Exhibitors Herald World (Jul-Sep 1929)

July 20, 1929 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 95 little caps and rows of silver buttons singing "The Bulls and Bears'll Get You If You Don't Watch Out." A huge bull and a bear with ticker tape wound about them decorate the drop curtain. Jack Osterman has a very clever line of snappy retorts which he weaves into a conversation taking place in a broker'6 office with one man reading quotations from the ticker tape and another chalking them up. Barnett and Carr do some buck and wing dancing that leaves the audience wanting more. Jack Osterman then gives his "Philosophy of Broadway" in verse. Jack has a George Jessel type of monologue that is delightful. He talks rapidly and jumps from topic to another so that you have to give him undivided attention or you've missed a good one. The Mastbaum Ballet then enters in red and black uniforms and carrying rifles. They do some good drilling and marching up and down steps placed high at the center of the stage and at the extreme ends. Stuart Barrie is still educating the public in popular song singing and seems to be quite successful. He actually had the men singing "Adeline" so loud that they never missed the accompaniment when he stopped playing. Jack Osterman then conducts the stage band. The saxophones play "Ramona," the violinists a Spanish song, the horns "Barcarolle" and the drummer sings "Yes. Sir, That's My Baby." Then all together each group plays its own selection and we have pandemonium, but it's different. Comedy is introduced into the program by the maid in clothes too tight and too long and the ridiculous tiny hat, who stutters and recites and tries to be funny but the applause is rather faint. The ballet returns in gorgeous orange and old costumes. Huge orange plumes form the headdress and the gold lace costumes form a striking picture. Kay McKay, a gay little soprano, demonstrates her songs by making whoopee with the leader of the 6tage band evidently much to hie delight. The finale is a riot of color. First a group of men and girls enter, the men in conventional black, the girls in black and yellow, and take their places on the steps at the sides of the stage and across the back. A group of girls in pastel shades with ruffled headdresses dance to the center of the stage, giving way to another group in flame colored dresses with a long cascade of ruffles on one side. The leading performers take their places in the center front and for a few minutes the eye enjoys a symphony of color before the curtain descends. Pittsburgh Enright Week Ending July 5 The stage act this week is called "Bang Bang." and is a rousing offering for Independence Day Week. The backdrop is brilliantly colored with pictures of exploding fireworks, etc. The opening of the act finds the Enright Rockets (fourteen girls) in a nifty dance ensemble. The girls were dressed as Revolutionary War soldiers, and each was beating a drum. They go through a classy hard shoe dance here. Later in the act the girls have another pretty dance routine, in which each girl did some solo work. Dick Powell, master of ceremonies, puts the stage band through "Dinah," and brings the house down. Milo. the Mysterious, was the hit of the show. Milo is better than ever with his marvelous imitative powers, imitating anything from the call of a bird to the puffing of a locomotive. He scores a tremendous hit. The Collette Sisters sing and dance beautifully. These girls are very neat and pretty, and go over big. Martin and Mayo do a clever comic adagio dance, which is really clever, until their offering gets a little off-color, and this stuff doesn't go in Pittsburgh a-tall. The finale of the act is a great flash, representing a night display of fireworks. In the background are seen huge pinwheels, formed of vari-colored lights. Several of the girls are holding emery wheels in such a fashion that they throw large sparks representing the fireworks known as sparklers. San Francisco Fox Week Ending July 11 It's a mighty difficult thing to follow such a brilliant stage show as that of the opening week, a show that involved months of preparation, and Fanchon and Marco wisely planned this week's offering along different lines. Their "Rhythm Revue" is scarcely as spectacular as "California Capers," but it is snappy and entertaining and seems to be getting as much applause as the initial offering. Henri Le Bel, at the console of what is declared to be the world's largest organ, offers Sullivan's "Lost Chord" to display the cathedral qualities of the instrument, following with "As Long As I Have You," Feist Issues New Song Edition for "Rio Rita" In Film Version The first big feature of Radio Pictures (R K O Studios) will be the screen version of Ziegfeld's "Rio Rita." The production is practically completed, and will be scheduled for a mid-summer showing at the Earl Carroll theatre. New York. Harry Tiemey is in Hollywood supervising the musical end of the production, and he, together with Joe McCarthy, has added two songs to the score. These are "SWEETHEART, WE NEED EACH OTHER" and "YOU'RE ALWAYS IN MY ARMS (But Only in My Dreams)." The principal songs of the stage version, "RIO RITA," "FOLLOWING THE SUN AROUND," "IF YOU'RE IN LOVE YOU'LL WALTZ," etc, will also be retained. Leo Feist, Inc., is issuing a new edition of the "Rio Rita" songs to tie up with the picture production. and other popular numbers to display the orchestral effects. Following the screening of the news reel, Walt Roesner leads the Fox orchestra and the mixed chorus through a splendid rendition of selections from "Faust," with the great organ helping out at the close. The stage presentation proper opens with the orchestra on the 6tage, with a futuristic musical background and futuristic rhythm is the first offering. A charming miss sings a song written especially for the act and introduces the Georgia Lane Girls, thirty-two in number, who offer some lively steps. Tap rhythm is. next offered, with Ray Samuels offering some tricky steps to the music of "Mean to Me." He gets a splendid hand for his work. The orchestra offers "Musical Odds and Ends," with no less than six melodies played at the same time, these including "In a Little Spanish Town," "I'm Walking Around in Circles," "Easy Melody," "Together" and "Simple Melodies." Barbaric rhythm next holds the stage and a girl in grass attire sings "Dig A Dig A Doo." Thirtytwo other comely female savages then come on and do a swishy, wiggly dance. It'6 lucky there are no cows around the Fox theatre this week, or some grass costumes might be transformed into milk. Dorothy Johnson, a dimpled juvenile, offers saxophone rhythm and plays surprisingly well, offering a waltz number, followed by an impersonation of Ted Lewis. Hand rhythm is the next offering and the Georgia Lane Girls, in black velvet, offer a dance, followed by a number in which the hands are employed, instead of the feet, the effect being most striking. This proves the real feature of the 6how. The orchestra offers a medley of airs from the Fox Movietone Follies, the next attraction, with "The Breakaway" especially featured. A tiny colored miss sings and dances and is followed by a couple of colored boys who offer original steps and display an unusual limberness. Rhythm of the drums next follows, the girls marching on the stage with large drums on which they do some effective tap dancing to the music of "Sweethearts on Parade." The act comes to an end with the back curtain going up on an ensemble suggestive of music, with girls grouped around a huge metronome in motion. Boston Metropolitan Week Ending July 12 "Pirates of Melody" is featured with a decorative high light in the personage of "Miss United States" Miss Irene Alberg, winner at the recent international beauty contest. She appears in a beautiful black robe, white collar and speaks briefly to the audience. The robe is then dropped and reveals a almost perfectly formed young lady, a blonde, dressed in tights. She then goes through a five minute routine which illustrates her previous talk, the routine revealing the various exercises through which she goes each morning and each evening. To these exercises she attributed her health and good looks. The show 6tarts off with the Met Syncopators playing a pirate melody, robed in pirate costume. Jimmy Dunn, comedian, appears singing an original melody and is supported in the chorus by the GambyHale Ensemble of 12 girls, dressed in pirate costume. A dancing quintet appears dressed in State police uniforms and an arrest is made while clever dance 6teps and appropriate music is performed. The first feature to appear was Jue Fong, a Chinese tenor with a marvelous soft voice. He gave as selections an opera in Italian and an Irish melody in English. He then rattled off a brief speech in Chinese which amused the patrons highly. He was called back for an encore three times and proved highly entertaining. The Farrar Trio appeared in back stage on a pedestal, one girl playing a flute, one a violin and the other being a 6inger. Their part in the show was small but rich, in entertainment. Ted Claire, as master of ceremonies, was the usual brilliant performer. He sang a number and danced while leading his orchestra with the usual pep and variety. The feature picture was "Fashions in Love," starring Adolphe Menjou. Kansas City Pantages Week Ending July 11 "Via Television," a tabloid revue with brisk dancing and singing, was given a prominent place on the Pantages" stage program. Lowe and Sargent, who are in charge of the revue, have arranged the song and dance numbers well, while a saxophone number proves to be the hit of the act. Billie Burke's tango shoes act, although it has been going on for several years in vaudeville, still draws laughs and applause from audiences as the number is well executed. Penny, Reed and Gold are good nut comedians and have a funny ventriloquist number in which one of the dummies is a real dummy and the other is human. Some good laughs are to be gotten out of the act, which is titled, "A League of Nonsense." Odette, Charles and Mack have a number titled, "Two Fools and a Fiddle," in which some chuckles also are to be obtained from. The act includes a slow motion number which goes over, while their closing dialog is certain of bringing a laugh. Louis Charnisky and his Pantages orchestra played popular selections as the overture. Harry I. Robinson Offers Slide Service Harry Robinson, for years popular representative for Remick6 and more recently song and slide manager for Irving Berlin's Chicago office, has launched his own business of writing organ solos and novelties for organists. He has been writing versions for organists for some time and since there has been a general discontinuance of supplying sets and slides, with the exception of chorus slides, it should prove a great help to many organists. He has versions on hand and can supply them on short notice. When you are down in the Woods building drop in and say hello. His mail is already getting to be quite a size. Mabel Waltzer Eddie DYER Featured Comedians in the Publix Unit "Circus Cabaret" This Week— July 20, Shea's, Buffalo Next Week — July 27, Paramount, Toledo Direction Wm. Morris Agency UNIFORMS attaches^ COSTUMES BROOKS Tl