Variety (February 1909)

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18 VARIETY -THE BEST BURLESQUE SHOW I EVER SAW " SAYS "SKIQIE " Sat in the Second Row, and Liked "the Girls Who Danced With Almost Noth- ing On"—Thinks Helen McMahon •The Hit of the Show." I went to a burlesque show Feb. 11 (Harlem Music Hall). The name of it was "The Girls of the Moulin Rouge." It was a good show and it's the best bur- lesque show I ever saw. They had the same scene I saw in "New York Town," and they had the same thing in it I saw in another burlesque show. The show opened with a chorus, and the chorus girls didn't sing, they screeched. The nrst scene was all in flags and it looked fair. They sang "Smarty" (Austin Sisters) and one of the girls (Jennie) dressed like a ldd looked at me and said "There's a little boy with a white collar on just the same as I have" and she knew some one in a box and if she had paid as much attention to her work aa she did to that box she would have been all right. There was a fat man (Philippe Du Faure in The Apache Dance") in it and I didn't like him at all; he was too fat and the last of the first act was all flow- ers and it didn't look so good. Four of the chorus girls danced ("French Dolls") and they almost danced without anything on and I was in the second row. They were all right. There was one girl and she was the best in the lot and she played the part of a scarecrow (Helen McMahon). She got six encores and I think she was the bit of the show, but I am not sure. They had a strong flood light on the side of the stage (spot in the left first entrance) and they had two spot lights In the first balcony and in the last part of the show they had one In the second balcony (gallery) too. There was a mother's boy ("cissy") in it and there was a man in the show who looked like Charlie Freeman (John B. Wil- son), but Charlie isn't a man of course; and the little Hebrew (Chas. Howard) was fine. He was short and thin, and there was Sammy Brown who I have seen in vaudeville (Brown, Harris and Brown) and there were two boys in it (Powder and Chapman) who danced and sang and they eouldnt sing at all, but they could dance a little, not much. I can't tell what a burlesque show is about. I cant understand it at all. There was a girl in it that was Spanish I think ("La Estelita"). We didn't stay for the finish, and I almost left out a part of the show. They had a water scene in it. The water came from the spot light, and it is the same in all the shows. The fellow that I said looked like Char- lie sang a song with a woman and I liked the song and both of them (Ida Emerson and John B. Wilson singing "Beulah Eyes"). calculated to make any audience sit up. Hickman and Jess put over twelve min- utes of conversation that passed fairly well and Walker and Barrett furnished an ancient series of character change songs, with a large assortment of ridiculous "mushy" sentiment. R*9h. STROLLING PLAYERS. "If I tried to put some of the stuff they're using on Broadway in my show, the police would be down on me." This for the past few months has become a stock speech amoug burlesque managers. And it is true up to a certain point. "The Strollers," for about three minutes of the burlesque reverses the application, in one of the crudest disrobing incidents that has made a bid for attention within memory. The affair occurs during a bit called "The Devil," although it is an adaptation of the main idea of "The Soul Kiss," the title being only for advertising purposes. The principals in the interpolated scene are the Devil (Frank Bright), Prince Karl (Eddie Barto; "the artist with the burned- out soul") and sundry and various women, including Katbryn Pearl, who seek to re- vive the fires of love in his asbestos breast. The Devil introduces them one by one, but all fail to arouse the world weary art- ist until the Old Boy trots out 'Tsyche" (in the person of an Amazonian chorister). His Princelets falls for the chorister's charms, although not one of the audience but would have picked any of the others. And when that Karl person falls, he falls with a fine, resounding bump. Psyche wears an ankle length frock, which is al- together out of character, that artistic person being by tradition accustomed to the "all but a little." Perhaps that is why the artist, immediately his incinerated soul is awakened, proceeds to undo the buttons down the Directoire back of the goddess, helps her off with the inappro- priate costume, removes her shoes and stockings and gradually reduces her to corset cover and a transparent petticoat reaching almost to the knees. Up on Broadway when the chorus ladies have any disrobing to do, they accomplish it themselves. This introduction of a man to perform the actual valet work is a cute and cunning variation. At the Bow- ery Saturday night they were doing the scene, so the burlesque house had ap- parently not been discriminated against. Outside of this ten-minute scene the show is "Wine, Woman and Song" with- out a change, except in its personnel. Miss Pearl does extremely well with the principal part. She is a very busy person. In the opening review she does two char- acters, leads an olio singing sketch and is in evidence during the burlesque, although this part seems to have been somewhat shortened and turned over largely to the comedians. Sam Hearn is in his original part as the town constable and later in a German role. He played the Sheriff for all the comedy there was in it, and in the first part scored tremendously with a violin specialty. Eddie Barto was concerned in pretty much everything. His George M. Cohan of the review was the best imper- sonation in the list, and he registered a hit with a singing and dancing turn in the olio, beside the "Devil" bit referred to. In the specialty, however, he insisted upon telling stories that had no place in the turn. His method of phrasing the song "What's the Use!" could be improved upon. Sam Liebert made a satisfactory father in the sketch "The End of the World," but his David War field left a good deal to be desired. In the burlesque he was a con- ventional Hebrew comedian. Ruth. The pieces have been nicely mounted, probably the production is turned over from the popular priced show of last year. Twenty girls make a good show, particu- larly a snappy bunch of seven "ponies." Ruth. AMERICAN. Twelve, acts make up the music hall program at the American this week. Had the show the usual quota of fourteen, it might be running yet, for Alex Oarr and Company in a sketch "came on" late, with Emma Carus, Delmore and Lee and the pictures to follow. A few of the turns had some trouble in not treading on the heels of others similar in one way or another. There's enough variety to the show, if it's figured out, but that doesn't strike one at first sight. It seems to be all singing. McWatters and Tyson reappeared in New York vaudeville (New Acts) and sev- eral others reappeared upon the American stage, particularly Felix and Caire, in the same old parlor setting; same old sketch foundation, and under the same old "sketch" title, which does not belong to the youngsters, and which no discredited hack scribblers can justify the "lifting" of, whether they are on the pay role of Ad. Newberger (who owns the act) or not. If Mr. Newberger wants to uphold his claim as a producer he had better secure a new title in the first place, and if he wants to uphold the salary of these young- sters, he had better procure another in- troduction; also in the first place. Among the newcomers is Lucy Weston, the English girl, who knows how to make herself look nice before the footlights (and off), and who found the audience at the American liked her songs, not fearing to applaud the. "warm" ones. "Feet To- gether," "Be Good,'' and "My Husband Has Left Me Again" in that order brought plenty of laughter and lots of applause at the finish of each, Miss Weston singing four in all, including a new one, "La, La," opening the turn. It has a swinging chorus, and is "pure." Two of the chorus lines are: "It's a peach of a song, And it's bound to go strong." The horse and dog belonging to Alf Loyal, reaching the American from the Hippodrome, did well throughout, the fin- ish going big for an animal act, and the number in its entirety would have gone better if there had been a "circus drop" in the rear; also something resembling a ring besides a narrow strip of matting. The act is nicely worked. The trainer, a woman, and an assistant are on the stage. The first two look neat in white cos- tumes, while the assistant has found it necesssry to match the red in his coat with rouge on his face. Mayme Remington did not change the costume worn for the Indian number dur- ing the act, nor did her four "picks" start anything. Miss Remington is wearing her dress to the ankles now, about the only change of note, excepting a "Salome" trav- esty. Geo. C. Davis with his monolog won out through the "spot 'em in the au- dience" song, remaining but a short time, and the Elite Musical Four earlier played instruments rapidly. The Three Madcaps opened the show with acrobatic and con- tortional dancing, the contortions the more prominent and popular, although the girls are rather good looking for acrobatic dan- cers. Von Hoff (New Acts) also. Sime. ••SKIQIE" DISCOVERS A NEW SORT OF QIRL Says She Loudly Laughed at Julius Tan- nen to Make Bverytody Look at Her, and That "Blanche Sing la Good, But She Cant Go Very High"— Likes "Tom Walker" Best of SKIGIB. ••SKIQIE" it ton rears of a*o. His commit li not printed to bo accepted eerlonelr, bat rather aa the JaTenlle lmpreaalon. The Pantzer Trio (Alhambra: Feb. 16 > I never saw before and I didn't think so much of them. They are double-jointed and they do all that crazy stuff and I Ihink it was a very funny act to open a show with and it should be without a parlor scene. The man has a wig and a crazy costume and the lady played the piano and the daughter did most of the acrobatic stuff and they were pretty fair. The Dillon Brothers I saw before and they have new songs and there was a new fellow in Billy Dillon's place. I think Billy Dillon is sick. ("Skigie" has the Dillon Brothers confused with William A. Dillon, a brother, but not in the two-act.) They are doing the same old dance and tapping their canes on the stage or on the leader's electric light, I mean where it's over the music (shade), and they sing funny songs. Abdul Kader and his Three Wives I saw once before and they have a new boy. Abdul Kader is drawing the same picture he always does and the women in the act are doing the same thing they did before, and the act was very good. Julius Tannen says some new stuff. He didn't do the imitations he did before and there was a girl in front of me who laughed so loud everybody looked around at her and she did it on purpose and it was meant to make all the people look at her. Edward Connolly and his new act ("Marse Covington"; not new) I didn't think so much of and I didn't like the act himself. The colored man I thought was the best one in it. The Bellong Brothers, I thought was the best bicycle act I ever saw and I think they are Ger- mans, they talk that way. They do the best trick I ever saw done in a bicycle act. Blanche Ring is good and she can't go very high (vocally). She sings a song called "Billiken Man" and it was very good and "Yip-I-Add-I-Aye" is another song she sings and she has the whole gal- lery hollering "Hurrah." Willard Simms' act ("Flinders' Furnished Flat") is a funny one and he "burgerced" (bur- lesqued) a lot of the acts in the show. "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a good act and it's funny and I like Tom Walker the best of all. I didn't think he would he dressed up like a negro.