Variety (Mar 1906)

VARIETY * ^ Shows of the Week By Chicot COLONIAL. Vesta Victoria in her second week haa partly lid herself of the cold which marred her earlier work, and she had the additional advantage of having made friends with the smart section of the au- dience. But one song was changed from the opening repertoire, this being the "(J race Darling," which was largely respon- sible for her London favor when she changed from straight to character work. It has a chorus that one cannot forget, and took place in favor with "Waiting at the Church." She also gave "The Country Uirl," which is hardly understood here, and the artist's model song. She might have sung more, but contented herself with bowing her thanks several times. Mine. Herrmann has put. in some more illusions. They are showy and save her a lot of trou- ble, but they are very old. She also con- ducts her gift enterprise, throwing candy to the audience, which this time is pro- duced from a screen instead of the old canisters—a change that is the only real novelty in the act. The act is eye pleasing, but that is all. The Glinseretti Troupe offer work alternately on the stage and the bounding mat. This last is particularly well done and deserves the applause it gets. They work with no parade, but go about their business with a quietness and a surety that arc equally pleasing. They should cut out lilac suits when working against the red of the mat drapery. There was much chromatic pro- fanity that might easily have been avoided. Cole and .lohnson had a new and good song" and went better than they did recently at Keith's. They are clever, but lliey must have material of value to make a real success. Mr. and Mrs. Gard- ner Crane show their playlet and score heavily. They have put in a mammy in- stead of the pickaninny, probably in defer- ence to the Gerry Society, and they have changed their climax to good effect, the first curtain now dropping on the Jovers alone on the stage, while the encore pro- longs the action. l)e Witt, Burns and Torrance did their full share of the work, and the Empire City Quartet had no Cause for complaint. Mr. and Mrs. Alli- son stick to "Minnie from Minnesota," I hough a new act is needed, and Hathaway and Walton do some dancing at the open- ing of the show. ORPHEUM. There are debuts and things happening at all of the Williams Big Three this week, the Orpheum's allotment being the first appearance here in a number of years of Harry Corson Clarke, who is a sort of Corse Pay ton of the Western slope. His offering is commented upon under New Acts. In addition, Henri de Vries holds for a second week with his protean sketch. The audiences at the Orpheum seem quick- er to catch the finer points of an offering than any other audience in the vaudeville class, and while the act is listened to in almost complete silence the applause at the conclusion of the act is convincing. Clarice Vance is going better than she did last week and this in spite of the fact that but one of her songs is really suited to her genre. She sings four and the singing of a fifth rests entirely with her. The Picchiani family offer their acrobatic work to the usual good effect. They could do very much better by discarding skirts. The spectacle of women working in long skirts is no longer a novelty and the use of the garments hampers their best tricks. Ed Latell still sticks to his imitation of Ching Ling Foo and does a parody on Dida that is remembered by some. He would do better to give us more banjo work, for there are few who can meet him on this ground. Taylor Holmes tells stories well. If Mr. Holmes would only make a more careful selection he would be in high favor. One of his poems is a discard of Gus Williams, and others date still further*back, while the Mans- field speech is inexcusable at this late day. Herbert Brooks does his trunk trick neat- ly and offers two card tricks that show up well on the stage. It is hard to find card work that appeals to the gallery as well as those who pick out the cards, but Brooks has two tricks that reach all the way and his trunk mystifies. Bellman and Moore make a hit on the early part of the bill with their vaudeville travesty. It is to be regretted that Miss Moore did not find out earlier what a success she could be as a child impersonator. The whole act pleases, but this stands out, calling loudly for an extension of time. Cabaret's dogs still do good tricks. Prob- ably if they were not better trained they, too, would laugh at their master's straw hat. PASTOR'S. Two new acts at Pastor's are to be found under their proper classification. Of the others Holcombe, Curtis and Webb take the top place on the bill. Holcombe had a cold and only Margaret Webb was in good voice. She offended with a child song, sung not because she is good at this work, but because her predecessor made a feature of that sort of thing. Miss Webb is better in more ambitious work, and this fact should be taken to heart by the di- recting head of the act. Charles F. Sea- mon did not do as well in the matter of applause, but he made a lasting impres- sion with his quiet methods. He is differ- ent from the others, and this fact is appre- ciated. O'Brien and Buckley were one of the real hits here, their work being suited to the tastes of the Pastor clientele. If Mr. O'Brien would alter his grammar and moderate his exuberant style he would find a wider range of employment. Tre- loar did a strong man act that was helped by the fact that he cut out his muscle parade and got right down to real work. One of his chief points is the fact that he uses Edna Tempest for most of his tricks. Miss Tempest's weight cannot be tampered with, while dumbbells are not always what they seem in the matter of avoirdu- pois. The finish in which a horse and rider are lifted with one arm is capital. Gracie Emmett has a good program place and did a lot of the laugh making. She is a really funny woman and her appearance is al- ways welcome. Her support is not par- ticularly good, but she is a company in her- self. James and Dolly Emerson had a poor act, poorly played, while Philbrooks and Reynolds might have been better with a good sketch. There is the skeleton of a good offering in their present act, but the skeleton is badly padded. The dialogue is not carefully considered. If instead of the loose lines they now employ new and crisper material were had they would fare very much better. Grace Guilders does some contortion dancing and winds up with a patient poodle, which camps on the base of her spine with a blase air. She does not make good use of the dog and could leave him in the basket with profit to her- self and the audience. Collis Le Page and Montague and O'llara are also listed, to say nothing of the "Hlustro-Electric," which is a stereopticon. FIFTY-EIGHTH STREET. in addition to Charles E. Evans and his company (mentioned under New Acts) there were many points on the Proctor bill to command the approval of the crowd. Also were there too many full stage acts on the first half of the bill and there were a couple of waits. Omar Singh showed his Human Butterlly, which is merely a new name for the old Astarte broom trick with the double belt. It is well worked, with the lights framed in pairs about in the eyes of serpents instead of on a straight batten. Johnson and Wells got through with their singing and dancing, though they are unimportant in either department, and the Elgona Brothers complicate some good acrobatic work with a very poor female impersona- tion. More acrobatics were had from Spissell Brothers and Mack, who scarcely need to copy Rice and Prevost. Some of their own work is plenty good enough if they would hold the act to that standard. Not one is a good pantomimist and this end might be more carefully looked after. Dan McAvoy did an act with Georgia Kelly on one end of the line and four women in white suits' on the other. He was the real hit of the bill and this in spite of the fact that he has not made a very great change in his work and uses too much of his imitation of James Russell. It is not so much material as method with McAvoy and when he comes out with a gun to choke off the applause as he did ten years ago they laugh at it just as heartily. More use might be made of the girls. They appear in the opening and in one song; the rest of the time they prob- ably spend in the wings wondering what they were hired for. To some four girls are more of an attraction that a somewhat similar McAvoy. The Three Dumonds did not score very strongly here. The balcony and gallery patrons do not go in for the high grade music and the act is not as good as once it was. Mr. Dumond should make a change in his selection if he expects to make a continued success. Bert Leslie and Robert Dai ley were very much more to the popular taste and Leslie'* glib slang was appreciated, while the Florenz troupe closed the show with a whoop and there were pictures afterward. LONDON. It is scarcely fair to blame upon Charles Ilorwitz the two burlettas used by the Tiger Lilies at the London this Week. They may have been good once, but sonc one cut out most of the comedy. The man- agement went further than that and cut out the chief comedian. On the road they had Alexander Carr, but through some pe- euliar line of reasoning he was eliminated from the company just before they came to town, and the business suffers in conse- quence, the comedian not having been re- placed. There was another act out of the olio that has been with the show on the road. The Campbell-Drew Company should realise that New York is scarcely the town in which to cut down expenses. They have cut more out of the receipts than out of the expense account, ltichy W. Craig does what he can to hold the show up alone, but cannot overcome the general dreariness. He shows to better advantage in the olio where he has his musical work and his phonograph partner, which gave an idea to Lew Doekstader. The timing is accu- rately done and the speeches are taken up with celerity. The idea redeems some very old jokes. Carrie Ester and Josette Webb have discarded their old act and make the alleged sketch over into a singing turn in which Miss Ezier grows most tiresome in the Ixlief that she is a comedienne. They make most of their hit in the burlesques. Miss Webb ! tights no longer shapes up on the old piano ..ties, and Miss Ezier does a song in which she successively uses each chorus girl as a partner. As there are nine girls she receives nine encores. William Allen starts the olio with what he considers a humorous Irish monologue. If he could ever >ce himself from the front of the house he would not do it again. His stories even when they are tnlcen, . from other sources lack point, and his songs are be- whiskered. Cunningham and Lord hav* a dancing act, and Charles Semon's Na- poleon imitation. The latter loses effect but the dancing is better. There are some motion pictures that are good. The show as a whole is poor because it lacks brisk- ness. TROUBLE ON ITS WAY. Everybody within hearing distance give ear to a tale of piracy on the high seas. The black (lag has been nailed to the mast- head And the chief of the pirate crew has set sail with a fair wind for these shores. Price and Revost—mark the name—with a new ami original novelty, to wit, "Hump- ety Bumps," which they have been present- ing with some success on the other side, have announced that they will presently sail for America ami present "their laugh- ing success" on this side of the water. Such was the word that reached the vaudeville agents' offices yesterday. Price and Revest are the same that some weeks since wrote to Rice and Prevost—mark the name observing with charming naivete that -hey had taken as much of the Rice and Prevost name as their sense of decency permitted, having grabbed off the "Rumpety Bumps" en masse, and hoped that there would be no objection, etc. '"Larceny, piracy and stop thief!" ejacu- lated an agent yesterday when he heard of the coming invasion. "The Washington monument is something like f>(H) feet tall, they s:\v, but for monumental nerve this pair look down on that from the same rela- tive height that De Wolf Hopper regards the crown of Major Doyle's head." THE SUNDAY AGITATION. Although repotted throughout the week that drastic measures would he taken this Sunday by th" police department against the Sunday eorwM*rt*, the various managers interested do not auti< ipate any undue ac* tion. no marked changes ir. the makeup of the bills having been attempted.