Variety (Dec 1905)

ID VARIETY. KEENEY'S. Keeney's bill for this week struck a fair average of entertainment, an enter- tainment, however, from which Maddox and Melvin ii the sketch "At the Sta- tion" stood out like the Scotland light on a dark night. Their act was the fourth on the bill and furnished the first bright spot of the evening. The audience woke up to their clever funni- ments and the performers who followed kept them awake to the end. The Maddox and Melvin skit has all the elements of a successful farce. It has plenty of good dialogue and the action of the principals is laughable. Miss Melvin is not as good in her comedy work as is her partner, and her attempt at a dignified vocal solo is an example of misdirected ambition. Her voice Is iaiily sweet, but very thin. The number would be greatly improved by a sprightly n.ckttntal dance. Jeannette Duniee. with the same col- lection of songs she used at Pastor's last work, was coidially received. The number "I'm Jealous of You" gave op- portunity for effective byplay with a hired man in the lower box. George Monroe with his "My Aunt Bridget" act won applause out of all proportion to the merit of his work. The monologue has little to recommend it. It is loud, horsey and at times almost vulgar and devoid of humor. Will M. Cressy's sketch, "The Sailor and the Horse," was the vehicle for The Harry La Rose Company. The sketch is not quite up to the standard Cressy has set for himself, but contains a well worked up climax of the whoop-hurrah variety, in whica Charles H. Crosby describes the progress of ,\ torse race off-stage and by the weight of his own noisy enthusiasm works tip a really effoctivet scene. Jennie Co ilscn. the woman- of the organization, gives the impression that F.he receive! her stage training through a correspondence school of acting. Al Lawson and Frances Namon in a bag punching and cycling specialty were clever enough to be entertaining with- out having to resort to noise and horse- play. Miss Namon's bag punching will never arouse any degree of professional jealousy among the pugilists, but she is a strikingly handsome Amazon, wears her clothes gracefully and is altogether a welcome adjunct to the act. The best thing about Berry and Mot- tesk was the brevity of their turn. They played a duet or two on wind instru- ments and indulged in a quantity of dialect talk of the most inferior quality. The Boldens were described on the program as "colored entertainers." This was true to the adjective, but the term "entertainers" was a deliberate mis- statement. During the absence of Nicholas E. Kaufman in Europe, the meetings of the Artisten Loge in this city will be governed by a chairman elected upon assembling, no executive having been appointed during Kaufman's absence. Cllffe Berzac, who made a big hit at Proctor's Fifty-eighth Street this week, has been booked for ninety-eight weeks ahead solid, playing Hammer- stein's roof during its coming season. GOTHAM. If the men of the Casino Girls Com- pany were half as good as the women members of the organization at the Gotham this week, the combination would be invincible. Unfortunately there is not a real comedian in the bunch. Consequently the burden of the entertainment falls upon the chorus and half a dozen women principals. "An Unwilling King" is a se- ries of remarkably well done ballets and choruses, separated by blank spaces in which the "comedians" devote them- selves to noise making and horse play without humor or sense. But the pain of these boresome mo- ments was promptly forgiven in the clever work of the girls which was ar- ranged immediately to follow each such spasm. There is not a piano mover in the company, and the audience may search in vain for a girl who can't dance a great deal and sing—a little. Another item in which the show furnishes a re- freshing variety from the orthodox bur- lesque organization was the conspicuous absence of anything like a broad gag. In the burlesque Grace Foster prob- ably carried off the major share of ap- proval. She is a decidedly pretty and vivacious young person, and whatever her voice may lack in quality is made up in the cleverness of her incidental business. A song by her and a splen- didly handled chorus was one of the hits. She was ably assisted by the" spot-light man. Tim Healey was thp leading comedian. The funniest thing he did was an old- fashioned Irish act. It was well exe- cuted, and as a survival from the middle ages of vaudeville, was novel enough to be interesting. There were four numbers in the olio, beginning with Allen Coogan, billed as "The Dancing Marvel." He* did some clever work with clogs, but was badly dressed. The trousers of his conven- tional evening clothes were tight with a tightness that recalled the ungraceful mode of '99, but he introduced several new and effective steps. The Bates Musical Trio have several instrumental and mechanical novelties, but need rehearsing. One of their fea- tures is a set of electrical chimes. The Fern Comedy Four needs a good bass and some cwnedy business. Sid Fern, Lew Hearn, Richard Morse and James Mullen make up the act. Belle Gordon, looking as young as ever, put in ten minutes or so swatting the punching bags. The act seems to be popular with burlesque audiences, and Miss Gordon is a graceful figure in short skirts. CURTIN'S COPYRIGHT. James H. Curt in, of the London The- atre, has sent to the Librarian of Con- gress, for copyright, a device invented by himself for scheduling the burlesque companies. Through a clever arrange- ment, a sliding date slip carries with it a list of theatres so ordered that by bringing up any Monday date the whereabouts of every show on the wheel during that week is shown at a glance. Copies will be issued after the copy- right has been granted. The Three Dumonds opened at Keith's, Boston, this week. They play both the Keith and Morris time. - ADELE RITCHIE "THREW 'EM." If you mention Adele Ritchie's name around the Proctor's executive offices, you will hear deep rumblings of dis- appointment, culminating in an outburst of fury over the exploding of a great bit of press work, instigated by Phil Mindil, the general press representative of the circuit, which Adele spoiled at the psychological moment. Miss Ritchie played the Fifty-eighth street house last week, and Mindil got an idea. While working it out a boy had to lead him around, he was so dazed. It was to insert a "personal" asking "gentleman desiring to meet high salaried prima donna" to address 'Mile. Fifl'." at an office box number- About 150 answers were received, to all of which replies were mailed on scented note paper, asking that they be at the theatre at a certain hour on Thursday of that week, when "Mile. Fifl" would identify herself from the stage by wearing a flower. They were told to wear boutonnieres. Mindil stationed himself in the box office at the appointed time, and dis- tributed the flowery bedecked crowd of "mashers" throughout the orchestra, which resembled a conservatory. One middle aged man. anxious not to be overlooked, held his rose high in the air. The press was fully represented, expecting a good "story." Miss Ritchie was primed for the event, but before going on took a peek at the house. That settled it for her. She balked, tore the flower off her bodice, leaving a lot of nice old men wondering, and the Proctor forces in a rage for killing" anything so easy. man intelligence. Their act was long but very good compared to the others. Ford and Dot West were the features and scored a hit. Their fast talking was excellent, but his up-state accent handicapped him. His dancing was clever. May Ward's singing amused the audi- ence to the discontent of a few people in front who had the spot light on them throughout the act. She was well re- ceived. Cyclone was on about thirty seconds. But his so-called sensational act did not take. And then the Vitagraph. JOHN J. O'CONNOR (Office Boy). FAMILY. Shungopavi amused the audience. He showed cleverness in doing his tricks, and his jokes were well received. Jennings and W T ebb were very poor. Their singing was rank and their jokes was stale. Ed. Boyd sang two songs. His voice could be very much improved. The vitagraph man seemed to have some trouble with his machine. Singer's dogs and monkeys were very good. One monkey showed almost hu- THE ALHAMBRA BALLET. "L'Entente Cordiale" has shared the fate of all the Alhambra ballets, and now goes on in abbreviated form as a curtain raiser, while the new ballet "Parisiana" takes its place at the im- portant end of the bill. The new ballet is the Invention of Charles Wilson, who made so many friends while he was stage manager of Koster and Blal's in this city. Mr. Wil- son has been almost continuously at the London house since leaving these shores, and to his splendid management of the vast forces of the Alhambra stage department is due the success of many of the big ballets. The first scene shows the market place in Paris about 1790, the period per- mitting some gorgeous dressing. There is a fete scene ending with the inception of the Revolution and the mob ex- changes the fleur de lys for the revolu- tionary rosette. A diversion in a laun- dry of a somewhat later period is follow- ed by a succession of scenes of the mod- ern day, including a dressmaking shop, th? exterior of the Bourse and the fete at Neuilly. La Sylphe. who is responsible for a cumber of contortion pictures, is one of the dancers, and Senorita Maria La Bella is credited with a marked success, rihe is a distinct addition to the Alham- bra forces. ••••••••••A******************************* ************** KIETY VARIETY PUBLISHING CO. KNICKERBOCKER THEATRE BUILDING NEW YORK CITY Enclosed find $ for subscription to VARIETY Name ■ Address Subscription, $2 yearly. Foreign, $3. Paper will be mailed "as per route," if so instructed. ¥ 44»»»»^yy^^»»¥¥¥¥¥»¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ ¥¥¥ V ¥V ¥¥V»¥¥¥¥¥#¥»V¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥