Variety (July 1906)

VARIETY Shows of the Week By Rush MORRISON'S, ROCKAWAY. A jubilee bill almost exclusively of head- line acts held forth at the Long Island sea- side resort's vaudeville house. There were only seven items on the bill, but they rep- resented more class than the ordinary sea- side program of twice as many. Virginia Earl and Her JohnnJ. were I he headlincrs in the billing and in the estimation of a busy barker who insistently l)ronounced it "Virginia Oil." Since the comic opera star was last seen hereabouts .she has tried out three different sets of "Johnnies" and has now come around to the original crowd. There are several new songs in the act, which shows immense im- provement. The tabloid musical comedy now goes with snap and ginger and has a good laughing finish. The Fourth of July audience liked it immensely. The Simon-Gardner sketch was moved over to the closing position, probably be- cause of its whoop-hurrah laughter mak- ing quality. The offering remains un- changed and its clownings won the usual screams. Ye Colonial Septet is admirably adapted to such houses as the Morrison institution, where talking acts do not reach to the back end of the floor. The brasses of the La.sky and Uolfe organization were not t«H) loud, while their string instrument numbers carried well enough to be appreci- at«'d by those occupying the distant seats. Tat Kooney with his old act, "Make Yourself at Home," was in his usual danc- ing form. Mr. Rooney gets to the dancing part of the act without a too long pre- liminary conversation, and from then on he and Marion Bent had it all their own way with the audience. Couture and Gillette opened the bill, fol- lowed by Josephine Davis, the singing comedienne. Miss Davis' first two num- bers did not evoke any extreme enthusiasm, but her new number, "Cheer Up, Mary," won three recalls. It has a good swinging chorus and if the reception it got from the Morrison's audience can be ac<;epted. should be soon universally whistled. Bert Cooper and Harry Cooper of the Emi)ire City Quartet occupied a box and tore off a few choruses themselves to start the ball a-roUing. Iloey and I^'e scored with their parodies, several of which were new ones. The re.st of the act, except for a few minor jokes, remains unchanged. Tlie Morrison house is an exceedingly difficult one to work in, although the audi- ences are not unusually hard to please. It has only one floor and the low roof makes it difficult to place the voice properly both in singing and talking. This defect is ac- centuated by the employment of a strong- throated barker in front whase remarks sift in through the oj>en doors. This of- ficial was busy exhorting the passing crowd to pay an admission, even when there re- mained only one act of the afternoon show. Mike Bernard played the Alliambra last Sunday in a pianologue. He may con- tinue in vaudeville with it. Carrie Bowman has been engaged by Jack Mason to head his "Society lielles" act for the coming season. ; KEITH'S. A bill in which headline names are scarce, but made up of acts of uniform merit. Gus Edwards' "Schoolboys and Girls" are featured. The youngsters are singing better and the whole act runs with exceptional smoothness. One of the girls seemed to be new. The hurdy-gurdy finish has been cut down a bit. and Herman Tim- berg, the young Hebrew comedian of the outfit, is given more time for grotesque clowning with a violin. : The Kinsons are announced as a first ap- pearance, although they played Hender- son's at Coney Island last week. The comedian has a remarkably freak voice, which lends itself to peculiarly faithful imitations of musical instruments. For some reason he has cut his imitation of a harp. This was one of his best and should have been retained. The trick of playing a "prop" cornet, while the straight man supplied the music from off stage is too old to be funny. The talk of the pair is without excuse and should be revised. Barry and Johnson have a travesty act in which there are laughs. The man at- tempts four or five changes, but is funny only in the first and last. One of the faults of the sketch is an overabundance of talk, particularly on the part of the woman while the man is making his changes. They have a finish that is old, but nevertheless funny, and to which a ridiculous stage hand operating a papier- mache locomotive contributed a lot. If the Hebrew comedian billed as Charles Howard is other than Charles Burkhart, the latter has a remarkably close double on the stage both as to size and features. The comedian has an excellent line of talk of his own and sings a parody or two that are new. John and Bertha Gleeson have a dancing and singing sketch that is exceptionally good in the dancing and dressing depart- ments, but lacking in weight in the sing- ing. Fred Houlihan at the piano filled in the time used for costume (fhanges with imitations of bamboo chimes and a clog dance entertainingly enough. The Three Hickman Brothers have the material for a good comedy act in the possession of a first-rate comedian, but Just now are hampered with a loosely con- structed act. They should cut their finish on the brasses forthwith and then possess themselves of some good comedy for the comedian. Markey and Moran get away somewhat from the two-man conversation style. One dresses in l)urles(iue Highland uniform, the other as a Tommy Atkins. The talk most- ly concerns war, and is fairly bright. The Eight Allisons, a splendidly trained troupe of acrobats, closed the bill. They carry a boy weighing not more than sev- enty-five pounds, who is used to exceed- ingly good effect in Risley work. In that portion of the act they use a cradle very little, the ground man being supported on the shoulders of another. Several doubles were done and the two high hand- stands were good. Among the others were Jack and Bertha Rich, singers and dancers; Lc Dent, jug- glers; Little (Jrace Childers and her tlog; Miles and Ricard, singing duo, and Sabel Johnson. METROPOLIS ROOF. ; "Old Heidelberg in the Air" is the full olUcial title of the new Hurtig & Seamon institution in the Bronx which opened this week. It is a small roof garden, but in the main tastefully arranged. The stage is not more than twenty feet wide and shallow, but the sound appears to be thrown forward by the arrangement. En- trance is had to the roof by two ele- vators. The cars carry a dozen people at a time and there was some waiting. The })lace is an al fresco atfair, the whole thing being open to the sky except a small pavilion where Tyroleans yodel for the ladies and gentlemen. Eight vaudeville acts are given, but the program numbers run up to eighteen. The added starters consist of selections by Joe Ali and his orchestra. Of the musical numbers there were ten. Also the intermission is a long one, and if the bar receipts are not what they should be it is not the fault of the arrangement of the program. On Tuesday evening it began to rain while the first act was on. Promptly those down in front raised umbrellas and the rest of the audience were unhappy until announcement was made that the show would be continued downstairs in the theatre. Moving consumed half an hour or more, and Joe Ali's harmonious specialties had to be cut out to run the show off before midnight. The bill is a bit better than fair. Klein, Ott Brothers and Nicholson are in a prominent position. They were well liked. This quartet is one of the few that have learned the secret of handling large vol- ume from brasses without harshness. It was largely for this reason that their pa- triotic medley was so well liked. Countess Olga Ro.s>i, a Russian grand opera singer, made her vaudeville debut (see New Acts). Billy S. Clifford, aided somewhat by a detaciunent from the Hur- tig & Seamon Forty-second street oflice. which occupied a box, had to go all through his song n-pertory and joke book before they would let him go. Ernest Hogan, who made a tour of inspection of the house, "butted" into ClifTord's act, singing a chorus from the ai-sle of the orchestra. Ihe audience liked this, and if Hogan hadn't ducked out into the rain they would have had him singing yet. (Jertie Reynolds and her girls are doing the same act. Nick Wrigiit has taken thought to his. appearance and looks a bit better. Friend and Downing in a sidewalk con- versation act with Hebrew dialect cMiiedy on the side were rcceive<l with somewhat more enthusiasm than the novelty of their olft'iing seemed to warrant. The comedian is using several rather familiar parodies, and although their talk is funny in places it should be edited. The Grand ()j>cra Trio did excellently, being re<|uire(l to repeat the finale of the [)rison scene from "Faust" three times. All of the trio, two men and a woman, have pure, strong voices, the woman being ])articularly fortunate in tlie possession ftf good liigli notes. riie Tliree Milcliclls oficried tlie in!) ami the I'our Toledos closed it. Horace (Joldin ami his wife sail to-day. TWENTY-THIRD STREET. Eddie Clarke, with his Six Winning Widows, looking rather uncomfortable be- cause of their black velvet gowns and the hot weather, heads the bill, with Lillian Thurgate and company (New Acts) shar- ing feature honors. Morris and Morris (New Acts), a European travesty pair, are sfen for the first time in the United States. Altogether the bill shows a deal of class for this season. Clark has several new girls with him. The only other change in the act is the noticeable improvement of the girls' sing- ing. They should by all means be pro- vided with a warm weather wardrobe. Clark's "piker" character delineation was liked. The Kita-Banzai .Tapanese troupe of acrobats come in from Coney Island. The act as shown last week has been cut down a bit and goes with even higher speed than before. The Risley work and pedal juggling is exceedingly well done and the misses made for comedy purposes are not unduly extended as before. It is noticed that their back drop hs "go-wing up" so to speak. Last week the Henderson program announced that it cost $3,riOO. T\us week it is naively described as the "wonderful Jt5n,000 curtain." . , - . Jack Norworth with his college boy monologue was a prime favorite. Mr. Norworth makes a skillful and studied chracterization of a type that seldom re- ceives a stage showing of more dignity than a raw burlesque. The talk is bright and pointed and in all the particulars of dri'ssing and department the monologist displays good judgment, reaching out after no extreme effects and keeping well within the character at all times. Egbert Van Alstyne, the song writer, and liouise Henry como together in a rather loo.se but entertaining sketch. Mr. Van Alstyne has a numln-r of catchy tri<ks on the piano. Miss Henry is a de- cidedly comely person, but her Vesta Vic- toria impersonation was far from a bull'.- eye. Her <lialect in the son«' "It's All Right in the Summertime" went a little to the coster jjronounciation. Her Edna May nund)er was much better. In her linal song, "Cheyenne," Miss Henry wore an attractive Western costume. The Orpheus Comedy Four, whi<h has been out of town, is back again with a tjew mendjer and a little more roughness in tlu' comedy d(>partn)ent. 'Hie (piartet numbers are better than the solos, but the harmony would be improved were the bass, who has a voice of good (|uality, given greater prominence. The comedy could be edited with [)rofit. Lillian .Mills and Elida Morris do a short act apparently taken from Tim Mc- •Mahoti's "Watermelon <Jirls." As long as the girls confine themselves to singing they are worth while, but until they have wHured a better line of blackface minstrel talk they should be content to sing and dance. The jokes they told were of the most ancient vintage. Mi.s.s Mills has nn agreeable voice resembling a boy .s4prano. Carl HerlxTt, sleight-of-hand expert, does skillful manipulation, but his work lacks novelty. .Terolne, Fremont and .Jerome will have ji new ;i(f inxt season, tiny say.