New York Clipper (Mar 1923)

March 14, 1923 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER 11 STATE (Last Half) Tbe s«cr«t of eternal youtli, or of perpetual iDoiion. mny never be solved, but the trick of how to keep patrons coming in. in one continuous ctrcam, at any show any time of day, has cer- taloly been nailed by Marcus Locw. Even though a few empty seats may appear in back of the hoiu«* which ts not often, the number of people m the theatre is ctOl far m excess of any amusement place on the line. The Joe De Koe Troupe opened a show thM moved along 8%»ift]y» doing an assortment of band-balancing, acrobatic and tumbling stunts out of tbe ordinary, and accomplished in a style of unusual fine&se. Tbe-four men have their art down to the utmost degree of artistic finish, affecting a leisurely manner, yet in reality put- ting the routine across with great speed. The woman, assisted at times here and there with a deft touch. In the second spot, Roy, Dom and Duke offered musical and singing bits, plasmgjij done and arrant;ed in a way that gave seme variety. One of the wen was tbe pianist, and tbe other man and girl played Boxopbonea in duo or tingle combination, and alternated in doing the aoogs. One of the numbers done by the girl was some- what like an impencnation of Ruth Roye, yet another song was done unusually well. Her costumes were pretty, and, like her partner, played the sax very well. TBe only bad feature of the act appears to be the English version of a song, done with a monocle, etc., which Cails to take.from a comedy angle. Reet] and Selman aeeni to improve as they go along with their novelty craiedy skit. The locale is the roof of a house and each make bdieve that they are barglars,' etc. Finally the boy proves to be the landlord's son and the girl Is a tenant of course. One of their songs, "Crooked,** is put ovs .with a sort of satirical touch that bits unusually, probably due to tbe girl's spirited style of working. The next to dosing spot was held by Moss and Frcye, who are featured for tbe whole week. The tam is well known to most patrons, and their stuff had easy niling. Theirs is the kind of act that can he started or finished at any point of their material, and st» make it a little different now and then. The harmony numbers went as well as their dialogue. ' Lou and Jean Archer closed the show in a sobg and dance revue, assisted by a girl pianist. The present offering is different than the modiste affair done on the Keith circuit last season by the team. They have a pretty set, eccellcnt costumes which Miss Archer knows how to war, and fairly pleasing numbers. Two of tbe bits done have been retained from the former vehicle, however, one being their semi-classical dance, and the other the "queen of the movies" song and bur]cs4|ue 'Innce. M. H. S, REGENT (Laa Hmlf) The Geralds started proceedings with a musi- cal offering, delightfully staged, and'fiiully exe< cnted. This man and woman-team 'play a va- riety of instruments, opening with a Gypiy camp-fire setting, the woman singing and then plajring 'cello and violin, banjos and lastly mov- ing to one to play two different selections on an arrangement of mandolins. The act went un- osnally well for an opener and really deserves a better spot on most bills. Ray Conlin, ventriloquist, sells his! act more on the strength of his comedy thm beause of any great ability as a ventriloquist. Smoking a cigar throughout his performance, he has the dummy do most of tbe talkiagi with practically no dif- ference between the voice of the dummy and his own. His comedy, however, is clean and gets ova- £nc. The Denno Sisters, Thibault and Cody are a qoarleite of bock dancers that are so naWe in their efforts to please and work so bard to get over that they score heavily. They open with a vocal quartette, two men and two girls, and then move into a wdl-arxanged routine for four. One of the men does a fine buck single, the girls do a Scotch jig double, the other boy does a solo dance, and tbe four finish with a cracko'' jack walu dog, using a dram corps effect for an encore. The act took with this audience, and they deserved it Tbe Yip Yip Yapbanken "were - tbe high spot on the bill. The singing qnartctte is excellent, giving real camp-fire har- mony. ^ The comedy, wbDe a bit forced, still sue- ceeda in being funny, and the gynmastics are performed with speed and showmanship that puts them over. The oicore and bows taken by «*Asthma" and the sergeant, in one, are not at all advisable. It seems to ns a mistake to feature any member of what purports to be a "service** organizaticm. Howard and Lyons, the former being Tom Howaril r>f burlesque fame, dragged through thdr act, giving the impression that they had not enough material to cover their time. Howard plays the sap in fine style but found he had to resort to smut to draw the big laugh. Tbe fin- ish, with tlic exchange of watches, fell entirely flat with this audience. They did succeed in getting a lot of laughs out of their imaginary dining-room scene. DvTOihy Rudac aud Co., the company consist- ing of a piano acompanist and a boy singer and dancer, proved to be an exceedingly well-staged and wdl-prcsented act. Miss Rudac is possessed of unusual chaim, sings wdl and dances gracefully, while her partner, a graduate of cabaret work around New York, has a good baritone and is a graceful and accomplished dancer also. Miss Rudac wear* several striking costumes. The act is a strong one. the high spots being the **Vanity** dance, and the boy's sclo dance, in which he does some great high kicks and splits. C. C PROCTOR'S 23rd STREET (Lut Half) A gala bill, in keeping with the diirty-fourtb anniversary being cdebratcd at this theatre, ushered in tbe last half. While tbe vsudeviUe section has been coiifined to the usual six acts, the acts are above the average for this house, with the motion picture version of '*The Hot- tentot,** featuring Douglas McLean and Madge Bdlatny, rounding out a diverting program. Weston's Modds, two girls and a man, opm the show with a scries of artistic poses, which for the most part are reproductions of iamous statuary grcupings. The list of tableaux indude "Music," "Forward." "Marathon," "Prodigal Stti." "The Gladiator" and "Call to Anns.** Tlie modds appear in white fleshings with faces and hands made up to represent a plaster effect. The act is enhanced with special lighting effects and is sold with a touch of dass that tnakcs it a corking opener or doscr for any bill. Mack nnd ReadinR, a mixed team, with girl working biraigbt and man doing a nut comic, followed on with a mixture of songs and nonsense which were sold in a fairly delightful ."nanncr and necmed to grt them over for a fair hit. Sam Liebcrt and Company were seen in "The End of the World," the skit in which Alex Carr scored success in some fifteen years ago, and which inddentally put that comedian upon the Broadway map. At that time the skit was pairt of the burlesque show, "Wine, Women and Song." Carr later played it in the big time houses. Liebert has been playing it since on the "family time." Since everyone is familiar ' with the plot it needs no recounting here. Lfebert blended comedy and pathos to a nicety in the central diaracter, that of an old Hebrew, who swears by tbe philosopher, Toblitsky. By a hoax his son and prospective daughter-in-law discredit the philosopher and find thdr way to tbe father's heart. Rita Gould, borrowed from the big time, was easily the hit of the bill in an engaging song repertoire. "Peacock Alley," proved a splendid opening number. Miss Gould followed with "Pickaninny Shoes," into which she injected a semblance of tlrama that brought her rendition the best hand ul the act. She rounded out her program with scvrral other songs that were cq'^lly well reoeivc<l. Allen and Canfidd cl >vvned their way through a series of sL-ngs and comedy, while Liza and her Shuffling Sextette, the latter a dance orchestra coml)ination, closed the show with a combination of <onff», dinces and iiisirunicntnl numbers. K. J. n. HAMILTON (Last Half) The last half bill was advertised as a "K. K. K." show, meaning Keith Komedy Karaival. While the comedy wasn't quite as strong throughout the bill as one might he led to believe, the show itself was a very strong one, .-ind moved along swiftly without a hitch. Frank .Wilson did a routine of stunts on bicy- cles in opening the show and gave it a good start. He docs some tuusual stunts and does {ill of them well, going over for a big hand in the initial spot. Frank Carroll and Roy Sedlcy almost stopped the show after holdinj; dou-n tbe detice spot with songs and a dance bit by Sedlc>'. The boys are neat in appearance, have likeable per- sonalities and good voices. Their repertoire con- sists of ;tublished numbers, and the best of the songs is the fact that all of them are the latest rdcises, and haven't been done before by other singing acts. O'Meara and I-andis did a quiet comedy nntinc of talk, with the scene laid at a beach. The girl is attractive and sings well, using a double voice .in a splnedid number, but in the -talk bits doesn't seem to he very sure of herself. O'Meara is responsible for must of the laughs handling the ccmedy end of the aci ctfcciivdy. The bit with the policeman is a comedy gem, and O'Meara prwcs himself an artist in facial expression in this bit. D. ApoUon and Company in "Bi Ba Bo," weren't permitted to leave the stage until Apollon bad rendered a speech of thanks ala Balief, pulling the gag about not beinff aUe to speak &iglish well, but perhaps in some years to come will be able to speak English better than the audience will ^»eak Russian. The act is wdl suged. and the girls, EmQy Fitzgerald and Ramona, are exceptionally good dancers in addi- tion to bdng very pretty. Apollon scores with his mandolin and piano work, and delivers the big wallop with some very good Russian dandng. Kellam and O'Dare fonnd it easy to get laughs, the "not" comedy of the tall, lanky Kdlam find-' iog fertile soil. Miss O'Dare is a shapdy little miss and makes a good foil for him. The Four Readings dosed the show with their souatioflal gymnastic work. The "leap for life.** OS it might be called, canaed the audience to hold its breath and tore tbe bouse down after it was over. C. J. H. second ticked off on the dock, and the aodicnrt kept applauding long after the lights were out. - Juliet's arpcaiance was also the caoae of s* big ovattoo. She could have stayed in view ti»> definitely giving her imitations «f various artiste It was almost ten thirty when Will Mahoney went on, and even though he elimiutcd several bits from his act. he scored a riot with bis com edy. Mahoney also downed in the "Caharet- Luid" revue, which was over after 11 P. M. The picture "The Hottentot*' was then shown. G, J. H, FRANiOJN (Last HalO This is another house whic£ has a seating ca- pacity of 3,500. and on Thursday night e i er y seat in the bouse was occupied, in addition to a few standing. This was - readily explained by the fact that there vrac twdve acts on the bill, in addition to the local attraction, tbe "Franklia Cabaret Land," and the jnotion pictnr^ Of the twelve acts, six were on tl^e bill for the one day, being professional tryouts or ohowings. The "Franklin Cabaret Land" had a cast of 50 boys and girls, and pnived to be tbe bcs^ of the bimdrcds of amateur affairs the wn^ has had both the fortune and misfortime- of seeing. In regard to th6 **FranUui (Ubaret Land" we can use the. word, "fortiine-" Hany Shaw and Murray Rose staged it, Shaw leading the orchestra foe its performance, and they are to he given credit for turning out a sltow which could bold its owb with any pro^essioiial' zet seen. They bad some' wonderful' voices amoag these amateur kids, and when it came'to dandng,' "Shuffle Along," " *Ltza Jane,"- "Lady But- terfly," or any of your dancing-shows nre slowi in comparison. Whfle. it is true that the amateur attraction is beginning to lose out as a local at< traction, because of the many being dop^ it mtist be said that if any of the others were anywhere nearly as acceptable as the "Franklin Cabaret Land," no one could ever' tire of them. ' The show was started as 7.27 p. *m. by the CauibtcrSp- 'who shewed a v er y gOod routine 'of aerial Work ud faag-puocbiufc. Thi» man and wom.in should be aUe tu land plenty of work. Fairbanks and Major, likeable. boy and girl team, did well with a routine, of talk and tongt, the songs bdng responsible for thdr getting ever. With revised talk this pair should make an acceptable act for tbe three-a-day route. Harry Ellis and 'Joe Scaalon need no intro^ ductioir, even though they werd showing. EUis* voice is as good as It ever was, and Scanlon has a good bass. They almost - stopped the show with their singitig. Less talk or better comedy in thdr talk wotild hdp the act. ' Bums and Crawford did a Savoy and Brennan act which might have been -good. We don't know; neither did the audience, fpr . their, con- versation wa^ very private and couldn't ,be heard beyoml the orchestra, pit. With the result that ihey recdved a polite razzing' from the audience, by means of applause in the'midsf of'thdr ad and went off without taking a bow. Charles. Lawlor and his daughter, assisted by a pianist, stopped the show. Lawkrr^ now blind.- does a routine of old songs, using **Sidewalks of New York** for an encore. They should go w'eD in most houses. Gruet, Kramer and Gruet worked in front of a circus drop and did a dandy comedy* act; ontf- of the tx}o working in hladc*face, the other-two consisting of a man -.who did a "bally-ho** .aiul worked stright, and a woman who did several dances. They dosed with instrumental bits, using the sauphoncs, cornet, tuba and drums, Judith Homer and Company began . thdr of- fering in playlet style, and before' it was half over, started to sing thdr' lines ala operalta. The entire affair was weak,- not only because of the incoherent way it was written, but txcause of tbe unconvindng manner the entire cast did thdr role. Flo Ring proved to be a winsome little lady with a sweet personality, a good* voice and pleas- ant ddiveo-. She was liked here and should be elsewhere. A big reception greeted the fiashing of .the names of Demarest and CoUdte, who proceeded to score the first big hit of the show and tie up the works with their comedy. This pair ate big favorites here: in fact, we have as yet to sec the bouse where they aren't one of the most popu- lar acts playing. The laughs, came with every PROCTOR'S FIFTH AVE. (Laa HmlO An eight met bill craiij dlTidcd with bis ud., •null lime features tuhered in the Imit half hen- <>n Thuriday. The Uoiconi Brothen, a featoVr act ffvm the bie time, is ^u-arded slellar position of the bill. The remaining acts arc jost roiitint vaudevnte that fit in niceljr for a smooth ruonitic »how. The three Melfordi started the shov si: a lively gait with a mixture - of balaociog. wid acrohatics that mealed •oiii£,.cIeTer work b tbir line, and set a pace that was ''pep" and 'foV from begiooiog to end. Princess Winona, repatcd to be a icKo^at from the Seneca Indians, followed on with aong repertoite. The princets has m plcasuic soprano yoice of high range. She opened with an Indian character songi that .led into an Inti^ ductoiy aplaining her .birth and subseipianl adoption by an Americu iaoQy who thortngbly ctlucmted her and lent Ber abroad to sttldy mil,K^ The remainder of ber' aoiigs wvrv sons cp English. Her' dosing linmbcr was song both' in Kngliih ''and*'in* the Indian toogne,' with th^ Princes, scalins a good top note for the iinlab of the btter version. • ; . . • Fianlc. Wilcox and Company held dowa- alcteb spot in ."An Emergency Case," a- pleaslBR comcdietie from. tlier pen of VincoU Lawrcsos, Wilcox _ c^ys' the role' of n sncccxsfnl 'yoonc physician',' who has'knarritd the ifiiaw of one of ' his''pltients'through an odd bargain. The ife ceased had left the sirl penniless and the "Doc" married' her-merely ti prdlectlier. At the time of her bniba^d'a 'death she-almost refused to' «h> ' eept .the position of wife In name only, URiriBg tbe du^or that she could .never love anynoe'int the depattjcd. The Doe ikas taken ha - at. ber word, in,sta]led her in hjs bqme and tiratol twr like a chDU. Re has iympathiied with her am her great loss for thfee cotisccotive years. Oni^ tng the action of 'the pbylct' it is the third an- niversary of her husband's'death. He has r- membcred tbe occasion With some lUica and -a wreath which .he thodghl she would want to place upon the departed one's grave. While the doctor is doing his level best to sympathize with her In her great sorrow,* fats piJ eom^m acv stealinff into. hcr^ heart. It .seems that she bas' thoroughly forgotten her departed hubby and has been yearning for, a^ection. When the "Doe^ Icams this he waven the friend aside and pra^eed,^ * to vamp her off her feet. Wilcox is apit^l- as the jotiDg doctor and is capably supported by two others. Artie Mehlingcr scored In-' a song lepcrtoiR ihat included practically tvtrj type of soof singable.. He. opened witlr -"Down in New Of Inns,*' -followed .with a song -ntirv en gptd diggers-called "Pig » Uttle Deeper," and closed, with ''A Dixie Pair o' Dic&" ^UDly Joyce car- .ries'-the' accompaniment for the songs .on 'the.' piano. ' ^fehlinger sang six' numbers in all anS could have' stayed longer',' 'bat' being an astute' showman decided -to bow '6ff 'rather' than feed them too much. ' Foster Ball and RusieU - Davis were a cfaai- acteriration ddigkt in ^^Back In '61." . Ball seor-. ing as usual as the Civil War.veteran and sand-' viching a good deal of bomidy comedy into bis dever characterixatien of "the grand old amy The Hosconi Brothers, assined by aiAer 'Ve and* brother Willie, wowed, than to a faiv-theD^ well with a dance prodoetion that included every mode of danciag imder - tbe sun. Louis - and. Charles s^Dred both individnallj and ooUcctivdy in a' series of snappy danpesy and werr opahly supported by their '.brother, .and sister, wbv' demonstrated that dandng abQity has not by any means been ccooentnled upon Louis and dnriea. The act was pnt over in lightning like f.»tiV<r< and one would hardly believe thai. it re^y had consumed the mnning time altolleil to it. Jimmy Lucas and Francine ofTcTrJ their dr- lightful mixture of songs and nouMnse, while "Nibla." the model, dosed the show in a pMinr novrlly. E. J- B! Pearl Bafle^, formerly of the "Zicg- feld Follies," is breakine in a hew single and will be sieen the last half of this week in Staten' Island with time around Kcw -York, to fallow.