Variety (May 1909)

18 VARIETY THE CANDY SHOP. For a "summer show' 1 even, 'The Oandy Shop/' making its New York premiere at the Knickerbocker Monday evening, did not give any promise of passing through. It is too light waisted in ac- tion, music, lyrics and comedy, but prin- ci pally in action. The story or plot is not worthy ef consideration. Charles Dillingham presents, but "The Candy Shop" lint the regulation Dilling- ham production in the incidentals. Mr. Dillingham has formerly been most lavish in the expenditure for the "sight" portion of hit pieces. It may be lack of oppor- tunity in "The Candy Shop. 1 ' The show •tarts off slowly. and never quickens. There is a laugh here and there, but only frequently enough to cause wonder why they de not Occur more often. Several favorites are in the oast. Wil- liam Bock, Maude Fulton and Mrs. Annie Yeamans were quickly recognised by the first-night audience, so friendly it brought a suspicion of a "clacque" in the rear of the orchestra. The curtain rose at 8:24, dropping at 10:46, with several forced en- cores delaying the finale. Another strong favorite was Louise Dresser, who was accorded little leas than an ovation on her entrance. Miss Dresser has not nearly enough to do. As a widow her blonde beauty was set off much bet- ter in the first act than when in "second mourning" in the second, and last. Her first act song; "Candy Kid," was also the best liked of the two she sang. Mrs. Yeamans was the centre of a funny scene with Frank Lawler before Hie intermission. Mr. Lawler brought most of the laughs of the evening. His number "I've Been Married Once" was encored repeatedly, and the comedy hit of the second act was his "business" during a duet with Florence Morrison, a very large woman. It appeared that Rock and Fulton had built lip their parts. They played inde- pendently of the others, carrying their migrations from the first scene (unusually conventionally set) representing "Huy- lerV' with a window reading "Fresh Can- dies Every Year" to the second at Coney Island, with a mixture of "Dreamland" and "Luna Park" in the background. This netting was one of the few big things in the show. • Here Mr. Rock and Miss Fulton were an aspiring vaudeville act, and called to "go on" often in different characters, the idea taken from the w e st e rn act which had to •how twenty times daily, with no time for rest. J' Rock and Fulton's dance in the first »act, with the "melodramatic" bit from * tneir vaudeville days was one of the hits. In fact the dances, all arranged by Mr. Rock, were the applause winners of the evening. There were but few "numbers." The only real number for the chorus was a "Wireless" song, rather pretty. A Chinese song lead by Mr. Rock and Miss Fulton made good late in the proceedings, with real Chinese employed for a chorus. George V. Hobart wrote the book of "The Candy Shop." John L. Golden at- tended to the lyrics and music. Bliss Mil- ford had a character role which she handled rather well. Tnere were many other principals, the most attractive being Angle Wiemers and Lillian Rice as "The Alimony Sisters; Sue and Settle." Their time was brief, however. The "show girls" were ordinary, and the chorus girls not in abundance, nor over- worked. Also were there chorus men. Fred* G. Latham, who is credited with staging the piece, showed no novelties. In the "sleuth" song, someone has fallen back upon an old idea of pocket electric light* on a darkened stage. TTie dialog doesn't glisten. Even what little did flare up was dimmed by the lyrics. There is nothing in the piece, however, to make "The Candy Shop" a busy center. It can never be "The Candy Kid" Miss Dresser sang of. Rather it lives up to the sign of "Fresh Every Year," but just before the new year commences. 8ime. THE BEAUTY SPOT. "The Beauty Spot" is built according to the 1900 formula—girls, more girls, a touch of spice, much clothes and a gar- nishing of incidental music. Its humor is nil. Frank Smithson, who is announced as having staged the production, has done a good deal more toward its success than Joseph W. Herbert, who wrote the book and even Herbert contributed more than does Jefferson De Angelis, who acta aa principal comedian. As far as it concerns itself with the mechanical details of beauty in stage pictures, novelty of numbers and the like, "The Beauty Spot" is not such an in- congruous title. Considered aa an en- livening musical comedy anybody with an ordinarily delicate sense of humor would unhesitatingly dub it "The Deadly Smear." If you won't believe on hearsay that the book is dull, you must believe the audi- ence. At the Herald Square the night I called there was scarcely a ripple of a laugh until the show had been running close upon half an hour, and during the whole performance the people sat in dis- couraged apathy, except at such time as De Koven's melodies woke them to mo- mentary interest or a lively chorus evo- lution caught their wandering attention. De Angelis was not once funny on his own account. Four numbers were as- signed to his care. Two he made reason- ably amusing, thanks to the lyrics and the byplay that went with them. "The Cinematograph" was a first rate topical number and served to introduce a grotesque, jerky dance, ridiculously like the flicker of a moving picture machine and another called "She (Sells Sea Shells," involved several of the stately show girls in a maze of tangled speech. Except for these two incidents Mr. De Angelis fun- making was very strained and labored. Some of his long speeches might have made entertaining reading in manuscript, but delivered from across the footlights they fell upon barren ground. Marguerite Clark was an ever recurring delight in the two long acts. Even when the lines of the book foisted inanities upon her she managed to make them seem interesting—and a particularly pale, conventional part gave her a good many foolish lines to speak. Her half dozen or so of songs and dances almost made up for the lack of other virtues in the piece. Miss Clark has not "growed up" a bit since she was called to prominence some three years or so ago. She is the same tiny, coay, irresistible little person. May her shadow never grow more. Her duet with George J. MacFarlane, "In a Hammock," close to the end of the sec- ond act brought the audience to its first real demonstration of enthusiasm. The spectacle of Miss Clark nestling in an embowered hammock was captivating enough, but when the stalwart Mr. Mac- Farlane picked her up and carried her about in a hammock contrived by his own manly arms—well it made a pretty pict- ure indeed. Mr. MacFarlane was an American painter, Jacques Baccarel, and he very properly was in love with Nadine (Miss Clark). Nadine was the daughter of Gen. Samover (Mr. De Angelis) with whom Jacques did not stand very well by reason of this same Jacques having at one time employed Mrs. Gen. Samovar (Viola Gil- lette), a former actress and model, as the subject of certain very candid classical paintings. Jacques happens upon the scene (a re- sort in the South of France) just as the General is preparing to welcome his nephew, a Dutch coffee planter from Borneo and betrothed to Nadine. To escape the General's wrath Jacques as- sumes the name of the nephew. Of course the latter makes an untimely appearance and there you have the complications. Jacques has painted a great work for ex- hibition in the salon called "The Beauty Spot." Mrs. General Samover posed for it in her model days as testified by a mole on the left knee of the canvas fig- ure. One is let into the secret that this mark will identify Mrs. General to her husband and the consequences give her the shudders. Jacques promises that he will save her from scandal if she will further his suit for Nadine. She promises and in a trice Jacques gives the painted figure a full complement of clothes and the mole which was origin- ally "the beauty spot" is converted into a small animal that looks like a mouse and is described as a pet mole. So all is well and the General's wrath is ap- peased. That's the plot. Not very in- teresting in the telling, is it? Frank Doane had several laughable moments as Chicoree, the colored servant of Jacques, who is forced by circum- stances to pose as a prince from Borneo, but finally discovered and ignominously jailed. He had a capital dance and a good song in the second act. The Mr. Smithson, previously men- tioned, has done exceedingly well by his employers. He has put on some rather big effects and has trained his choristers to a.high degree of activity. The open- ing of the second act was a ponderous at- tempt at the spectacular. It had the two score or so of girls in action all at once, and even the dozen chorus men were im- pressed as flower girls to scatter posies in the path of Nadine. It was during one of the numbers in this act that a tiny blonde "pony" grabbed off principal hon- ors for herself by doing a sprightly bit of dancing. For the time being the show stopped while the audience ex- hausted itself in applause it had denied the principals of the cast. A bathing girl number at the opening was saved from comparison with that common burlesque feature by having the girls carried off the stage on chairs on the backs of native porters, a scheme which (Continued on page 22.) FIFTH AVENUE. This week's offering at the Fifth Ave- nue Theatre is one fine, big, glittering array of vaudeville talent. Wednesday night it drew an audience that waa worthy of its excellence. The house waa filled within a trifle of its seating capac- ity, the crowd apparently being drawn by the all around merit of the entertain- ment rather than by any one feature. There was no dramatic sketch, or even a comedy playlet in the frame-up. It would be hard to pick the favorite in the running. Three or four acta were bunched in the sprint for applause. Ed. F. Reynard and W. a Kelly carried off the laughing honors and to Alexander and Scott and Holden's Manikins fell an equal share of favor, thanks to the nov- elty of their offerings. An act does well when it gets the at- tention of its audience at the entrance. Reynard does even better. His audience is worked up to a high pitch of ex- pectancy before he makes his appearance —through his novel stage setting, and then by his capital introduction. And he never gives their attention a chance to relax. Novelty follows novelty, and the humor of his ridiculously lifelike dummies keeps the laughter bubbling. Mr. Kelly has dropped his "hick" char- acter in the courtroom series, more's the pity. This bit was a classic of ex- aggerated slang. At several points the monolog, if one might call it so, haa been brightened with fresh points. The "Virginia Judge" never went better than this week in the next to closing position. Holden's Manikins show fairly sparkles with bright effects in the settings of the miniature stage. Some of the matter is new. A pantomime of "Salome" was a marvel of manipulation, and a song and dance by a cowboy and girl were handled with amazing realism. Alexander and Scott have put them- selves in a high place by the simple process of dressing their clever turn as it should have been dressed long ago. That's all the act ever needed. The female impersonator of the pair has a remark- able falsetto voice and in skirts puts up such a good. appearance that not one in fifty of the audience suspected the dis- guise. The pair make little play for comedy in their new arrangement, wisely depending upon the straight singing in the body of the act and the surprise when the sex of the "girl" is disclosed at the finish. The Cadets de Gascoigne did very nicely for ten minutes or so. The woman has a big, clear soprano voice, and with an eye to jockeying for applause they ar- range to have her high notes in great prominence for the finales. The Four Harveys (who are really five) closed the show in one of the prettiest wire acts that has appeared around town this long time. The two girls are pretty, youthful figures in pink tights and cor- sages cut to the limit of decollete They have a neat routine on the tight wire, every feat being a picture of grace and acrobatic style. The two men have cev- eral striking arrangements, the feature being a beautiful unsupported handstand. The fifth member is a woman assistant who handles the paraphernalia and adds to a most attractive stage picture. Tom Jack Trio opened one of the best vaude- ville shows of the year. Ruth.