The New York Clipper (July 1919)

July 2, 1919 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER 9 PALACE . Eight acta constitute this week's pro- gram with ''The Overseas Revue," and Jack Nor worth sharing headline billing. The audience seemed contented to alt tight and not exert Itself when real ap- plause should have prevailed on more than one. occasion. Every act went over, but . - not one could be termed' a riot. The pictures opened and were followed by The Le Volos, a man and woman who offer a high-class wire-walking specialty wherein the man performs some really remarkable feats on the thread. Slack and tight wire stepping are indulged in and they finish when Pat Le Volos rides a bicycle on the wire. Miss Le Volos looked pretty, and more than assisted. - \ . "The Dixie Duo," made up of Lieut. Noble Si sale r, and "Ruble" Blake, late of Jim Europe's band, who offered a number of songs, did well. . The act is further re- viewed in the "New Act" department. Ames and Winthrop whooped things up the moment they put in an appearance. Florenz Ames, as the "Fairy," with high hat and wand, opened the act with some remarks of comedy value. The pair have • added many humorous situations since their last appearance, that helped con- siderably. The Indian number is a master- piece of construction and every line was a scream. The old-fashioned tin-type like pose in the next number brought forth a . huge outburst of laughter. But the "Nero" and "Civilization" satire was ex- tremely hilarious, especially in the dancing portion, where Ames loses his hat and per- mits his partner to fall'to the stage. The act should have stopped right there, but they offered aucther dance that was not strong enough to follow what preceded. "Oversees Revue," held over from last week, was little, changed in dialogue and situations. Elizabeth Brice was not in good voice, and could only just get her songs over. The balance of the act was well received, with May Boley, Clarence Nordstrom, Lon Haskell and William Morrisey sharing the honors. . "Topics of the Bay" opened, after in- termission and were followed by the Ford Sisters, who could lay claim to being America's greatest dancers, as they surely are far in advance of other two-lady dance teams. The girls, are dancers of the old school and show their' best work in the "Buck" stepping.. Art. L. Beiner assisted at the piano, and played a solo that scored. The girls were compelled to offer a speech of thanks after receiving a bouquet' of roses. Jack Nor worth tipped his straw hat as he entered and exclaimed that he must be polite because he intended to deliver five new songs and desired the audience to treat him kindly. As a matter of fact, only four of the numbers were new, the last one having been employed by him on his last appearance. He is assisted by a colored child to carry out the story of •The Piccanniny's Paradise.'* The first two numbers were mediocre and in less com- - petent hands - would have failed. The third, a comedy song entitled "Gimme This, Gimme That," was the best in his repertoire. A ballad' was fourth. But Norworth is not a ballad singer, and it suffered in consequence. Jack Norworth ia a showman and delivers his wares like a veteran. But he made a poor selection in at least three of the numbers sub- mitted. Fred Meade accompanied' at the i piano, giving satisfaction. ■Laurie and Bronson proved to be favor- ites with the Palace audience, and gained many deserved .laughs with their pleasing -personalities and splendid offering. The act has not been changed since last season and still retains the "Let *Er Go" catch VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS (Continued IS U) '.": Bessys Clifford in "Art Impressions" .dosed the show and held many in. Miss Clifford is a shapely miss, and sets her figure into slides that surround her, and a number of well known subjects were '• J.D. RIVERSIDE The Apollo Trio, an athletic act With three men Jn bronze, make;up, opened the show with some well-executed acrobatic tricks.and posing stunts. The men are well formed, strong, and present an act which is an attractive sight offering. Harry Masters and Jack Kraft, in their song and dance satire did well in the sec- ond spot. The boys could improve the song portion of the act, but more than make up any deficiency in that department by their clever dancing. Ernest Evans and a quartet of comely missies which he bills as his "associate artists" have an act which, with a few minor changes will be a particularly good offering. Its defects, however, are notice- able, and not only slow up the act but, in several places, gives to it an amateur- ' ish appearance. With Evans are a young lady pianist, a violinist, a soprano soloist and a dancer. All are talented and give to the act, which is well put on, a fine appearance, but Evans, who plays the piano, dances and sings, attempts too much. One or two of his songs should be eliminated, and he should also cultivate more repose of manner, a matter which will not only greatly increase the act's value as a bit of entertainment, but will make it run much smoother, as well. George . Austin Moore, after - seven months entertaining the soldiers in France, has a new act in which he sings and. tells of. the soldiers. His offering will be further reviewed under New Acta. The Four Marx Brothers closed the first part. Their offering is called "N Every- thing," and that just about describes the turn. In it are jokes made famous by the late Ban Daly, who was the first to describe golf as a game in which you hit a ball and if you find it in the same day you win. The Marx Brothers are still tell- ing it along with others fully as' ancient. The dancing in the act is good and two comedians work well together, but new material and plenty of it, too, is needed. Florence Tempest, with some special songs, fine fitting garments and a strik- ing gown for the closing, is giving her familiar boy impersonations. The first two numbers are rendered in a neat-fitting riding costume, the next in an aviator's suit and then a change is made to female attire when her Closing number is rendered Miss Tempest is still the attractive looking youth, and puts her numbers ovct with fine effect. Some new songs, however, would be welcome, and George Harris, who plays her accompaniments, as well as ren- dering a solo during the costume changes, should brighten up his repertoire. "Over There" is a great melody and, during the time of war, was particularly appropriate, but these are peace times, and Harris should get more up-to-date melodies for his portion of the act. Paul Nicholson and Miss Norton ap- peared in the "Dramatic Cartoon" that this clever couple have been showing vaudeville patrons for many years. The same lines and'situations that amused years ago are still there and are handled just as well now as anytime in the past. But many of them fail to get over. For some reason a kitchen, bedroom, bath and parlor all included in one room do not look so funny as in the old days, neither does the preparing of the scanty meal over the gas stove get- the laughs it used to. Perhaps we're getting accustomed to food economy, and it has lost its humor there- by. " Ruth Roye scored a hit of big propor- tions with. a repertoire of popular num- bers put over with all the snap and vim which characterizes her singing. One or two new ones went over particularly well, and the old ones, all sure fire, were en- thusiastically applauded. W. V. NEW BRIGHTON The bill at the Brighton Beach house this week ia truly representative of variety. Acrobatics, burlesque, singing, dancing, a comedy sketch, a musical tab and a song writer's skit are arranged in excellent man- ner, all of which goes to make up a good vaudeville bill, as vaudeville should be. The TJp-Side-Down MUlettes opened the bill with their novel acrobatic offering. The boys went through their routine on their heads, working on the trapeze doing their work excellently and without a slip. Many of the feats contain thrills which netted the duo many rounds of applause. Martelle was the surprise of the bill with his female impersonations. He had been in an automobile all night, coming from Atlantic City to make the theatre in time for rehearsal on Monday morning. He offered four BOngB and received a big hand for each one. At the finish he removed bis wig, and when the audience discovered Martelle was merely impersonating a woman the applause accorded the per- former made the bouse ring. Bert Baker and company, the company consisting of Annie D. Mullen, Billy How- land and Paddy Baker, all of whom do their work exceptionally well, were the laughing hit of the bill with their one-act farce called "Prevarication." The act is a scream from start to finish. The various lies which Baker had to make up to tell his wife showed a decided talent in the art of lying. Billy Rowland also put over a few laughs with his actions and one or twe lies on his own hook. Baker and be did some good singing, especially when he yodelled, and would have pleased the house with more of it. It is an excellent comedy skit and is excellently handled by a capable cast, George Whiting and Sadie Burt scored their usual hit with their song cycle. The "bines" number did not go over as well as it generally does, but their other songs met with good success. Whiting has added a new number in which he advises young men to take their girls to Coney Island and give them the air. Pearl Begay and. Lester Sheehan dosed the first half with their dance offering. They started with their opening song and 'dance. Their singing gets them nowhere, but they are very graceful, disciples of terpsichore. Miss Regay's specialty, in which she did acrobatic dancing and a bit of contortion, was given great applause. Ben Roberts and his orchestra rendered a selection from "Mikado" during the In- termission and received a big hand. "Not Yet Marie" opened the second half with two new principals noticeable In the cast. Jere Delaney and Hazel Boyne have replaced Bnzzeli and Parker. Considering that it was Delaney's first appearance in the offering he did exceedingly well. How- ever, it will be difficult to make up for Bczzell'g remarkable personality. As for Miss Boyne, C. B. Maddock is to be com- plimented on a find. After seeing what she is capable of doing in her former vaude- ville act with Bobby Woolsey. it is truly regrettable that this offering does not give her a better chance to show her capabili- ties. Miss Boyne has a pleasing per* sonality, sings well, dances delightfully and is reasonably a safe bet a* a sure fire hit. Even with the little that she has to do in this act she immediately made herself solid with the audience. She was consider- ably handicapped on Monday by the loss of her trunk containing ber wardrobe. Bnt this could not rob her of her charming' personality. Maud Lambert and Ernest Ball dosed the show with their song offering at Ball's original numbers. They hdd the audience seated and thoroughly pleased everyone. 0. J.H. ORPHEUM Robbie Gordone occupied the number one position with an artistic posing act. She assumed several attitudes and the effects produced were all in .her favor. Miss Gordone is graceful and well formed, and the offering is nicely put on. It made a suitable opening to the vaudeville portion of the bill. " < *' ' Edward Marshall has a pleasing par* sonality and is a good caricaturist. Ha knows how to get the best results from his work and keeps up the interest of the audience. Following a few introductory remarks he did a bit of work with his chalk, using two very fsmHisp puna. Drawings of different people seated in the audience drew laughter, bnt his drawing of George Washington was difficult to recog- nize. The Mellette Sisters, Rosalie and Helen, assisted by Lew Pollack, scored a bit of good proportions with their songs and dances. The girls present a neat appear- ance in some well-chosen costumes, dance well, and in Pollack have the assistance of a pianist of no mean ability. Two songs were sung by the girls in addition to their dancing, and Pollack supplied two solos on the piano. The dancing was excellent and the act generally left little to be de- sired. Felix Bernard and Jack Duffy sang and wiggled about on the stage with conaierable vigor. The taller of the two started shim- meying as soon as be appeared and the audience devoured all that he said or did with apparent glee. They danced off stage together at the finish and scored one of the biggest bits of the bill. It would have been an easy matter for them to have taken a few encores, and they had to beg off to be permitted to depart. "Sweeties," William B. Friedlander's musical comedietta, with Lillian Bene fea- tured, and with Al Warner, Frank K. Ervin, Jack Weiner and Charles McOne in the other roles, were considerably handi- capped by the delay in the arrival of their costumes. They made the best of it in their street dothes, however, and the offering was well liked. The principal is a clever performer and is well supported. The turn possesses good music and the Jtfremc is a clever one, there being seveTSssfvery in- teresting and amusing situations. Lack of stage costumes did detract somewhat from the attractiveness of the act, but the characters worked with zeal and the andi- ense was well satisfied. Lilian Herlein led off on the second sec- ' tion of the bill, and at the start gave the impression ..that she would render songs ' of the dignified variety starting with a medley of ballads and following with as- other song of the same nature, After Earle Thurstenstein, who assisted hex, offered a piano solo, however, she sang a song which was a sort of satire on love. The former followed it with a medley of popular tunes and then, attired in a splen- did costume, the principal sang a new Frenchie song which gave the turn a speedy dosing. Harry Mayo and Basil Lynn, one of them in the character of an Englishman and tike other playing the role of the straight, scored solidly with their talk, but the sing- ing was not so" good. Mayo enunciating rather poorly. The talking waa clever and was handled in expert fashion. They closed singing a ballad bit and it sent them off to a good finish. Joseph E. Howard and Ethelyn Clark scored the big bit of the bill. AH of the singing went over well and some talk at the start was also liked. Some of Howard's former successes rendered by him went over wen, as did his late ones. Miss dark did her share of the work most efficiently. They took two encores and might have taken another. The singing of the duo was pleasing and entertaining througbout "Sunnyside," the newest Charles Chaplin picture, dosed the show, and those who stayed to see it were disappointed. • %'