The New York Clipper (January 1920)

January 14, 1920 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER VML7 PALACE Pictures opened. Captain Gruber and Mile. Art clinn pre- sented an Oriental spectacle wherein an elephant, horse and pony, play the impor- tant parts. The animals received much applause for their good work. Gruber has the animals trained to perfection and the act proved to be a splendid opener. Dunbar's Oldtime Darkies sing fairly well, but all their endeavors were handi- capped by tiie poor dressing. The men should wear tuxedos, as the make-up employed takes away the class of the act. The voices of the quartette blend well, but their appearance does not fit in with big time vaudeville. Ballads, rag and popular numbers are sung and if they had bowed off instead of giving an encore, the act would have made a better impression. Gibson and Connelli presented "The Honeymoon," by Aaron Hoffman. This is one of his old ones and the theme is thread-bare. In other hands, the skit would have little chance. It shows a quar- rel between husband and wife, after a few hours of being married, wherein the husband wins his 'point after wifie insists that he take the dog for a walk. During the argument, she bulldozes him until' he can't stand it any longer, and finally rules with an iron hand, getting her around to his way of believing, when all ends hap- pily. Frank Hurst replaced Allen Rogers and carried away the hit of the first half. Immaculately attired in a well-fitting tuxedo, he opened with a song telling of his past and stating that, to get "credit," one must go out after things. According to the applause Monday matinee, Hurst not only got "credit," but won for himself the distinction of being a standard vaude- ville feature. His songs, stories and reci- tations were excellently delivered. But it would be advisable to eliminate at least one "gag" and the first recitation. When this is accomplished, he will, undoubtedly be a riot wherever he appears. Albert Hockey assisted capably at the piano. Emma Haig* and John Waldron sang and danced to the delight of all. Miss Haig is as charming as ever and Waldron won in- dividual applause with his solo dance. A wait near the finish should be eliminated, as it showed up the fast action of the act. "Topics of the Day" was flashed during intermission. "Ye Song Shop" had all the appearance of a slow-moving affair immediately after it opened, but, as time went on, it worked out to be one of the best staged offerings in the two-a-day. Warren Jackson and Robert Adams hold up the ends in good style and the girls, seven in number, ap- peared often and on every entrance wore wonderful clothes. The idea of contrasting old and new songs is being done in several new acts this season, but "Ye Song. Shop" is far in the lead. Cliff Hess and Joe Santly WTote the lyrics and music and Pat Rooney conceived the idea. Aleen Bronson has some very bright lines in her new vehicle and read them perfectly. But there is still room for im- provement, especially in the early portion. A neat little story runs through the dia- logue between Miss Bronson and Margaret Hoffman, as a teacher who insists on hav- ing only the truth. The finish finds Miss Bronson with a bouquet as a gift to the teacher, telling her that "The man is Dead." This was employed in the Laurie and Bronson act. The audience liked the act and Miss Bronson thanked them for their kind appreciation. Irene Franklin is like old wine, for she "improves with age." As a headliner and an artiste, she is the peer in her line. Songs, characterizations and ft dance stamped her aa' par excellence, easily car- rying away the hit of the show. George Fairman assisted at the piano. Swor Brothers held down next to closing with their familiar blackface act. Four Danubes are a quartette of casters who Bhowed some new twists and turns. —J. D. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS (Continued an Pace It) RIVERSIDE The Wheeler Trio opened the show with an excellent display of acrobatic ability that won hearty applause. In the difficult opening spot, they succeeded in gaining recognition at. the hands of a house that was half seated, the other half being late arrivals. Their work is fast and clever and they have worked out a routine all their own. Ldbonati, the xylophone jazz baby, was on second. He offered a varied program of numbers, including popular, operatic, and semi-classic. He plays his instrument well and knows how to sound an audience. He was called upon to take an encore, for which he rendered a medley of popular tunes. Third on the program came Dorothy Shoemanker and Company, in a playlet called "Life." The piece has been changed somewhat since last week, and we must say it has been entirely for the better. It has to do with crooks and detectives, and runaway wives and heartless seducers, all of whom have been the subject of plays for ages. Ella. Shields, the English male imper- sonator, has added two numbers to her act since last we saw her. She now opens with the "Just another One," song, fol- lowed by "The King's Navy," and "Bur- lington Bertie." This third number earned her an encore, for which she offered a Tommy Atkins number telling of how the army picks its girls. This, in turn, re- sulted in another encore, for which she sang a popular ballad. Miss Shields is an artist in her line and her work is the acme of perfection. Leon Enrol, assisted by an unbilled, un- programmed man who essays the role of a butler, offered his screamingly funny act entitled "The Guest." Errol received ft large hand upon his entrance and was applauded all the way through his act. His drunk is a study in a past art and deserves, mention because of the realistic manner in which he puts it over, despite the lack of any stimulus. The way he breaks up the scenery is enough to make anyone laugh. He scored a tremendous hit. After intermission and the customary "Topics of the Day," came Both well Browne and his revue. Browne has the assistance of some half dozen or so bath- ing Venuses and the Brown Sisters, Flavia and Dorothy. The act opens with a series of poses, first seen here in the original "Sennett Bathing Girls Revue." Following the poses, there is a display of bathing suits and feminine shapeliness that is bound to delight an audience, anywhere. A dance by the Brown sisters, gome more posing and an accordion specialty precede the big scene in the act. This is the Oriental dance by Browne. In a gorgeous Oriental setting, intended to depict the harem of the Shah of someplace or other, his hand-maidens are seen dancing, each striving to win his favor. Browne as the jealous favorite, offered an Oriental dance that was received with marked favor. He has added a few steps since last we saw him, some six months ago. Joe Cook, the one man vaudeville show, assisted by a pantomime comedian, who displays ability, stopped the Bhow cold. Cook is a "hoke" artist and, besides being a clever comedian, is a good dancer, plays a saxophone, juggles, and, in short, doep a little of everything that one sees in a vaudeville show. He took two encores and was forced to make a speech before the audience would allow him to depart. Vera Sabina, assisted by Maurice Spit- zer, closed the show with a dance offering that won favor. The-numbers are well put on, and much care is taken in their execu- tion. They were well received by an audi- ence that stayed till the last.—S. K. COLONIAL Sylvia Loyal and Company made a fairly good start for the show with their pigeon and hat-throwing offering. She has cut out the dance which she formerly had in the act, thus speeding it up a hit. It can be still further improved with some of the pos- ing which is done in the first part of the turn, cut down. The Pearson Trio, whose names on the enunciator were Pearson, Newport and Pearson, proved to be a riot in the second spot. It is a mystery that this act has not been seen on the big time previous to now and in better than second spot, for they offer acrobatic time-step dancing that is very good. The woman dances in the opening number >nd, for the rest of the act, provides tlu> music at the piano, while the two men dance. "Last Night," the musical act which is reviewed under New Acta, found it an easy matter to please the audience. Earl Cav- anaugh was badly handicapped by a cold, which gave him a very hoarse voice, but, despite this, worked hard and kept the laughs coming. The girls are very pretty and do their work well. Julia Rooney and Walter Clinton are valuable assets to the offering, with their dance bits. Miss Tomp- kins, who is not programmed, and also a man whose name we could not learn, also work well. Blanche' Franklyn and Nat Vincent are credited with the lyrics and music, and Samuel Lee, most likely Sammy Lee, formerly with Ruby Norton, is cred- ited, with staging the dance numbers. George Ford and Flo Cunningham is an- other act which should have been seen otherwise than on the small time before this. Both are very clever performers and show it all through their act. Their ma- terial, while not sensational, is very pleas- ing, and as handled by this capable pair, win. make the. going easy in any house. Joseph E. Howard and Ethelyn Clark presented their new revue, which appears under New Acts, having been reviewed last week in Mount Vernon. The act, as far as material is concerned, has not been changed, although the arrangement of one or two bits have. The finish is still weak, and, for that matter, the entire plot is. However, the offering possesses excellent entertainment value. Howard and Clark work excellently. Then there is Maurice Diamond, whose dancing stopped the show on Monday night. A young lady, evidently Ruth Reed, is a newcomer, who will be heard from very shortly. Besides being very pretty, she is an excellent dancer and does some bits so far only done by Pearl Regay. Jack King plays. the piano and does his old vaudeville specialty from the Harvey and King act. The name of the act is "Chin Toy." The chorus is typically Win- ter Garden and there are four young men who do their bits well. Walter Weems opened the second half by singing two verses from the old "Go- pher Dust" number and then went into his patter. It took four gags before be got a laugh, but, after he got started, he kept them going. The gag about the "Spoiled Baby" was a riot and his description of a homely girl at a party, bad the audience in hysterics. He stopped the show after playing the tuba, and took two encores. The Four Marx Brothers have made but few changes in their "NTSverything" offer- ing, but the manner in which they now work is very good. Jean Maddocks is back with the act. but does not dance with the younger Marx, who now appears with a new partner. Margot Francois and her down partner closed the show with their tumbling and stilts feats. While some walked out, des- pite the lateness of the hour, the majority stayed to watch them and gave the act much applause.—G. J. H. ROYAL It is the fast cake-walk at the close of Chong and Rosie Moey's act that gets this pair off to a fairly decent amount of ap- plause, for, otherwise, the offering con- tains nothing startling. The two sing in the first part of the act and can be heard in the front of the house only. Their other dances, which consist of a waltz and fox-trot, are good. Albert Hawthorne and Johnny Cook had a large sign placed in front of the theatre to the effect that they were "Bronx Boys,'* This was evidently true; at any rate there were quite a few in the audience who seemed to know them pretty well and tried to help them by yelling soma un- intelligible remarks every few minutes. The two feature pure unadulterated "ho- kum" from start to finish, and also use some freak instruments. They use these at the close of the act for jockeying ap- plause. They handle their material well, but could use newer gags to better ad- vantage. Raymond Bond and Janet Moore, with Willard Robertson, have a pleasing com- edy which they call "Story Book Stuff." The offering is well written, Bond being programmed as the author. The three handle it excellently and the offering gave a very good account of itself. George Bobbe and Eddie Nelson are still doing the same act they have been using for years. Nelson continues to atop the show with his solo. He is now doing an Al Jolson number and brought the house down with it George Bobbe is not to be forgotten in mentioning good voices and delivery. They scored a tremendous hit. Ernestine Myers and Paisiy Noon, with Grant -icKay at the piano, took quite a number of bows in closing on intermis- sion. Miss Myers wears a new costume, which covers much more of her body than her other costume did in the "Oriental" number. But the audience gasped tost the same. The one she wears in the jazz num- ber is splendid. Her dancing is artistic all through. Noon also does, capable work, and McKay lends able assistance. Programmed as "A Ton of Pep," June Mills offered more "hokum" and was a riot. A "company* is programmed and billed with her. It consists of a man in the orchestra pit'who sings one solo and also helps to pull a few gags about her shape, or, rather, oyer abundance of it. Miss Mills is twice as heavy as Trixie Friganza, and yet dances well. She also sings, but in a-fast manner, maybe to show that despite her weight, she is not short-winded. Smith and Austin, assisted by a pretty blonde who was not billed, followed with more "hoke." The act has some very clever bits to it and did not fail to serve its purpose in getting laughs. The girl sang one solo and received a big hand, for she possesses a pleasant voice. In time, she should develop into a valuable asset to the act. Whether or not "Vie" Quinn is a "find," it must be said that she has a jazz band act that is very good. She possesses a world of personality, a very pretty figure and dances excellently. Frank Farnum has been some time in coming to the top, but, as long as audiences like to see a dancer do original stuff, and do It well, Farnum will remain in that class. And it sure is a pleasant sight to see how he and Miss Quinn work together. George - Kreer must not be omitted, even though all he does is singing. He possesses a voice and has a soft crooning manner of deliv- ering a song that leaves the audience crying for more. Ben Bernie has added one or two new gags to his act, but, otherwise, Is doing the same routine. Some of the balcony bunch misconstrued 'some of the gags and some of them are the kind that can be taken two ways. Johnson. Baker and Johnson closed the show with their hat-throwing act and not only held them in, but received a lot of applause and laughs as well.—G. J. H.