The New York Clipper (January 1920)

January 28, 1920 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER if ROSE CLARE Style—"1&50 Girl" Time— Fourteen minutes. Setting— In one (special). Misg Glare, a pretty .brunette, works in front of a bine drop. A large chart in front of the drop proclaims "The 1900 Giri." Attired in a very becoming gown Of champagne color, with panta- lettes, Miss Clare announces in her opening number that ahe will try to show' conditions thirty years hence. In her first number she is a newly- wedded bride, talking to her imaginary ' husband and to an Imaginary hotel- clerk, in the same manner that the hus- bands of to-day are supposed to talk 'to' their brides. This'leads to her read- . ing a paper, at what is supposed to be the breakfast table. From this news- . paper, she reads an account of a prize- fight between two girls. Gunboat Gertie ■ and Knockout Rose. This is a dandy bit and went great when reviewed. In the next bit. Miss Clare an* nounces that ahe will . now portray. a school-teacher thirty years hence and calls the audience "children," as though they are the pupils. She "Tra-la-las" a tune to the audience and asks them to join in. Some of them will, for it is very catchy. Then she goes to her chart, turns the coyer with "1950 Girl" on it, and another sheet, with a picture of an alarm clock is shown. She.then explains to the audience that in 1920, alarm clocks were used, and, in an amusing manner, explains their purpose. The next. sheet has a Terse to the tune of the Tra-la-ln" bit about the alarm clock. Her next sheet shows a one dollar bill. She explains that the one ' dollar bill began to become useless in 1919 and then tells how it was taken ont. of circulation. Follows a verse about the dollar bin,, done to the "Shimmy Dancer." ' At this house, after taking a number of bows, Misg Clare rendered a curtain speech which, evidently had been pre- pared. The act can be summed up in two words, "Refined Hokum," which is one of the.rarest things to find. NEW ACTS AND REAPPEARANCES (CooDnUEd on Par* S) AUNT JEMINA & CO. Theatre— Keenest; Style— Jazs act. Time— Eighteen minutes. Setting— Futl-cyclorama. Jazz acts there are and Jan acts there will be, and among those which will be, unless we miss our guess is Aunt' Jemima and her five syncopated bakers. . Strange to say, there is no imitation of 'Frisco in this act, no high- jumping exercises called jazz dances, nor any of the frills and furbelows so com- mon-in jaza acts. The act opens with an introductory number by Aunt Jemima, who, by the way, goes the oft-mentioned Sophie Tucker one better by quite a little bit. In this number she tells why she and her bakers got into vaudeville and after she has informed the audience all about it, ahe sings a blues number in a style all her own.;. She thai exits to make a change of costume and returns after the band has played a solo and sings some more of thexdues style of songs, for which her iioMj is particularly well adapted. Also, aught we mention that in this number she shook a mean and shivery shimmey. For an encore, ahe helps the band out by playing the drums and. singing a newly-published blues number. For a second encore, she has a.special pickaninny song, that is sun to make a big hit when it becomes a popu- lar number. , This act bids fair to give jass acts a run for its money, not so much be- cause of its fleshiness or brilliance, but because Aunt Jemima possesses real ability. S. K. GERALD GRIFFIN St CO. EDDIE HUME AND CO. Theatre—Greenpoiat. Style— Faroelet. Time— Forty minutes. Setting— Special exterior. The reason the writer has styled this act a farcelet is that, to his mind, the situations presented in it are exag- gerated to such an extent as to make them farcical. The plot revolves around a certain Hank, or Caleb, who has just been pro- moted at, the bank where be works. Everybody is under the impression that he has been made president, or vice- ' president, or something like that. But no such luck; be has only been raised five dollars and made paying teller. His wife, however, as wives . sometimes do, hearing that he has been promoted, starts buying clothes and automobiles and plans for the remodel- - ing of the house. But Hank upsets all of these plans.' 'His wife then becomes . so disgusted with him that she threatens to leave him unless he does something bad to get himself talked about. He is too good to be true, she says. The fellow living across the way from him, however, promises to fix that for him. Accordingly, he hires a profes- sional vampire to compromise, or. ruin him, or do something to him. So well does she do her work that when his wife finally declares that she loves him and will be his slave, Hank refuses to be impressed. Hume takes an the honors in the act by his antics, and his manner of put- ting over gaga is such that no one can resist them. The young lady who plays the part of the vampire takes second honors, and we go on record as .saying the going is easy. , 8. K. THOMAS E. SHEA & CO. Tbtutto-r-Pataoe. . Style— Playlets. \ Time— Twenty-two Minutet. Setting—in Three. Thomas E. Shea.is a welcome visitor to vaudeville, as* the manner in which he presented his three, versions of "The Cardinal,'* 'The Bells," and "Dr. JekyU and Mr. Hyde" is a masterpiece of his- tronie ability. All three-playlets are - enacted after each is briefly introduced. . A father at home talks to bis son of oldtime plays, and the son explains that if Thomas E. Shea was present he, the son, would take him through/the scenes, lights out and Shea, as "The Cardinal," portrays the character excellently, giv- ing a remarkable performance of the condensed- version. In this, Lea Javne, as the daughter, gives good support. After the scene, both father and son talk of another play,. and. Shea, as "Mathies," in "The Bells," repeats the action of the. murder. "The Bens" ■ has long been a classic and Shea surely made a great impression. The last scene is the big punch of the act. Shea portrays the duel role of Dr. JekyU and Mr. Hyde, and Ms quick change from the Doctor to the villianous ■' Mr. Hyde, brought forth hearty ap- plause.'- When Shea departs after the last?scene,.father and son grasp' eacoV other'sJhand and Shea makesihia ap' pearance "in-evening clothes. The act- wttl surely stand, the acid j test of vaudevflTe, as it «;presen1jSrin a ."novel manner, with Shea; who is an ■ artist, capably assisted by Edwin Hol- land and Daniel J arret t— J. D. Theatre— American. Style—"A Romance of /reload." Time— Sixteen intimites. Setting— FuU stage (special). The mere fact that very few sketches that feature Irish- minstrel work have been seen in vaudeville of late, gives one asset to Griffin's offering before it starts. In fact, Larry Reilly is about the only other who has offered anything of this kind to vaudeville. Griffin has a company of two pretty girls and one .man, who in the act takes the part of tbe girl's father. The play- let itself is just fair. It tells of the love affair of Griffin, who is known as Jerry, and one of the girls, who is stubborn in showing her affection to him. Her sis- ter, therefore, pretends to be in love with him, and thus arouses the jealousy of the other, who,, in the end, gives in. Griffin can easily have the plot of his offering fixed over to big time calibre, for it shows a lot of possibilities. As tMJk; act was reviewed, the. one Mg asset in. its favor was Griffin's singing, which is very good. He possesses an Irish tenor of a very pleasing quality. He sings four songs during the act and could get much better effect in the closing number with either a dim spot, or the stage- - lights dimmed. The cast is capable and gives good support.to Griffin. It win undoubtedly find easy going at present on the small time and in the better class of small- time houses. But with the plot fan-. ,- roved, the aet,. should fit "A TOUCH IN TIME" SYLVIA CLARK Theatre— ABiambra. Style— Singing and dancing come**. Time— Sixteen minute*. Setting—I» one (special). ,\-i* After playing with "Hltchy Koo" for a while, Sylvia Clark, the "Klassy Lit* tie Blown" is back in vaudeville with a new drop, some new gowns and some new material. She opens in practically the same manner she did in her former vehicle and then goes into a song telling about the jokes she knows. Her next number tells of a Spanish girl whose name Is Rebecca something. She is also using a gag from her con- duct orette bit, which is not in the pres- ent offering. Some dancing is also in- cluded here. A ballad "It Might Have Been Ton" la rendered nicely and she . doses with her old burlesque bit "There Are Lota of Heroes on the . Stage," which Includes the dance of the "Phnoop-Num Bird." Playing in a production has not changed Miss Clark any. She still radi- ates that pleasing personality which makes yon like her even if yoa make np your mind not to. Her delivery and ability need no comment. Welcome home. G. J. H. ^JJ BESSIE CLIFFORD SAILING 20.—Bessie Clifford, Lordo: scheduled January 21 for America tomorrow^ Theatre— Qreenpoint. Style—Comedy playlet. Time— Thirty minute*. Setting— Four, special. The scene is set to represent a dining or living room.. Helen is a married woman, whose husband, a bu s iness man, has gone to Chicago. She invites Jack to visit her, for as is the case in moat plots of this kind, she' is lonesome. Jack arrives, gets real chummy and comforting and all that, but nothing doing. She has invited him over for dinner and a chat, nothing more. 'While she goes out into the kitchen for some coffee, a man, whom Jack had never ..met, and presumably her husband, steps from behind the curtains that divide the i room from the others and announces very calmly that he will km Jack and his darling wife when he gets ready to do so. Also, at the point of a gun, be forces Jack to carry out his instruc- tions. After several situations have arisen and been squirmed out of by Jack and after the man with the gun has relieved him of $1,000, his watch and chain, his cigarette case and all other trinkets that he happened to have, he tells Jack he and Helen win go to eternity when the light goes out. The light very obligingly goes ont just that, bat Jack and Helen do not depart for the here- after. Then the real husband enters, is very friendly toward Jack and it de- ■ velope; that the first man was only a J-Wia-dass crook who saw an easy mark The work of all the people in the act is very clever, but tie comedy, In which it-abounds, fallnstoJto lot.of the tall, _ elongated, r efmea J s rk ,. waor' we sup- pose is the owner of the act. S. K. FERN AND MARIE Theatre—Praetor's 23d Bt. Style— Comedy. Time— Eighteen minutet. Setting— One and <«0o. It always has been and always win be a mystery to the writer why people insist on clotting np an act with good and bad material alike. Why not matt it one or the otherT This act % is just. another example of the mingling of good and bad. Fern Is a clever nut comedian, who should have no trouble getting along, for he possesses the sbllity to seize comedy opportunities when they p r es en t them- selves. He also has a fairly good voice. But Marie, a pretty girl, would make an excellent "straight" woman, and that's about all. Still further, why not eliminate the noisy, meaningless min- strel bit, the opening number, which doesn't mean a thing, and substitute some real clever comedy or farce bits, like the soldier business. Ifs a shams - for Fern to waste time and ability on the kind of an act he has at present. With the act revised and improved It will have little trouble getting along anywhere, but, an it stands at present, it can hope for nothing but the small time. 8. K. *9 > JULIAN ROSE Theatre— AJkambra. Style— Monologue. • '• Time— Fourteen minute*. Setting— In one. It was very disappointing to new monologue which Julian B oas is offering, after he baa been doing stuff in the past that Is so much better. "LevinslryVi Lemon Sine" Is tb* title of Rose's new act, written by Andy Rice. The offering is built around a new limousine which Levinsky has bought and gags about the car, his wife, Us. wife's relations and others art worked in. The offering wDl do for the small time, but on the Mg time, better ma- terial is expected from a performer with the ability which Rose does possess. That Is reeJtty. the trouble with, t is fartoo dever to • act of this kind. He works hard to pot R over, but, since the material Isn't there, it is really, a waste of energy. The offering Is weak gad, 7 unless Boa* wants to uas it on the small Una, wa would suggest new material. G. J. H.