Variety (March 1921)

^_ ae VARIETY Friday, March 4, II ^ i.: tetf about with sotrn 1 "dog" Btepplnff, and the men finish* tl nicely. Th© Aeahi Troupe HomimI. Tiny started with their ever-deceiving thumb trick, with the water spray* the big feature of the turn. There la a ne*v finish. Two prop lanterns collapse, disclosing two girls with dripping parusolM. The long robes give the illusion they are unsup- ported in the air. The Oeraldi opened the show, it took the man- dolins to get returns, but the stunt Rend* them across. Mrs. Cera Id was extremely neat in a gold-fringed frock. I bee. FIFTH AVE. They had the rails up on tin lower floor at 8 p. m. at the Fifth Avenue Tuesday night. The ad- vance dope announced the Chaplin picture, in addition to the regular bill next week. The show got a bad break In hav- ing a weak dramatic sketch .spotted No. 4 in Kvelyn Beresford and Co. (New Acts) and didn't recover un- til Miller and Lyle stepped out in the next to closing spot. Muriel Hudson and Dave Jones followed the dramatic effort and didn't have a chance to get started. Jones nearly sprained his German dialect trying to work up «omo en- thusiasm. Their song and nance finish got them enough for a couple of bends. Donald Kerr and :iis Lady Friends were next. The littlest girl of the quartet captured the house without half trying through per- sonality and cuteness. She is one of the sweetest mites seen around. Kerr's solo dance, which is always sure fire, was a victim of the apathy created ahead and just passed. It is a capital act, however. Sammy Lee held Kerr's role originally, but retired after an accident to his knee. The hit of the bill was Fur man and Nash in the No. 2 spot. These boys a;e fron. the "Van and Schenck" club of Brooklyn, and are a pair of harmony singers that de- liver. They have pleasing voices and good song cycle, and will put it over in the best of the houses. They should have been spotted fur- ther down. The Mizzan Troupe of Arabs opened and gave the show a good start with pyramid formations and the usue whirlwind Arab ground tumbling. * Holland and Ray did nicely fol- lowing Furman'and Nash and were the only other act in the line up to get a break. The girl has person- ality but should correct her enun- ciation, her speaking voice being muffled at times. Some of the "fly" material of the man didn't register and a few of the cracks are lifted, but the bulk of the material sounds new, being written around the hus- band out of work and wife working idea. ■ Burke and Whiteside, the danc- ing team, closed just ahead of the feature picture. Miss Whiteside is pinch hitting for Burke's former partner and wife, who is tempora- rily out of the turn through illness. Jvlo. Margie) placed the bill on the plane which it held for the remainder of the evening When they "showed" in No. 3 position. The main portion of the turn is running exactly ten min- utes, with the short dancing bit which foltows tacking two more onto that. It's too short a time and seems to leave the act unfinished. Bach delivers a solo, thence double for the exit, with some talk inserted. The conversation holds one or two laughs while separating the pair in an argument and •squaring" it, but it could stand some touching up The pair dress well, With Margie leek&tp port kniiarti'»*r«U. in both .he/ costumes, while her rendering of Jean'' is something to remember and the strongest as-et of the act. Another chorus should be sung. The Novelty Clintons followed the weekly, and scored. Lucille and Cockle succeeded With the two birds in maintaining the interest of the house. The green parrot was evi- dently a bit off form and caused some amount of trouble, but its parlner carried the act along to a successful ending. Davis and Darnell worked up in- terest, with the former's fast chat- ter making it easy for 'em. A cork- ing comedian Davis, with his part- ner an excellent foil for him, and pleasing to the eye besides. Eva Shirley was moved up one. from the closing spot, delivering a trio of numbers .and finishing well up in the running. The band aided materially, with the violin player attracting attention to himsc.f. A! Both collected his share in two bits of. jazz stepping. There's a lot of action offered within the 16 minutes the turn holds the stage, and th t fact more than proved its worth with numerous curtains. Duffy and Sweeney came the clos- est to calling a halt in proceedings with their clowning, and add* d on Sfl extra laugh by coming back to take a bow after the lights had been extinguished. The response to that bit wns more than enough to call for an encore, but the boys turned it down. They closed the vaudeville portion of the bill. 81 ST STREET. The usual quota for a Monday night filed by the gate to make busi- ness good. It was a congenial gath- ering that drifted in from the neigh- borhood, but not extremely demon- strative in its appreciation. The show went along evenly, with no one in particular running away with the honors for the entire sextet of acts. Keegan and O'Bourke, who have paired since splitting with their former partners (Cliff Kdwards for the former and Adelphi for JAMES MADISON says: I am going to make 1921 th* biggest y*»ar of my career. To do this 1 n»u."»t writ* the best beta of my career. My landlord still collects his monthly stipend at 1413 Broadway. N. Y. AMERICAN ROOF. The complete bill Was given up- stairs the first h:«ir, the runn'nc time of the acts in total being 109 minutes, which allowed the feature to start grinding at 10 10; final cur tain about 20 minuter past 11 Where the feature its* If i«> short, the ninth act is also played on the roof. The lower floor seats have been Changed recently and are up- holstered, having been brought down from the Xew Rochelle houst-. The second section of th<» show distanced the fir.-t part In scoring, with Chapelle and Stennette. a col- ored couple, copping the Monday evening's honors. The team is now <anying a pianist and he proved his value. The routine? is entirely songs, savi-.g the piano solo. Klim- ination of the talk has worked won- ders for the turn, which took the No. 2 spot a season or so ago here, but was this time allot leu the im- portant position of seventh. The colored girl's voice has greatly im- proved. Barring the bad top note at the finish of their first number, she sang to excellent purpose. The eouple have changed in dressing also, having discarded cork and ap- pearing as "high yaller." their gen- eral idea of working being along straight lined, which is something of a departure for colored acts. Few can get away with it, at that. For the chorus of one of the several ballads in the routine, the girl yo- dcled. For others she had novelty interpolations. They won their en- core number announced as an im- pression of Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes doing "Come Along Miss Mandy." The number was very well put over, the pianist amusing by his chuckles and hum- ming. Charles Conway and Sallie Fields •followed With a hit next to clos- M. S. BENTHAM PRESENTS • ■ ,..,,» TTav. you IDEAS? T ran complete fherh so that they're FIT TO BtB PClII.lSlinr). Send for my GUARANTEED PROPOSITI* >N- -CASPER NATHAN |v2 Manlerre Rtdff., II W Randolph Str.t-t, Chicago. T4YL°R TRVNKS BLACKWELL THE STAGE AND SCREEN STAR FOR HIS VAUDEVILLE DEBUT IN "THE MORALE PIRATES » SUPPORTED BY MISS MARTINE MARTIN MR. FRED SPEARS and MR. EDWARD RACEY Direction CHAS. H. ALLEN 210 W. 44th ST.. N. Y. 28 E. RANDOLPH ST.. CHICAGO ing. This team hates to play Can- ada judging from their refusal to accept time booked there for them, but they are still playing Loew theatres. Miss Fields' admirable enunciation almost alone stamps her as big time, and it's rather a pity she has not more lyrics in the pres- ent act. This couple look good enough for the better houses. It appears Just a matter for them- selves to work out. There are rough points, probably called for by their brand of kidding. But both are un- mistakably clever entertainers. The Williams Brothers soft- danced their way to favor opening intermission. The routine remains the same with the tap stepping at the start, waltz time ductting next and "their impressions" of tap dancing past and present. The latter is more jazz work than tap stepping. The announcements carry a bit too much of the personal. Al Gamble stood out well in No 3. The lightning calculator with an assistant who is quick in making his comedy points really provided the bill's first spark of life. Gam- ble showed something different in factoring a five number figure. It's doubtful if many of the roof bunch knew what it was all about when he cubed several figures. But they understood the comedy and were impressed by the figure? that strewed the blackboard at the close. Elwin's Rag-o-Marimba Band (New Acts) closed intermission well enough. On just ahead were Fisher and Hurst (New Acts). Estelle Sully was second, looking very nice in a flowered silk frock, festooned with glittering silver lace. Miss Sully's talk seemed too fast and she showed more ability at handling lyrics than with the chatter. Her use of "Mammy" got more than anything else offered. The bronzed Apollo Trio with Greek posings and acrobatics closed the show. The roof crowd is stay- ing for the feature these days. The Aerial Macks opened. Ibee. 23RD STREET. The bill here (first half) was only of fair calibre, with three acts standing forth. Josie Heather and Co. (New Acts) were in the lights and made an acceptable headliner, though the laughs of the show went to George Rolland and Co., "Fixing the Furnace." This goes over with the same ease and results as it did when it was first put on.^nd some new gags add to its pull. Jed Dooley and his "cast." con- sisting of a mighty good-looking girl looking mighty good in tights, (Continued on page 22.) FOR SALE A complete musical comedy production, including secnorv. wardrobe and electrical effects. In fact everything that goes to make a successful musical comedy revue. THE MARCUS SHOW OF 1920 will dispose of their entire production, for the past season, to make room for an antire new production for the season of 1921. Every article to be sold was built, painted and created this season Everything is in first class condition. Most of the wardrobe was replaced this season I'rod ii<-1 ion to b. sold with or without book and music. Interested part lea ad- dress bids to v ■»«■ «« NESTOR THAYER «.r \ l.i< M MANAGER, As Per Route March ?*•—-Lyceum. Rochester: March 10-12— Empire, Syracuse; March 17-19 Playhouse. Wilmington, Del.; March 21-26— Ford's, Baltimore; March 29-31— <;rand Opera House. Trenton, N. J.; April 4-9— Apollo, Atlantic City; April 10- 16 -National. Washington. Entire effects ready for delivery Juno lat. > VAUDEVILLE MANAGER and PRODUCER Specializing in the development end management of acts with cutct^nding and unusual features. WRITE OR WIRE • 505 Romax Bldg., 24& West 47th St., New York