Variety (Apr 1907)

12 YARIBTY Shows of the Week PASTOR'S. A forcible illustration of the abiding value of good position is given this week by Bert Marion and Sabel Deane. They were seen in the "three-a-day" division of the Pastor bill a month or so ago and impressed themselves upon the audience favorably, but only in a cafeual way. Since then they have been away from New York. Now they return and with fresh, new dressing and in an important position on the program scored a positive success. Miss Deane particularly shows a striking improvement. She works with a suppressed self-confidence and buoy- ancy that may have been born of the consciousness of being well dressed, but which were immensely effective. Bert Marion showed an almost equal advance over his old self. The offering was one of the hits of the show. Stinson and Merton delivered a whole lot of fun with their spontaneous clown- ing. The man of the pair is a positive genius at extempore entertaining. Al Carleton comes back after a short absence. The monologue remains un- changed to the syllable. It might have been a phonograph cylinder in storage tor any noticeable effort to freshen it up. J. K. Hutchinson does an admirable bit of character work as the Texan in "The Idol Smasher" with some good comedy values in the dialogue and an occasional touch of the dramatic. There are several spots in the sketch where it seemed that the action had approached a climax and the relapse into semi-comedy dialogue came as a decided slump. The shorten- ing of the scene between husband and wife might remedy this somewhat and the suppression of the stilted matinee idol (George Germane) would help a lot. The boy of the Alpha Trio has im- proved his work immeasurably since their last appearance. He works with greater 8urenes8 and has added several new tricks of value. The clown has rather too much straight work and too little comedy for his place in the act, and the straight man misses his feature trick too frequently. Kenyon and DeGarmo filled in a fair number with a novelty perch act, in which the pleasing appearance of the woman was the biggest part. The quar- ters were a bit cramped, but the pair worked in good style and were liked. Marseilles, contortionist, at the close of the show, was interesting to those who like this sort of specialty. Some of his poses are startling, and his handstand feats were splendidly performed. Few of the contortionists do better in the speed of their routine and neatness of dressing. Among the early numbers Carroll and Doyle did but fairly, being handicapped by poor material. The man has a good Irish dialect and should make a valuable adjunct to a burlesque company. The woman has only her assurance to carry her through and the text of the act was hopeless. Murphy and Palmer return with a slightly revised lot of talk and comedy verses that did not stand out particularly. Latoy Brothers were replaced by Shir- ley (New Acts) and Paul Rubin opened the show. Sheridan and Milton and Sin- clair and Covert are also under New Acts. FIFTY-EIGHTH STREET. An eight-number bill is at the Fifty- eighth Street this week, with a little slackness in the item of the Wilson Brothers, just preceding the feature act, that of Valeska Suratt and William Gould. The latter offering is the Gould- Suratt act, as of yore, except that it has been enhanced by the prestige of the "Gibson Girl" success of Miss Suratt and a couple of ravishing new costumes. Mr. Gould contributes the presence of a sin- gularly polished light comedian with his unctuous funnimenta. The Wilson Brothers, in the pick of the positions, have a very ordinary hodge- podge of reminiscent talk and burlesque comedy business that is out of place in a show arranged for metropolitan audiences. The comedian possesses a good voice and dialect for his purpose, and the yodling won the pair a solid volume of applause, but the bushel of talk and clowning that went with this peck of real merit was far from entertaining. These two elements should make the foundation of a vaude- ville offering—many have gained recogni- tion with no more—but attention to the proper employment of the talent the couple possess is necessary. Fred Bond, Fremont Benton and com- pany have a whoop-hurrah finish to their comedy sketch that is calculated to ex- cite a breach of the peace in the gallery. The question is, Are the twelve minutes of boresome talkfest in the beginning of sufficient value to throw the scales in the right direction? The act carries the added handicap of keeping more than half the stage in cold storage, as it were, for the greater part of the sketch. A good deal of confusion was occasioned in the minds of the audience by the use of a 5-foot screen, which the audience was asked to call a partition wall between two separate apartments. As a broad as- sumption, the device had the "hypothetical question" of recent notoriety beaten a city block in its demand for unlimited credulity. The Nelson Comiques at the close of the show kept the stage busy and put a rousing period to the bill. The clowns take their falls cleverly and the two tumblers have a lot of pretty work. The "sissy" of the quartet is good enough a tumbler to be allowed to work entirely straight. Winsor McCay does remarkably well with his quick sketch novelty. There is a delight in watching his figures develop in swift, broad chalk strokes that no amount of patter could counterbalance. In the early section the Brittons, who recently returned from a long trip abroad, offered an entertaining dancing and sing- ing act. The woman has a voice that is good to listen to in the "coon shouting" numbers and dresses in taste, while the man, a first-rate colored comedian, puts over an excellent eccentric dance. The house liked the number very well. Albertine Melich's birds have an enter- taining routine of work. Mechanical de- vices have little or nothing to do with the net, which shows really careful training. Lucia and Viata, wire act at the opening, employed one of the girls involved In the bird act. It is simple in makeup, - By Rush KEENEY'S. This has been a distinctly disastrous season for the comic weekly's traditional conception of English humor. Time and again the Britishers have caught us with something fresh and new and won their way to lasting regard. Not the least of the imported successes has been Harry Tate's "Motoring." The comedy sketch comes back to the metropolitan district to be headliner at the Brooklyn house this week, with its laughing values undimin- ished and its contagious merriment as fresh and rollick some as ever. It divided honors with the Majestic Trio, a colored act, with a real negro comedian who remains nameless on the program. Ho has a method which he copies from no one and it is good, so good indeed that one re- tains but the vaguest possible recollection of his support. There was a "straight" man to feed him lines, but he figured most casually in the proceedings. A woman of the familiar sort was also present, The Toledo Troupe, cut to four persons and with a pretty new dressing, closed the bill. Their contortions are well done and the special scenic equipment helped a good deal. The opening is novel. A darkened stage shows them as frogs and lizards, the mystic effect being helped out with appropriate musical incidents. A first rate routing of feats, several of them unusually striking in style, keeps the act moving to its finish entertainingly. The troupe has plainly paid some attention to its music, a particular in which many acts of the same general sort are careless. The comedian of Carroll and Cooke scored a fair percentage of laughs with his clowning. The "straight" man contributes a song or two satisfactorily and does the feeding end of the dialogue. With the addition of a character song the Misses Delmore present their singing and musical act unchanged. One of the sisters has a decidedly agreeable voice and both are graceful and good to look upon at all times. The musician is a violinist of fair attainment and the utter absence of the familiar soubrettish atmosphere of the vaudeville "sister" act comes as an agree- able variation from the worked out field. The Tempest Sisters, opening the show, were another "sister" pair who got away from the beaten path in some particulars. Unfortunately a good stage boy was spoiled in the brunette by a coat that was apparently the property of a brother of considerable difference in size. The other girl has a strong, fresh young voice, resembling that of a boy soprano, and the girls both work smoothly and with confidence. In its position the offering was worth while, but attention to dressing would help immensely. The selection of numbers was excellent, and the medley at the finish won approval. Nagle and Adams call themselves com- edy jugglers, although the act is a singing and talking sketch with a whistling spe- cialty by the man interposed. They did nicely, with a fair line of talk, and the singing of the woman averaged up well. There was some juggling, all of it clean, but not particularly impressive or strik- ing. The whistling was good, but the orchestra at Keeney's could deliver a bet- ter accompaniment than the rusty phono- graph the pair used. SUPPLEMENTARY SEASON FOR SHOWS. The Eastern Burlesque Wheel season closes week May 6, but some of the com panies will continue a few weeks on a schedule of selected time. "Vanity Fair" continues two weeks; "Parisian Widows," one; "Boston Belles," four; "Cracker Jacks," three; "Transatlantics," two; "Bowery Burlesquers," two; "Majesties," three; Al Reeves', one ; "City Sports," two; Irwin's Big Show, two; "Jersey Lilies," three, and "Gay Masqueraders," two. HODGE ASKS A CHANCE. W T ith the closing of the Joe Weber show season Will T. Hodge and Madeline Marshall will have prepared a sketch to enter vaudeville with. William L. Lykens is in charge of the preliminaries. Mr. Lykens has hopes that Lillian Blauvelt, the operatic singer, will likewise take a fling. Since the change in the Weber show on the road, Miss Blauvelt is singing between the acts. In "The Magic Knight," the piece taken out, the singer was of some importance, and the moving about may lead her to seek a variety engagement. LEVY'S LONG TOUR ENDS. Bert Levy, the cartoonist, after a tour of sixty-three weeks on the Sullivan Considine-Interstate and Orpheum Cir- cuits, returns to New York next week. His bookings are in the hands of J. J. Murdock of the Western Vaudeville As- sociation, who will in future advise and control Mr. Levy's services. The cartoonist has spoken from the pulpit of over forty Jewish synagogues, and his addresses have created consider- able discussion everywhere. The vaudeville cartoons drawn by Mr. Levy during his travels will shortly be published in book form. WEBER & RUSH'S "ORPHEUM." The addition to the Weber & Rush chain of vaudeville theatres, Geo. Jacobs' house in Elizabeth, N. J., will be renamed the "Orpheum," opening next September, entirely renovated. Several reports have gained currency that this theatre would be an addition to the Keith-Proctor circuit, but Messrs. Weber & Rush have the lease, and will conduct it as their personal property. SALARY OR SUE. San Francisco, April 20. Jeanette Dupre, who has been playing with the Kolb & Dill Company at the Davis Theatre, threatens to begin action against the management for breach of contract. Last January, while in Chicago, Kolb offered her twelve weeks at $150 each, with a longer engagement at a larger figure if successful. After playing here six weeks, the man- agement tried a cut in salary, which Miss Dupre resisted, and on March 30 she re- ceived "notice." She refused to accept it, reporting every morning for a rehearsal. Miss Dupre claims there is back salary due, which she will sue for if not paid.