The New York Clipper (March 1919)

THE NEW YORK CLIPPER March 5, 1919 PALACE Howards' Degs and Ponies, billed as the Howard Spectacle, opened the show and the well-trained nntmala were pot through a routine of tricks which pleased Im- mensely. The act is a treat opener and scored strongly. • Boyle and Brazil, ecentric dancers, featuring a number of the old George M. Cohan tones, did well in the second spot. The boys dance well .and their singing, while bat ordinary, at least was in tone and not unpleasant. Herman Timbers and his dancing violin girls have made several changes in. the "Viol-Inn": act since last shown at this theatre. The majority of the changes are good ones and, as a result, it is a far better offering than, when shown several months ago. Staged aa a miniature musical comedy, Timbers. ■ sainted by the girls, Billy Abbott and Harry Yokes, nave made of the offering a smooth-running musical act with considerable comedy, and the ex- cellent music furnished by the violins lifts ii away oat of the class of the usual tabloid musical act Some of the old melodies, as well as rag and jazz tones played by the girls, were, excellent and'the dance finish, in which the entire company appeared, carried the act over to a big success. • Stan Stanley, with his audience act, fol- lowed, and bit a high applause mark.In the middle of .the offering. Bat, unfor- tunately, the length of the act, as well .as some unsuitable material, let it down considerably at the finish. There are a lot of laughs daring the time Stanley is in the audience, bat he seems unable to keep the pace up after he goes on the stage. Stanley made an. announcement to the effect that he would be pleased to re- ceive material from those in the audience and all that'appeared good would be given a try-out and, if successful, would be paid for. It is to be hoped that'there, will be . majy responses to Mr.. Stanley's request, .for several bits in the act should be imme- diately eliminated. The "cootie" joke, as well as one or two other bits are, not for Palace Theatre audiences. The Ford Sisters, with some new and ■gorgeous costumes, Arthur Anderson at the .piano, and an attractive stage set closed .the first part and scored a hit of big pro- portions. The "Ford Sisters Revue," as the offering is billed, consists of four finely executed, dance numbers, with well-rendered piano solos between each. The last num- ber, an excellent exhibition of step dancing by the two girls, carried them off with the applause hit of tile first'part to their credit. Al. and Fanny Stedman opened after intermission and scored we'll in the difficult - spot with some well-rendered songs, comedy bits and dances.. Kiss Stedman is an ex- cellent entertainer and ably ,,8upported by her brother. , ,- Mme. Olga Petrova. -with three songs rendered in a pore light soprano, and a dramatic scene from one of her plays, re- ceived an ovation and remained on long after her allotted time was up to make an earnest speech of thanks in which she paid a big tribute to Eddie Darling and Elmer Rogers, for giving her her first op- portunity in vaadevfiTe some seven years ago. Her first appearance in New York, she said, was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, then under Mr. Rogers' management. Mme. Petrova was at her best in the dramatic bit which ends the act. She is still suffer- ing from the colli which affected her ainginff last week, bat did well with her vocal numbers in spite of the handicap. Frank Fay, who was compelled to leave the bill last week, is back In fine vocal condition and did well in spite of the late- ness of the hour. Prohibition is the big feature in the Fay act, and he made the most of it... Some clever, and timely songs dealing with the subject were well ren- dered, and be put them over with a bang. .One of the hits of the bill was scored by hlm.^ .-.,-. ,..-..' Jo* Jackson, with his bicycle, was on too late to hold attention. W. V. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS (Continwd on pages t and II) : COLONIAL It was necessary for the management to rearrange the programme on account of the non-appearance of Harry and Emma Sbarrock, who reported that they were ill. Hugh Herbert and company substi- tuted in number three position, and Lean and Mayfield billed for number five, appeared after intermission with Emma Cains closing the first half. Business held up and the house was sold out. ° The Kinogram weekly revue opened and was followed by the Four Reading* in one of the best hand-balancing acts witnessed in years. These boys are athletes from the ground up, and they won much ap- plause not alone on the marvelous feats, but in the showmanship manner in which they delivered their wares. The slide from a semi-loop to a hand stand closed the act to heavy applause. Emma Stephens should immediately con- struct the first part of her act aa two ballads rendered together do not get the desired result. The rest of the offering met with approval, because Miss Stephens has secured a number of comedy songs and ballads that hit the mark.' and are rendered with intelligence. The "Smile" and "lassie" numbers and. a new prohibi- tion song went over with a bang. Hugh Herbert, with a company of three, appeared unannounced, but many recognized Herbert, although he employs a different make-up than he used in his former offerings. The sketch . contains many bright lines, but at times the situa- tions, in which the representative of the "Murder Trust" presents different ways of disposing of the principal and the varying prices of death, are too tragic to be given a comedy twist. Herbert, aa the business partner, gave a faithful performance, and has a novelty in depicting the elapse of time by having a clock attached to a curtain and the hands turned forward. The act is ready for the best time vaudeville .can offer, but is in need of a little speed- ing about midway. „:_. Stuart Barnes interested all with a bright monologue and a few comedy songs. The "Bring Back" number is a gem. A dream recitation relating to the war was received with generous applause. Barnes is an artist and his enunciation is perfect. .. Emma Cams, with Walter Leopold at the piano, scored the hit of the first .half. Miss Caros is a wonder, considering, the many years she has been on view, and never fails to register. She sorely can put over an Irish song as well as deliver a monologue, and everything attempted was fully appreciated. Leopold looked . w el 1 in a Tuxedo sn it. and sang a ballad. Toney and Norman, held over for the second week,, did not get the big laughs they won at'", their initial performance here, but stopped the show and were com- pelled to make.a speech. ..-, Lean and Mayfield did not do as well as they generally do, on account of the preceding act, which held the stage for almost thirty minutes, but '-■ every one present knew that this pair is class per- sonified. The telephone number was cap- itally presented, as well aa all their other material, and they hold the palm as being among the best looking pairs in vaude- ville. Lieut. Pat O'Brien. R. F. C. held his audience while he related his experience in the German prison.and his.escape by jumping out of a window while the train was in motion. He told the soldiers pres- ent to -vote against any legislator who opposes the six months' pay for honor- ably discharged soldiers. In all, he was interesting and stated that if he lived to he a hundred years old he wfll always hate a bun. ' . . The Gardiner Trio in dances closed the show. *.-•;• J. D. RIVERSIDE Leo ZarreU and company opened the show with some well executed acrobatic and hand balancing stunts, and did excel- lently. Juliette Dika rendered a repertoire of published and special numbers in both French and English. The popular war songs of France she sang with fine in- telligence and in excellent-vocal style and gave to them a rare distinction. A cleverly rendered comedy number was well received and a patriotic song of France brought forth much applause.at the act's finish. - Le Ma ire, Hayes and company,. In' a comedy black face act got a lot of laughs on their opening and kept the pace up well throughout their offering. A new finish is being shown that is somewhat better than the one used at the Palace recently. But the act is still lacking in that important department. It is a com- mon fault with a; comedy act, however, and-seems a hard one to remedy, as scores of the biggest laughing acts sags badly just before the finish. With this strengthened the LeMaire-Hayes act wfll be a corker.' George Price, in songs and impersona- tions, scored One of the hits of the first part. His impersonations of Eddie Leon- " ard, AL Jolaon and Eddie Foy are far from faithful, and got him bat little. Bat the George M. Cohan bit carried him over strongly, and brought him back to do the Fanny Br ice dance imitation, which scored weU. Gas Edwards." in his new revue, in which he is assisted by Vincent ODonnell, Alice Furness and Beatrice Curtis, scored the hit of the first pari with one of the best offerings he has ever shown vaudeville patrons. In it are introduced some of his latest and best songs, together with a sprinkling of the old favorites which made him famous as a melody writer. The new prohibition number, "America Never Took Water."-sung first by Vincent CDonneH, and at the act's end by Mr. Edwards, with the audience joining in the chorus, re- flected strongly the feeling of the River- side's patron's regarding the coming "dry" period and.their admiration for the song as well. It scored a great hit. Mile. Dazie, the dancer, assisted by M Constantin KobelefT. Ed. Janis and a quar- tet of dancing girls, opened after inter* mission in a classical and popular dance revue which scored a hit from the rise of the curtain. The dances are finely put on, excellently executed and the entire act is a delight: Daxie'is dancing as well if not better than eve? before, and the work of Kobeleff and the balance of her support- ing cast Ik exceptional. Eddie Nelson and DeH ChainJ in a new act, were moved up from the next to clos- ing position held at the matinee perform- ance, and, after a slow-start, did well. The offerings wfll be reviewed under New Acts. Belle Baker, on next to closing, scored the usual big hit which has been her .un- broken record since the house opened. .Several changes have been made in her repertoire, and several new songs heard for the first time in this theatre were in- troduced. -She opened with a "Dixie" num- ber. This was followed by a comedy song, the clever lyric of .which was a play on Hebrew names. The third number, an Irish political song, got little applause, and the sag in the act after its'introduction is an indication that it has no place in ' Miss Baker's repertoire. A novelty "wop" song started.the act up again, and other songs followed in rapid succession. A medley of her old song successes was en- thusiastically applauded. Princess Rad'jan; the dancer, closed the bfll and. considering the lateness of the hour, did weU. ■ ",' -■•--■ - i *W.*V<;' ROYAL Beeman and Anderson opened the bfll with, a fast skating offering. The -stunts the boys offered were unusually difficult and the dancing on the skates was wen done. The boys are neat workers and won.hearty applause. • Howard and Sadler followed in a song cycle that took one of the biggest hands of the first half. They started with a song off stage and were received with ap- plause on their entrance, due to the fact that one of the girls has a good "male" voice. A "Dixie" number followed and the feature of the act, which was a "wed- ding oeU* song, came next A lullaby by Doth sent them off to a strong finish. While the material the girls are using at present gets them over, the fact that they have been' using the same line of songs and exactly the same patter for the past four years on three different circuits, would make a change in their material acceptable. Billy Reeves, assisted by Carroll Clumai and Dolly Lewis, offered his comedy, "The Right Key But the Wrong Flat," and scored the laughing hit of the first b«if The story is worked around a man who Uvea above a married couple and has the reputation of being a common "drank.** The husband leaves to attend a "dinner, after promising his wife to keep sober. Four hours later the "man" enters in a hilari- ously drunken state and mistakes the apartment above tor his own. The com- edy in this part was a riot. The husband enters later also with a "jag" of his own. Hia wife, who hag already tried to get the "man" out of the room, tells him that he brought the "man" in the house, and her husband believes it. Oooley and Dooley failed to live up to their buling of "Funny, That's AH." In fact, the boys' are anything but funny. They should avoid singing as much as possible as neither is the possessor of a fair voice. '."'•■ H-." '-■■/- ■ Mabel'McGano, assisted by Grant and Wing and Al Sexton found the going easy in closing position of the first half. While Miss - McCane's voice" is nothing out' of the ordinary, she has a manner of render- ing her numbers that always scores. -Her personality pleases and helps her a great deal. Grant and Wing's 'dancing went over'to generous applause and the female member of the team, especially, found favor. She is' one of the best women dancers seen here in a long time. AL Sex- ton also found favor with a few songs and an eccentric dance. His youthful ap- pearance, the manner in which he deliv- ered his numbers alone, and with Miss McCene, scored nicely. ^ ' BiHy Glason opened the second half in- stead of Lillian Shaw, who was shifted to next to closing. Glason started with a "nut" song and 7 then went into his patter*. It is time that be told a few new stories instead of the ones he has, as they have, served him. for some time. His delivery, however, goes a long way toward getting uim over, and did so here. A patriotic recitation received a big hand and sent him off to a strong finish. Lillian Shaw, came, saw and conquered, a victory that win be remembered here for a long time. She started with a "Frenchie" number in good voice, and then went into the character part of her act, which proved to be. a scream." She started this part with an Italian number and then gave' the "bride" number. By this time the whole house was shaking with laughter, but her great triumph came in a baby carriage number. She not only stopped the show, but was not permitted to leave without taking two encores, and then kept the house applauding for more. Bock and White, doubling this house with the Alhambra, dosed the show and held'the house till 5.20. The big success scored by - the preceding' act made the going hard for this clever pair, but by dint of hard work they came through. w,„- •---. ---. vCTXH-