Variety (Dec 1905)

VARIETY. Shows die week — RE.—ROBERTS. Variety gossip the past few weeks has been busy with the rumor that the se- cret of the quick changes made by R. A. Roberts, who opened at the Colonial week before last, and who is now play- ing at the Orpheum in Brooklyn, was a double. It was nointed out that Mr. Roberts not only masked the entire stage with black cloth, but was most exacting in his demand that not even the stage hands should be permitted to look on. Mr. Roberts' changes are so remark- ably complete that there was some ground for the suggestion, so far as those who were on the stage was con- cerned, but while Mr. Roberts' changes are far more elaborate than those done by Fregoli and other protean artists, there is no need of a dummy, nor would tn> employment of such a device serve, since the act is virtually a succession of monologues broken by changes to the character of an old hag which serves to save time. T'ie play recites the story of the < rentl preceding Dick Turpin's ride to York and the attempt to capture him in a London tavern frequented by the highwayman. There is an entirely use- less Yorkshire type brought In to »how Mr. Roberts' proficiency in dia- lect work and to provide him with an opportunity for an elocutionary effort; a woman supposed «.o be in love with .he highwayman, a Bow street "runner" And the hag already mentioned. This latter is made the medium for some of the most nauseating business vver done in variety. Mr. Roberts ar- gues that it is all a part of the char- acter; wherein he errs. Unalloyed vul- garity is not essential to the depiction of a character. If Mr. Roberts believes the opposite to be the case he should cut the character out. Some of his per- formances left the audiences stunned and gasping. The various monologues which go to make up the thirty-five minutes' offer- ing are all too long and the speeches of both Turpln and the rural character could be cut with decided profit. Mr. Roberts gives a performance re- markable alike for the rapidity and completeness of the changes and the nauseating qualities of his comedy. The elimination of the latter would leave him a great artist. He should get sense and realize that he is not now appealing to the type of Fnglish Music Hall audi- ence to whom catarrhal comedy seems humorous. In cutting he should also cut about ten minutes of talk. WILL WILLIAMS QUIT? The rumor is current that next sea- son Bert Williams, ef Williams and Walker, will offer himself as a mono- logue entertainer. There is said to be some feeling between the two members of the team, and Williams is reported to feel that he would fare better alone. It was impossible to verify the story, but some sucli development may be looked for before the opening of next season. ORPHEUM. Minstrels are the long suit at the Or- pheum Theatre this week, where Wey- burn's Minstrel Misses and the Crane Brothers in their "Mudtown Minstrels" are two of the attractions after R. A. Roberts, whose performance is recorded elsewhere. The Weybum act is almost a parody of the well drilled perform- ance which, a couple of years ago, scored a hit on the New York roof. Some of the girls still require to be personally conducted by the more ex- perienced members, and there is a lack of the smart uniformity which usually marks the Weyburn acts. Also there is entirely too much of Bertie Herron. Having learned that she was funny she has ceased to possess humor and becomes mere- ly tiresome. The act is rounding Into shape and perhaps in a few more weeks will be right. It appears to have been put together too quickly. The C ranes need a little more new material to freshen the performance, but their funny idea of a minstrel show is some- thing a man may laugh at without a sense of shame. It is clean and real fun lacking only novelty. The Three Meers ofer some capital wire walking, much of which is lost to sight in the comedy r atter in which it is enveloped. Alfred Meers offers some really novel "catches" and proves himself a come- dian. Both the comedy and wire tricks are entirely different from those shown the last tiiue they were here. The Dal- ton Brothers, a trio of head and hand balancers, spoil many good tricks by a very Inferior comedy parade. They would do better did they drop their comedy and offered their act as a straight performance. Alcide Capitaine showed some splendid tricks on the trapeze, but spoiled the effect by ap- pearing to sulk when the audience did not show proper appreciation. The De Witts are out of place hsre. There is nothing to the act to commend it save Mr. De Witt's diminutive stature, and hir repetition of the few eccentric wrig- gles (they cannot be called by any other name) become tiresome and almost of- fensive. Binns and Binns have one new seltzer siphon trick that is good. They have some other new work, but when the comedian sought to waken his foot with an alarm clock, the clock went on strike through sheer shame on Monday. It makes a good laughing act and their selections of musical number are well made, even though they do hold to the "Miserere" The Italian Trio sing oper- atic Hiid classical selections very well and head off further encores with one of those Italian comic songs that sug- gest an epileptic fit. They get plenty of applause before that, and score a suc- cess well down on the bill. The moving pictures held a large share of the audi- ence, t HAMMERSTEIN'S. Apart from Tod Sloan (see New Acts), the feature of the show at Hammer- stein's this week is the fact that Ar- thur Dunn is not shot off his piano stool. The trap room space does not permit the working of this time honored trade mark, and, as Mr. Dunn appears to have lost the yellow mat used in his Paderewski imitation, he has left only his queer "pants" and his act. He made an impromptu hit Monday afternoon by sitting down upon a table which prompt- ly collapsed. He should keep it in the act. He needs something new. Mat- thews and Ashley made one of the real hits of the bill with their Chinatown dream. The coachman would show to better advantage if he did not labor under the delusion that to stoop over when he walks is making a character hit out of his work. He would fare better did he work naturally. They have a lot of good parody material an.I make most of their hit with this. They have improved greatly of late. Capital band and head balancing is shown by th* Darros Brothers, who are recent ar- rivals. The head balancing upon the trapeze is quite the best thing of its soit shown here, and in their prelimi- nary ground" work they also show some good trieks. Bailey and Austin would do well to work on their act. The new- comer (Austin) does not work with s'.ireness, and leaves the general im- pression of carelessness. It would seem that he is too certain of his success. Barrows and Lancaster still have "Tac- tics," which appears to have lost none of its old appeal. The new ingenue ha*s a bad habit of talking at the audience instead of to the persons on the stage whom she is supposed to be addressing. The sketch moved briskly and earned several curtain calls. Mr. Lancaster plays with greater authority than he did, to the great benefit of the general effect. Go nam and Bailey had their dialogue amputated, which makes a variety act of their alleged sketch and, while it does not give them time to catch their breath until the end of their performance, the greater smartness of effect is worth the effort. Abd'el Kader and his three wives (two of whom are said to be his sisters- in law) make their last appearance here before returning to Europe. The paint- ing is scarcely good enough to make an act, but did well enough in the second place on the programme. Sailor and Barbaretto replaced Murphy and Fran- cis, who decided that they were too good to open* the show. The singers took the place and made a hit in spite of the handicap. Miss Barbaretto should be urged not to overwork her face. A little facial expression goes a long way and a lot becomes interminable. The girl with the eyes song is scarcely a fair exchange for the pajama girl. The act needs to be strengthened. Pictures, of course, and good ones. Alexander Steiner will leave for Eu- rope in April to engage acts for the Roof Garden season for the places con- trolled by Louis Werba, of the New York and New Amsterdam roofs. He will remain abroad for some time. At the request of Pitrot and Girard, Director Steiner, of the Berlin Winter- garden, has set back the time of Paul Conchas that he may accept contracts offered him in this country. ALHAMBRA. Possibly a political pull is exerted to keep the Alhambra open this week. Anyway, one may bet upon the red or the black, the same as at Monte Carlo. Le Domino Rouge is red and odd and Williams and Walker are black and even. Those sitting down front can ap- preciate the thoughtfulness of Le Dom- ino Rouge. A near view of the lower part of her face makes one joyed that the up- per half is shut from view. She is a clever dancer, but the impression is created that she is no raving beauty. She is said to be La Belle Dazie, better known abroad than here, though she is the pupil of a New York dancing master and was taken abroad with one of the Lederer shows. She is a capital toe dancer, and for those who like that sort of torture dance, she is very satisfac- tory. The mirrors she uses are an old story. They were first shown at Keith's theatre some eight years ago by Arnold Grazer, a California artist. They do not contribute to the effect of the dance, neither does the use of the Shetland ballet add much to the value of the act. The feature is really the mask. Will- iams and Walker—with more Walker than Williams—held the stage some forty minutes to do about ten minutes of real work—which is Williams' clever rendition of Nobody. The rest is a tire- some copy of the sort of act that was stale when Williams and Walker were new to New York. The last song is in- terminably drawn out and poorly done. However, they scored throughout. Reno and Richards have worked out the ball game idea and do well with it. It is all very foolish, but most of it is more than usually funny and they scored a hit of proportion. Van Biene plays the 'cello with a bow and much shaking of the head. Kubelik insured his hands; Van Biene his 'cello. This is well for the 'cello is a magnificent instrument and Van Biene's bowing is no longer as strong as it should be. Still he plays with skill and musical appreciation and a programme of four short numbers was extended by three encores. A. O. Dun- can was a strong hit on the early bill. Tuesday evening he had a Joke based on an item in the evening papers and little of his material is of the hackneyed sort. Duncan is a comedian rather than a ventriloquist, but as a comedian he Is far better than the average run of mon- ologue people. Cecelia Weston does foul murder to Nora Bayes' nonsense song and does some other stunts in the song line. She is tiresome in the extreme be- cause wholly lacking in cleverness. Stanley and Wilson replace Kelly and Kent. Dorris Wilson is replaced by an amateur who is a fine singer, but no actress. She should make up her hands better. They look like a washwoman's. The Eight Shetlands did three stunts. In their first song, something about a "band, band, band," they are so breath- less that it sounds like a succession of damns. Smaun Sing Hpoo attracted much attention to the little he does and there was the Vitagraph.