Variety (Mar 1906)

VARIETY Shows of the Week By Si me IMPERIAL. Ash Wednesday had its effect upon the attendance, but Arthur Dunn managed to fill the house with merriment. Dunn s^ems to have dropped the elevation of the piano stool, and with Marie Glazier as the foil secures legitimate laughs. Pierce and Roslyn replaced (J race Cameron on the -bill, and were li^ed by the audience, particularly Miss Rosy In in her first solo, but the other two popular numbers she sings with Mr. Pierce are entirely unsuited to her voice. Coakley and MeBride sang, talked and danced. The makeup of the wench is noticeable for fidelity, but no great change has been made in the actual workings. Smirl and Ressner in "The Bellboy and the Waiting Maid" made a hit through Smirl's acrobatic work, he being both an able acrobat and a contortionist. The young woman does not seem to be the same formerly seen in the act. Leona Thurber and the Four Blackbirds are giving a lively turn. Miss Thurber has about the likeliest lot of "picks" now in use, the smaller end boy being a good dancer and the whole act winning out easily. Ferroros and his dog musician opened the show and was fairly received, the au- dience seeming to believe that, trickery of some kind was attempted. Cathrine Countiss in "Wedded by Wire" was a near approach to a headliner, on the program, and will be found under New Acts. The three Sisters Macarte in an as- sorted act work both on the tight wire and the trapeze, and have so much of all with so little of the real meritorious part, which is the wire walking, that the value is af- fected through the bungling manner in which the act has been put together. The aerial end of it is all that should be given, the opening musical number on guitars and a mandolin being a silly adjunct to an of- fering of this character. The women should do single work on the wire to fill in the time if necessary. Although the audience kept away from James J. Morton for a few minutes after he first appeared, they were wjpn over with his exposure of the unreality Iff the Coun- tiss sketch, and after that Morton con- vinced those present that even if his talk appeared foolish it was funny. His pres- ent final encore is about the best thing that he has offered. KEENEY'S. The usual allotment of four new acts are at Keeney's Thentre in Brooklyn. They will be found under that department. Of the "regulars" Jewell's Mannikins are the more prominent and easily the hit of the bill. No matter how many times this act plays a house, it never "falls down," for the wonderment caused by the expert manipulation of the wooden figures creates an interest ending in applause, which is accentuated by the bewildering, sparkling electrical display at the finale. No better drawing card for the young can be offered. Louise Gunning intentionally mislaid the kilts, or perhaps Miss Gunning desired to display a gown, for she appeared in skirts, but is more becoming in her Scotch costume. The opening numl»er was "La Traviata," which is also new for this singer in vaudeville. The Scotch songs ,'followed, and her reception was cordial. but not quite so enthusiastic as when in t he abbreviated garments, for those add a charm, enhancing the appreciation of the tinging. Miss Gunning should hark back to the multi-colored dress with the be- witching stockings (or tights). The men will like her so much better then. Fields and Ward made a change in their act, too. The special drop was not in use, and the opening of the old turn was given with the new "business man" ending. It is riot as well liked as the more recent set- ting, but Fiejds manages to carry his audi- ence regardless of what he says or does. Ward as a "feeder" needs no assistance, but somehow or other he will not part with that to him humorous knack of slap- ping his partner in the face with a glove. In the old days when gloves were expen- sive or salaries lower a newspaper played the part. With the change to genteel kid gloves the team probably thought suffi- cient concession had been allowed. This sort of slapstick in polite vaudeville is rough and not comical, even though a laugh is gained now and then. Other cou- ples have invented something more en- gaging, why not Fields and Ward? Green Brothers opened the show with "comedy juggling." This juggling is club swinging, and even if the comedian were actually such he would be unnecessary for comedy in the turn if a good club swinger. The work the.y offer at present is not ex- tended enough, nor have they a sufficient number of the clubs. The "straight" man dresses in a baseball suit, very neat and away from the tennis court stvle. There may be a financial reason here why a more elaborate display is not made, but club swinging offers a wide range of possibili- ties in tricks, and that part of the per- formance onlv should be looked after, as good work in this line is always assured of appreciation. FAMILY. Although not the headliner at the Fam- ily Theatre on East 125th street this week, Leslie's Porcine Circus is the nov- elty at least. It is a common impression that the pig is the most difficult to train of all animals, yet Leslie has suc- ceeded, although it is a most disagreeable act in every way imaginable. One dog is carried and Mr. Leslie will do much bet- ter to allow his swill devouring pets to regain their normal size and devote his attention to other animals who will prove more profitable in vaudeville. Rhoda Bernard is the feature. This young woman is a female Hebrew imper- sonator, singing one song straight to great applause, with the assistance of a man planted in a box. Miss Bernard ha* helped herself to any Hebrew story she thought likely and has a couple of paro- dies in the same dialect. She could im- prove her opening by telling a story or two before her first song. The Matzumota Troupe of Japanese acrobats have some pedal and contortion work which is not sensational, although a couple of new tricks are shown, and the perch finish is supplied by a woman balancing the pole. Louise Arnot and Thomas Gurm (or Gunn) have the only sketch on the bill, called "Regan's Luck." Miss Arnot is a very good Irishwoman with a deep voice which suggests at first that it is an im- personation by a man. The sketch draws laughs, although somewhat draggy, and should be gone over to stimulate the ac- tion from the commencement. Thomas Ray in illustrated songs is evidently one of the singing acts which it is rumored play the cheaper houses at the expense of the publishers whose songs are plugged. Harry and Mae Howard, German sing- ers, as the program has it, utterly belie the billing by singing very poorly, but dance extraordinarily well in wooden shoes. The man especially is first rate on his feet, introducing several steps not heretofore noticed, and-doing it all with a nimbleness that should bring ample en- gagements were he to develop the dances to the utmost. The talk is inane and the dialect poor. The dancing only is com- mendable. Marshall Montgomery, "Improvisatore," must needs change his name and billing. His main dependence is trick piano play- ing and he goes to the extreme by stand- ing upon his head, resting his feet against the upper case of the piano, playing with his hands. It is not showy or difficult, pleasing only in that it is new and does not take as well as when playing behind his back. Two of his stories are told in such a rambling, haphazard manner that they cannot be heard or the points caught. Mr. Montgomery besides a new name needs more schooling. CIRCLE. Weber and Rush's Parisian Widows are at the Circle this week with "Ben Welch" stamped on everything excepting the scenery. The opening piece in written by him, he is accountable for the closing burlesque, and Mr. Welch does his Hebrew impersona- tion in the olio, using some of his brother Joe's latest "stuff" and singing some parodies, only one written on a modern success. The parodies, however, bring him recall after recall. He has a couple of new stories of his own (as far as known) that nre good. He is the hit of the show, sur- passing the others in the olio easily, and standing out brightly in the pieces. Honan and Kearney, in a sidewalk con- versation with more pa rod ies, also invade the olio. They have the appearance for a first class turn in "one," but their present material will never assist them. One of the parodies has the line "The night they got married" repeated three times in one verse, and it is the old "artificial wife" joke set to music. The Sisters Valmore would do better to appear in blackface. Mildred is a fair dancer, but Lulu does not earn that dis- tinction. The acrobatic work draws some applause. There is a field for feminine blackface acts, and this couple could fit in it with strict attention paid to dialect, that being excellent as evidenced in their open- ing song as a "sister act." Owley and Randall, in a juggling turn, will do better when Mr. Randall finds how to juggle and keep quiet at the same time. His talk has no point and his voice is against him. The juggling might also be vastly improved upon. The three Keltons were billed to appear in a musical act, but only two did so and they were unable to give it in full. The opening piece is called "The Car- nival at Monte Carlo." The chorus is the regulation size but not imposing, and badly trained. There is a stout little brunette on the end that throws the marches on; of alignment by her indifference and failure to keep step, while the costumes worn in the "Dutch" song, led by Mildred Valmore, have a seedy look, and were never built from material costing enough to cause a Woolworth store to decline the business. Ben Welch as an Italian pleases the audience some, although mixing dialects badly at times, and Ned Kelton does a short "bit" as a Chinaman which stands out. Pat Kearney as a "con" man looks the part perfectly, but speaks in a fearful monotone. Flossie La Van and Katherino Randall wander on and off the stage, and it was the fear of seeing them in tights that prevented the closing burlesque, "'A Day in Camp." from being looked over. THE OFFICE BOY ON VAUDEVILLE. "Here's a funny one," remarked the office boy as I was leaving the agent's office. "The boss to-day told a relative of his that 'vaudeville was just like any other show' and I had to fake up a pipe in a hurry to explain why 1 laughed. "I guess he was stuck for an answer, all right, and after thinking about it all day, I'm stuck, too. Of course, anybody can get sarcastic and tell what they think it is, and then wait for the laugh, but I wouldn't mind hearing a good definition. I know what the dictionary tells about it, but there's a whole lot of things in that book that I don't carry in my mind. — "Wh a n I was a little kid evervbodv said 'variety show' and we knew that meant just what it said, but this vaudeville isn't so easy. You get too much in vaudeville to call it by any one name. "Most of the shows are a combination of a circus, dime museum, farce comedy and the drama, while generally the variety end is sandwiched in somewheres, and there's so much that they call it vaude- ville, but it isn't the real article. "There's one good point about the pres ent day shows, though. You don't have to pay a whole lot to see them, and it must be a person brooding over the chances he would have in the East River who wouldn't find something in the bill he liked. But if he doesn't find a whole lot. he thinks he's been cheated, and yet he will sit through a long dreary, weary show on Broadway for which $2 has been given up, and after leaving the only kick- registered is 'that it wasn't so bad, for that chorus in the second act was the goods.' "'That ehoriiV may have lasted "ii tie- stage about four minutes, yet he sat through a shine show to see it. Was it because he paid $2 or because he didn't expect any more? In vaudeville, where maybe he only paid fifty or seventy-five cents, if he only saw one thing in the bill he liked, that same man would go out and rave over the incompetency of the people running the theatre in putting up a bill like that. "You know many a farce comedy which was in reality only a vaudeville show ha-< made good in the legitimate, but split that same show up for a bill in vaudeville and it wouldn't stand by itself. Vaudeville has got me going. I'm going to give it to Sam Lloyd for his puzzle column in the Sunday papers." 8(me.