The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

April i8, 1914 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 5 Musical Comedy Is All the Rage in Los Angeles, Which, for the First Time in Years, Has No Dramatic Stock LOS ANGELES, April 15.—We are not allowed to think, see or hear anything but musical comedy these days, and the stars seem to forecast plenty more. Adolf Phillipp has enough in storage to last for many weeks, and Charles Alphin has al- ways been known as a prolific pro- ducer, and so it would seem that mu- sical comedy is to be the fare we must accept. * * * There seems to be little doubt but that Jess Dandy, Walter Catlett, Winifred Bryson, Frances Cameron and Walter Lawrence will go east with the Auction Pinochle pro- duction. Winifred Bryson, whose ex- perience has been gained almost whol- ly in Los Angeles, will be featured, and in September will be placed in charge of the ballet master at the I Metropolitan in New York to gain atmosphere for her Russian dancer irole. * * *AdoIf Phillipp will remain as producer with Mr. Morosco, hav- ing three comedies under way for pro- duction, entitled My Shadow and I, The Girl Who Smiles, and Two Lots I in the Bronx. * * * Anna Tully, a former Kolb and Dill chorus girl, won • a $2000 damage suit against J. B. Lankershim, owner of the San Fer- nando Building. Miss Tully was in- jured in an elevator in that building. * * * Jack Belgrave. whose character . ivork with the Burbank and Belasco and Morosco companies always at- » tracted notice, has joined the Bijou , Players in Honolulu. * * * Mrs. Al : Jolson suffered a severe attack of ap- . pendicitis while here with her hus- : aand, when he was appearing with the Honeymoon Express, and showed I ^reat pluck when she insisted on ac- } :ompanying JNIr. Jolson at the close r 3f the engagement. * * * Ferris Hart- ; man is no longer stage manager of the f Gaiety Company, having resigned, and Alf. Goulding succeeds him. * * * Mindel Kingston, who is appearing it the Orpheum, received a call from Ferris Hartman, under whose man- agement she was for a long time. * * * A new policy of ten-cent mati- hees now prevails at the Empress, Al- ;)hin. Republic, Hippodrome, and pos- sibly Pantages will fall in line. * * * Several of the Florence Stone Com- pany at Long Beach are members of :he Balboa Motion Picture Co., pos- ng for the films in the daytime and issisting Miss Stone at night. * * * Marie Dressier carried her tempera- ment into the movie camp when she joined the Keystone Company, and now the trouble lies between Miss Dressier and Mabel Normand. * * * Joseph Montrose and wife have re- :urned from their motor trip through Southern California and Mexico. * * * Marie Lloyd has vacationing in these mrts after the close of her Orpheum mgagement. * * * Reece Gardner is a 3usy man these days, putting the chor- us at the Alphin through their daily rehearsals and keeping up with his wn duties as a star performer. * * * F.dna Maison, a former Universal Film player, has formed her own com- pany, and has finished her first pic- ture produced at San Pedro. ALPHIN: The Winking Girl is being received with due appreciation because it is a lot of merry nonsense, 'with pretty maids possessed of pretty eyes, who can gaily sing about them, led by Barbara Lynette. Then, too, the "Tango" girls, with Babe Lewisi smg the Flower Garden Ball, each girl representing a flower, and the lighting effect creating a mighty attractive picture. There are numerous Alphin songs and dances, and it is one dash- ing, merry and joyous entertainment. BURBANK: Auction Pinochle has received a touch here and there from the hand of its maker, thereby in- creasing the worth and the quality of this merry comedy. Frances Camer- on, ^Vinifred Bryson, Beatrice Nich- ols, Walter Lawrence, Jess Dandy and all the Burbank Company enter into the spirit of the occasion and all goes well. EMPRESS : Kara is a wizard who comes from Europe—so the program tells us—and he can juggle in a non- chalent manner with almost anything that comes to hand. Mr. Kara is also a comedian. Satine's Comedy Circus opens the bill and is a case of quality, not quantity, for two roly-poly ponies and a comedy mule create all the fun. Jack IMack and Juliette Atkinson pat- ter some and sing a lot more. Miss Atkinson is the possessor of a beauti- ful voice and knows how to use it. Edith Clifford also sings. Here is a deep contralto voice well suited to the Irish and Yiddish songs she offers. A travesty on Macbeth is the farce of- fering of James Keirman, Thos. Keir- man, Richard Watson and Victoria Walters, who are capable actors. Joe Fanton's athletes, a trio of handsome youths, go through their most diffi- cult feats with ease, grace and a smile. Two reels of pictures, one a farce comedy, balance the bill. HIPPODROME: The Venetian Grand Opera Co. is headed by Luisa Bresonier, Michle Giovachini and An- edo Baldi, who present a tabloid ver- sion of the beautiful Lucia Di Lam- mermoor. The huge diving tank of last week becomes this week a lovely placid lake, with ducks upon its sur- face and a fountain in its center, and a general air of grandeur. The sing- ers are excellent and the whole pro- duction is duly appreciated. Landers Stevens and Georgia Cooper are seen in a sketch entitled, Satan's Scales, re- plete with the doings of the under- world—a sketch tense and impressive. Electra demonstrates just how un- pleasant it might be to occupy the death chair, when he absorbes enough electricity to burst into flames. Biele and Girard are a large part of the fun of the program. Saville Bros, are comical gymnasts, or gymnastic comedians—suffice to say they amuse. Peggy McMillan sings with sweet- ness and charm. Fuick and Slater have a novel offering with a surpris- ing close. MAJESTIC: Life in the Philip- pines is being shown by the Pacific Feature Film Co.—all very interest- ing and beautiful. MASON: Dark. MOROSCO: The third offering of the Gaiety Company is in evidence in the shape oif The Girl Behind the Counter. The Girl in this case is gay and gorgeous, and moves with a dash and abandonment amidst sumptuous surroundings and happy music. Al Shean returns to us as the German of many troubles, but artistic in each and every agony, and very funny al- ways. Maude Beatty adds much to the amusement as Shean's wife. An- na Taskur, winsome and charming, proves that she can sing also. Myrtle Dingwall, well known and long ad- mired, returns to delight old friends with her dainty personality and beau- tiful voice. Tiny Daphne Pollard, al- so an old friend, is inimitably funny as she darts lightly about in the role of Susie Scraggs, cashier at the gen- eral store. Arthur Clough makes a wonderful hit in his song, The Flow- er Girl. Jack Pollard, Clarence Lyd- ston, Blanch Savoy and many others lielp to make The Girl Behind the Counter a joyous success. It is splendidly staged and filled with many tuneful numbers and clever dances, and will probably continue to satisfy for some time to come. ORPHEUM: Fritzi Scheff adds the dignity to this week's bill, when, as a former grand opera star, she reappears to lend her glorious voice to vaudeville. Clothed in black and silver, all irridescent and sparkling, she sang four songs, among them the well-loved Sweet Summer Breeze, from Mile. Modiste, and her appear- ance was over all too soon. In her accompanist, Louis Aschenfeiger,Miss Scheff' has a brilliant assistant. An- other playlet from the pen of Edgar Allan Woolf, is hardly worth while, except for the gorgeous costumes of Shirli Rives and one rather skilfully sung number. Kauffman Bros., in blackface, get their share of laughs, with their boisterous fun delivered in hearty fashion. The Blessings, Elsie and Willie, are acrobats unusual, in as much as the woman is the strength of the combination. Edward Gillette has a troupe of monkeys that not only do many astonishing tricks, but terrorize the audience with their undue famili- arity. Henry Woodruffe is a hold- over, but by far one of the most de- lightful comedians who has appeared on the Orpheum bill for a long time, and his sketch, A Regular Business Man, warms the cockles of the heart with its good fun. Ray Samuels, bright and effervescent, sings ragtime in fascinating style. Mindel Kins- ston and George Ebner also remain in the song and joke skit, called A Vaudeville Flirtation. PANTAGES: The Duttons are two beautiful girls, and two men make an attractive entrance in a white car- riage drawn by two handsome horses, after which they do some wonderful and astonishing riding and balancing, graceful and beautiful. Clara Stevens and a partner she choses to call her "company" are clever dancers and ar- tistic dressers. Cecilia Rhoda and George Crampton appear in a sketch called Between Reels, an excuse for two excellent voices and well sung bits from the famous operas. Duncan and Holt are a pair of blackface com- edians, overflowing with good feeling, for which a nimble pair of feet are the outlet. The bill is headed by an act entitled Hanged, written by John D. Barry, all too gruesome and repulsive to be given for a form of entertain- ment. REPUBLIC. A Romance of the Barbary Coast is playing a return en- gagement and has lost none of its at- tractiveness or popularity. This tense little drama of that phase of San Francisco's underworld life is por- trayed in four scenes and played by thirty people. Provost and Payne score a hit with violin and voice. The Windy City Trio, in blackface, sing THE FLAGG CO. ACTUALLY EMPLOYS MORE ARTISTS and MECHANICS THAN ALL THE OTHER STUDIOS ON THE PACIFIC COAST COMBINED. BECAUSE -NINE-TENTHS OF THE THEATRES USE FLAGG SCENERY. THEREFORE. FACILITIES and VOLUME LOWER COST. 1638 LONG BEACH AVE.. LOS ANGELES and dance and make merry in clever style. Umholtz Bros, have a novel musical act. Howatson and Sway- belle, as the English Johnnie and the California girl, make an instant hit. Fred La Piano has some new tricks in the magical line that are startling. First run comedy pictures complete the bill. N. B. WARNER. SAN DIEGO, April 15.—EM- PRESS Theatre: The Empress Stock Company opened to a good business in Our Wives. The company is headed by George V. Dill and Edna Manshall. The balance of the cast consists of such well-known players as H. D. Watson, Wm. Chapman, Roy Van Fossen, Clarence Bennett, Gladys Day, Catherine Evans. SPRECKELS Theatre: George Kleine's photo play. For Napoleon and France. FRESNO, April 15.—EMPIRE Theatre: An excellent show. Shay and Shyman are exceptionally good. Kaye and Murdock, society dancers, introduce a lot of newer steps that are popular in society. Dave Thurs- by in English humor—great. Zeno and Mandel, pianists, very good, and the brothers Link, acrobats, are there with a particularly good line of hu- mor. Coming: Mischa Elman, the Russian violinist, April 27, at the Theatre Fresno. At the Theatre FRESNO: Leotta Zapp's Trained Horses are the big feature of the bill. She has three trained horses, and their work is truly marvelous. Conlon and Small, a dancing duo, good; Gilsen and Tolon, with a little of everything that pleases; Harry Poole, entertain- er de luxe. MARTINEZ, April 14.—Tomor-' row night the new Curry Opera- house will be opened by the Mar- tinez Choral Society in The Out- laws of Sherwood Forest. This so- ciety has a membership of over sixty and has been in existence twenty years. The opening will be a brilliant social event. The leading parts in the production will be sung by Mrs. R. L. Ulsh and George O. Meese, County Assessor of Contra Costa County. The director will be Professor W. B. Bartlett. The new opera-house which has been built by former County Coroner H. J. Curry, is one of the finest structures in the city. It occupies 100 feet on Ferry Street by 80 feet in depth. It is two stories in height and is built of reinforced concrete and brick at a cost of $20,000. VANCOUVER, B. C, April 14.-- at the AVENUE Theatre, Laurence Irving, Mabel Hackney and a distin- guished English company in reper- toire, presenting this week The Ty- phoon, The Lily, The Unwritten Law and The Importance of Being Earn- est. ORPIIEUjM : Feature attraction Odiva and her school of sea lions, and other big circuit acts.