The New York Clipper (December 1919)

30 THE NEW YOtK CLIPPER December 31, 1919 CORINNE ARBUCKLE SONGOLIST IN SONGS WHAT AH JOE OLIVER THE HERMAN FAY Franklin Comedy Four IN COOKING UP MIRTH AND MELODY DIRECTION, PHIL BUSH SAL MALDON HURRAY ROSE CARPOS BROS. MUSICAL EQUILIBRISTIC NOVELTY Direction E. K. Nadel, Pat Casey ALBERTA FOWLER SOUBRETTE MONTE CARLO GIRLS Murray Lesslie The Irresistible Humorist Direction BROOKS, MORRIS SAM WILSON The only colored Entertainer singing Hebrew »nj» and telling «loriw. MUM SISTERS niiiat i THE SIX ROYAL HUSSAR SISTERS In a. Melattff* of M«k «ndl Soof REPEATING THEIR TRIUMPHANT SUCCESS IN THE EAST DICK BACK AGAIN MAE Knowles & White In "My Policy" by Al. W. Johnson Direction: Arthur Klein " RAY KING ". Bert Dressed Straight Mam in Burlesque with Bathing Beauties j ^ ROSE HEMLEY "^ INGENUE BEAUTY REVUE "VIVIAN LAWRENCE "VOLCANIC SOUBRETTE" " WW. Victory Mm Co. LOU BARRY SOUBRETTE BON TONS CLARENCE BEATRICE LUTZ & NEWMAN Singing, Talking and Dancing ~~ VIOLET PENNEY SOUBRETTE LED LIFTERS CAPITOL Evan Burrows Fontaine. Uthe of tody and graceful In every move of her rbyUunlc sell, danced antranrlngly. doing a special Orien- tal number at the very outset of the pro- gram. But she failed to arouse more than a ripple of applause. As a matter of fact. nothing seems to arouse unbounded enthu- siasm In the audiences that patronize this "largest theatre In the world." Maybe It's the vast area of Its proportions that tends to put a damper on enthusiasm. On the other hand, it may be, despite the admira- tion that one feels over the way things are done at this house, that enthusiasm is kept at a low ebb by reason of the compara- tively high prices that are charged, J2 top on Sundays being a figure that lingers in the memory of the "average" folk that pay it, where movies and music are the pre- dominating attraction. Anyway, what we are concerned with chiefly, are the more animated features of the show. Thus we again mention Evan Burrows Fontaine, erstwhile on the salary list of Flo Zlegfeld, but this time we find her posturing and shaking a merry toe In a number designated . as the ."Ballet Bleu." with music from "Aldn." and a bally good choreographic number it was. too. Again the applause that followed In her wake was negligible, but Just the same Miss Fontaine la a very fine exponent of the art of danc- ing, one of the finest, hereabouts. In fact. There is much to be said in favor of the De Grobs, a trio of lithe tumbiers, one of whom is a woman. The outstanding mem- ber of the trio is the elongated Individual whose contortions at'tlmes appear almost uncanny by reason of the apparent resili- ence of the tones In his body. Theirs Is Indeed:a-classy acrobatic act. A tableaux designed by the eminently ar- tistic John Wenger, which had something to do "with an effulgent moon appearing over a mountain peak, proved to be quite mean- ingless and can. therefore, not be recom- mended. ' However, a very clever and 'Interesting shadowgraphlst, whose name we do not know, proved to be a most entertaining feature. Then, too, Nat Finston and his orchestra must be taken Into consideration. Some- times the orchestra failed to render Tschai- kowsky's "Capriccio Italien" with proper nuance and fidelity, but It was through no fault of Finston himself, for he wields his baton in a most muslcianly and spirited manner. - " Frank Johnson, the barytone, and Lucille Chaltant, the soprano, warbled from the wings and the number they rendered was the Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffman" (not Aaron). But, since their singing took place while a. news reel was being shown, their musical .efforts did not receive the ap- preciation they should have. . The feature picture was "Back to God's Country," a highly melodramatic and very improbable screen version of James Oliver Curwood's story called "Wapi, the Walrus." Nell Shlpman is the featured player, but Wellington Flayter, as Captain Bydal, a vil- lainous seafaring man who stops at nothing to gain his ends, gave the most convincing performance of anyone. M. L. A. "BEAUTY REVUE" : WITH NEW CAST IS A GOOD SHOW Sam Levey's "Beauty Revue" has prac- tically an entire new cast of principals this season. The only one with the show last, year is Ada Lum, the prima donna. Levey did well In keeping her, however, as she Is a most attractive person and a credit to any show. ■ Hiss Lorn la an American-Chinese prima donna, and the only one In burlesque. She can. sing, and knows the art of getting her songs over. She reads lines pleasingly and dances gracefully. The gowns she wears are dainty In color and pretty in design. - Jimmy Cooper la the "straight" man, and Is one of those fellows they need In a show to Inject action. The comedy ls-taken care of by Eddie Hall and Marty Collins, both doing "bums." Hall, last season, was a Juvenile with Wainstock*s show and. while he did well then, he was surely misscast, for he should stick to comedy. Be is a dancer, rambler and aero-' bat, and is funny. He was handicapped Thorsday night with a cold, and could not sing. Collins Is better In this show than when we saw him last season. He Is doing more and splitting the comedy fifty-fifty with Hall. He Is a very good musician, playing several Instruments during the performance. He, too, is very amusing and a hard worker. Both these boys have a catch line which they work often. Hall's English accent. Which he used several times, was good, and he should keep it in. Collins* eyebrow ex- pression took well. Both work in misfit clothes. Morris Tolen also shared In the comedy, doing several characters. He does a rube, also a Hebrew, and In the latter uses ho make-op. However, he gets Just as many laughs as he would with the "crepe," which U a credit to him. His Charlie Chaplin was liked, and he put it over. Hose Hemley, >e»:4ogehne sonbrette with a pretty form and dashing way of patting num- bers over, wag another who*carried off the female'honors. She -has" a"pieasing person- ality, nice way of working and wears pretty dresses- .,- --i — Helen Stanley was 111, so Princess Living- ston Jumped out of the chorus and filled the gap acceptably. She put her numbers over nicely and took care of what she had to do In the scenes without sny^tronble. Charlie Fleming was out of the cast on account of sickness. \" ■*■ '"' Billy Gumby, a colored performer, was In a few scenes and put over a singing and wooden shoe dancing specialty in one. The show started off well, and shortly after the. opening Miss Lum, assisted by all the principals and chorus,- put "Don't Shake That Shimmey Here" for a number of encores. The way they all worked In this number, which had plenty of action and no shimmying, was delightful. Collins then gave a good burlesque of Frisco in a dance. The "motion picture rehearsal" has plenty of action In It and many amusing situations. Cooper -was the director. Hall the company and Miss Lum the star. Collins also appeared just before the finish. A fashion show was then given. Introduc- ing each chorus girl and the lady principals as motion picture stars. The school room scene offered plenty ot ton. ss did the comedy qnsrleette of Collins, Hall. Tolen and Cumby. The "crying" bit pleased as offered by Cooper, Hall. Collins. Tolen and the Hisses Lum, Hemley and Livingston. The "blindfold" bit was another that went over well. It was given by Cooper, Collins. Tolen _ and the Misses Lam, Hemley and Livingston." The "lie" bit was well done by Hall, Col- lins, Cooper, Tolen and Miss Livingston. - The "street fakir" bit was amusing as offered by Cooper, Collins, Hall, Tolen, Misses Hamley and XJvlngston and Cumby. The scene in one, a ladles' - Turkish bath, with Hall and Collins dressed ss women, offered plenty of laughs. Cooper and Miss Lam were - also in this scene and "fed" the comedians for the laughs. Tolen. who was programmed as Princess Alabasoo, offered a graceful Egyptian. dance. He was veiled and deceived the audience until be withdrew the veil. As pretty a lot of girls.lt would be bard to find as are In the chorus, and they all worked bard to,get the numbers over Christ- mas night. They were prettily costumed. ■The scenery looks well, although we have seen -two sets before. They fit In, however. with the different-situations and look bright and clean. The "Beauty. Trust" is a good entertain- ment, with lots of speed, and credit should be given the producer for giving OS bits and scenes that are different than are usually seen with these shows. Sid. . BUFFALO MNGR. BREAKS ARM Buffalo, N. Y., Dec 26.—Chris Nao- man, manager of the Gayety Theatre, this city, slipped on the pavement near the theatre last week and fell, breaking his arm. MARIE ABBOTT QUITTING Marie Abbott will close with the Rose Sydell Show in Hartford this week. Mabel Lorraine will take her place as prima donna. •- PLAYING RETURN DATE The Marcua- Musical Comedy Company is now playing a: return engagement on the Pacific Coast. They were in Oakland last week." " - ~— LEAVE "BOSTONIANS" Guth, Dennis and Gnth closed with the "Bostonians" at the* Empire, Brooklyn, last Saturday night. Fuller, Blet and Lester replaced them and opened at the Peoples, Philadelphia, Monday. MORTON DOING A "SINGLE" Nat Morton is patting over a "single" with the "Minion Dollar Dolls." MILLER LEAVES "BLUE BIRDS" Jack Miller closed recently with the "Blue Birds" in Washington and left for the Coast, where he will go into pictures. LEAVING ••LTD LIFTERS*" Jessen and Jessen will close with the "Lid Lifters," at the Star, Brooklyn, Sat- urday, night, Billy Harris opened with the company last, week and Marie Chapman, an ingenue, win open next, week in Springfield.