Variety (June 1958)

Vednetday, jone 25, 1958 ys^sEff REVIEWS 69 FREDDIE DAVIS Songs 13 Mins. Blue Angel, Chicago Although he's a New . York na¬ tive, Freddie Davis is mailing his iirst American nitery stand at . the Chi Blue Angel, and as a headliner. His previous appearances have heen in- Germany, Denmark and Canada: Singer, a young Negro, is of the should-be-seen stripe, but borrows far too obviously from Billy Daniels with body movement and finger-snapping. ^ His BA offerings are mostly up¬ -tempo, such tunes as “Sing You Sinners,'' “Can't Give You Any¬ thing But Love” and “Sweet, and Gentle,” exhibiting some rudi¬ mentary terping via the latter. His ballad pace-changer is ‘Faith Cm M ove Mountains,” sufficiently stylized to perhaps flutter some femme hearts QUtfront: Davis seems too absorbed in derivative phrasing and the huskiness of his pipes, the resultant: effect being somewhat mechanical. His . genu¬ ine merits, such as basically good piping, and very visual -working; however, should make him accepta¬ ble for most situations. Fitt- HALLER U HAIVIDEN Comedy ^ 35 Mins. Club Cosmo, Worcester . • team of Haller & Hayden broke . up recently just after hitting, the big time. (Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, was tbeir final job). Now Joe Haller has taken on a new part¬ ner, Nick peMarco, who has been soloing as a nitery comic* and they're working under the name of Haller & Hamden. Break-in at the Cosmo, suburban club, reveals they’re using practi¬ cally the same act and also showed they’ll do all right with it, too. Al¬ though it Avas. their first public ap- . pearance together, it didn’t show, and the audience ate up everything they did. They remained onstage for 35 minutes. Highlight is still the walkathon bit, with Haller impersonating the people of various Countries as he engages in a walking contest. With proper seasoning, this act could be a big . one. Lee. GIULIQ POLIDORI Opera 18 Mins. Gatipeau, Ottawa Not often a dramatic tenor, like Giulio Polidori gets into the nitery circuits and, when he does, it takes heavy producing and staging to get the customers to buy it. If Polidori plans on taking his stint through the circuits, it will need a lot of building. He has a superb set of pipes and the savvy to handle operatic, arias; His tdne selection involves some w.k. oper¬ atic, music. Lacking is showmanship, includ/- ing costuming, some, sort of scene¬ setting, and action. Also, Polidori uses only piaino accompaniment; addition of full-band backing would lift the stanza greatly. As it stands, the session is pkay for opera, tv and possibly disking but n ot the saloons. Gorm, ANN HENRY Songs 29 Mins. Circus Lounge, Hiilli Canada Ann Henry was first, a dancer, now a singer, with both, talents showing big in her stint.. Zippy femme turns out a solid act of chirp that is socko showmanship throughout. She sells every ^item to the rim and manages fast switches in mood , without a slur. Stanza includes caricature im¬ pressions of Kitt, Bailey, SatchmOi as well as standout sultry, dramatic handling of “Summertime.” Caught in the Circus Lounge of the Ottawa House in. Hull, Miss. Henry had only limited terp space but made it count. She could have used the whole room. It’s an item that is: big for niteries, musicals* television. Gorm. Apollo, N. Y. The. Vpseiters Band 113); Em¬ mett Davis, Al Jackson, Kalin Twins, Danleers (5), Etta James, Rocking \ Kids (4), Sonny Till, Fidelities (5), Little Willie John; ■■The Persuaders-* (Col).. DONAT & WINTERS Dance 12 Miris. Old Romanian, N. Y. . The cOmely Donay & . Winters have been around some time with their Latinistics, but haven’t been ^recorded in the New Acts. file. The femmes, with . few exceptions, do dual ^enditionk of the popular cafe terps. Their routines are little more than those done by the ar- thurmurrayites flinging on the floor. There isn’t; much talent in¬ volved . in this number, but they give the dances a hard. pUsh: that puts them across. The girls are enticingly gowned and make a good appearance bn the floor.. Their major virtue lies in the fact that, they are sufficient¬ ly commercial to go oyer in many cafe situations. Jose, CALVERT SISTERS (2) Songs, Comedy 21 Mins. Gatineau, Ottawa Zany comedy and slick thrushing are the standby strength of the Calvert Sisters’ session. Their stint is built on a fast pace* Inter-^ spersed with mugging by . one sis¬ ter, straighting by the other, ca- narying together, with- an overall impact - that gets good mitting throughout. Femmes are sUck lookers. One a .sweet bdby-face type, the other looking like a fash¬ ion model but working like Jerry Lewis.. ;It’s a bright session, staged with savvy and a lift, nice for nitefies, television. . Gorni. Ten virtually undiluted rock ’n’ roll acts turn out to be something of a strain this week, Acts range from bad to boisterous, but one thing’s for sore, the house could have spared itself the talents of the four singing groups, dll Of which are inadequate. . . . Little Richard quit the biz, so Lee Diamond .takes over his Up- setters. This band shows a marked lack of inhibition in its mostly bawdy numbers. So does singer Emmett Davis. AI Jackson, the chubby come¬ dian, works well alone. With a stockpile of well-timed tripe, he musters the evening’s biggest mitt. The ofay Kalin Twms are out of place. . Their self-consciousness shows it. The Danleers, a quintet of youngsters, are strict]^ second- rate filler., Vet. Etta James barrels through her share of noisy, Occa¬ sionally okay, songs, biit she: is followed' by the Rqeking Kids, four unsure femmes, and the Fi¬ delities; . Sonny Till, a former scat for a troupe, in going it alone these past several mOnths has managed to get some balance into his songa^ log, but he continues being too atonal to'take for any length of time. Little Willie . John winds the card. His vocal conniptions are a bit more satisfying on the whole, . Art ness and is better than usual line of chorines seen at vacation-^fesort shows. Billy Merrih conducts the Pavilion oireh* and . Harry , Caf^ michael tinkles the ivories; Gord. Alhaiiibra^ Glasgow Glasgow, June 24. Stanley Baxter, David ‘Hu 2 heS;.\ Rikki Fultdri, Fay Lenore,: Irene Clairei Los Gatos . (3),. Keith Little; Peter .johnstohi Ross Taylor. Dan¬ cers i'lO), George Mitchell Singers ( 8 ), Geraldo. Orch under Danny Walters. . ; Stanley Baxter and Rikki- Ful¬ ton young Scot comedians, score in this layout as a . pair of Scot street-boys, Francie and Josie, at loose in a hospital surgery. .Com¬ edy diio, have useful support from foils Stan Mars and Clem Ashby, withfMaiporie Thompson doing the femme bits.; Baxter brings yocks as a Scot working type who goes coin-happy over .a :presumed legacy. -More fun fodder from Baxter and Ful¬ ton in a nostalgic“Those Were The Days” number, •devised on lines of ye olde English musichaU. David Hughes,, singer with good looks* offers a variety of tunes, and pays tribute to Wales, his ancestral land, with a selection of Welsh numbers. Fay Lenore fiilsr the femme vocal slottmgs caipably, and Irene Claire has promise as principal dancer; . Dance . scenes have high quality, with. good, work from Peter Johnston, Keith .Little Md the ROss Taylor line. New guest act, Los Gatos; score, solidly wlfh aero iteni; George Mitchell Singers* tastefu'ly garbed, do- attractive work throughout. Danny Waiters batons the Gera.ido orch. Dick Hurran sta.ges with im¬ agination. Only ma.ior faulting is a tendency for sketche.s to show comedy promise and then p'^ter off in weakish tags. Gord. Pavilion^ Danobn . piinoon, Scotland, Jiihe 24. Chalmers Wood presentation of ‘■Cowal Carnival tcitk Alec Fin¬ lay, Kenneth McKelldr' ^ C Harry Carmichael ), Confrey Phil¬ lips Trio, Ivy Carey, June Hunt, Tony Gilbert & Sylvia, .Three Tp-^ ledos. Bond Rowell, George Neil, CamivaletteS ( 8 )./ Chalmers Wood, local impre¬ sario, has spent Coin on pactirig two leading performers* comedian Alec Finlay and singer Kenneth McKellar, for this new layout, first in $6Q0,000 newly-built Pavilion Theatre. Result is lotsa bright en^ tertainment fodder for sunimer vacationers, with ' some . conven^^ tional Auld Lang Syne. comedy, top-rate warbling by McKellar, and useful ■Support by rest, of company. Finlay scores with his character sketch of, the oldest inhabitant in village, back from .a funeral. of a friend, and gMerally works in lively fashion in Toutine. comedy bits. He is smallishrbuilt comedian: with typical Scot pawkiheSs. , McKellar* a personable figure in colorful kilt, wins strong palming for rendition: of Scot tunes* , link¬ ing various numbers in a rjpundup of songs about the Firth of Clyde, oh which waterway the theatre stands. Singer, ,given recent hypo via tv programs, should guard ag^nst trend to work: in comedy skeftches, thus detracting from his own status as star singer. . The Confrey Phillips Trio offer modern harmony in overlong act at ^ show caught, and also gamer strong applause. Ivy Carey fe pleasing thrush, with novelty bit in linkage of tunes about wee houses in Scotland, Tony & Sylvia score unexpected hit with comedy and dance. June Hunt, Bond Rowell and George Neil assist in comedy items, and the Three To¬ ledos offer musical moments: on accordions. A line of eight Carni- valette dancers )has suitable tall- j ! Yfauriee Cheyaller’s An Evening Paris (Paramount, Port.) .Portland* Ore., .Tune 18. “An. Evening in Paris” starring Maurice : Chevalier in one\man show. At . Paramotint . Theatre^ June Hi ’58; $A50 top. Maurice Chevalier presmed. his new ; one-man show at the 3,.400- seat Paramount Theatre (18). and grabbed a. nifty $ 8,800 for the. one performance. Near capacity take is great considering the mercury was pushing 100 ..degrees and the town has just completed a . week- long Annual: Rose Festival. Cheva¬ lier briskly walked onto the stage and received a near ovation.. From the time he stepped into the spot¬ light, .he. solidly captured stub- holders as he unwound ‘.‘An Even¬ ing In Paris” for the first time in this country. . He uses taped music and there^ fore ho one is onstage except the .shovTnati. Although the-: .pre¬ recorded tape was effective, it seemed to hold. Chevalier in check at times and did not allow him full freedom with the ad libs: In the first act started slowly but gained momentum after a couplg pf tunes were. out of the way. For 45 min¬ utes he sang, danced* .did. panto¬ mime bits,: ; dramatic stuff, and spiced the entire stint with good; comedy. He sang stuff in French and English, always, explaining the action in detail before starting, . Climaxing the first act was a dramatic thing, “The Hall of Lott Fbotsteps,” and sent the audience out to. intermish after enacting in pjahtomime whal would ^lappen to a man during the intermission. . It Was a classic. His impreshes of spectators watching. aCtors onstage also brought beaucoiip laughter: He talked: about rock ’h‘ roll and then hit the boards for sOme fancy terp- ing. The customers showed their appreciation generously through¬ out the first half and the: foyer Was buzzing with excitement. . The second half kept the pace going for 55 miPdtes. He weaved a medley of his old pic tunes into a nice bit. This half was highlighted by“Las Vegas” and the muttcal way foreigners talk without. actu¬ ally Neing .understood. . It stopped the show. The ' audience called him back again and again. Cheva¬ lier was ah event here and the en- tite country can look for ward., to seeing this 70-year-old showman entertain as only he can. Chevalier will..play to a- sellout at the Orpheum Theatre in Seattle (23) with $ 11,000 already in: the bank before he arrives. After Seat¬ tle, he heads for an engagement at the Greek Theatfe in Los An¬ geles. Northwest Releasing Corp. j promoted the two Pacific North¬ west datek This winds up the legit i season for bossmen Zollie Volchok and Jack Engermaru ; J ; Stars on (PARADISE ROOM, A'tLANTA) Atlanta, June 17. “^Stars on Ice,” staged and pro¬ duced by John Flanagan and Vic Charles. Ice Adorables (4), Son¬ ny Morgan, Beveirly Osburn, Alice Farrar Jimmy; Carter, Johnny Flahagan„ Penny Selwyn, Vic Char¬ les; costumes, John Bauer; chore¬ ography, Nona McDonald; puppet creations. Bill Bryant; band (5) led by Erv Hinkle. ; This is dandy hot weather enter- .tainment, combining first-class tal¬ ent, snappy costuming encasing weilrstacked femmes and skating, which never seems to pair on Deep South audiences: This show was caught as it Wound up ito engagement (four weeks) at Paradise Room in Henry Graidy Hotel marking; closing of this spot asV nitory. A capacity audience ^at in on Paradise Room’s death rattle and, despite liostalgic sadness at passing of what has been an institution (room has been in business more than 20 years), crowd was generous in its recepr tioh Of Stars on Ice. Show got off to a lively start AVith rapid introduction of cast to tune of “Luilaby of Broadway,” followed by a speedy turn by Ice Adorables (4) . . , Penny. Selwyn, Denise La- Fiamme,. Beverly Osbum, and Jan¬ ette Danorski. .. . each a looker and blonde and good skaters, too. Baritone Sonny Morgan (bor¬ rowed from Erv Hinkle's band, which closed out a three-year stand in Paradise Room) was spotted in two numbers “I’ve Got Yoti Under ences other than girls. James Bur¬ ton, guitar; James Kirkland, bass, and Richie Frost, drums, accom¬ panied the star during the second half. First half, before intermission, was loaded with entertainment. For a full hour each act kept the show moving at rrific pace, Jim¬ my . Troy got things underway solidly with his trapeze shenani¬ gans. Curvaceous Mona McCall slammed out a quartet of tunes that pleased stubholders. She is a good saleslady and has nifty pipes. Val Setz is a top juggler and his platter is in keeping with his tricks. Jimmy Matson elosed the forepart half with a hodgepodge of comedy, song, music and nonsense. Does a litlev bit iof everything climaxed by playing two trumpets at one time. Also plays the ac¬ cordion. Begged off, Ray Watkins ( 10 ) played a fine musicar score. Feve. SSsrli^ks In Tfei* IVIght; (ELMDALE, OTTAWA) Ottawa, June 17. “Shrieks in the Night” with Mr. 1 Satan; “The Monster Maker” and •'The Ape Man” (PRC) ; $1. “See Dead Painter Van Gogh Materialize the Ethereal Form of Elvin Presley and Posing Appari¬ tion of Marilyn Monroe.” So read daily the ads, four days ahead, for this SO-niinufe “horror’* show. It turned out to he no seance and chiefly comedy. One-niter included a pair of an¬ cient shockers from long-defunct _ , PRC, starring Ralph Morgan and My Skin” and“I Get a Kick OiitrBela Lugosi as the respective-mon- pf You;” for $o-so reception. sters. Both featured the Hollsrwood “gorilla” who hasn’t haen seen A solo turn by Beyerly Osburh was a pleaser arid Farrar & Car¬ ter, exhibiting thrills, grace and skin ih their Adagio on Ice num¬ ber, were well .mitted for their paips.; -' . Penny Selwyn was featured in a Sandpaper Ballet number in which Ice Adorables wore scan^, but' cute, costumes and carried minia¬ ture umbrellas. Oh next was Johnny Flanagan, and expert skater doing a comedy turn called “The Wackiest WAG.” Flanagan used balloons, for blasts ['and got lots of laughs, mixing in byplay, with audience for big hand. Vic Charles, puppeteer, had the ripsing spot and manipulated his mannequins oiit iii the open, mov¬ ing around swiftly on his skates. Act mo stranger to Paradise Room audiences over ‘ the years) rated applause. ; Finale brought on entire, com¬ pany (eight) for an effective closer to a good hand. Show was stageo on a 20 by 20 -foot rink—small; of course, but adequate for rooms that cater to this type pf entertainment rather than the sexotics and, dou¬ ble-entendre cOraedics. Luce, aroxmd much lately. U.S. stage unit, owned by John Cates—^who, .as ‘Mr; Satan,” is onstage continu¬ ously—travels four persons and has a nightly nut of only $ 110 , in¬ cluding travelling expenses, mak¬ ing it obviously profitable. It’s doing a month or so in “B” Odeon Theatres in eastern Canada—six- a-week, and seven when it can get local permission for a Sunday mid- nighter, as it did in Cornwall, a St. Lawrence Seaway town, before coming here. Oshawa, Kingston and Peterborough, all Ont, -were other dates that week. It nearly filled 8 /5-seat nabe Elmdale here, at SI flat, with mainly teenage audience. Cates is a youngish, chubby chap, it least 50 pounds heavier than the usual conception of Satan, and quite adept at adlibbing. He’s a^so a capable magician and hypnotist. Chief aide is a tall pretty and shapely titian-top introed as Miss Pepper Stripup, who goes through most of the show in a tight swim¬ suit. others, who have little to do onstage but lurch . in occasionally as monsters, are two young men. I The; apparent decapitation of ;Mis$ Stripup, excellently per- 1 formed, was one of the few really ' shuddery items. Next-to-closing scene—^supposed to live up to the ad’s “You’re Actually Surrounded By a Hideous Horror Horde of. Nightmare Creatures”—was a frost because; as Cates apologized when it was oyer, the fire departmenl wouldn’t permit two near-stage exit lifThts to be doused. Some re-- TWT V , jr J ^ J corded music was eerily effective RiCk Nelson took four days put, though. No live was used at all. from picture, makmg to do one-i ♦u ..u u j- » j. niters in the Pacific Northwest. Ad-: vance seat sale has been heavy in ; nofi*! + switch ol all four cities with all showing . a^ padloi^ed trunk—the capacity or near for the tour. Show l^f^ic Pf?*? grabbed a hefty $ 8,100 for one per -1 formance here. Take is even bet-- seated tsto niir Riek Xelson ^how : (CIVIC AUD., PORT.I Portland, Ore., June 18. Rick Nelson T'^io, Mnimy Mat- son, Val Setz, Mona McCall, Jimmy Troy, Ray Watkins Orch (IQ); pro¬ duced by Zollie Volchok.. At Civic Auditoriunii Portland, June.17. ’58; $3 top. ter considering the heat was near the iOCi mark and the town just .finished a full iveek of Rose Fes¬ tival* In Spokane (16), Nelson pulled a near capacity $8,300 into the Coliseum for one performance ence, seated onstage. No paid stooges could have performed bet¬ ter* if os well. When the moldy lights came on and a misshapen monster sashayed onto stage, one .^irl jumped into the lap of the as¬ tonished boy next to her and flung her arms around his neck. Other scaled to $3. In Vancouver it wasarouna ms necK. uiner NSG ' .1 reactions, planned and unplanned. NSG: Nelson entered the spotlight to the wild screams of the nearly aU- leriime audience. He sang, played the guitar, ; danced, shook,: and swivelled for a solid 35-mihutes with his le^on of fans screaming, yelling, shouting and raising the roof with sheer enjoyment at every breath and move. Handsome guy was decked put in a; sharp, green suit, gold shirt and white tie, which he 'peeled as the perspiration poured put. He started with the coat, followed by the tie. He “hyp¬ notized” the audience with his gyrations and kept slamming. oiit his platter stuff one after another with only enough time*!n between to ^ab a swallow of water. Nelson works hard but needs more stage experience along with additional practice at singing into a stage mike. Thus fortified, he were .equally yock-begetting. Run-? ning gags were used to good effect. Interspersed jokes were mostly double-entendre, some startlingly blue but none really nasty; and re- . actiop seemed healthily explosive. Van Gogh didn’t rate a mention in the show, aqd the “materializ- irig” consisted of' bringing large photos to view through a lighted screen. TheMM “pin-up” pose was it all right, but with a scarf across” the bosom. “Free. Large Spirit Portraits” of Presley and Miss Monroe t “In Famous Pin-up Pose” again) turned out to be 5x7 thin^^ paper photos, with MM not merely clad to the throat but wearing an ermine wrap. Desl>ite misrepresentations, ap¬ parently resented by no one, this is a first-rate cdmedy-cum-spook show for towns and smaller cities.