Variety (Jan 1906)

•^* -*!.'*« ^' .,■■*'*,*•. VARIETY. T - - - By 6lll60t HYDE AND BEHMAN'S. Edna Aug and John T. Kelly offered new acts at Hyde and Behraan's this week which are reported in the New Acts department. The bill opens with the Ortaneys, which is unfortunate for I.lbby and Trayer, who follow. One of tho dogs in the acrobatic act barks through the tuin and his staccato so strongly suggests Libby singing grand opera with what he considers expres- sion that to some of the audience the roscMublance seemed funny. The sing- ers have gone back to the Buffalo Bill act in place of the earlier sketch shown Ri Pastor's lact week, and there were sonio who consider Libby still a good s'nger. Possibly some of the applause* • is due to the fact that he identifies him- self ab a Mason by some of the ritual ini:-oduccd into his act, but most Masons r(»sent this offensive use of the connec- tion. Miss Trayer should give some at- tention to her make up. She applies the rouge too liberally and too widely. The Ortaneys have three dogs to help them make good, but it is evident that the trainer cannot "talk dog" for they have difficulty in making two of the pups un- derstand what is wanted. The turn is an elaboration of Irene LaTour's idea without the smartness of work shown by her. May Duryea and W. A. Morti- mer made a real hit with "The Ihipos- tor." Miss Duryea's last scene is over- drawn and she loses some of the effect, but the sketch is now rapid in action and has many comedy lines. James Ilarrigan does monologue because he wants to and juggling because the man- agers think he should. The juggling tricks are the same old familiar friends of long ago. Some of the jokes are new and good. Most of us would rather have the jokes. Harrigan should save out two dollars from his salary and pur- chase a new pair of trousers. The ones he wears are too old. Cleanliness of sartorial makeup would add to his ef- fectiveness. The Klein, Ott Brothers an<l Nicholson scored with their kind- .'ipplause flags and still more with their playing. When they have time they should show their respect for their country's emblem by patching up the rent in the blue field. Mortimer should attend the same sewing bee and sew the pocket on his dressing gown. Both look badly from the front. Will Rogers has his lariat throwing to close in just before the pictures. The use of a horse in this act improves the old idea immensely, and the horse is quite the best trained stage animal shown in vaudeville. Most acts using horses scare the audience by the occasional fractiousness of the beasts; this recruit from the plains is as cool and collected as any of the hu- mans with whom he is associated. There is a gaudy reel of pictures this week showing the rise of a foundling to the proud position of judge. We see the policeman take him from the street to the station and from that time on his rise Is as rapid as the most ambitious niight desire. It is rather humorous when you come to think it over. CIRCLE. ' Louis Robie has his Bohemians at the Circle this week. He has put in Jack O'Brien as a special attraction and so escapes the charge of getting money for what he does not sell. As a show it is scarcely to be commended. He has one real actor, William Patton. He plays an English swell in the first part with abso- lute repression and does almost as well in the afterpiece. He must be an acci- dent in burlesque, for the legitimate seems to be his home. He was the only ray of light, however, for there are no ether comedians. There is but little humor to the burlesques, and the chorus is neither young nor shapely. It goes without saying that they do not sing well. Most of the time when they have the chorus on they use nearlight effects and cover the girls with a kindly mask of darkness. It is one of the few In- stances where a dingy stage lighting is to be approved, for the costumes are In wretched taste and poorly made. Oscar Lewis made some fun in the first part as a silly boy, and Pete Curley played an Irish part exactly like some fifty others. In the afterpiece Sam Green takes the leading Irish character and does even worse, for he goes in for loudness of de- meanor and removes his outer clothing. No man In his underclothes was ever funny because of the garments. When they are dirty the offense Is magnified. O'Brien comes on In the afterpiece and fights three rounds with ten-pound gloves. His clever handling of these bulky objects shows him to be a strong man as well as a fighter, and both he and his partner are lighter on their feet than the chorus. He did not receive much of a reception; indeed, Terry Mc- Govern, In one of the boxes, drew as much. The Roses (they call themselves Les Laroses) have a wire act with some good tricks. One of two of these are not in other turns and they lack only ap- pearance. The man Is too heavy to look well and the woman dresses badly. Per- haps It is merely that she Is wearing out old costumes on a cheap date. Lewis and Green have the familiar Idea of starting the act with one member of the team In the audience. This gives them their best chance for cross talk. With impromptu verses they ring in too many old jokes, but Green plays the part of a Sweed carefully and they are above the average of burlesque conversa- tionalists. Christy and WlUls combine some poor toe dancing with a tramp juggler specialty. The man will have to make radical changes in his make up be- fore he can expect better things. In the straight houses the day of the tramp with filthy clothing is passed. He has ionie good Ideas, but works too careless- ly to make a good showing. Jack and Bertha Rich cause themselves to be billed as "High-class Singers. Conversa- tionalists and Dancers." Only the last word is correct. They dance well, but their singing Is an offense and their chatter Is stale. There are some motion pictures, a chase film. In which three members of the company come out dressed like the originals of the pictures and pretend to have posed. PROCTOR'S FIFTY-EIGHTH STREET. They are running more to comedy at the Fifty-eighth street house and are doing better with it. The only act not meeting with entire approval is the Grand Opera Trio which has necessitated the presence of a couple of policemen in the gallery occasionally. The trouble lies in a change of singers who have re- stored to the scene the long recitatives of Faust and Marguerite. About the time Marguerite begins to tell her tale of trouble the gallery is restless and one youngster very nearly broke up the scene the other afternoon by asking: "Who is she?" The policemen came up to answer the question. If they will trim down the opening of the act they will fare better, for even those who started to guy were vociferously applauding the trio; which was never better rendered than with the new associates of Abram- hoff—Blanche La Vigne and Henry Bar- ron. Paul Cinquevalli is the star and his work is as pleasing here as it was downtown. He is a master of his art and his work is always well worth watching. His assistant has toned down a little but not enough. Larkins and Patterson made a hit largely because they were colored. Next time the Rev. Thomas Dixon writes a "Clansman" play will he please take a couple of falls out of the colored comedian? The Lavelles are working as hard as ever. Mr. La- velle grows thinner and his larger half fatter until it has become merely a question of time when he will be unable to tote her about the stage. The doll finish gets most of the applause. Ma- zuz and Mazett had the same old stuff but made one of the hits of the bill with burlesques of Cinquevalli and the Opera Trio. Mr. Mazuz is clever enough to get a good one while he is about it and should find it easy to keep the act fresh in this fashion on any bill. Joe Flynn tells more jokes to less applause than one would consider possible, and yet at the finish he had to beg off because the audience wished him back and the stage manager told him that the show was running too long. He had opposition the other afternoon in one of the boxes in T. B. Chrystal, of the World, whqse jokes are so bad that Philip Mindil calls him the Joe Flynn of Journalism. Cecelia Weston is making most of her hit with Nora Bayes' song. She niight at least credit the contribution to the original. She seems to have the idea that if she keeps her eyes wide open and walks on tiptoe she is good The mistaken audience se(>med to fit;uro it out in the same way. Miss Weston could improve her work by giving greater care to her phrasing. She might study Clar- ice Vance to her edification. Kurtis and Busse have some dogs.an<l the <logs work hard to earn their biseuit. The act is so well put together that it is not un- til afterward that you realize that there is not so very much that th«' dogs do, anyway. It is good showmanship. The Girl with the Baton is here and making the usual hit. The director now comes on the stage to make C(Ttain that she is not overlooked The rest of the act is good throughout. "CORKS" ON IDENTITIES. There was a new dignity to the stride of tJie Human Corkscrew as he ap- proached the table. He was clean shaven and his hair was tidy while the familiar gray sack coat had been re- placed by a frock of exceeding length and blackness. The manner in which his eyes light- ed up at the approach of the waiter with the seldls proved that "Corks" had not entirely changed and the "push" waited patiently while the first was drained. "I know where you can get a week for that Garden of Eden act of yours," sug- gested ihe head of the table. Corks drew himself up. * .. ^^ 1 . i ^ "Not for mine," he announced. "Me for a monologue with no scenery or oth- er excess baggage in the shape of a snake dress and a real Eve. Me for the monologue. I'm going on as Edwin Booth. That ought to be a good card, don't you think? Edwin Booth in vau- deville Is a novelty all right." "Can you get away with It?" asked the head of the table. "There seems to be a belief that Edwin Booth is dead." "Huh!" snorted Corks. "That will be all right. I'm going to get that chap up at MartlnelH's office to book me. If he ran book Caimenclta after she's been dead some time, I guess he can get away with the Booth bluff. Anyway, I bet he tries it. ■ ■' ■ ■"'■ • ';' ■"-■ ' ''-" "I just heard about that Carmencita thing the other day and that gave me the idea. That man Fisher is too good to be a vaudeville agent working for some one else. He ought to be selling soap with a medicine show. With his nerve for getting away with bluffs he could make a heap of money that way. "Any man who has the nerve to bring out a girl not more than twenty five and bin her as a woman who was In the thirties fifteen years ago and who has been under the green grass for several years can trot me out as Eklwin Booth and make the managers believe It. "Of course one swallow doesn't make a seidl nor does one fake entitle Fischer " to put on airs, but he followed Carmen- cita with Kader and his sister-in-law wives, he booked Harry Tate without Tate and Karno without Karno, and I guess he's goln' some. If the managers will stand for that. I guess they'll be glad enough to got Edwin Booth with- out the aid of a medium. "It's me for the spiritualist medium (they all book dead ones, anyway) and about three weeks from now you'll see Edwin Booth doing a song and dance In the real style. They're crazy for new facias and T guess that a little thing like that won't worry Fischer. Then I c-an buy my own seldls, but meanwhile " TIk^ head of the table gave the high sign and the future Booth subsided. The Four Meteors on the flying trap- eze, said to equal, if not excell any shm. lar performnfnro, will be seen at "the^ Hip" shortly. Romano's acrobatic dancers will ap- pear at the Victoria on February 19, their first appearance In this country.