Variety (Feb 1906)

8 VARIETY Shows of the Week HOUSES AND HOBOES. An iibseryant artist suggested the other day that there was something Inconsist- ent in the building of a million dollar theatre (more or less) striving after the acme of refinement in material and deco- ration, and then sending out a tramp to entertain the audience gathered therein. As a matter of aet. there is a growing tendency to discourage those who work in lilthy garments, and the time is coming when the man who makes his chief coin edy appeal with an outfit of greasy rags will find that there is no longer a place for him in the company of the new variety. For a time the tramp comedian com- manded the cream of the engagements, but a trampish make-up does not neces- sarily stand for comedy, and after the novelty wore off there was a reaction in favor of a cleaner style of dress. Several of those who once worked in the poorest rags they could find now make appeal with a contrast of unshaven face and neat clothes. This, too. will have to go in the course of time. There is enough filth and squalor in the world without dragging it to the stage for further em- phasis. Acts which make for brightness are to be preferred. Even when an audience is not conscious of the fact, there is a cer tain lowering of the tone of a program employing poorly dressed acts, and the patrons leave the house conscious that there is something lacking without being able to give expression to this feeling. (liven two bills of equal cleverness one of which is spoiled by the failure of the l*erformers to brighten the stage, and the ••leaner bill will be found the most at- tractive. Those who are not actually compelled to adhere to tramp comedy would do well to look around for something else, for the da y is i will go more and more to the continental idea of stages bright in every particular. There are some artists who are almost entirely dependent upon their make-up for their laughs, and these will fall to the smaller houses, for a bright house should be matched by a bright stage, and th° brighter the stage the letter effect it has upon the audience. It is not enough that a program shall represent the expenditure of several thou- sand dollars for talent. Money is even better spent when a portion of the pro- gram allotment is diverted to keeping the scenery up to the mark and for lights and similar incidentals. The tramp comedian must go out with dirty scenery and poorly kept stages. The day of dinginess must come to a close and a new policy must he adopted. Arthur Prince was robbed this wick at the Empire Hotel, where ho and Miss Ken*, his wife, are stopping. A sneak thief got two revolvers, a safety razor and the secret of Mr Prince's ventriloquial powers. Miss Rene surprised the burglars saving her- self thereby much anxiety over a jewel • a**e, which wan being Investigated at the time. COLONIAL. there is a plethora of sketches on the hill at the Colonial this week, with the result that the purely vaudeville turns are somewhat to the rear, though much of the sketch work should be classified as skit. Paul Sandor is seen for the first time in the Williams houses, and his idea of dogs made up as ponies is carried to a degree of elaborateness not attempted by earlier experimenters along the same lines. The high school tricks show one ^tep that is new to this country whether performed by dog or horse. The other* are of the regulation suit hut at least serve to show good training. The aet is novel in many of its features and it was well applauded. Minor faults were dress- ing in poor taste and a want of finish to the brief talk. Mazuz and Mazett would appeal to the audience as being almost as tii 1111 \ if Mr. Mazuz would refrain from sticking his finger in his partner's eye. there may be humor in thi* sort of thing, but to most it appeals no more pleasantly than his other bit of grOtesquerie in which he apparently grasps her by the throat and raises her to a standing position, The acrobatic work is good enough with- out this sort of aid. The comedy could be improved with the addition of new material. Bert Leslie and Robert Dai ley have a sketch in which Leslie mentions two brands of whiskey. The audience will require some of it if they persist in clinging to their unfunny encore in the Human Costumes. Al Shean took the cream off this idea and they are pour -eeonds. It is a decided fall from their earlier work in which Leslie makes a real hit as the tough with the extended vocabulary of slang. Matthews and Ash ley get along with the audience and might have stayed on longer ill spite of the fact that they held the stage too long at their first routine. They could quicken the up'.ling to their benefit. Matthews is iloing better in his part because he is now care to his—work and less HURTIG & SRAMON'S. Two novelties (found in New Acts) make for a good show\at Hurtig & Sea- nion's this week, but/ampng the old-timers are found some of those who help a bill vastly. Tim McMahon has given the Minstrel Maids a vacation for a week, and with his wife, Edith Chappelle, shows the talking act in one which he first showed, offered years ago. At that time he WAS just working out of the black face class and was awkward in his new make up. Now he handles his lines effectively even though he does use the prehistoric ques tion as to whether one's wife or mother in-law is better worth saving and he makes his points with certainty. A nov- elty is the appearance of Miss Chappelle in a neat tailored dress instead of the usual stage costumes. It is a decided im- provement, and shows her personality to far better effect through contrast with the others. The entire act is effective in a quiet way. Wise and Milton, the in- evitable negro team, fa IT short of clever ness, the best thing being the effect of the man's made up face. He uses black, red and white for an eccentric make-up, an idea we may exj>ect to see copied by others. The songs are not well ban died* Chinko does some good juggling, assisted by a most boisterous boy mad. % up as a girl. Chinko'l fault i* that he sacrifices accuracy to sj>eed. He would fare better did he take his work more quietly. He has Kara's cue trick, which is seen for the first time since that juggler went home, and be has other good work in plenty. He should cut out the juggling of the boy. The hitter's violent efforts to make the trick appear natural spoil the eff«H't. The Dufljn-Redeay troupe show a Casting act that is worth looking at and find the small stage here no disadvantage. The act has taken its pa lee with the beet and the sureness of the work is one of its best features. There is no uncertainty. a nd it s eff e ct on th e audi e nce re s u l t s i n to his acting, (iilrov, Havnes and Mont- goraery get through with their nautical sketch though it is woefully wanting in comedy. One new idea is about all thev have had of late and that shows in the act. Captain Bloom demonstrates wire- less telegraphy with a variety of object* that ;sa\es the turn fiom sameness while tilling the required time and "In the Sun i;y South'" is shown as \Y. |{. Met allum's idea of that part of the country. There :* a chorus of eight who work hard ami lo effect, the setting is appropriate ami the ideas are well laid out. Better prin- i ipals would make it an aet of real merit. As it is the chorus has to save the two principals, and they have their work cut out. The woman is little better than a chorus person herself and secmd willing to work but wanting in ability. Two new acts will be found in the New Aet* depart nieut. Thomas T. Hayden (the blind actor) will give a concert on February 11, at the Now Montauk in Brooklyn, when he will appear in his own and original sketch "One More Chance," assisted by a company of six iwrsons. A lonjf vaudeville hill will also be given. plenty of applause both through the act ami at the close. Daisy Haroourt. an Eng- lish singer, makes offering of a comic sung in character, and 1 then changes to a fancy dress and gives two more num- bers. There is a deal of talk in the last though the song itself is an old one. She h.is a harsh personality, and while she left the -tage to applause, she made no lasting impression. She should seek a more flexible delivery and try to cultivate a more engaging personality. She should also shorten her songs to two verses each. Sherman and De Forest offer "The Battle of Bull's Run," upsetting the accepted theory that this was a land battle, by making it a naval engagement. There is a new arrangement of the dummies and Sherman has a new ''fright" wig and beard, but the act is the same old rough- honse with the cloth cannon balls. It- holds the audience in a roar for fifteen minutes and the artists get a recall, which is unusual for an act put on just before the pictures. The pictures are particular- Iv irood this week. The American Vitagraph Company is ninety days behind in its orders, evidencing a remarkable activity in the film trade, PASTOR'S. The bill down at Pastor's is of the sort that pleases localise the Pastor bills' al ways please the Pastor audiences, where in "the only" Tony is favored among mortals. One of the best things on the bill is Irene Franklin, a child wonder no longer, but clever for all of that. Miss Fr ankl in is one of those happy souls whose cleverness lasted bevond the prodigy period. She is still clever with -uiigs and her method is a most pleasant relief from the bawlers. She sings with repression and makes her points quietly, but with decided effectiveness. Her riper work bears out the promise of her youth and it is a pity that she is not seen at other houses in town. We need |>ersons of her calibre and find but few. Mr. and Mrs. Cal Stewart have a skit dealing with .i countrymen's visit to the Bowery, where he finds a niece in one of the hab bit ties. Most countrv cousins find thev are uncles to an entirely different sort, and the l>est |M»int of the sketch is that it gets away from tradition and starts out on new lines. The trouble is that it merely starts. The dialogue lacks finish, r.etter laid out the act would be one for ■ my house. At present it needs an audi- ence with some appreciation of local color. Mrs. Stewart's work as the I'.owery girl is good enough to be on the legitimate stage. Mr. Stewart is some .vliat familiar as the country visitor, the Petchings Brothers have their musi- cal act with a setting of some elaborate ness. and Norcross. Blain and Ll Mar are hearer the old-fashioned minstrel act than some of the others. They should be. for two of the men are veterans, and they tell jokes almost a- old as those used in Dockstader's minstrels. They would not dare use as old. There is enou< r h good work in the act t«» keep it going, and for a three-man minstrel show thev more than hold theii own. Mr. and Mrs. Larry Shaw—rln—some— dan cin g that" wou ld—br good anywhere on a bill. Mrs. Shaw would oblige by purchasing a new wig of more becoming style, but she could not improve her feet. She takes the same work as her partner and is one of the few women in a dancing team to ask no fa- vors because of her sex. Brazil and Bra zil would be better did thev frame their w act more smartly. They suffer from poor dialogue. The acrobatic work is good. but this, too, could be stage-managed with good effect. Marr and Evans are even more in need of stage management. The straight man is n person of accom plishments. He needs only to be told how to dress ami work so that he gets the greater credit. The comedy end of the team is not so good. In the first place the man needs to forget that such a team as Hiee and Prevost ever existed. After that he should work out some com- edy ideas of his own. Before either he should get some paint and fix Up'his stuff so that it would not look as though it had just come in from San Francisco on the -.low freight. Bell and Richards waste some time in a musical act not worth it. *nd there are also Charles Lawlor and his daughters. The I.evinos. Carl Brehmerand liConza.