The New York Clipper (November 1917)

November 21,-1917 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER 19 HERBERT AND DENNIS Theatre— Fox'* Jamaica. Style— Comedians. Time— Fifteen minute*. Setting— Olio drop in one. A straight man and a fat "nut" co- median walk on stage in street clothes, starting off with a song so loudly played that the lyrics cannot be heard. They then go into a routine of the most pointless chatter this reviewer has ever heard, interpolating several dialects which they attempt but do not do very well. The fat man does the hat tip- ping stuff seen before and the slipping over the stage which got but few laughs. The dialects attempted were French, Irish, Italian, Chinese and British, with a sprinkling of the effeminate here and there. There is no reason for Herbert and Dennis, outside of the flip flops, class, entertainment, humor and talent being lacking in the act they are now doing. 8. L. H. HELEN ELEY AND CO. Theatre— Proctor'* 23rd St. Style— Song*. Time— Twelve minute*. Setting— In one. Helen Kley is gifted with amazing good looks, a pleasant voice, and an artistic taste in costumes. Her reper- toire is well selected and varied. Not the least attractive feature of the act is the "and Co.," who is a well-appearing young man with a good voice and a trained piano touch. He is so good that he deserves to have his name on the billing. Miss Eley makes three costume changes, the last of which is an evening gown that might have been made by Lucile or some other million dollar cos- tumer. There is no reason why this turn should not be a big hit, for it has all the qualities which the average singing act lacks—elegance, refinement, and talent. P. K. AMORAS SISTERS AND CO. Theatre— Proctor 3 * 58th Street. Style— Hinging and dancing. Time— Eighteen minute*. Setting— In one and special. The Amoras sisters offer a singing dancing and trapeze act in which they are assisted by four girls. The turn opens in one and the sisters, in spangled gowns sing. At the finish, the curtain rises on the four girls danc- ing. The sisters then render some song and dance numbers in which they are assisted by their company. Josephine Amoras then mounts the trapeze and does some thrilling stunts. This act is well dressed and possesses qualifications for engagements in the two-a-day houses. M. Ll COONEY SISTERS Theatre— -Fifth Avenue. Style— Singing. Time— Thirteen minute*. Setting— In one. The Cooney Sisters have a good rou- tine of songs and a beautiful array of gowns. Their personality easily carries across the footlights. Their opening number is a good old southern melody which was put across well After singing three or four popu- lar songs they finish with a good double number. This is a good act for any bill. M. L. NEVILLE AND ZENK Theatre— Proctor'* 23d Street. Style— Comedian*. Time— Ten minute*. Setting— In one. Neville and Zenk present a dull comedy act in which the material is very poor. Vaudeville is too full of acts of this kind. It Is not original or even good old stuff. They sing a few songs,.which fall flat and leave them stranded at the finish. _ „__ M. L. NEW ACTS (CootinMd from Pa«* t) JACK ROSELEIGH AND CO. "QUAKERTOWN TO BWAY" Theatre—Harlem Opera House. Style— Dramatic playlet. Time— Fifteen minute*. Setting—Full ttage. The sketch, entitled "Our Wife," which Jack Itoseleigh and a capable company of two present, is clever as far as plot and lines are concerned. It is original, and contains a surprise in the end which is a knockout. The story is briefly this: A dis- honorably discharged army officer, played by Roscleigh, comes to the apartment of the man who had him discharged, in order to obtain revenge. But a woman enters and he hides. Then the owner of the apartment enters and it is plain that the woman has left her husband to be with him. She leaves the room, though, and Roseleigh comes in, giving the owner the impression that he is her husband. The lover, after some talk, offers to buy off the supposed husband, and gives him five thousand dollars. He also arranges to have him re-instated in the army. But, when all is accomplished, Roseleigh tells the facts which are that he is not the girl's husband at all and never saw her, but simply overheard the conversation and decided it would be useful as a means to obtain the end for which he came. P. K. Theatre— Eighty-first St. Style—Girl act. Time— Thirty minute*. Setting— Special. "Quakertown to Broadway" is an act billed as an "excursion in two trips," with music by Joseph Burrows and pre- senting a chorus of eight girls and four men. Irene Williams, Ned Norton and Dellbart E. Benn have the leads. Everything in the turn is specially made. The act contains all the elements necessary for a good musical act, namely, good actors, good music, fine singing and plot of sufficient interest to keep people awake. This act should be a winner in any house. M. L. "HONEYMOON FROLICS" Theatre— Proctor"* 125th St. Style— Musical tabloid. Time— Twenty minute*. Setting— Special. A man and a girl, a blackface comedian, and a chorus of six, make up the cast of this playlet, which is un- folded in a badly painted setting repre- senting the deck of a ship. There is no plot whatever, and little comedy. The jokes are principally old puns. However, the chorus, which is made up of good-looking girls in four attractive costume changes, is well trained and adds a zest to the act. As they are on the stage most of the time, the play has no chance to become dull. And the comedian, if he were given some good lines, could be really funny, for, even with his old stuff, his delivery brings a few laughs. The two principals are negligible, both as to voice and manner. P. K. MARY LOUISE DYER St CO. Theatre— Eighty-first St. Style— Comedy sketch. Time— Thirteen minute*. Setting— Full stage. A new vehicle entitled "$6,000 a year" is the offering presented by Mary Louise Dyer and company. The dialogue is crisp and snappy and goes over well, especially the part where the husband is asking bis employer for a raise in salary. Just as he is showing him the poor conditions under which he is living, the wife comes in from the next room and explains how swell they live. The sketch is well acted and should be acceptable as a comedy offering in a good spot on the better class of neighbor- hood houses. M. L. MLLE. LUXANNE AND CO. Theatre— Eighty-first St. Style—Da ncing. Time— Seventeen minute*. Setting— Full ttage. Mile. Luxanne presents a dancing novelty. The act starts off with a poorly ren- dered dance by six girls, which is fol- lowed by Mile. Luxanne, in a routine of dances. But she cannot make up for the poor performance of the girls. The act is well dressed, but that is about all that can be said of it. The act needs a complete overhauling, after which it may develop into a fairly good turn on the three-a-day time. M. L. STOCKTON'S DOGS Theatre— Proctor"* 23rd St. Style— Trained dog*. Time— Ten minute*. Setting— Special three. This act fails wholly to get over, seemingly because the dogs are untrained or too old to work well. They fall down in almost every trick, and the ones in which they succeed are such as almost any average dog could do. The setting is reminiscent of old time side-show posters, and depicts the various dogs in their tricks, with lavish praises of them in large letters and glaring colors splashed all over the drop. The principal talent of the dogs is in tri- cycle riding, and this they do very badly. P. K. NATOMA QUARTETTE Theatre— Eighty-first St. Style— Singing. Time— Thirteen minute*. Setting— In one. The Natoma Quartette is composed of two men and two women, who, in their routine, sing mostly classical selec- tions. They open with an aria from the opera "Marta," which was very poorly rendered, after which they sing three or four more songs and finish with a popu- lar number. The act needs considerable bracing up and a change of songs before it will be a good three-a-day turn. M. I*. ADROIT BROTHERS Theatre— Proctor'* 125th St. Style— Equilibrists. Time— Eight minute*. Setting—Full stage. Dressed in English walking suits, the Adroit Brothers offer a good act of its kind. They open with a violin solo, then do some head to head balancing work which runs smoothly from one turn to the other, and finish with another solo. The work is neatly done and the act is good for big time. M. L. QUEENIE DUNEDIN Theatre— Fifth Avenue. Style— Variety. Time— Ten minute*. Setting—One and full ttage. Queenie Dunedin opens her act with a song and dance number which gives her offering a good start. The drop then rises on a wire appara- tus and she does a few tricks that were really good, after which she mounts a wheel and goes through the routine of all bicycle acts, finishing her turn with some hand-springs. In order to strengthen her offering, Miss Dunedin would do well to get a new line of talk. M. L. MAUDE FEALY AND CO. Theatre— Harlem Opera Hou*e. Style— Playlet. Time— Eighteen minute*. Setting— Full ttage special. Maude Fealy and a company of two present a dramatization of O. Henry's short story, "A Gift of the Magi," under the direction of Klaw and Erlanger. The dramatization of the story was made by Adele Burleson, wife of the U. S. Postmaster-General, who has succeeded admirably as far as action is concerned, but hus fallen down on lines. Where O. Henry is whimsical, the play is muah- ily sentimental, and where he is realistic, it is theatrical and affected. A great deal of the weakness of the production may be due to the two lead- lug players, who are uniformly bad. The male lead simply rattles off his lines, seemingly with no thought of what he is saying, and Miss Fealy, in trying to make the role a sweetly simple one, sounds like a higb school pupil on gradua- tion day. The third member of the cast, in the role of an Italian woman, is ex- cellent, her one scene being the bright- est spot in the act P. K. TABER AND CLAIRE Theatre— Proctor"* 23rd St. Style— Songs and dance*. Time— Twelve minute*. Setting— In one. These young women have talent and versatility, and have costumed their turn attractively. They open with a duet, followed by an oriental dance. Then cornea a negro dia- lect song, and a closing duet. The girl who does the oriental dance has real talent and great bodily freedom. With training, she might really be able to do something. Her work as it stands is un-. finished, however. " Her arm movements. especially, very nearly ruin her dance. She carries the serpentine movement much too far for beauty, producing an effect of grotesqueness and monotony. Her voice is also good, although ahe seemed to be suffering from a cold at the showing. The other girl does not distinguish herself. The act, as a whole, was well liked, and should work Into something good. p, K. SHARROW'S SUNSET FOUR Theatre— Proctor"* 125th St. Style— Musical. Time— Fifteen minute*. Setting— Full ttage. Sbarrow'8 Sunset Four consists of' four young women, one of whom is good looking, and none of whom can play or sing. They open with the Barcarolle from "Tales df Hoffmann," with 'cello, two violins and piano. One girl then sings a ballad, which Is followed by a 'cello solo. The pianist next gives a medley of good music, the playing of which, how- ever, is torture to a sensitive ear. The girls have the air of those whose friends have told them how well they would do in vaudeville, and who are try- ing to find out if it is true. It is not. P. K. HARRY ADLER ! Theatre— Proctor"* 23rd Bt. Style— Mimic and monologue. Time— Eight minute*. Setting— In one. Harry Adler works in such a. quiet and resigned manner that, in the begin- ning, his act promises to be very dull. As he proceeds, however, his personality and his way of talking to an audience confidentially get him across beautifully and when he Is finished the house clamors madly for his return. His work is distinctive, and remains in the memory. His best things are bis imitations of well known sounds, such as the mixing of a highball, a dog fight, and others. -There is no doubt whatever of his getting across. P. K.