Variety (Mar 1906)

IO VARIETY Shows of the Week By Coke IMPERIAL. Kroiii Field! ami Wolley, the German comedians, who open the bill, to Thoinp sou's Elephants, the Imperial furnishes good entertainment this week. The Fields and Wolley airship dialogue has much ef- fective humor, and Ine pair were at some pains to ring in localized lines aplenty. The police controversy between Deputy Mack and Commissioner Bingham came in for a whole song parody and scored. Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew, in "The Yel- low Dragon," were featured. The sketch has several good melodramatic points, and while it runs somewhat to the dime novel >tyle in diameter and treatment," it is played in a quiet and subdued tore that lifts it safely out of the dime novel school into a class somewhat approaching "Sher- lock Holmes." The narrative of the play let is an interesting one and is cleverlv told. The Four Bards mav not be "the world's greatest acrobats," as the program says, but they are a well appearing quartet, and do a quantity of really sensational tum- bling. Their work in two high hand-Stands was exceedingly well done, and the whole performance is executed almost entirely without the pretension and parade that acts of the sort, particularly the imported brands, are prone to indulge in. I^es Remo Pantomime Troupe are of the well known sort. They work hard and to some effect, but their performance has lit- tle in it that could be ailed novel, except that they leave the actual slapstick out. That instrument, so essential to panto- mime, however, is present in spirit if not actually "in the flesh." Sabel Johnson was in good spirits and voice, also she was in a princess gown of delicate pink. Miss Johnson's generous person took up all the room there was inside the bodice, but had the satisfaction, thanks to a skillful dressmaker, of being strictly a la mode and looking well. Her group of war songs and the plantation melodies were enthusiastically received. The tall person of Hayes and Healy should think up something to justify drawing down his portion of the joint sal- ary once a week. The dwarf of the pair has all the work to do, and it is very largely due to his efforts that the sketch scores as well as it does. There is much room for improvement in the sketch, which with the right sort of material could l>e made a fairly valuable one. Thompson's Elephants closed the bill be- fore the motion pictures. Thompson could make the offering brighter by freshening up the trappings of the act. Grant and Grant have a dancing and singing sketch that is bright and full of action. The man has a good negro voice. Both dance gracefully and dress with taste. Thomas O'Brien Havel's father died last week, necessitating the canceling of this week's engagement at the Novelty. This is the second sad loss suffered by Mr. O'Brien Havel in a short time, his wife. Clara Havel, recently having passed away. COLONIAL. Rigo'i injured hand recovered sufficient- ly for him to play one solo, but he still bids for sympathy from the feminine por- tion of the audience by ap|>earing at first with his poor, dear lingers swathed in bandages. The bandage came off when the erstwhile charmer of the Princess Chimay started to play. Then the in- valid digits displayed fifty-seven varieties of agility, but the violinist came back with a refusal of an encore by holding up the hand with a sorrowful shake of liis head. Whereupon innumerable pairs of expensive elbow gloves, weie split in an ecstasy of womanly sympathy. As a violinist Kigo rises little above the mediocre but as a charmer he is a men- ace to this commonwealth. Much more American and, to the mas- culine mind, much more entertaining, is Charles Leonard Fletcher. His imper- sonations are careful and studious, and his talents, which cover a wide range, are of no mean order. The one objection to this performance is perhaps that he has chosen his characters with a view to strong melodramatic appeal rather than to the quieter effects. Thus in his act appear Fagin, of "Oliver Twist." the dipsomaniac Ooupeau from "I/Aasoan- inoir." Emilc Zola's novel, and a scene from "At the Telephone." The act leaves strong impression on any audience, but t her accumulation of horrors is not entire- ly agreeable. Much pleasanter and not a. whit less forceful was the impersonation of William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes, in which both the makeup and acting of Fletcher were faithful. "Just Dorothy," the comedy playlet given by S. Miller Kent, is clean and re- freshing. The interest is fairlv well sus- tallied and the playlet closes with an ade- quate climax. Walter C. Kelly's monologue is well worth while. From his unassuming en- trance Kelly was only a minute or two in establishing cordial relations with his audience. As the monologue progressed this was strengthened and his picture of a Southern police court in session won him a spontaneous recall. Cliffe Berzac's animal circus compelled laughter by the force of its clowning. Berzac's announcement! are more subtly humorous. Emma Cams has a new gown of color and construction not to be described. But her singing is the same. Brandow and Wiley were a pair of col- ored dancers and singers, whereof the man was "real coon" and good, and the woman a more educated person who mer- cifully occupied little of the allotted t ime. Frank ami Jen Latonia did comedy and furnished music. Under the latter head the songs of the woman and a solo by the man on a one-string 'cello merited the reception that was accorded them. The Millman Trio of wire performers closed the hill except for the pictures. For the first time since the Novelty in Brooklyn was thrown open as a theatre speculators appeared in front of the house last Sunday night. Manager Harry Leon- hart used the "big stick." Fi-nin-ish. Lee Harrison has contracts calling for his appearance in vaudeville on April 30 and thereafter. He will leave the Weber show to keep his engagements on time. ALHAMBRA. They're playing protean all the way across the board, show, place and to win at the Alhambra this week, beginning with Henri de Vries, who, of course, is the head and front of the proteans, and run- ning through two other items of the bill. The next of the proteans is McWaters, Tyson and company in an offering called "A new and original dancing and singing novelty." The sketch ojiens with a chorus, runs into a bunch of impersonations by McWaters, and closes with a song accom- panied by pocket-sized spectacular effects. It is full of agreeable surprises, is well dressed and comes up to standard in all the particulars of musical numbers, lines and other incidentals, and Miss Tyson is the big number of the act. She has the gift of making friends across the foot- lights, and it is largely by her spontaneous efforts that a cold audience was made to wake up and take notice on Monday night. Albert Bellman and Annie Moore weigh in as proteans, too. Their sketch, "A Bit of Vaudeville," involves numerous makeup changes, and carries the principals through a wide diversity of characters. Both are fortunate in the possession of a large de- gree of talent, and the woman of the pair has a decidedly agreeable voice. Herbert Brooks, in addition to his card tricks, which involve some sleight-of-hand work of an unusually smooth and skillful sort, has a mystifying trunk illusion that kept the audience guessing completely. The mechanical portions of Brooks' act are exceedingly well arranged and managed, but he would do well to brush up his pat- ter. Less explanation and a dash of bright humor would materially aid the perform- ance. Clarice Vance came into the evening's bill in a good position, when the auditors were in a humor to appreciate the quiet delicacy of her delightful Southern songs. At Miss Vance's hands the Southern "coon"' song loses all of its roughness and becomes a sort of negro classic to rank with the old-time plantation melodies. The Picchiani Family's acrobatic com- bination closed the bill. "In numbers there is strength" should be their profes sional motto. The eight members fill the stage with movement and color, and give a Aort of whirlwind impression, but otherwise there is little that is worthy of exceptional praise in the act. The eight work with smoothness and what is called "style," but it would seem that with an eight member troupe they might evolve something more nearly approaching novelty in their act. Edwin La tell, blackface comedian, was replaced by the S|>ook Minstrels, whose vocal work was satisfying and earned a couple of recalls. Cabaret's acrobatic dogs show some novelty, but the performance is none too well arranged and does not work up to a proper climax. Ford and Dot West were placed very early on the bill, but managed to make their impression. They dress in taste, and their dances are well liked. PROCTOR'S 23D STREET. William Courtleigh is holding down the headline position at Proctor's Twenty third Street Theatre this week for the sec- ond time, with Campbell McCulloch's new protean play, "The Third Degree." The miniature drama has found itself, as sea- men say of new ships. Mr. Courtleigh has improved appreciably, and the sket'h has been pruned and prodded under expert hands into better shape than ever. One piece of "editing" that has worked to the unmistakable advantage of the play is the elimination of the melodramatic cli- max, in which the wife of the guilty War- ner formerly appeared in all the proini nence of the spot light and delivered a bitter denunciation of her conscience stricken husband. Charles E. Evans and company share feature honors with Courtleigh. "It's Up to You, William," is written in a vein of farcical humor that is familiar to Ameri- can audiences. Mr. Evans is fortunate in the jH>ssession of a sketch in which this quantity is deftlv handled. Mr. Evans appears acceptably in his usual vein and has apparently trained his support to a like degree of excellence. Dan McAvoy's funniments were as fresh and breezy as usual, and his Fifth Avenue (Jirls as unobtrusively pretty as ever. McAvoy makes a mistake in hav- ing his girls appear in the ungraceful male attire of a "busted troupe" as the climax of his act. The Melani Trio is a wise trio. It possesses conspicuous musical ability and the members have uniformly good voices. They are content to let it go at that, without displaying any ambition to make all the world laugh. As Italian street singers their makeup and dressing are their only attempts at coined v. Charles l'rclle's dog act resembles Paul Sandor's, and has a rather stronger ac- cent on the ventriloquism phase. The dogs are exceedingly lifelike in their de portment and the act received the favorable reception it fully deserved. Rose Went worth'* London Hippodrome equestrian ad was rather more notice able for its trappings and equipment than for the novelty of its features. Miss Wentworth does nothing much out of the ordinary, but what she does is well done. Eihel A. McDonough and the Spis- sell Brothers and Mack complete the bill, with the exception of Walters and Sprouty and Aurie Dagwell, who will l>e found reviewed under the New Acts de- partment of Variety of this week. An act soon to be shown is called "The Onion Trust." The name need not neces- sarily be considered suggestive. in line with the curtailment policy now in vogue at the Hippodrome, the salarie- of the chorus, formerly $18 weekly, have been reduced to "$12 per." Cliffe Berzac will play Hammerstein's Roof this summer. John Hyams and Leila Melntyre have been booked solid by Myers & Keller from September 3, 1906, to May 12, 1907, most of the time having been placed over the Keith and Orpheum circuits. Manager W. B. Watson has signed con tracts for next season for the "Washington Society (lirls" with the following artists: The Four Lukens, also Crimmins and Gore, who are now touring Australia; "Carmen- cita" and the Esher Sisters. There will be thirty-five people in the organization, which will tour the Empire Circuit ex- clusively.