The New York Clipper (May 1919)

May 28, 1919 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER HENDERSON'S Harry La Vail and sister, in number one position, presented a gymnastic act for which they won foil recognition. They started with work on the rings in which they each did "stunts" that brought them applause. This was followed by some work on the trapeze and then Miss La Vail, hanging by her hocks on a high bar, sup- ported her brother, who worked first on a short bar. Discarding the bar and with Miss La Vail still hanging head downwards, she and her brother went into a series of slips and catches in hand to band work which were not only remarkable for cleverness in exe- cution bnt for the rapidity with which they were done. The La Vails are gymnasts in all that the name implies. They work with a pleasing ease and grace and the young lady in the act shows great strength and endurance for one of her stature. That the audience appreciated their work was proved by the applause which followed nearly every one of their feats. Sheldon and D alley, two girls, presented a singing and piano act and scored a suc- cess. (See new acts.) Ida May Chadwick and "Dad" offered a singing, dancing and talking skit and made a pronounced bit. They work in one, with a special drop representing the exterior of a country post office, through the window of which Dad is discovered performing the duties of postmaster. Miss Chadwick enters and, after a little dia- logue, sings and goes into a dance. More dialogue follows, after which Miss Chad- wick dances a clog and then her "Dad" joins her in a dance. Miss Chadwick is a very limber jointed young lady. She is an excellent dancer and a grotesque comedienne of no mean ability. "Dad" also proves that he is a good "stepper" and- a comedian. They were recalled six or seven times and could easily have taken an encore. Miss Juliet scored the big bit of the bill and was forced to respond to two encores, then refusing to take more. After her song and talk she went into her im- personations of foot-light favorites which included Lenore Ulric, Jack Norworth, Irene Franklin, Laurette Taylor, Cyril Maude, in "Grumpy," Francis White, Harry Lauder, Mitzi, Louis Mann, Sam Bernard, Grace La Rue, Eddie Leonard, Vesta Victoria, Al Jolson and Eva Tan- guay. Miss Juliet was assisted by a man at the piano. William Hbrlick and the two Sarampa Sisters presented an excellent dancing of- fering, which won them favor. (See new acts.) The Four Mortons, Sam, Kity, Martha and Joe. scored their usual big success. 6am and Kitty started with singing. Sam then changed to a French uniform, putting on a gray mustache which gave him a strong resemblance to General Joffre. Then, to show how. far he was out of the char- acter, he danced a jig. Martha and Joe then sang and danced and the act finished strong with the four in a song and dance. Gas Edwards, assisted by Vincent O'Dou nell, Alice • Furness and Beatrix Curtis, were seen in a musical act. Edwards and' his company started with bits of songs. Then, in succession, followed numbers by O'Donnell. Edwards and Miss Curtis. Ed- wards and Miss Furness, O'Donnell, and Edwards and company. The act was well received and the singing of O'Donnel brought down the house. Billy McDermott, in his comedy hobo act, won a laughing socess. He starteo with a line of comedy patter followed with a song and then gave a burlesque of opera bits. For a finish, he gave an imitation of leading his band in Sousa's march, the house orchestra playing to his leading. The Four Bangarda, in their musical act, closed the show. The house is under the management of Fred Freeman while Andy Byrne and aa orchestra of twelve furnish the music a. w. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS (Continued from para S and on It) ALHAMBRA The Four Headings went on after the news weekly and sent the show off to a speedy start. Wearing neat gym uni- forms, white trunks and shirts, an oblique red stripe adorning the latter, they pre- sent an athletic appearance. Hazardous stunts feature their work, which is done in splendid fashion. The concluding feat, in which one of the quartet slides down a steep incline, landing on the outstretched .hands of one of his mates, whose back faces him, made the men gasp and women scream. Jack Lexey and AI Rome, styled "Ec- centric Terpsichorean Pantomimists," which greatly overawed the Harlem crowd, scored a man-sized hit. They did not really live up to the word "Pantomim- ists," for at the start they sang a short ditty. But it was of little import. Some excellent steps were uncovered by the boys, who cavorted about the stage with ease, agility and grace. Charles O'Donnell and Ethel Blaire, in "The Piano Tuner," gathered in laughs a-plenty, mainly because of the slap- stick efforts of the male member of the team, who smashed furniture, tore down curtains, slipped, tripped and tumbled over the platform in a way that had the assemblage giggling with mirth. Ethel Blaire held her end up efficiently. Julius Tannen was moved up from the next-to-closing position, Toney and Nor- man opening after intermission, while Ruth Roye took Tannen's place in the semi-wind-up. Tannen chattered lightly on numerous topics, taking an occasional slap at different localities. Wandering from topic to topic, without spreading himself for too great a length of time on any, he kept the interest of the crowd. Tannen showed his cleverness as. a per- former in doing so. for he always had the crowd waiting for more. Princess Rajah, in her Oriental dances, was well received, her' work with a gen- uine live snake causing astonishment. The manner in which she handled the reptile caused a variation in the opinions of the spectators in one of the boxes, the patrons discussing at great length the question of Whether it could really kill anyone with its bite. Those who thought it could not applauded nevertheless. Toney and Norman, after intermission, registered a hit of more than ordinary ■size. Jim Toney, with his ferocious ex- pressions and mock manner, made the audience laugh easily, and his partner did all that could be expected of her. and more. Toney was not allowed to depart until he had done his knock-kneed dance and crap-shooting bit. There was a "babble" song included by Miss Norman who scored a hit' with it. Harry Watson. Jr., continued to pro- voke laughter, first as the man who de- sires to get his home on' the telephone and then in .his farce on exhibitions of noted pugilists. ■ The two scenes have been Delected from Jack Norworth's "Odds and Ends," and as presented by Watson, will make any audience roar. ~ Ruth Roye continued the laugh barrage with a repertoire of well chosen melodies, which were most creditably rendered by the character comedienne. Her opening number, a new "Frenchie" song with a catchy tune and clever lyric, pleased. "How Do You Get That War" continues to jro over with a bang, while her other numbers also scored well. The Bush Brothers found it hard hold- ing them in", in spite of the fact that the show was a fast one. Their acrobatics and bouncine. done in a Ifoht manner, amused those who remained.. The boys wear sail- ors* uniforms, but are not at sea as performers L 8. ORPHEUM Erford's Sensation, a finely put on whirl- ing and strong-jaw act, led off, and the feats exhibited by the two girls and man thrilled the spectators. A difficult feat was the one with the man suspended from a trapeze, holding in his teeth the rubber core from which was suspended, by her teeth, one of the girls, whirling swiftly about. Masters and Kraft scored one of the big hits of the show with their dancing, bnt overdid it when they rendered their Egyp- tian Jazz Dance farce as an encore. They had presented their satire, divided into three parts, past, present and future, sing- ing and dancing in chronological order. Some fast steps were exhibited, and the gathering noisily showed its approval. When the applause had almost died down, one of them came forward and announced the encore number, which they proceeded to render. It acted as a sort of anti- climax and did not go' very well. Earlier in the act, it would be a more worthy addi- tion to the torn. The Arnaut Brothers clowned cleverly and rang up a hit of good proportions, the small audience applauding them warmly. A series of skillfully played tunes, together with acrobatics and slap-stick comedy, drew laugh after laugh. At the conclusion, they offered what they announced as an imitation of "Two Loving Birds," each whistling and warbling in true birdlike fashion. Val and Ernie Stanton encountered nu- merous difficulties next-to-closing on the first section of the program. Much of their material is old, and a great deal of it lacks quality. A capable pair of dancers, pos- sessing good voices, and, generally, per- formers of ability, they should secure a vehicle that would allow them to* exploit their talents as much as possible. There is no reason why they should not be suc- cessful with a live and up to date act. A good new song would help immeasura- bly, as it is. Gladys Clark and Henry Bergman pre-, seated a little skit called "A Ray of Sun-' shine." In addition to being put on in splendid fashion, the offering is an exhi- bition of class as far as the work of the principals is concerned. 8inging. dancing and talking, are all offered in a manner that is truly artistic and a tribute to the author, and performers. Maude Lambert and Ernest R. Ball opened after intermission and were well received. Ball, at the piano, scored) with a line of patter and cleverly rendered tunes. The woman member of the team worked with him in per- fect harmony. As Ball sang a medley of his former song successes, the audience showed by its applause that old favorites have not been forgotten. They took an en- core and might have taken another. Erwin and Jane Connelly presented a sentimental playlet entitled "The Tale of a Shirt." that appealed to the crowd. The finish leaves the audience in not exactly a happy mood. Al Herman, -who had previously helped the Salvation Army Drive, was applauded when he went on. His act was liked by the audience which laoghed at anything he said or did. Gretchen Eastman, assisted by John Guiran, Francis Donnegan, Mile. Mar- guerite and Billy Griffith in a series of classic dances by Ivan Tarasoff, closed the show and found it difficult to hold the crowd. The act should by all means be given a place further up on the program. but, even in a better spot, it is doubtful whether it would be very successful. Who- ever put it on certainly invested his sheckels in profusion, for it la an elabor- ately staged torn. ROYAL Edmund Gringas, assisted by a young man not billed, held the initial spot with one of the best heavy weight lifting and ball catching acts seen in vaudeville. The juggling, while balancing the weight, was very well done, and the finish with the assistant shooting a number of cannon- balls from a mortar across the stage to be caught on the back of the neck by Gringas was a fitting climax to the act. Johnny Cantwell and Reta Walker dragged through the second position, even though they had slide (lashes to the effect that both had done overseas entertaining. Some of the gags are clever, but most of those did not get over. The act needs speeding up from start to finish in both patter and singing. The "Yip! Yip! Yaphankers" found the going easy, although they were only two acts after an acrobatic work. The mem- bers of the company are good tumblers and acrobats. One did an eccentric dance with revealed fairly good ability and re- ceived a fair hand. The finish of the act was good and netted the boys a number of bows. James H. Cullen started with his "HI"' bit and immediately found favor. He was called back a few times to render more parodies on the different popular songs which made up his' act. He has some clever comedy titles to his numbers and knows how to deliver them. He com- pleted his offering with some patter giv- ing song titles and their prices, different classified advertisements and department store signs in a good comedy combination. The Four Marx Brothers call their act "Everything.'' -After seeing it. one won- ders why, as there is really nothing to the offering. What comedy there is is slap- stick. It is true that the boys play well on the harp and piano, but they inject slapstick into the playing. The company of women, with the exception of one, sit around and look pretty. The "one" does a good dance, the effect of which Is spoiled by the poor dancing of her male partner. Sinclair and Gasper opened the second half in place of Mehlinger and Meyer, who were out of the bill.. The girls, a pretty brunette and an auburn haired girl, start their offering; with a bride and widow bit. on the style of Shattuck and O'Neal, which they do well. A "Dixie" number by the brunette was nicely delivered and some patter between the two followed. She of the auburn hair then rendered a number bewailing the color of her crown- ing; glory. Some patter and songs com- pleted the offering. Jimmy Huasey and Arthur Worsely seored their usual big; hit with their "Somewhere in Vaudeville" skit. Al- though it has been seen here before. Hussey was called bark for a speech and announced in a eomic-serio manner that this is the last week he will play with this skit. He said that he starts re- hearsals nc^t week on a new play with twelve people and Worsely. Maria Lo and company closed the show with artistic posing offering. The art Is well Btatrod and presented and held the house well. G. J. H. SETTLE CASE OUT OF COURT The legal quarrel which was started in the Purromite's Court on May 19 hv Ben- jamin Belasco Dolaro. aa administrator of the estate left by Maria Davis, for- merly an actress, to compel one of her relatives. Catherine Belasco. to turn over some jewelry, cash and stocks and some personal property which he claimed be- longed to the estate, was settled out of court last, week and the ease dropped. Maria Davis was the widow of George Belasco. a theatrical advance man. She had appeared in this country for twenty years before her retirement and on her death was survived by her nephew. He filed an affidavit that she had died intes- tate and that he was her only • arriving heir-at-law.