The New York Clipper (March 1919)

- aJfcpwi 2^ W19 • ^^ Ji » THE NEW XWif J*fcri*MK 5>T 13 BLYTHEANDGAY Theatre—125IA Street. (Tryout.) Style— Sketch. Time—Po«rteei» minutes. Setting—T«oo. (Special.) These two have a pleasing little play- let that 1b likely to go over on the bet- ter class of small time. The scene la laid in a room of a boarding house, where a newly married couple are living, or trying to, for, when the play opens, they have.sixteen cents as a. bank-roll. Prom the conversation it is gathered that the young man once held down a $45 a week job and his wife was the favorite niece of a rich man, who insisted that the young man leave his job and go to business school to study high finance so that he would be capable of taking care of the fortune the rich ancle intended to leave them. The young man did so, and when the uncle died they could not find a cent of his money and were left with only his favorite chair. Finally the young man says he is go- ing to work as a laborer to support his wife and tells her how dearly he loves her. She makes remarks that lead him to believe that the money is in the chair, and just as he is about to break it up, she tells him that her ancle left them the money, but did not allow her to ten him until she was sure he loved her and did not marry her for money. The play- let ends happily. The girl in the offering plays her part charmingly and the young man is also the possessor of a pleasing personality. G. J. H. ■ ■ MAHONEY AND AUBRN Theatre—Proctor's 125tfc Bt. Style— Juggling. Time— Twelve minifies. Setting— In one. Mahoney and Aubrn present the usual routine of club juggling, with some patter to speed things up. There is little out of the ordinary in either, however, and, while it accomplishes its purpose at times, it is sadly lacking in bright lines. The offering is one for small time, which ia about all that can be said for it. Mahoney started by juggling three clubs, keeping up a continual stream of talk while he did so. Aubrn then ap- peared and they did some stunts to* gether, tossing the clubs at each other speedily at the finish. They then gave another exhibition of juggling, keeping three, four and six clubs whirling. Juggling acts of this sort usually find it rough sailing unless they contain a great deal of variety, and that is just what this one lacks. The patter helps somewhat, but does not relieve the monotony. The two present a neat ap- pearance and have pleasing personali- ties, but show almost nothing as far as juggling is concerned. I. 8. RECTOR. WEBER AND LANG Theatre—Proctor's 125t* Bt. Style— Singing. Time— Twelve minutes. Setting;— In one. Hector, Weber and Lang are a sing- ing trio that should be able to find Slenty of work in the small time ouses hereabouts. While neither one stands out as being a particularly ca- pable- singer, they harmonize pleas- ingly and nave a budget of songs that allow them to make the best of their abilities. A bluea number could be added to their repertoire to advantage, however. They started with a comedy song telling about what a time the girls will have when the boys come home, and did well with it. A tenor then rendered a popular waltz ballad in an amber spotlight. Following this, one of them scored the hit of the act with a com- edy number in which he went through a pantomime of disrobing. The "Agnes" song was nicely done by the trio and a "kid" song, done ensemble, went well at the finish. I. S. EFFIE LAWRENCE AND CO. Theatre— Proctor's 125tJi Bt. Style— Bong*, talk and dancing. Time— Twelve minutes. Setting— In one. Effie Lawrence is assisted by a man whose name is not announced. She does some fairly good work, but he does not hold his end up very capably. The patter used could be strengthened and one or two of the songs rendered in a better manner, when the offering would be a fair one for small time. It is neither very good nor bad now; simply a small time act. , They started with a Chinese portion in which they used some patter and sang in Chinese dialect. They then discarded the Oriental make-up and the man sang a song, after rendering some patter. Miss Lawrence followed him, arrayed in the uniform of a farmerette and some more dialogue ensued, fol- lowed by a double song. She then did a dance, showing some nice stepping, after which her teammate rendered a comedy song that lacked dash. There was then some more patter and an- other dance by the principal. They concluded with a shimmey song and a dance. I. S. DANCE D'lLLUSION Theatre—Proctor's 58th Bt. Style— Singing and dancing. Time— Sixteen minute*. Setting— Speoia I. Margaret DeVon and Ben Mulvey have a song and dance offering which, for some mysterious reason, is called "Dance D'niMion." Why this appella- tion has been chosen certainly is not explained by the performance. The title gives one the idea that a classic dancing act ia to be presented. But there ia nothing even resembling the classic about it excepting a travesty on esthetic dancers that is poorly done and scarcely likely to provoke much laughter. The singing also leaves very much to be de- sired, especially a popular tune rendered by the woman. The offering is an elaborate one and fairly well arranged, but the dance en- thusiasm is rapidly nearing its end and a dancing act must possess a great deal that is unusual to win success at pres- ent. This one does not appear to be able to meet those requirements. The act began with a Chinese portion that had a good sons; running through it. It was fairly well done. A song by the woman member of the team was not very well done and the dance with which she followed it was only fair. A shimmey song by the man was followed by a corresponding dance, after which came the travesty. It was overdone and did not draw the laughter it was cal- culated to produce. The "Mnjic" song and dance was then rendered and the manner in which the man discovered his partner standing within the huge wreath proved fairly interesting. The closing number, a dance to waltz time, was better than the numbers that preceded it and got them some applause. I. S. JOYCE AND LEWIS BARON'S MIDGET HORSES Theatre— Harlem Opera House. Style— Trained animals. Time— Twelve minutes. Setting— In four. Baron's Midget Horses are well trained and look neat. One of them has been taught several mathematical stunts, such as tapping the number of years old he is, a few examples in adding, sub- tracting, etc. He has also been trained to answer, by shaking bis head, yes and no, to question asked of him, such aa "Bo you like to work?" "Are 5 and 3 nine?" and so on. Both equines have been taught to prance rythmically, and one of them does a sort of trot to waltz time, circling about gracefully. The turn should go well, particularly with children. It is an entertaining offering and, in the small time houses, ahould hold its own in the opening posi- tion. L 8. LOUIS LEO Theatre—125 th Street. (Tryout.) Style— Acrobatic. Time— Twelve minutes. Setting—Full stage and one. Leo started his tryout using full stage, but why is something he only can an- swer. He worked in a sailor's white uniform and started with an exhibition of knots, delivered some poor patter in verse as he worked. A number of tumbling stunts followed and improved the act a bit, as it had been dragging. He then hit the patriotic chord by using signal flags and translating the code as he signalled. This, even though he used patriotic sayings, only served to slow the act down again. The setting then shifted to one and he gave the fea- ture part of his offering, which consisted of a number of stunts in ladder-climbing. This part really was the whole act and went over. With a different line of patter and some new stunts for the first half of the offering, it may go over in the small time. O. J. H. Theatre— Proctor's, Mt. Vernon. > Style— Singing and dancing. Time— Twelve minutes. Setting— In one. Florence Lewis, formerly of Gould and 'Lewis, and Frank Joyce, brother of the movie star, are doing a song and dance act, with some tBllring to fill in. The turn is somewhat crude as yet, but more work will polish off the rough spots, after which it should then be in shape for a swing over the smaller of the big time houses and the better class of small time. They - are a personable pair, dance well and pre- sent a neat appearance. Miss Lewis is a difficult dancer to follow, but Joyce knows a thing -or two about stepping himself. The two team up well and will be working smoothly before long. While there is little that is novel in the offering, and the Egyptian travesty at the finish has been seen rather fre- quently in vaudeville lately in slightly different forms, the good-work of the duo should carry them over. At the start, Joyce sang a song to his partner, in which he compared her to numerous celebrities. They then went in-o a double dance that was nicely done, Miss Lewis doing some pretty stepping. Some patter went fairly well and then Miss Lewis sang a comedy song. The latter is net very well suited to her voice and did not get over. An eccentric dance by Joyce waa nicely executed. There was then an- other song by Miss Lewis, after which came the Egyptian travesty, with two stage hands using brooms as fans. Joyce then appeared, attired in comic make-up, wearing a derby, and they did a farce, on an Oriental dance in good shape, getting a big hand. L 8. TAYLOR AND GRATTAN Theatre—23rd Street. Style—Comedy playlet. Time— Twentytwo minutes. Setting— In one. This is a comedy sketch, treating of conditions aa the author imagines they might exist two months after prohibi- tion has become effective. A fly-by-night movie manufacturer ia troubled by his landlord, who demands that the picture man either pay Us rent or get out. The movie man ia in a quandary, aa he has no money. Tall* ing his troubles to his stenographer, however, the latter advises him to cheer up, as she will raise the money in a hurry. Questioned aa to how, she un- covers a bottle of boose, and, after in- forming the audience that it la now Sept. 1, and whiskey is worth fabulous prices, proceeds to telephone around to offer the "liquid joy" to the highest bidder. She has no difficulty in selling th* stuff quickly for 9100. The buyer calls to take his purchase away, but instead of paying for it, grabs the bottle and runs. The curtain then'descends for a mo- ment and a scene in one follows. Th* man ia directing a film, and the stenog- rapher is acting one of the characters before the camera. Thia is all supposed to take place on the street. The wom- an, incidentally, has a revolver In bar hand. While the film ia being taken, on walks the fellow who waa to have) bought the booze, which was to havs paid the rent for the movie man. In his hand he holds the selfsame satchel that the stolen booze was placed in. Seeing the revolver, the boose thief thinks he is being held up, although the camera ia directly in front of him, a rather obvious constructive fault which . makes the action distinctly illogical at this point. The thief then hands over the bag with the stolen bottle, which, upon being opened in the following scene, brings to light some nine or tea other bottles filled with whiskey. The sketch is furiously funny for the better part, both in dialogue and action, and both Miss Taylor and Mr. Qrattaa play their parts well. A rube character who, later, doubles for a copper, is ex- cellently handled, and the booze thief ia capably played in approved farcical style by an actor who knows his busi- ness. The theme of the piece is timely and, with a week's work, the set can fo right into the Palace or any other rst class'house and clean up. H. E. POWERS AND WALLACE Theatre— Keith's, Jersey City. Style— Singing and talking. Time— Sixteen minutes. Setting— In one. Powers and Wallace offer a routine of singing and talking with consider- ably more of the latter than the former occupying the greater part of their al- lotted time on the platform. The pair sit on a bench almost throughout the entire act and talk about how different things used to be down in their old home town. The talk is humorous from beginning to end, and, as delivered, is made exceedingly entertaining. The man speaks with a delightful Southwestern drawl and his "small town chap," in the city for the first time, is very well characterized. The woman makes a first rata straight. The finish, which finds the couple do- ing a neatly executed double dance, ia a capital bit of stepping. The act la a good number for the pop houses. Tba . couple are refined in their laugh-making methods and, ail in all, may readily be rated as a good, dependable act. H. EL