Inside facts of stage and screen (May 3, 1930)

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PAGE FOURTEEN INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1930 RKO THEATRE LOS ANGELES (Reviewed April 24) This is about the best balanced four-act vaude bill seen at this house in many weeks. Opened with Tinova and Baikoff in a tastefully dressed dance act billed "A Symphony of Dances.” First, a waltz-adagio against a silver birch woodland drop; then Fred Martin, comedy aero feature dancer, singling, in an inebriate song and dance. Then the team in a Spanish dance against an il- luminated flower drop, followed by _ Martin burlesquing the number. ' An elaborately staged Egyptian number, spotted Tinova, then both men on, Martin burlesquing, then the duo to a straight adagio for a full flash finish. Smooth produc- tion, finished technique, colorful and very well received. Deuce spot was filled by Irene Chesleigh and Ruth Gibbs in an exchange of wisecracks entitled ‘‘When Cat Meets Cat.” This bru- nette and blonde team delivered every line with telling effect and garnered bushels of guffaws, scor- ing also with a duet on “Alimony Blues.” A1 Trahan, headlining, took heavy honors in the next to clos- ing spot with his “Curtain Speech” laugh riot. He has a new foil in Lady Yukona Cameron, whose Ju- noesque beauty and proportions not only dress the act but provide the muscular power necessary for her man-mauling scenes. Her voice, also, is adequate for the song bits. The act is substantially the same, A1 coming on with his bundle of tattered music to play accompani- ments for his prima donna, then going into broad burlesque and the rough stuff. His gags are sure- fire and certainly panicked this audience. The bill closed with the Six Galeno's, correctly billed as acro- batic wonders, in a body tossing act that registered heavy with every trick. It was a big pay-off to a very good bill. Preceding the acts, Billy Small lead the RKOlians, assisted by Organist Eddie Eben, in the num- ber “Woman In the Shoe.” Screen offering was the RKO “Loves Comes Along,” with Bebe Daniels. Business was good. Yeates. MILLION DOLLAR LOS ANGELES (Reviewed April 25) This bill opened with a hoofing act, “The Blue Blazes.” First number a silhouette, routined be- hind a white screen with rear il- lumination throwing the shadows of the three boys on the canvas; then the screen up and the boys came forward in a taps number that went well with the audience. Two of the boys then offered a bathtub comedy dance to a good reception, then all three in a mili- tary taps routine that went to a very strong finish, encoring and retiring again with another big hand. Dana Warrene, dancing xylo- phoniste, appeared in the second groove and scored at once with her fresh, girlish charm. She opened with an overture number, then went into “Moonlight and Roses,” with variations, which went big, the crowd liking the smooth way she handled her sticks. Next she offered her own arrangement of “Neapolitan Nights,” jazzing it and dancing while playing, and to the demands for an encore re- sponded with “Happy Days” for a big pay-off. Beck and Egan followed. The girl member of this team is the personality end, possessing looks, pep and song-selling ability. She opened with the number “Got A Great Big Date,” then the male partner came on with some chat- ter and gags, then went to a guitar number, which was better. The girl sang “I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me” and “My Baby Knows During the next year notable but not radical improvements may be expected in the recording of all- talking pictures, according to Carl Dreher, head of Radio Pictures’ sound department. Among the prospective improve- ments is a. tendency to move the microphone as far from players as possible, thus giving them more leeway for dramatic effects. Better microphones will keep pace with the rapidly approaching wide film and natural color process, ac- cording to Dreher. M H E George Holland is negotiating for another theatre to house “June Moon,” comedy success by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman, following his three weeks’ booking arrangement at the Belasco which terminates May 10. Several theatres will be available beginning the week of May 11, and Holland expects to be lined up before the end of the week. News Notes of Dance Studios TEACHES TAPPING Bud Murray, principal of the Bud Murray School for Stage, an- nounces that on June 15 he will start summer classes in the Bud Murray School at Ocean Park, on the beach front, with open air classes for children only. Children will be permitted to take their tap dancing in bathing-suits. Classes will be held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the Wednesday classes under Gladys Murray’s direction, and the Saturday class by Bud Murray. The courses will be held during the months of July and August, with special rates prevail- ing for these two summer months. Ages of children, 4 years to 12. and 12 to 17 in the older children’s classes. * * * Lon Murray, director of the Lon Murray School for Stage Dancing and Dramatics, has organized a class in all styles of tap and off- rhythm work for prize fighters and all around athletes. Two very well- known Hollywood fighters have al- ready registered. New dramatic courses start next week at the school under personal direction of Lon Murray and Edward Helms, head of the Dramatic Department. * * * Pupils of the Wills-Cunningham WILLS-CUNNINGHAM STUDIO OF DANCING 7016 HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD GLADSTONE 9502 PROFESSIONALS TAUGHT BY PROFESSIONALS Students of the Wills Dancing School are now engaged at RKO, Warner Bros, and First National Studios, and in the George Olsen’s Plantation Revue WANTED—Acts Suitable for Vaudeville, Picture House Presentations, Clubs and Talkies THEATRICAL AGENCY AL WAGER (Artist** Representative) 221 Loew’g State Bldg. Phone VAndike 3619 Log Angeles, Calif. Meiklejohn Bros. ASSOCIATED VAUDEVILLE MANAGERS Fourth Floor, Spreckels Bldg. Phones: 714 So. Hill St TRinity 2217, TRinity 2218 LOS ANGELES VAUDEVILLE AND PICTURE HOUSE ENGAGEMENTS AVAILABLE FOR STANDARD ACTS 1 With ground breaking ceremon- ies held this week for their new Huntington Park house, plans for 30 houses on the coast are being worked out and will be announced shortly by Warner Bros., it was learned definitely this week. Six of the new houses will be located in and around Los Angeles. Sev- eral Warner projects, including the $2,500,000 Oakland house seating 3,500, are at present under way, and work is to start next week on the Beverly Hills and San Pedro hocses, each to cost around $500,000. HIGHER AND HIGHER With “Hell’s Angels” definitely set .to go into the Chinese here for its .world premiere, it’s reported that Sid Grauman is planning to raise the usual $5 opening splurge ante to ten buck? for the air epic’s opening. REAY LEAVES U Neville Reay has resigned as as- sistant publicity director at the Universal studio. Studio of Stage Dancing in Holly- wood are now engaged at Warner Bros., First National, M-G-M, R- K-O and Tec-Art Studios, accord- ing to Walter S. Wills, executive head of the school. Several of the motion picture studios have taken over the entire units both in musical comedy and ballet work from the Wills-Cun- ningham school. In his courses, Wills specializes in training com- plete units so that the motion pic- ture director is able to produce an entire ensemble with but very few changes. He not only trains ensembles, but also specializes in individual, double and small group numbers. A number of the Wills-Cunning- ham students are also engaged in the big rqvue at George Olsen’s Plantation. * * * The advent of talking pictures is opening up new possibilities in acrobatic dancing for men, accord- ing to Earle Wallace. Wallace states that at the pres- ent time he has several groups of young men studying acrobatic dancing. Included in these are six men all under contract with Met- ro-Goldwyn-Mayer who are spe- cializing in tap dancing and acro- batic dancing. They are receiving their instruction from Sam Mintz, acrobatic instructor at the Earle Wallace Studios of Stage and Dancing. Mintz is taking them from tap dancing into tumbling. How,” with some interpolated steps, and the man tried some nut stuff and an A1 Trahan stunt with piano, finally going into a dance. He was O. K. except for the hoke. Registered for a pair of bows. The next act was billed as “The Wallaces,” an adagio group of two girls and three boys, opening with the girls leaping from a Zeppelin. It was a body-throwing act en- tirely, moving rapidly, and staged in a manner different from the usual adagio fare. It sold for two bows. Emerson and Baldwin held next-to-closing with a nut juggling act, burlesquing card and coin tricks, floating lady stunt and some Indian club throwing, with a line of chatter thrown in. This turn took the crowd’s fancy for three bows. Bert Nelson and his lion, Prin- cess Pat, closed with the same routine as his former Orpheum act, opening with some old film shots of himself and lion and then going into a romp with the lion herself in a cage, bringing on a cub for his bow. Business was good. Screen of- fering was Paramount’s “Sarah and Son,” with Ruth Chatterton. Yeates. ‘BOX O’ CANDY’ IDEA LOEW’S STATE (Reviewed April 24) Band in the pit, Jones and Hull on for a bit of hoke with one of the candy girls before the curtain, then curtain up on a flash candy tableau which brought oh’s and ah’s from the audience. Girls in pink satin costumes, paraded and piled candy boxes while one girl solo danced, then the line moved into a toe ballet and exited. Reeves and Len then appeared, stepping around in one big pair of pants, giving way to Jones and Hull, knockabout aero hoofers who mixed chatter with their steps, garnering many laughs with their nut stuff. The girls appeared again, with Ruth Forster vocalizing while the ensemble went through a routine with candy walking sticks that registered very nicely, Jones and Hull topping it off with some ec- centric dancing. Georgie Stoll next introduced Frankie Richardson, hard working go-gettem tenor, who offered “Sunnyside Up” for a big score, then sang “I’m Happy” and “Mona,” encoring with “I’m In the Market For You.” After that he plugged the BBB Cellar and sang “Saint Louis Blues,” in which Dave Franklin figured at the piano, collecting three bows and could have taken more. The Idea opened up again, pre- senting the girls in new pink and red costumes, Ruth Forster vocal- izing on “If I’m Dreaming,” the ballet group giving more toe and kick work, coming forward while a drop descended for a few mo- ments, going up again- to reveal a big round candy box, the lid of which was hauled away, bringing with it eight girls suspended by head straps. This was drummed up for the finale. The ballet group was about the niftiest choice of uniformly built youngsters seen in some time. Screen feature was Fox “High Society Blues,” with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Yeates. PATRICK and MARSH (AGENOT) VAUDEVILLE—ORCHESTRAS WANTED! ACTS SUITABLE FOR PICTURE HOUSE PRESENTATION AND CLUBS WHITE—WIEE—CALL 607-8 Majestic Theatre Bldg., 845 South Broadway, Los Angeles Phone TUcker 2140 Walter Trask WANTS STANDARD ACTS and ENTERTAINERS for THEATRES, CLUBS, LODGES and SMAROFF-TRASK PRESENTATIONS WALTER TRASK THEATRICAL AGENCY 1102 Commercial Exchange Bldg. 416 West Eighth Street Los Angeles Telephone TUcker 1686 Ackerman & Harris EXECUTIVE OFFICES THIRD FLOOR, PHELAN BLDG. Ella Herbert Weston, Booking Manager Market, Grant and O’Farreli Sts. SAN FRANCISCO LOS ANGELES—20 Film Exchange Bldg. Washington and Vermont — Telephone: BEacon 7*66 LYNN YOST Artists Manager Telephone GRanite 8410 Address: 522 Taft Building Corner Hollywood Blvd. and Vine St. Artists and Acts Register For .Theatrical Bookings, Orchestras and ' Club Entertainment IRA F. GAY AGENCY 206 Majestic Theatre B uilding 845 South Broadway FA 3421 Los Angeles