The New York Clipper (October 1917)

8 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER October 3, 1917 VICTORIA Seldom has a vaudeville house opened aa auspiciously as did Loew's Victoria, which waa dedicated on Monday night, with an audience that completely Sited the house. The bill waa opened with the "Fatty" Arbuckle feature film "Oh, Doctor," then followed six well selected acts. The Four Valdores, three women and a man, presented a high class bicycle act. The three women open the turn with a song and then mount wheel and continue their song for a few moments. They then ride around the stage and all do the same stunts at the same time. Valdere then occupies the stage alone and does some trick comedy riding par excellence. Two of the girls follow on small unicyclea. They start with a soDg and, before finish- ing it, discard their wheels. The third girl then has the stage for some trick riding and is joined by one of her sister performers, after which they do a double riding act. Valdore follows with more of his trick comedy stunts and then be is joined by one of the girls for some double riding. For a finish, Valdore mounts a wagon wheel and, with his feet on the hub, rides down a ladder from an eight- foot pedestal to the stage. Valdore is unquestionably among the very best bicyclists now before the pub- lie, and his partners are also very clever performers. The act is one of the best in its class. .Lee and Bennett, man and woman, found favor in a comedy talking and sing- ing act. They open with patter and go into a song. The woman then renders a song and her partner follows with a solo. For a finish they have a little more talk and then a song. The man has a very food voice and sines well. The Edah Delbridge Trio, two men and a. woman, scored a success and were called upon for an encore. The trio opens with a popular number which is followed fay a solo by Miss Delbridge. The men then sing a duet and their partner joins them. They follow this with a selection from the opera of "Tannhauser." For their encore number they sang a negro melody. Miss Delbridge has a useful so- prano voice of much power and compass and her partners have rich, resonant voices which they use welL Raymond and Caverly, in their new act on board a submarine which they call "Y 4," were as funny as ever and scored the laughing hit of the bill. They have abandoned their German dialect, but are just as good fun makers without it. They were called before the curtain in response to hearty applause but did not take an encore. Wells, Norworth and France, two men and a woman, presented a comedy talk- ing and singing act and earned their full meed of approval. They open with com- edy patter by the men. The woman, and one of the men then sing a song which is followed by more comedy talk. One of the men then does some comedy piano playing, while his partners try to render a song. Their singing, however, is lost, as the. pianist commands attention. The latter is a good comedian, but rather overdoes it. He is also a capable pianist. His partners lend good aid and the re-, suit is an act which is wall liked by the audience. HirschorFs Revue closed *he vaudeville portion of the bill. It requires twelve people, six men and six wom n u, and while it is a Russian act it gets xway from the old style act of its class. The scene, which is a full stage special «et, repre- sents a pretty woodland, with perspective drop and a portion of church shewing left stage. They open with a song by., the women, at the close of which they are joined by the men and then fellows a duet by one of the men and one of the women.- They finish with Russian danc? ing, two of the men showing extraordinary cleverness in this line. E. W. • FIFTH AVENUE The usual full house was far evidence at the first show on Monday and the bill was well received. . Mabel Burke, in number one position, won favor for her illustrated song rendi- tion. Binns and Bert, two very clever gymnasta, presented a good routine of Ro- man rings and hand-balancing feats.- (See New Acta.) fc- Wataoa and Clark, two women, presented a singing act with piano, Miss Watson do- ing most of the winging and her partner giving an excellent account of herself as a pianiste. Miss Watson sang two songs and then Miss Clark did some "ragging." Then they gave a two-part song and an- other solo, and for an encore, a duet. The girls received marks of approval all through their act, and it was of the genuine kind that brings joy to the performer's heart. The Shrapnel Dodgers are four Cana- dians who have "done their bit" in the trenches and received wounds that caused their honorable discharge from the British army._ The act is opened with one of the men in khaki announcing the act and in- troducing his fellows and himself. The scene then changes to two, boxed scene, and shows the men in khaki trousers and shirt sleeves sitting around on boxes. The announcer started with a rollicking Irish song. This is followed by a "violin" solo on a "home-made instrument" from the trenches. The head of the instrument is made of a tin cracker box, a plain piece of wood is the neck and it has one string. On this, one of the men played two numbers (one for an encore) and proved hjinqpif to be an expert performer. He played with much feeling and expression. A song by one of his partners was fol- lowed with a recitation of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew." For a finish they give a travesty of a "jazz" band. The act was heartily received, much applause being given during its progress. Goldsmith and Lewis, two men, pre- sented an act made up of instrumental music and comedy talking. (See New Acts.) "Mrs. Hitter Appears," a playlet, was presented by a little company of five peo- ple, four women and a man, and was re- ceived with every evidence of approval. The sketch tells the story of a married woman who makes her debut on the stage for a charity benefit and makes such a fail- ure that her husband feels disgraced. Two of her women friends try to flatter her and induce her to become a professional actress, but she finally listens to her husband, turns on ber women friends and accuses them of trying to break up ber home. The role of the husband was capitally played. The women playing the wife and her stage directress, respectively, did good work, and the girl portraying the Maid de- serves a word of praise. The sketch is well written and, in spite of the thinness of the plot, is interesting and full of good clean comedy. Olga Kargan, a lyric soprano, assisted by a man at the piano, scored one of the hits of the bill. .(See New Acts.) The great big laughing hit of the show was scored by Jim Toney and Ann Nor- man, in an act called "You Know What I Mean." They open with comedy talk and then sing a comedy song, the title of which forms the name of the act. Miss Norman then sings and they finish with a number in which they attempt to sing as though each had a hairtip. This is a great com- edy number and kept the audience in roars of laughter. They were so wen liked that they were forced to respond to an encore. In closing position, Margaret Edwards and a woman assistant presented an act made up of physical culture and classical dances. Miss Edwards begins with a series of physical culture stunts in which she proves herself to be an expert in this line. She,then.gives.several dances of the classic style. Her assistant, dressed as a vivau- diere, leads, the orchestra. The act was well liked. - . E. W. MINER'S BRONX An unusually long and better arranged show was offered on Sunday night than has been seen in this house this season. There were a number of new acts on the bill which brought ont a host of agents to look them over. The opening act was the Three Flora Bros., comedy acrobats and equilibrists, who started the show oil at a very fast dip. In the second position was Patrice O'Neill, a character staging comedienne. She has plenty of personality, bnt does not seem to use material which la suitable to her talents. Her first and second number can be construed as passable, but she should forget all about trying to give an impression of Frances White singing "Mis- sissippi," as it only shows her deficiency in this respect. "The Girl I Left Behind Me," a comedy- dramatic playlet offered by two men and a woman, was the next turn. This act is very conventional in plot as well as rather weak in structure. The two men were very poor in their role and detracted from the work of the woman through their in- feriority. B. Kelly Forest, in the fourth position, stopped the show. It was not his fault that he did, however. He can blame it all on the material he used, for he opened his turn with a patriotic song, and bis last two songs were also patriotic. Forest has ability and should not allow himself to use patriotic numbers to win success, as he can get sufficient legitimate material with which to accomplish this otherwise. Teddy Osborne's ,Pets, in a pantomime offering, "Dogville," made a very good im- pression. This act, even though it has played almost everywhere about the East, should still find plenty of work, as these canine entertainers give a performance that is splendid. Young and Clifton, man and woman, followed this turn with their com- edy singing and talking skit. The act is a passable one for an early spot on the three- a-day bills, but might be fixed up here and there, for it is a bit crude in structure. "Hogan's Alley," a novelty singing of- fering, with nine people, closed the first part of the show. All of the people have good singing voices and render their spe- cialties in a capable manner. Bnt the act is poorly staged and assembled, which greatly handicaps its possibilities of ob- taining constant work. However, if it were properly fixed up it would be in big demand. Chas. Deighn, in a neat physical culture demonstration and hand-balancing act, opened the second part of the show. Collins and Manning, man and woman, in a singing and talking skit, were the next turn. The dialogue in the act is very poor and along conventional lines and should be eliminated. The songs are just * passable and most of them of a comedy ' nature. Frank Mayne is again presenting bis dramatic sketch, "The Third Degree," with two assistants. Mayne is portraying the seven characters of the sketch, in which the police inspector is trying to solve an arson mystery. His performance in the protean roles is very good and he has two very capable assistants. The turn should be in demand at the present time for the neighborhood theatres. Wilson and Whitman, a neatly attired couple, appeared in a song, dance and piano offering. The woman has talent of the character sort, but the man seems to be somewhat of a handicap to ber in pre- senting the turn. Spissel Bros, and Mack, in their comedy acrobatic melange, made a very good impression through their "hookum" comedy efforts. Robinson and McKissick, colored comedians, in the next to closing spot, stopped the show with their talk, songs and dances. The closing act was Alvin .and Kenny, in a comedy turn, which held the audience to the finish. A. D. BABY STILL WORKS FOR U. S. Fabgo, N. D„ Sept. 30.—Baby Violet Stroud, of the Stroud Trio, who has sold over $300,000 worth of Liberty Bonds and collected over $6,000 in cash for the Red Cross; in theatres where she has appeared, assisted in the Red Cross campaign this week in Fargo. Baby Violet exhibits a personal letter from Secretary McAdoo thanking her for her work which has been most successful. NEW VOICES ACT IS READY Harry Yokes, late of Ward and Yokes, will make his vaudeville debut in a skit entitled, "The Street Cleaner" and written by Wm. Jerome. His first engagement will be at Dockstader*s Theatre, Wilming- ton, Del., Oct. 22. Jack Levy is managing bis act GETS OFF BLACK LIST Willie Missem, the comedy juggler who has been on the black list for some time, was removed from it last week and pro- vided with a route over the Loew Circuit by Mandell and Rose. His first engage- ment was last Monday at Loew's Toronto theatre. MARTYN AND FLORENCE BOOKED Fargo, N. D., Sept. 30.—Martyn and Florence, whose juggling tennis court act has attracted attention, have completed a tour of the A. B. C. circuit and have accepted solid booking on Pantages time. GRANVUXE STARTS FOR WAR Bernard Granville left on Saturday with the Seventy-first Regiment for Spartan- burg, So. Carolina, where the regiment will go_ into active training for a few weeks prior to its departure for France. ACTOR PUBLISHES SONG Faego, N. D., Sept. 29.—Will Spallard, of the Spallard, Carr and Converse trio, now playing A. B. C. time, has just pub- lished a new patriotic song, entitled "Uncle Sam Needs Yon Now." SKIPPER AND KASTRUP BOOKED Skipper and Kastrup have obtained a blanket contract covering fifteen weeks over the Loew Circuit, opening at the Orpheum, New York on October 8. The act was placed by Mandel and Rose. HAD TO STOP SINGING Blossom Seeley, while appearing at the Hushwiek Theatre last week was forced to euminate all of her song numbers and con- fine herself to dancing on account of a severe cold. FOY TOY AND CO. BOOKED Foy Toy and Co. have procured a ten week contract through Jack Levy from the United Booking offices. The act is at the Majestic theatre, Pittsfield, Mass., this week HYAMS & MdNTYRE NAME ACT "The Doll Girl" is the title of the new one act playlet written by Clare Kummer. as a vaudeville vehicle for Hyams and Mc- Intyre. The act is at present in rehearsal. SWIFT MANAGING LOEW HOUSE Harry C. Swift, who, until recently, man- aged the Harlem Opera Honse for several years, last Monday assumed the manage- ment of Loew's Greeley Square theatre. ELSNER WRITES A SKETCH Edward Eisner has written a sketch in which he will make an early appearance. Ruth Gates has been signed to play the leading feminine role. NINE LITTLE RUBENS BOOKED The Nine Little Rubens have,obtained! a route over the Loew Circuit through 'Man- dell and.Rose. They opened at'the Are. B theatre on Monday.