Variety (Feb 1906)

VARIETY Shows of the Week By Si me COLONIAL. There's a bit cut out from "dear old Lunnon" this week at the Colonial in the person of Vesta Victoria (reviewed under New Acts), and the theatre holds also the premier monologist of this country, James Thornton. His style, method and talk are his own, and neither can l>e successfully imitated. Mr. Thorn- ton has a new song and new patter. It's pood. Thornton has been working stead- ily for seven weeks. It depends upon himself whether he shall work continu- ously as long as he wills. Ed Latell is another monologist (of the musical sort) who is "hitting 'em" harder each season. Mr. Latell keeps up to dak.* with the monologue end of the offering, even though he does not vary the musical part. He has a clever burlesque of Her- bert Brooks, who precedes him this week, and Latell is no mean card-palmer himself. He eould easily afford to drop the 'bells." 'It gives a good finish, but he has placed himself too high to have to stoop to that any more. Herbert Brooks, with his sleight-of-hand with cards and the trunk trick, has adopted the title of "Professor." The opening card stunt and the finishing trunk trick carry him through. His manipula- tion of the pasteboards is deft and puzzl- ing. Cabaret's Dogs are acrobatic to a degree, but the jumping finale is a poor finish for a good animal act. The Piechi- ani family of acrobats do all their feats wjth the women wearing skirts, with pan- talets underneath, discarding the cumber- some garments for the encore. The work would be much cleaner were they dis- carded at the commencement. Tn an acro- batic act the gowns worn are not an at- traction, even though these foreigners have some costly ones and believe to the contrary. It also hurts the value, for it may be offensive to the fastidious to see the male- understnnder grasp the woman by the lower limbs, having to place his hands under the skirts to do so. With the bloomers nothing suggestive would lie attached to the performance. With the skirts it is not polite or politic. The Royal Hungarian Boys' Band made a bit. It may be assured of a hit wher- ever playing. The youth of the players would insure this without the patriotic finale. Gallagher and Barrett in their sidewalk sketch opened the bill. The cross-fire talk is rapid and well delivered. The burlesque could be improved upon by slower action, and the operatic finish might be dropped altogether. Tt is a dark spot on a fairly bright turn. PASTOR'S. 'The Miserere" is the feature on the bill this week. Sung by two numbers, it was rejected by n third through the insistence of those with better sense. Carr and Jordan are the first to inflict it. No act which depends upon its mer- its for success will use this selection, and while the team received some applause with a travesty it failed with the anti- quated finish. There is a new woman in place of Mi«s Cjirr. and she wore a hand- some dre«s with a flashing red wig, but even that does not excuse the 'Tl Trova- tore" number. Stanley and Wilson (Sarah L. Cogs- well) were the others to make a duet of the same song. Miss Cogswell has im- proved wonderfully in the past two weeks in her method and singing, but there is still further room and the first step should be another opening selection. The hits on the bill were Sydney Deane and company in "Christmas on Black- well's Island" and Clarice Vance. Whether it is that Miss Vance has been playing around New York too much re- cently or for some other reason, she is falling off in her singing. On Tuesday night it was through Mike Bernard at the piano that an encore was received. The first selection is too old a number for a singer of Miss Vance's capabilities to dally with anyway. The Deane company have improved their singing sketch until it could easily immediately repeat over any circuit. The dialogue has been freshened up and George Rolland given the best lines. It is well, for he knows how to deliver them. The act is better than ever, which can seldom be said of any singing sketch as long in existence. Dorsch and Russell pronounce 'cello as "sell-o." Even to kill a possible pun they should correct this. Also correct their brass playing to remain on the key. The setting for the musical act i* well enough as far as it goes, but this is the act that wanted to play "The Miserere," and did play the sextette from "Lucia di Lammermoor." They have been out long enough to display more "enterprise. That must be if the big time is to be gained. Miaco and Idaline, in contortions and acrobatics, reverse the usual order of af- fairs. Here the man is holding back the woman, who is too good for him. He is stout -for acrobatics, while the woman is an exceptionally good tumbler and contortionist. Wm. La Belle has helped himself and position on the Pastor bill with comedy, juggling and hooprolling and needs to keep a-plodding. The four Sullys are mainly supported through the' children, while Earle and Bartlett, an Irish team, pleased the audi- ence. TWENTY-THIRD STREET. The bill here this week is full of head- liners, led by Ryan and Richfield, re- viewed under New Acts, George Fuller Golden and Juanita Allen and company will also be found in that department. Of the others, McMahon's Watermelon Minstrel Maids scored solidly, and Carter DeHaven and Flora Parker, in "A College Boy's Frolic," also made a bid for popu- lar favor downtown, which they failed to receive. There may be several faults found with the DeHaven-Parker sketch, the great- est of which seems to be that De Haven's head has swollen unmercifully since he was fortunate enough to have a short spasm of existence in the Weber-Fields playhouse. He is of the impression that he is now a real actor, and has his sweet little wife in a state of subjection that is pitiful to observe. His commands, sotto voce, while on the stage may be plainly heard back of the orchestra rail, and the whole act through De Haven's big head edness is little short of a downright fail- ure. "Pictures of Alice Roosevelt taken in Washington for F. F. Proctor" were an out and out fizzle, developing into an ad- vertisement of the future features to be shown at the house. The title pictures eould not be distinguished. Hawthorne and Burt made one of the hits of the bill. This is a conversation and dance team, Burt being a Hebrew comedian, without depending upon a par- ody to win applause. He is a Hebrew comedian of good calibre, and his eccen- tric loose dancing has not been shown here before. Radha is held over for the second week. Why no one seemed able to explain. The act carried several "cappers" to applaud, but it is a virtual "frost." A vaudeville audience will not stand the alleged Hin- doo dances, which are only muscular ef- forts. If anything is ever made of this act it must come from press work and through the semi-nudity of the woman. The Millman trio on the tight wire have an exciting and pretty offering. The daughter is an expert wire performer, running over the thread and otherwise be- having while in the air as though on terra firma. The man jumps over a table, and the act altogether has not been sur- passed. The women are becomingly dressed, and the mother and daughter look more like sisters, which is a com- pliment to the mother. The Florenz troupe in acrobatics closed the bill, while the Gleasons with Fred Holihan opened it. CIRCLE. A burlesque show without a pair of tights in sight is the record established by W. S. Clark's Jersey Lilies company at the Circle this week. Whether Mr. Clark himself, whose resting place is near the box office always, is aware of the in- novation in the company is open to de- bate. Why the crowd of females carried are termed "Lilies" is also left to the imagi- nation of those present. There are one or two faded flowers in the bunch, besides two blondes wearing their wigs in differ- ent styles, and a brunette who becomes prominent from a pompadour extending the same distance in the air that her measurements below the waist line do in like ratio sideways. This young woman is named Sadie Brooks. "She sings and dances" as George Weiss might announce on amateur night, but even he couldn't describe her proportions. There are two lively girls in the show, Frances Claire and Rena Washburn. Both are handicapped through lack of voice, but Miss Claire atones in vivaciousness and is the bright particular star in both pieces, her ginger and agreeable stage presence lending to the performance that which would be lacking without her. Among the men Guy Rawson leads in the afterpiece, but is overshadowed in the opening by Dan Graeey. The opening is called "A Disputed Check." Joe Raymond claims that he wrote it some time ago and played the piece with Hanley, Logan and Hanley under the title of "Two Jolly Companions." Dan Graeey claims the credit on the program, but as it is noth- ing to boast about both Messrs, Raymond and Graeey should keep silent on the sub- ject. The spot light throughout the perform- ance is overmuch in evidence, displaying poor judgment in stage management. The light is badly handled and does not aid the effect. There are several changes of costumes, the girls appearing in the finale in those worn on their first entrance. A fair olio is given and the Musical Bells gain applause through the chimes at the finish. The balance of the act could be much improved, and if the hand bells were taken out the absence would not be felt. Ada B. Burnett, "America's original singer of coon songs" (on the program), sings, and the Three La Maze Brothers, a copy act of Rice and Prevost, have one good acrobat, and the clown is about the best of the many who have attempted the James Rice imitation. "The Two Colonels* closes with France* Claire singing two numbers. She is so far ahead of the ordinary burlesquer that with a partner vaudeville ought to be her field. FRED WALTON IS READY. Fred Walton is all ready for his open- ing date in vaudeville at Proctor's Twenty- third Street Theatre March 12, even to the selection of his whole company and the printing of the cast. Arthur Weldl, who chaperoned the mu- sic for the original production of "Floro- dora" has been engaged to boss the or- chestra in the houses where the Walton sketch plays, and will accompany the com- pany during its tour. "Cissie's Dream" is to be the title of the sketch, which carries nine people. The east includes Eva Murdock, Henrietta Jen- kins, Hattie Burdell, William Phinney, Louis G. Christv. William Ash, Henrv Oke and Charlie Pine, and of course Fred Walton himself in the character of "The Toy Soldier." These are by no means all the names the program shows. In addition there is a long list of the composers who have contributed numbers to the score. Among them are Greig. De Koven, Heller and Herbert. The sketch will cost, so says Jack Levy, who is handling the enterprise, something in the neighborhood of $5,000 before the curtain goes up on its American debut. This amount includes the costumes and setting of three scenes which the little musical comedy takes in the telling. i Mrs. Christina Hock, mother of Emil Hock, of Hock and Elton, died February 14 in Brooklyn. N. Y. Mrs. Hoch reached the good ripe age of 77 years. She was born in Baden. Germany, but lived the last twenty-five years of her life in America, ' beloved by her children and friends. Leah Russell is scheduled to go away from here on a two months trip on the Kohl and Castle circuit bejrinninir about March 1. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins Fisher have bought property at New London, Conn., and will settle there.