New York Clipper (Jun 1923)

June 6, 1923 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER 9 PALACE Claude Anderson and Leona Yvel, in "Trying to Please." ofTcrcd a clever lit- tle routine of difficult dance and bits on roller skates which included a burlesque dance by the man as well as an Apache dance by both. In the second spot. Sam Moore and Carl Freed, in "Spooning and Balloon- ing," entertained with a nifty musical offering of a different sort, being that both were elad as comics and gathered a few laughs cn-routc. Steel guitar, ukelelc. a real blues' harmonica, musical saw. were used, and a pair of spoons de- livered some syncopated taps. For their closing stunt, the air escaping from a toy balloon was made to do a solo. Eddie Foy and Younger Foys in their New 1923 Revue, by Bryan Foy and William Jerome. Ijrcczed along in di- verting style, all of the "Younger" Foys improving steadily in their work if any- thing. This is especially noticeable of the dancing done by one of the girls. A new bit added since we last caught the act is the Wliitcman orchestra stuff. Foy lead- ing the band who went through the mo- tions of playing while a record on a. pho- nograph batted out the music. ■ "The Old Family Tin Type," pre- sented by Oiic Yorks and Rose King, was easily the comedy hit of' the; bill as far as the women-folk were concerned for one thing and most of the men as well. The vehicle is better than ever, the cross-fire ,in the early .part going over with a genuine punch, being done in a jocular spirit and fast, and working up to the rest of the material which is equally good. Harry Stoddard and His Orchestra, closed the first half, scoring a decidid hit at the band's initial appearance at this house. This outfit, «ve might say, is one pf New York's own, having de- veloped gradually from an ordinary combination to one that carries a posi- tive kick and a distinctive style. When the orchestra started on its ten week run at the Broadway several months ago. it had many defects, despite the extended run; now, such defects have been eliminated and no weak spots are apparent. Jazz is not overworked, in fact pleasing ballads and syncopated operatic excerpts being played up out- side of the piece de resistance. "The Streets of New York," a novelty that has been perfected^ to a consider- able degree. The singer in the outfit has a Ted Lewis style of doing his num- bers, and the ivhole saxophone section is versatile playing anything from the violin to the flute, the latter being a rare instrument in jazz bands. The second half was opened by Aileen Stanley, "The Phonograph Girl," who offered several songs of various types, assisted at the piano by an accompanist. Miss Stanley sings naturally and with no apparent effort, and with a charm that is really a delight to the ear. Scores of. singers with a phonograph reputation fail to please in person but Miss Stanley is surpassing. Her per- sonal appearance and singing is of (he best and her act from start to finish is a vocal treat. Lionel Atwill, (By courtesy of David Belasco) and an excellent supporting cast, scored again in his sketch, "The White Faced Fool," as he has on previ- ous occasions at this house. Will Hind- son as the valet, gives a performance second only to that of Atwill. The rest of the cast was adequate, including Elsie Mackay as Mile. Dejazet. Harry Fox, assisted at the piano, by Eben Litchfield, offered a few songs and comedy lines, the act being about the same as it has been- for some n:onths. The Original Four Phillips, closed the show in an exhibition of acrobatics end "forehead balancing" of a novelty order. M. H. S. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS RIVERSIDE The sultry weather on Monday after- noon hit the attendance at this house a staggering wallop and established a new low mark for a Monday matinee audi- ence. • Those that did wend their way into the heated auditorium sweltered through eight acts that were diversified and entertaining, but in most instances the greater part of the audience were too languid to applaud. Consequently the performers on the bill had a tough day of it also. Ray Huling's Clown Seal was the pacemaker and offered a routine of stunts that were put over with a' finish that bespeaks good training. The seal is undoubtedly the most wonderful trained animal in captivity and at times illustrates human intelligence in the manner in which he seems to nnderstand. Zelda Santley, mimic, deifced with impressions of footlight favorites, of- fering a list that included Eddie Cantor. Pat Rooney. Belle" Baker. Nan Hal- perin and others. Miss Santley is a likable and versatile little lady. She can put over a song with average re- sults, can also dance, but her impres- sions do not stand up with those being done by other mimics. I believe .she would gain better results with her att if she announced the impressions as caricatures inasmuch as that was what they seemed to this reviewer. Never- theless, she has a great little act. Stella Tracey and Carl McBride fol- lowed with a mixture of comedy and songs, with a dash or two of danciiig, which altogether made their, contribu- tion interesting and above the average. They have woven satires around their songs and the combination is proving a happy one for them. Moran and Mack, the blackface comics, were deliciously humorous as they always are, with their argumentative' nonsense and their burlesque boxing bout, while Franklin and Douglas, whose forte is acrobatics and balancing, fooled the audience for the early part of their act' by demonstrating their ability as dancers and burlcsquers. Their Apache dance kept them roaring. Later they dropped the veneer -of camouflage and offered the routine balancing act, demonstrating that they are without equal in their line. Shone and Squire, substituted for Bevan and Flint, opened the second section with their familiar conglomera- tion of.comedy wise-cracks, songs and dances. Shone is a light comedian of likable personality, while Miss Squire is a striking blonde who -works well with her partner and is quite pleasant to look at. -May Yohe and her Shell-O-Tone Syn- copators, headlincrs of the bill, was ac- corded a warm reception that was only overshadowed by the tremen- dous applause showered upon them at the end of the act. Whoever has been responsible for the routin- ing of the act deserves credit- for the manner of arrangement. Miss Yohe is heard in several songs she had made famoiis in yesteryear, but it is the band and a blackface dancing marvel that works the act up to the tremendous pitch that provides a sure fire finish. While Miss Yohe's contributions are entertaining in their way, it is the band that carries the act to success. Olsen and Johnson, two versatile chaps who have elevated clowning from the slapstick stage to the sphere of high art, clowned all- over the place-in an individual offering and later joined forces with other members of the bill in an excruciatingly funny afterpiece. E. J. B. BROADWAY At the Broadway this week they wore showing the FGlbane-Criqui fight pictures and these took up more time than the usual feature and, as a consequence, the bill had to be shortened. Only six acts put in an appearance, and most of these found the going tfMjgh. It's a sure thing that the performers didn't mind the heat much on the first show Monday, because the.' audi- ence gave them a reception cold enough to chin even the most hard-tM>iled Jjactor. True, the end of the bill did succeed in waking them np, but it was mostly bv'maiii strength and almost superhuman effort. The bin got off to a slow start^ The opening act, Willa and Harold atovin, have one of those novelty performances that one sees in vaudeville ever>- no.w and then masquerading under the name- ot art. It is of the sanie class of art as the anti- macassars that grandma used to have in the parlor, the wax flowers, , the , blown glass animals, .the ship in the bottle and other horrible relics of a varfished age; This team go to work and make w^at are called picttires out of a lot of lags'cut to fit. As rags go. they are pretty good rags, and Wbul4 be vei-y-useful- in the niaking of ^a'per.', As picttires, they are certainly not works of art. We will be fair though. Considering the mcditmi they use, they do manage to produce some good images, their hepertoire consisting 'of an "Indian" in full war paint, a snow'stene with a wind' mill in the middle distance, this scene com- posed mostly of a bed sheet, an old pair' of corduroy breeches and some red flan- nel. unmentionables; a girl and'a'horse, easily distinguidiable because the girl wore' clothes, and a likeness of President Hard- ing, .'which'^-jvas heartily applauded by the lonesome Republican, who got lost and came to the show. For those who like this kind of thing it was a good act. Ben Smith followed. From his size you might call him Big Ben, but on Monday his act was weak. ' It' never came near, ringing the bell. The scene is laid in a Pullman train and Smith claims to be telling'secrets about the people in the dif- ferent berths. Ted Lorraine and Company have a good act, beautifully staged and costumed and containing a . good deal of sense. The dancing school introduction is'more than pleasing and the nioth and the flame finish, while not an original conception, is still highly pleasing and consistently' presented. Swift and Kelly played here before and a good many people in the audience knew their act. Nevertheless, thoy worked hard and got over'well at the finish, although in the beginning Swift didn't have it'any too easy. The ^act is well seasoned and has been tried out long enough so that the team know what the audiences like and how to hand it to them. They have a fin- ish that is out of the ordinar}-, both singing a' duct as tlicy exist, an amber spot arising in on them lo a final fadeout that goes over for a great hand. Healy and Cross are a popular pair. Thcv do a piano act and the boys on the shelf know them and like them. In their routine they open with "Wa'v Down South" and follow, with "Paddy," "Keep Your Mind on -Dancing," ending with "That Old Gang'Of Mine," which proved to be a great number for them. For an encore they de- livered "Oh. - How. She Lied" with some great lyrics.- The act. went over for a solid hit and on a-mere agreeable day would have had little trouble in stopping ihc show. Power's Dancing Elephants closed the show. These peerless, ponderous pachy- derms performed perfectly pctrif>-ing feats of aniinal skill. The Dixie Four and Frawley and Louise arc also on the bill at the Broadway, but were not caught at this show. C. C. NEW BRIGHTON .\nother exceptionally good show is here for this week. The bills for the past few weeks have all been so .good, it would be difficult for anybody to pick the best one of the lot. One thing is cer- tain, and that is that Coney Island and L^righton Beach have no kick coming , on the treatment they're getting 4S far as. big time vaudeville is concerned iii .George Robinson's house. For that fnattie'r.' tKey .<scem to appreciate it.' 'for on jMonday m.itinees, when 'the attendance' is stiiall.. the crowd applauds and laughs, better than an S., R. O. ai'tdierice at. lf»e' Palace does, .^ny act that'works'cDiiscientibusry' here will'have no. difficulty, .in'sto|ftrng' the show.' " '.^J. - , An unusually good jgynviastiF ^lul tum- bling act is offered by Axilla ,an<f W()lian( Reuter, in - which the pair do tftme very sensational stunts.. Both styles,.of,-work are combined in most.jif thie .f^ts j^one, ail of which drew plenty, of apj^liuise... The Beaumont .S.istcrs, .' assisted, bj Matt}- Whitestone, offered a.'skit' tellu|g.o1 their history via slides, aiid in wluch thfy. rendered their former' successes.., Bqth make -very. attracti\-e ,.apfievaj}ces,-..and sing their numbers effectivdy,.: , " ". "Fifty Miles From Btoadway," pre- sented by. C. B. Maddodc..'prOycd.to be an excellent divertisement -.of songs, dances, comedy and music Harry^ Wat- son and Reg Merville, as a - couple of "rubes" handle the .comedy end and make it easy for the audience to faugh .with the manner in which they do it. OJga. Woods delivers songs-Jn. a style that makes it register and is an excellent dancer. Dan McNeil makes a neat juvenile with little to do. The band plays well, and the bass -drum bit at the finish. is sure-fire. D. D. H ? didn't go as well as he has done in the past, for the simple reason that he didn't work as well as he has in the past. D. D. H? is-supposed to be- one of the best monologists in \-audeville,- and really is when he feels like working properly. But on Monday afternoon, he was evidently in a hurry to get through,- for he dashed through his' routine as' we have never-seen him do before, not wait-- ■ng for laughs, omitting emphasis on words which he used to do and thus losing laughs and runnini? over several lines he has injected without trying to see their worth as laugh-getters. The result was that the applause wasn't one- tenth of what he ordinarily gets, and ne can't blame this on the size of the audi- ence. He didn't take one how, m ■ hb hurry to get away. -One of the best, i£ not the- best, and certainly, the fastest and hardbst working dance acts in vaudeville, came with Gretle ■ .Ardinc, assisted by Tyrell and Mack. For sensational dancing, without hardly a rest to get breath the-work done b^- this trio cannot be matched in- -vaudeville. Miss .Ardine's acrobatic work, and the dance - work of both the boys is nothing! short of. marvelous. We've seen this act several, times, and never have we seen an orches-: tra play the trick}- music of it as welt as. the house-orchestra here. - Even then, without detracting credit .from the orches- tra, it was a bit rough, and nothing but a leader to travel with the act, will-elim-. inate a rough opening show. The. act can - hold Its own on any bill with any. amount. of dancing preceding it, for it's in a- class by itself, thanks to Miss Ardine and her boys. ■ emma Cams, resplendent in new ward- robe, opened the second half, assisted by T. Walter Leopold. Miss Carus has sev- eral new numbers, all of which more than pleased. The funniest hokum act in vaudeville, Williams and Wolfus, followed and scored its usual laugh riot. Cooke, Mor- timer and Harvey closed the show with, a fine - novelty . in pla>-{ng basketball on. bi- cycles in the dark by means of illuminated ball, sticks and baskets. G. J. H.