Variety (October 1909)

18 VARIETY BRIGADIERS. At the Eighth Avenue Theater last week "The Brigadiers" was a very unclean burlesque show. For the Casino, the new Western Wheel house in Brooklyn, it has "cleaned up" considerably but it would take "The Right Brothers for Cleaning" many weeks to make a decent perform- ance out of the proceedings. The show is built around Dick Brown, the principal comedian. He does not handle a line dur- ing the entire performance that is not suggestive or worse. The "cooch" which Dolly Barnes did when singing "The Cubanola Glide" last week has been tabooed and the number, taking eight or ten encores at the Eighth Avenue went off with hardly a hand. That evidences just how much merit there waa to it aa a dance. The other hit at the Eighth Avenue was Ruth Everett's French song in which Dick Brown added some "raw" business. Miss Everett sang it in Brooklyn without his assistance. The song, however, is bad enough aa it is, with Miss Everett dis- playing her underdressing. The upper portion of the house became so noisy the ■inger was forced to repeat the chorus without daring to repeat the business. In all other bits in the show something objec- tionable is offered. Aside from Brown there is little else to the performance. The piece is called "The Kidder/ 1 It is Frank Daniels' old comedy "Little Puck" in two acts. The amount of money spent upon the production could be written quickly. The first set is a cheap looking interior; the second just aa cheap an exterior. Orletta and Taylor in the olio have spent more money on their act than the "Brigadier's" management has on the en- tire production. This includes the cos- tumes for the chorus. The numbers are of no importance. There are only two or three. The dressing for these is fright- ful. The sixteen girls carried have noth- ing to do. When on the stage they are about the poorest looking crowd that could be collected. This is probably due to the costuming in a large measure, al- though a few have their hair dressed and makeup on as though they were go- ing to a masquerade. In this they may be right, for the show is little else. One or two new people have been placed in the show. They do not aid materially. Joe Flick is the principal newcomer. He plays the school master as a Dutchman, but not effectively. His musical act is his only value. Flick does well in his specialty. William Lester, not a new- comer, figures to about the same extent as Flick. After his specialty early in the opening piece with Miss Moore, he in no way enters. In the spe- cialty he does very well, securing most of his laughs on close to the edge matter. Orletta and Taylor are also of no im- portance to the show aside from their act, introduced between acts. The act docs nicely. The house liked the grand opera finish and the highly colored scenic ef- fects. It was a relief to see some clean, wholesome entertainment, and they profit by the surroundings. Harry McAvoy is second comedian. He manages to land a laugh here and there. Whatever McAvoy lands is legitimate. He keeps away from the "blue" material as much as possible. Just why they selected an Irishman to sing a Dutch song isn't known or doesn't matter in this show. Miss Barnes is not a regular principal. She leads two numbers and when not out in front for these is back with the chorus. Dolly is a tall, thin blonde of the type never intended for tights and should protest against wearing them. The Bar- tolcttis. two women, do some very fair dancing. They managed to put one over at the Casino. Miss Moore is the soubret with little aside from a lively manner and a wild desire to dance. Miss Everett is still do- ing the "doll." At the Eighth Avenue the bit did little more than pass butt; in Brooklyn where the better class of en- tertainment is evidently desired it went very big. It is a first rate bit even though Ruth is rather a big dollie. The French song she sings should be dropped. It isn't nice and the hoots it received Tuesday night were all that it should get anywhere. The Martells, an excellent bicycle act, were a big help to the performance. The fairly well filled Casino did not seem to relish "The Brigadiers," although now and again there was hearty laughter from certain parts of the house. It is a type of show that can do burlesque no good. Daih. PARISIAN WIDOWS. Two good laughing pieces, a well varied olio and first rate array of people make a good show of Weber & Rush's "Parisian Widows" at the Murray Hill this week, although the players are permitted to of- fend at a good many points against the the rules of cleanliness in dialog and busi- ness. It appears that the Columbia Amusement Co., has abandoned its policy of "cleaning up" at the New York house, for on Monday evening much of the dialog in "The Parisian Widows" sadly needed editing, and Margie Hilton, during a num- ber called "An Oriental Serenade" tore off a three minute "cooch" that was the limit. This latter bit all but stopped the show. The gallery whistled and howled until the show was brought to a sudden finish at 10:45 with a march finale. The company is strong in its women principals. Miss Hilton makes an excel- lent soubret although concerned in a good deal of the off-color material. She is a lively girl, however, and dresses attractive- ly without using any of the conventional burlesque models. There is a notable ab- sence of garish effects and be-spangled gowns in the whole show, both as regards the principals and choristers. An ex- ception to the pretty dresses occurred in the opening number, where a dark blue evening gown appeared among the chor- isters, effectually killing the more subdued tones of the other costumes. Emily Miles wears tights almost en- tirely, making a highly attractive figure in that sort of dress, and handles two numbers satisfactorily. Her number in the burlesque brought forward an arrangement of white tights closely resembling Eva Tanguay's style of dressing. Belle Bell, beside her part in the specialty of The Musical Bells, is the leading woman and the Amazonian leader of the patriotic finale of the first part. It was apparent from the opening of the show that she was to wear tights for when first appear- ing on the stage in an evening gown, the white and gold boots that go with the Amazon costume were plainly to be seen. Mae Rose was a sort of assistant soubret. That is, she wore soubret frocks from time to time and took part in the dialog, but aside from looking well at all times did not attain special importance. From being cast as the owner of a "bit" Ike Wall becomes the principal funmaker of the organization. He is the property man in the second scene of the first part (there are four acenes) and displayed an altogether delightful and fresh bit of characterization as the tough, marble- hearted property man. During the "bare- stage" scene he kept the laughs fairly bubbling. This part is by far the funniest in the show, made so by the talk between a number of acts which come to the theatre to rehearse and the "wiso" "props." The opener is called "The Boarding House," although from some of the talk and the presence of a piano in the corner of a parlor setting, the audience is justi- fied in believing it to be quite another sort of establishment. An example is Margie Hilton's line "I don't have to work. I only have to say the word, and George will put me in a flat like a perfect lady." Ben Pierce heads the cast, playing "straight" in the first part, later as an eccentric. In addition he did very nicely with his German monolog as an olio num- ber. George Niblo was another "straight" in the first part, reappearing during the burlesque as an old man. Arthur Bell did very little with the part of land- lady. Harry Bentley worked in close partnership with Pierce throughout the show, and was of the conversation team of Bennett and Bentley in the olio, a con- ventional number involving Hebrew and "straight." Sam Bennett was the barn- storming actor and later a "cissified" tramp, both of which he handled cleverly. Nible and Spencer put over an enter- taining routine of singing and hard shoe dancing in the olio, Miss Spencer, who otherwise is an unidentified chorister, de- scribed on the program as "H. Spencer," l* a capital stepper, making three pretty costume changes during the specialty. Miss Hilton's olio offering is "The Dres- den Dolls," May Ward's former vaudeville vehicle. In this she is supported by a sextet of English dancing girls, all good, lively young people of the "pony" size. Entertaining numbers and frequent cos- tume changes kept the act running at good speed. The Musical Bells close the vaudeville part with a routine on the different styles of bells. They finish in "one" with a set of arch chimes, leaving it upon the stage at their exit. Two stage hands have to carry it off before the curtain rises for the burlesque. This is .rather an awkward arrangement, making a short gap in the running of the show especially where there is no intermission. There arc eighteen choristers, all r>* the "squab"' order and of a high average for good looks. The costuming is not extra- ordinarily expensive but in excellent taste. "The March of the Nations," a red fire finale was especially pretty and several "pick" models, involving near-tights were noticeable. In the apportionment of roles the show is framed up to get the best results. Ed. F. Rush, credited with the staging of the show, has put over a first rate bur- lesque entertainment marred only by the frequency of suggestiveness. Rush. AVENUE GIRLS. At the Eighth Avenue this week are "The Avenue Girls," short of a great deal, but especially of principals and comedy. Dan D. Sullivan "presents," but "The Avenue Girls" are billed on the paper as a Campbell & Drew production. The music is by Joe Morris, some pleas- ing, particularly "Singing Bird," a new eong but with reminiscent strains of the catchy "Indian" selections of the past few seasons. Bobby Harris has written a book for the two-act piece named "In Mexico." The "book" is lost early, and in the second act forgotten entirely, that section beina. composed of "bits" by the comedians, w^J are called comedians by courtesy only, the same as the women principals may be termed "principals" in fact. That is the main difficulty. There are no people in the production to give a show. All the oldest stuff in burlesque has been employed for laughs. Whether they were hard pressed for materia} from the original story or ordered to make comedy, the matter selected is very poor and poorly played, excepting the "pinochle" extract. What little humor is left in the "bits" catches a few smiles, but to a regular bur- lesque attendant there is hardly a funny line or situation in the performance. James Boland is the leading man, play- ing "straight." His excellent voice is one redeeming item of the evening. Mr. Bo- land has been in his day most likely a member of some quartet. That must be where he fell into the habit of rouging almost to the back of the neck only, leaving the rear white. In make-up Charles Lipson, as the Hebrew comedian, has not alone decided upon the most ordi- nary of ordinary stage Hebrews, but his dress is dirty, the vest filthy and the trousers spotted. Though playing as a tramp this is unnecessary. Harry (or Har- vey) Brooks plays an uninteresting tramp as well, but somewhat more cleanly in general, and sings one song to permit of a setting which brought several encores for its topical subjects. His speaking voice is a good asset for him. Richard Black is another "straight" and George McCone has something of a comedy role. Both are comedy acrobats when plying their regular vocations though in comparison with other principals they do well enough respectively in "parts." The trio of women principals are Ella Smythe, Mona Raymond and Lizzie Peyssr. Each may have been lately recruited from the chorus on the work they show. As they are good looking, that helps to form the opinion. A peculiar point about the hisses Smythe and Raymond is their clean enunciation and pronunciation. Miss Pey* scy is or should be the soubret. She doA) not dance if she can, but does a little somi- thing leading "Don't Go in the Wator, Daughter" with the choristers wearing bathing dresses, underneath which there are no corsets. Lizzie earlier sings "Sing- ing Ttird" lifelessly. Tn "Ynnkeeana Rag" Miss Raymond dis- plays some vivacity, a "Spanish Dance" number being made of it. Perhaps if the Misses Smythe and Raymond had a wider sphere something worth while could be shown by them. In the second act the musical program at, printed went all to pieces. The show closed abruptly at a late hour. During the second act "The Three Sunbeams" helped out by an acrobatic dancing act. Ir: their present surroundings they are