The New York Clipper (November 1919)

10 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER November 5. 1919 FIFTH AVENUE (Last Half) A novel and pleasing arrangement of the familiar legerdemain act opened one of the- best bills seen at this house In some time. It la called the Mystic Han- son Trio, Hanson doing sllght-of-hand and several clever disappearing tricks with two pretty girls as assistants. The girls Interpolate singing and dancing, doing both fairly well, and Hanson does a. song or two and keeps up a running fire of patter as he works. On one occasion, however, he tries too hard to put over points in his patter. When he didn't try so obviously, he gat laughs. In the second spot was The Victory Four, a Quartette of young men nicely dressed and pleasing workers. Besides harmonizing, all of them sang solos, and In the latter each did much better than when they sang together. . What this act needs is more rehearsing. Raymond Bond and Company followed in. a-sketch. . Duffy and Swenec came on fourth and brightened up what had been a. dull quar- ter of an hour. With some worn and some brains these two are going to be prune contenders with Bill and Gordon Dooley for a place as favorite slap-stick and knock-about comedians. They bur- lesque the song and piano act, and In this. Sweney at the piano Is a scream. They then progress to a point where the audience Is fairly bowling, but finish weak and -abruptly. The idea of the act as clever, as are the boys themselves. Harry Lee followed in a hard spot. See New Acts. In the feature position were the Four Marx Brothers. This is a real act for vaudeville. There Is no one in the varitles quite like Harpo Marx and no one who does ad lib any more brightly than Dad. Two girls. Morgan and Kolter, were on after the main act. and did well. This act is well known on the small time, and the more often rt Is seen the firmer Is the Impression that some production ma- nager Is missing a good comedienne in the fun-maker of the two. She always gets her stuff out, she can sing, and she has a. manner of conducting herself on the Stage that establishes her as a Klrt of large personality, notwithstanding that she is quite thin physically. For a solo she sang like Eddie Leonard. Al Jolson and Gnlli-Curel respectively doing well with both the first and the last. Over Tour head, a novelty, closed the show. See New Acts. M. F. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS (Continued from page 9) KEENEY S (Last Half) Comedians that bill themselves as or- iginal and then present ar* act fairly bristling with gags of ancient vintage lay themselves bare to scathing criticism. This applies to Richards and Lawrence, who presented a straight and nance turn in opening the show. The two have per- sonality, and one might boast a fair voice. But that Is alL La Petite Jennie and Company, a clever Midget, assisted by her sister, who is Just a fraction taller, scored in the next to opening position. Again there was an example of misleading billing. This act is called spectacular on the program, but contains nothing of that nature. It is interesting, and that Is all that can be said about it. La Petite is clever enough with her series of dances, but her sister, lacking a musical voice, would find it more affective to recite her little bit. Roger and Lnnn, in songs, patter and cross-fire, scored quite a hand, but dis- plays considerable go by stealing an en- core on the slightest provocation. Fashions De Vogue is Indeed vaude- ville's latest style show and an act that is really novel and Interesting. This of- fering should always score a good sized nit. Wolf and Stewart, following the il- lustrated weekly, presented their well knwon comedy playlet. In Two Flats. Brimful of good clean humor and with every line provoking an hearty laugh, they won a good share of applause. T"minn Fitzgerald and Clarence Seiner were the headline attraction, and. natur- ally, walked off with the biggest hit of the evening. Miss Fitzgerald presented the same act she did the big time several weeks ago. Roberto and Company, in closing, score. Here is an honest man as well as a very clever Juggler. He has billed his act as a sensational Juggling novelty and one might add the adjectives inter- esting and par-excellent. E. H. HAMILTON (Last Half) With the miracle of motion-pictures The Miracle Man, as the main attraction here, the house had no difficulty In doing big business. The new orchestra which has been installed in place of the woncert men, is under the direction of John Mc- Ewain, -who conducts capably. The Upside Down Millettes opened with their novel offering. The two men went through their routine of aerial stunts, all of which were done with -head-stands. Their feate thrilled and received much applause. Davis and Chadwick, two colored men. would benefit themselves and their act by either eliminating their patter, or getting a new line of talk altogether. The danc- ing part of the act Is the best and could be worked up to better advantage. Some singing Is included in the routine, but much cannot be said for it, Paul Decker and Company have a co- medy playlet, 'which would give a much better account of Itself in the hands of more capable people. This does not ex- clude Decker himself, for he is one.of the worst In the cast of four, three of which are women. Decker's playing is entirely too affected, and the others seemed to lack spirit. The lines can also be im- proved to a large extent. Fred Berrens no longer asks for a young lady to assist him from the audience, but has his imaginary partner come late and introduces her after he opens with a num- ber on the violin. His pianola proved to be new to this audience and the novelty netted him the largest-hand of the bill. The pianola went wrong in one place, however, and though it was unnotlceable to the audience, Berrens said My mistake, and showed it. Married Via Wireless, a scenic musical tab, closed the show. The songs In the routine all published numbers and are fairly weU rendered. The best part of the offering, however, lies in the scenic effects of what is supposed to represent the ocean. In this bit, the turn offers Some real novelties. Which were accorded much applause. G. J. H. CITY . (last Half) Chic and Chiclets opened the show With a comedy cycling act that went over very nicely. The girls wear some very nifty costumes and all do good riding. Freeman and Lewis offered a singing act that was a riot despite the fact that the majority of their numwra were old ones. They have a style that is sure fire and put their numbers over with a bang. Rives and Arnold had the laughs coming thick and fast all the way through. Billy Arnold is a comedian of no mean ability and his handling of lines is excellent. Miss Uives looks and does well. The Fox News Reel shoved it's nose into the afralre at this point, Frank and Tobie followed with Sons, and dance act that got over very nicely. They offer character numbers and their repertoire includes. The John and the Vamp, The Rounder, The Naughty Kind and The Baseball Game In the Kid num- ber Tobie reminds one strongly of Frances White. Fred Allen goes a little of everything and gets a laugh for every little thing he does. He's one of those natural nut co- mejdians who never falls to take advan- tage of an opportunity. He scored a huge bit and had to take an encore and several bows. Jack Trainor and Company offered a rather pleasing comedy sketch which has some very excellent comedy In It- Trainor as the old boy who can't give up his In- terest in women, is capital. The others in the cast play their parts wett. Joe Browning didn't do a thing with the show but atop It cold. He started the talk, flowing and kept It a going, much to the merriment of the audience He had to take two encores and then decline a third. . „ •_. The Three Daring Sisters cloned the Show with an exhibition of trapeze wont that is a thriller. The girls scored a solid hit for their clever work In midair. Two short subject features that con- cluded the performance. HARLEM OPERA HOUSE (Last Half) Owing to the showing of the photoplay, "The Miracle Man" and the giving away of premiums, the vaudeville bill was curtailed and consisted of only four acts, the first of which did not go on until 8.S0. Elsie Mains and her Melody Boys opened the show, but the spot was not a hard one, due to the fact that the audience had been warmed up by the picture and the hour was late. The act won good applause and is not -without merit, the closing number being partic- ularly full of pep. The Melody Boys, five in number, mate a classy Jazz orchestra. and certainly do their share in putting the act over. Miss Mains works hard and gets more than the average effect out of her blue number. But, when It comes to shimmeying, there are shlmmey dancers and shlmmey dancers. Some do the shlmmey in a manner that Is natural and fascinating. But they can't all oe . Bee Palmers. The shlmmey dancing oi Mis3 Mains is forced, and, being neither fascinating nor natural, suffers greatly because It has no grace and is overdone. Less of the shlmmey and more of the jazz will raise the standard of this act, Edwards and O'NelL a man and girl, open with a better than ordinary line of patter and follow it up with a spe- cially written duet that is quite tunefuL The girl's solo. In a fantastic costume, can be commended from the point of view of her dress, but, 80 far as the SOng is concerned, the reviewer could not make out What she was singing about. The dancing of the man is deserving of special mention and his backsomersaults at the finish brought the act to a dandy close. Morgan and Gray have a sketch that deals with a commuter who hates to get up in the morning. Until the very end, the thing is plotless, dealing only with bis efforts to get out of the house In time to catch the train. But the acting and the cross-fire between M—sBI and bis young -wife Ib quite entertaining. After his rush to get started to work, he . finds out that he doesn't have to go to town at all, for his eye catches the comic supplement of the morning newspaper and he realizes It Is Sunday. Perhaps even a better ending would be If he should read that his shop had gone on strike. The vaudeville bill was closed by the Worth Wayten Four who got over cap- ittaliy and -who could have easily taken a second encore had the bill not been SO "tight" for time New Acts. PROCTOR'S 125th STREET (Last Half) On Friday evening, with "The Miracle Man" as the feature, the large crowd was easily explained, although the film' is running a full week here. The Rlgdon Dancers followed the fea- ture with a pleasing novelty offering. New Acta George Alexander slowed uo the show with his monologue and songs. New Acts. Willie Karbe offered a sensational acrobatic equilibrist turn and scored a big hit. New Acts. The Clark Sisters dragged at the begra- lng, but speeded a bit toward the finish. New Acts. Leroy and Mabel Hart have an appeal- ing turn in which the pair sing a routine Of oldj songs. Thev use two sets, m one and full stage. Both have good voices and appearance, but the act needs con- siderable cuttine for speed purposes. innoaa and Ryan are favorites at this house and Miss Ryan's entrance was the signal for a big hand. She took advantage ot it by saying "I bet we get Passaic next -week, after that reception". Inness does a bit as "straight", but most of bis work consists of singing. Miss Ryan is a clever ■ comedienne and handles her material ' well Jim and Irene Marlyn offered some singing, dancing, violin and piano play- ing. The dancing end of the turn Is the best and could be worked uo to better ad- vantage. The closing number, in which the pan- offer a cake-walk in a novel manner, made a dandy finish and netted the pair a very large amount of applause. The Exposition Jubilee Four, all color- ed men. Closed the show and too*: two encores in that rosltion. The men amt well, but have one yodelling bit In the act that is being done by many quartetts plaving in vaudeville. It was started by Eddie Leonard's Minstrels a few years S,lft AUDUBON (Last Half) De Voe and Statzer start their offering with what seemed to be a pose represent- ing two men playing banjoes. For, al- though we sat 'n a front box and could see the two strumming, we could not hear the twang of one note on the strings above the orchestra's accompaniment. The main part of their turn, which consisted of strong-man and acrobatic work, was really meritorious, for the men offered a routine of new stunts and twa sensational ones which are featured hy Regal and Moore. As an acrobatic offering, the turn is ex- cellent, but the comedy patter Is poor and contains nothing that Is laughable. Charles Deland and Company are using an old comedy sketch which has been seen on the small .time for some years. The offering has the old theme ef mistaken identity and is presented in a farcical manner that is very much overdone by Deland and bis partner, a woman. Jean Barrios Is to be given a good deal of credit for being exceptionally quick- witted. Barrios, a female Impersonator, rendered two numbers, and although he did so very cleverly, the audience started to "razz" him. He pulled off his wig at the end of the second number, and soon had all those who were ready to roast, applauding. He went through his routine from there on and stopped the show. Following the Fox News, Al Raymond, minus his make-up and attired in a street suit, offered his monologue, undoubtedly one of the best to be beard In Vaudeville today. He Includes every topic that has any interest to the public, and his gags are all sure-fire. The one telling about the result of Napoleon's fame, has stopped the show every time the writer reviewed Raymond. Jlramey Hussey and Company closed the show and found a big welcome waiting for them. Hussey was compelled to take quite a few encores. Billy Worsley, who is very popular here, was greeted Orltn ap- plaus on his entrance and was compelled to take an encore. Tot Quakers also found herself among friends. The Jazz band Is one of the best* In vaudeville and turned out Jazz In a manner that would make a Quaker shlmmey. Stewart Allen, the drummer, has a dance that is a real novelty. REGENT Oast Half) The Gaston Duo are a couple of male acrobats who disport themselves on a ringed trapeze that looks like a pair of rimmed eyeglasses with the glass miss- ing. The contraption is studded with electric lights in the center and helped to create a sort of spectacular atmo- sphere for their balancing stunts within the huge rings. Corinne Arbuckie sang various popular tunes In a clear tone ot voice that seems to be best adapted to the ballad type ot songs. She sings specially written an- nouncement concerning the song she Is about to render, and so inane are the words that they seemed to role her or- dering of Its spontaneity. She could easily make a much better impression If she eliminated the announcement and con- fined herself to a choice of songs better adapted to her rich voice and rather distinctive personality. Ezra Mathews and Company offered a playlet entitled Quick Sales, which has to do With a young man who beats his prospective father-in-law out of $1000, 000 in a business deal, thus proving his smartness to dad-to-be and winning the letter's daughter. Badly acted by .three people that comprise the cast. It la quit unlikely that Quick Sales will win Its way into big time houses. Friend and Downing, a straight man and a Hebrew dialect comedian, won the honor niche for themselves at this boim with their rapid fire quips and laughter provoking parodies. In the neigborhood small time houses their act will probably always prove sure fire; but If they hope to gain renown In the 'better class of theatres they'll have to change their style somewhat, the suggestion being that the straight man read this lines in a more spontaneous manner. Lawler and Grazer received consid- erably more than a fair measure of a-i- plaus with their act, which consists, for the most part, of a number of dances badly executed. Miss Lawless costumes were distinctive, even though her danc- ing was not. And, as for Grazer, his effeminate dancing proclivities might be all tight in a girls* seminary, but, at this house, they aided and abetted hint naught. In all fairness to them, how- ever. It must be said their act got over more by reason of their strenuous efforts than anything else. M. L. A