglas, assisted by Al. Carbelle and Girls, bss an act that Is now too long, but which, If combed down, with several of the weaker bits eliminated, could move with a snap that would make It sure-fire for the Loew clientele. In the first place, the girls In the act are not only pretty bnt possess real singing voices, while the special music In the act Is tuneful and well arranged. Car- belle also does his work nicely, and the open- ing scenes between himself and the girls are big-time stuff. Bnt the set takes a lower ebb with the appearance of Miss Douglas, whose singing does not compare with some of the other members of her company, while her. dancing ability Is only fair. H. J. G. PROCTOR'S 12STH ST. (L«t half) Poster and 'Peggy, a man and a dog, held the Initial spot. Foster puts the dog through a series of stunts. The dog is well trained and does his work nicely. Cutty and Nelson found the second spot easy with their musical offering. Cutty, one of the old Six Musical Cuttys opens the turn with a number on the xylophone, with Mlas Nelson at the piano. She also offers some vocal numbers in which she Is accompanied by Cutty'with a muted'cornet Both handle their end of • the act well, and went off to much applauae. ■ • ,'."!' JarvlH and Harrison, also man and woman, followed with a pleasing comedy skit that gve. a good account of itself. The pair ndle their lines well and also deliver some singing in good style. Florence Tempest and company, the latter consisting of three' young men of very attrac- tive appearance, one'of whom plays the piano, presented their miniature musical comedy called "Tumble In Love." The offering con- tains no plot hut gives the entire company a chance to put .over some very pleasing singing and excellent dancing. Miss Tempest has a world of personality, and looks, sings and dances well. With the company In ber act she has It easy going. Charles Howard and company scored a big laugh hit with their torn. This is the same act presented last season by Charles Howard snd Tyler Brooke. Another young msn hss succeeded Brooke and does his work.capably. There Is also a new young lady In the act, a very pretty brunette, who dances with the young man and also comes In for some patter. Howard's "souse." which he Is supposed to have received from gumdrops snd lollypops, brought a lot of laughs, and the other two gave a Ttrr good account of themselves with their bits. The Wheeler Trio cloaed the show with a sensational strong man, acrobatic and turn* Dllng routine. The men have some stunts that are new and thrilling. O.-'J. H. PROCTOR'S 23RD ST. (Last half) "' Felix and Fisher, man and woman, opened the bill with some comedy acrobatic and trapeze work that caused laughter and thrilled alternately. Both work hard to get over and they certainly did. Some of the Stunts were sensational. ■" Karl Karey, In full dress, and looking like an after-dinner speaker, offered a song and planologue that was a riot He has a full rich baritone voice and knows how to use It whether for the rendition ' of a comedy or ballad number. He also plays the piano nicely. He took an encore and a few bows before they would let him go. Leon Stanton and company, the latter con- sisting of two women, offered a comedy sketch that held a laugh a minute. Stanton, as the Civil War veteran, has become widely known and liked, and this characterization adds to his laurels. He is screamingly funny and the way he puts his gags across would make Jehosaphat himself laugh. The two women lend excellent 'aid. - Harmon and Washburn, both members of teams that have become famous in vaudeville, scored so heavily that the audience wanted to bold them on longer. The act is the same as Miss Harmon did a. few months ago with Carrie McManus, except for some new song numbers. The piano moving bit was a gale of laughter. Their singing was deservedly' encored, for both have good voices*. '•" Nelson and the Barry Boys,.would, to all appearances. Indicate a three-man act It Is a woman and two men. They offer a .real variety act. In which Is commingled dancing, singing, storytelling, and acrobatics. All three are excellent acrobats, one of the boys, working In black-face, Is a clever comedian and blues singer, and the other man and Miss Nelson are whirlwind acrobatic dancers. All In all. It is one of the fastest song and dance acts we've seen in some little time.' Charles Irwin hss added some new material to bis act and, despite the fact that be fol- lowed a comedy acrobatic act, he Just walked on, told his stories, sang his songs, and walked off again, coming back to, take two encores, and leaving them wanting more. Cora Youngblood Corson and her Knights of Columbus Octette cloaed the show with the rendition of several Instrumental numbers. All eight play brass wind Instruments. The act went over nicely. Dorothy Dalton In "L'Apache" was the feature picture. S. K. REGENT (Last half) - One. noticeable improvement at this house Is the playing of the orchestra. It was qnlte evident that A. Juskpwltx, the conductor, bss succeeded In his efforts to unify the playing of his men and. If they continue playing as they did the last half of last week, there is no reason why they shonld not be reckoned as a splendid muslcsl aggregation. Mercedes, "the psychic eighth wonder.'' whatever that may mean, assisted by Mile. Stantone, who Is to Mercedes what Boswell wss to the late Dr. Johnson, entertained, of course, but there's something about the act that makes it lack lustre. Maybe It's the poor piano playing of the "mystic" madem- oiselle. Shelton and Terry are a couple of well- dressed girls who sua*,, "nnce and play the piano. The one that plays the piano also sings well. Theirs is a neat act that left a good Impression. C'oakley and Dunlevy, In a gay black-face offering which tbey call "Over There," be- ' cause the setting Is a trench during the war. made 'em laugh heartily despite the age of some of their quips. There's a great deal of wholesome fnn in their offering and Dunlevy's intermittent gurgle is Infectious. Mason and: Dixon, .a man 'and a woman, both of whom are not new to vaudeville, as was apparent from their general demeanor, sang and chattered a bit, with the result that they earned their salt. ,"» "v* ' •qr-! Smith and Kaufman are a' seasoned pair of gentlemen who look well In conventional evening attire. They sang, hurled verbal gulps at each other and made their presence felt generally. Toward the end. tbey man- aged to Inject enough pep into their offering to establish themselves favorably. De Dlos Circus, as the name Implies, is an animal act There are monkeys, a pony and dog In It. all trained to perfection. The dogs exhibited intelligence and. in the main, the offering was both Interesting and entertain- ing. M. I.. A. EQUr^TWENNE LEFT $100,000 Mrs. Risina Cooke Adams, who died here last October, and was known for many years as one of the greatest equestriennes who ever appeared here, and wife of Geo. H. Adams, a famous clown, left an estate valued at more than $100,000 in personal property. Her two daughters, profession- ally known as the Adams Sisters, and her husband, share in the estate, whieh Is divided as follows: one -fourth to each of the daughters, and one-half to her .hus- band. .-'■'- ,> '