Variety (Jan 1906)

. .♦ ' ,- ^,... VAftlfitY. 1116 Week - - - - Editor of Variety. t*''.Sir.—Pleas« let up on the actoni a little and start in on the stuKe hands al>out the llp- VnUBS graft. Ut'18 ImposHlble to K^^t by nowadays without feelnif all of them, whether they do any- thing for yuu or not. ONK WHO HAS TO TIP ALL. *'--*"&-•■'■ — ...■.■..■■.■■:■.- ♦ / ,ThiB above letter is from an artist now j[J?iaying an out ,of town house, but the tJiiping nuisance is not confined to any one locality. -^ is as widespread as the ^bther "grafts" which exist, and there Be^ms to be np way in which the matter ^can he avoided unless the manager is ''willing to give more of his personal at- tention to'the matter, with the artists' *hen).; '*'^ The situation in the vaudeville houses ^8'becoming worse than that which ex- '■iai& in' England and on the Continent, for bVer there a small tip is thankfully •i^eived while here more money is de- -'mtitided and paid. *' 'It is not known wTiether the stage liahttE have a system of marking down 'bagrgfage, but it is certain that those who •hefhse to give up blood money to the Trtage hands for performing services for which they are paid by the management, i^e marked persons and have to do with* 'btit rh&ny of the courtesies. ^•' The ^ performer is in part to blame, for' there was a time when the Keith ^antig^ment made an earnest and hon- «ttt eftfort to stop the graft in its nouses and was defeated by the artists themselves. There was a time when at 'liilie Keith house in Boston, the star difesBing room was frequently assigned to some three-a-day act willing to^ pay for that privilege. That has been stopped but there arc itching palms on the Keith stages as well as everywhere else. Com- plaint to the management of any house would stop the evil and if the perform- ers would get together and agree to tip olily where extra service was asked, the I&auagers would attend to the rest. 'The trouble is that until there is some fron clad agreement to this effect, the individual will not dare get himself dis* lilced, and so the evil grows. When a stage hand is pressed into service to help out in an act it is but fiir that he should be tipped five or tieib'^dollars, since he saves the artist the trouble and expense of carrying a man fur the l)art. Artists having heavy Rtage settings should also expect to re- ward' those who are put to extra trouble, bat* the average player should not be expected to pay tribute simply because fai^ is playing in a theatre any more than he fs entitled to exact a fee from the sCttge hand for having made the scene Burner's Job possible. There are few managers who would not be willing to aid the artists in a cru- sade against tipping, but they cannot de- vote *;their'time to standing about the stage-to catch their stage crew red hand- ed oiid as a result these men shake down tlia actors with the regularity of a ward ixfAn*maktng a collection trip. Let the aqtists get togelher and this and other e>ri>ls would be abolished. nf JAmes Thornton appeared at Miner's Bowery last Sunday evening. It has been years since "Jim" showed profes- sionally In that part of the city. NEW YORK. Cyclonic finishes are frequently re- ferred to, but there Is an actual cyclonic finish to the Dockstader Minstrels at the New York. The final curtain drops upon a scene of destruction with one small negro baby staring curiously at the departing audience. The cyclone is a fine product of the magic lantern, with luminous rain and lightning more real than the genuine article. It comes at the close of a little scena in which the entire company takes part and which Introduces one of the funniest property horses seen In town In many a day. This scena is something of a departure from old-fashioned minstrelsy, but for the greater part of the program the show Is more like the original form than has been seen of late. There Is the familiar first part with the singing, dancing and comedy^ acts alternating after the men In the audience have come back from seeing their man. In the first part there are the same old jokes, veterans of the early sixties, concluding with a kind- applause tableau of Roosevelt leading a charge up San Juan Hill with an Amer- ican fiag formed In the sky. It is rather poorly done but gets the hand- claps. Mr. Dockstader devotes his first part time to the promulgation of "Every- body Works but Father." He also has a scene with a talking machine—an Idea used for somef time by Rlchlo W. Craig. Nell O'Brien and John King have com- edy chats and songs, Manuel Romaln sings with his head tones only, William H. McDonald goes to the other extreme and sings from his toes, and there are others who contribute. Effective use Is made of an organ as an addition to the orchestra. The best dancing act Is the third number of the first part, a dancing specialty In a watermelon patch done in soft shoes. It Is picturesque and graceful and Mr. Dockstader can farm this out to advantage In the spring to the vaudeville managers. The other big dancing number Is a clog done by twelve men who are discovered in a studio scene. The Foley boys are In both numbers, though they are not featured, care having been taken that they do not even have their names to- gether. Dockstader uses the same set- ting for his opening, a huge album being shown In which are life-size enlarge- ments of portraits of the famous min* strels of the past. The last page shows Mr. Dockstader In person, and he comes down to make a few remarks. A tour In a rubberneck wagon forms his second number and is a natural continuation of his airship Idea. The lecture Is not par- ticularly clever. He stops in the middle and makes his escape, the passengers pursuing. The white drop Is lowered and there Is shown a "chase" film which ends with the pursuers being thrown from a drain pipe Into a brook. The lights go up to show the minstrel sit- ting in a painted pipe on the same cur- tain. The act Is not up to standard ex- cept the pictures. There is a screaming farce put on by O'Brien and a singing specialty offering the olden song favor- ites. The performance appeared to please tremendously, and it is a smart and entertaining show la the aggregate. COLONIAL. "The Mascot Moth" and the Romanos, who are revlewd In New Acts, are not the only attractions at the Colonial this week. There Is the Karno troupe on a return date and going very well Indeed. There Is little to the act except the drunken man and the orange throwing, but there Is so much action to the turn that even with an Inferior offering of comedy the movement saves the day and sends the audience away with the belief that It has been hugely amused. The Patty Brothers, with their fine head work, lose a little through their lack of parade. With the vaude- ville-wise in the audience the act Is the better for this absence of display, but with the others their ability to stay head to head for an extended period does not appeal as it should. The head walking makes a splendid finish and sends them off the stage to the proper applause. Dialect comedians would do well to study the announcement of the head walking made by the other artist. His English is a wonderful thing indeed. Carleton Macy and Maud Edna Hall have worked out their act until it stands for headline honors. More of this ef- fect is contributed by the artists than the author, for In the original form the lines were tame and tiresome. Now the dialogue is bright and Miss Hall's dou- ble chance as the real wife and the spcrty dream-wife who is her exact op- posite, stamps her a really clever woman. Macy is developing some bad manner- isms. His speech is sullen and he hugs the delusion that he is effective because he snap out his speeches. He is sup- posed to be In a bad humor but he need not suggest that he is suffering from the rabies to emphasize that point. Haw- thorne and Burt have a good act because the men work along new lines. The He- brew comedian does not overplay, and through this absence of exaggeration scores his points as strongly but with legitimate effect. A slight improve- ment in the lines would brighten the turn. James F. McDonald has a life history in a song of about seventeen verses. They tire before the close. He should put In something shorter or else condense what he has. He has an awk- ward manner on the stage, assumed ap- parently to heighten the effect of his work. He achieves an opposite result. Some of his work Is distinctly good, much of it is better than the average. Al- burtus and Millar have the second turn. Mr. Alburtus loses In his comedy at each return. The work he offers now is dis- jointed, without sequence and largely without humor. The effect is still fur- ther depressed by the nonchalant air with which he wades through the act. He will have to work more smartly and more intelligently if he wishes a lasting success. The Nicholl Sisters gained many laughs through setting a good ex- ample themselves, and there were some pictures to wind up a show that is pos- sessed of many points of merit. There Is a new act In the London halls in which a sea Hon rides horseback and juggles at the same time. The troupe is worked by MH©- Juliette. , . TWENTY-THIRD STREET. Seldom is there offered a greater vari- ety of good features than figure on the bill at the Twenty-third Street this week. There is both comedy and nov- elty, the latter being supplied by R. A. Roberts, who is showing his protean act here. Much of the objectionable comedy has been eliminated and the rest has been so modified as to be practlcallv without offense. As a result the clean- cut acting of this clever artist stands out more clearly and it is now possible to enjoy his good work without lament- ing certain features. It is seldom that England has given us a oetter act. and it is to be hoped that before his return Mr. Roberts will offer his new specialty. He had a little trouble with the lights Monday afternoon (for which the house, not he. is to blame) and this at times lost him the effect of his play of expren- slon. otherwise he was seen to splendid advantage and roused to applause a cold audience. For the first time In a Cressy sketch Blanche Dayne really has a good chance to act. As the leading lady in "Town Hall To-night" she sinks her own individuality In the part of a woman who might have come in from the back- woods circuit to play the role herself. Cressy is good as the Poo Bah of the Town Hall, and the act stands one of the best he has writt«»n. either for him- self or another, although some of th^ best laughs are for the theatrically In- formed only. There are enough of the others, though, to make the act a hit anywhere. Reno and Richards hava their acrobatic foolery and please as usual, while Mitchell and Marron ex- hibit their two-man-power minstrel show. They have some viciously old jokes and they still sing "Silver Moon." when the rest of us are trying to forget It, yet they seem to please. They should not announce themselves as "the orig- inators of the two-men In in sirel com-^ pany." Credit should go to the Crane Brothers, who use three men. The Six Cuttys play and sing. We like them oest when they are not singing. It is a very effective act and one that demands attention. Avery Strakosh sings for her second song the same one the Cuttvs sing, which shows bad stage manage- ment on the part of some one. Miss Strakosh is in good voice and pleased with three songs, the last of which. "An- nie Laurie," Is splendidly sung. The Deltons have their head and hand bal- ancing to get them applause, and they are new here though not to the town. Harry B. Lester bills himself as "The College Boy Comedian." which is not only some one else's property but incor- rect. He would hit nearer the mark did he announce himself as a matinee hero. He ogles too persistently. Mr. Lp.s- ter would do better to pass on to the next joke when the audience refuses to laugh instead of waiting for a reversal of the verdict. Ho has some poor jokes—in- cluding two indecent ones—but his Imi- tations are good. McGloln and Smith dance well when they get down to that part of their act. but they sing one of the songs voted at the last election. The Sisters Celesse are found under new acts.