Variety (September 1907)

10 VARIETY NEW ACTS NEXT WEEK Initial Presentation or First Appearance in New York City. NEW AGTS OP THE WEEK Vesta Victoria (Reappearance), New York. Jarvis and Tudor, llammerstein's. Valadon. Alhambra. Millie Linden, Colonial. Bunth and Rudd, Pastor's. Howard and Cameron, Pastor's. Shean and Williams, Novelty. Edward Forsberg and Company ("The Card Party"), Gotham, Brooklyn. Burr Mcintosh. Illustrated Lecture. 28 Mins.; One. Orpheum, Brooklyn. Mr. Mcintosh makes his appearance garbed in a neatly fitting dinner coat and a deceptive smile. The smile disarmed all suspicion, and it was not until the lecture on "With Secretary Taft in the Philippines" had progressed some min- utes that the terrible truth became known—Mr. Mcintosh is "A Man with a Mission." He advocates a life sized Doc- trine. He wants the Philippines to have free trade with the United States in the exporting of sugar or tobacco or Moros or malaria or something, and he is doing his best to bring 'the highly desirable thing he wants about. Judging by the earnest and sincere way he preached it this Doctrine is Mr. Mcintosh's hobby, and he rode it before the Orpheum audi- ence for twenty minutes. Mr. Mcintosh's "Mission" may be a commendable one and all that, but it leaves an awful gap in a vaudeville show. The picture series that accompanies the lecture is a work of art. Some of the scenes are interest- ing, and all are splendid examples of art coloring, but vaudeville audiences require something more in a lecture than the in- formation that there are so many square miles of territory in the Island of Lu- zon, and statistics touching upon the an- nual customs receipts from the exporta- tion of tobacco, sugar or malaria, or whatever the "Mission" concerns itseif with. There is a surplusage of this sort of matter and a dearth of humor and in- teresting incident in the lecture that sur- prises one acquainted with Mr. Mcintosh's platform methods. As a vaudeville fea- ture the lecture is a more valuable asset to the present national administration than to the vaudeville manager. Before matinee audiences Mr. Mcintosh's politi- cal propaganda will set the Republican party up in converts for at least a gen- eration. Rush. Ida Fuller. "La Sorciere." 9 Mins.; Full Stage (Special Setting). New York. Ida Fuller is the central figure of "La Sorciere," whatever that is, and by reason thereof Miss Fuller is at the head of the long row of "fire dancers." Making a re- appearance in her native land, Miss Fuller is presenting this week at the New York a series of spectacular myriad-colored dances that are at once most beautiful and wonderful in the effects obtained by the lighting. No one has approached Miss Fuller in the finale of her act when she steps into a realistic, seething cauldron of fire or, more properly, the crater of a volcano in eruption. The former trade mark of this style of dancing "the serpen- tine" is entirely absent, although Miss Fuller handles gauze or chiffon, but in % wavy iloating manner, seeming as though a heavily laden air current was directly in the track of a rainbow. For her en- trance the dancer stands upon a pedestal supported by a wire, which is afterwards employed to swing her in the air from side to side, much as the aerial ballet is worked. The wire is discernible at times and Miss Fuller does not "float" naturally, taking a too regular course. There are no "waits" during the nine minutes. The inexplicable combinations of lights are al- most as interesting as the results. From now on all ''fire dancers" will be meas- ured by Ida Fuller; she is the very best in every way. Sitnc. B. A. Rolfe's Company. "Paradise Alley" (11), (Musical Farce Comedy). 26 Mins.; Three (Special Set). Twenty-third Street. The H. A. Kolfe Co. has an act in "Para- dise Alley," a new production, but it must be decided whether it is to be a complete story, or an admixture of a theme with plenty of music. At the beginning it pres- ages a "kid" act, but boys in long trousers spoil this good promise, and it becomes a farce comedy, with musical attachmeut. The program terms it a "musical comedy." In a company of eleven, Lew Adams as a (Jerman, the father of Victor Foster, and Max Iteynolds, as an Irishman, the father of Annie Lloyd, are the principals. The son wishes to marry the daughter, who looks too young to wed, while the sou bears out his prospective father-in-law's statement about having no money, by his appearance. Consent is refused, and the young pair bundled off in different stage directions. There has been a diamond robbery at Tif- fany's; twin diamond rings have been stolen. This is made known from the wings. The thief appear*, with the i>olice close on his trail. To escape detection, he drops the lings in the alley. The fathers each find one, and reading the "extras," discover the detectives have a suspicion the thief is hiding in "Paradise Alley." Kadi determines to unload his stolen property on the other, and living in opposite houses, they call one another to the sidewalk, both dropping a ring in the other's vest pocket. Discovering the jewelry is still in their possession, the fathers present a ring apiece to the children to present to each other, as a token of regard from the parents. Like dutiful offsprings, the children return the rings to their parents, who then throw them into an Italian organ grinder's hat; he barters the two diamonds to a bartender for liquor, the bartender nsks a policeman to secure an appraisal; the policeman look- ing for the thief and plunder passes them over to Ita Kamph, who plays an unseen grocery store clerk; she is busy and asks the daughter to go to the jeweler to find the worth ; the daughter hands the rings hack to the son, who returns to the Alley with them after the fathers have learned a reward of $2,000, with no questions asked, has been offered for their return. To divide the money, the youngsters are al- lowed to become engaged amid a singing and dancing finale. Addison lturkhardt supplied the story and the lyrics of the piece. The tale is too complete, without being sufficiently complicated, two require- ments for a farce not necessary in vaude- ville where dependence is also placed upon songs and dances. These latter items were liked by the audience; also the comedy of Messrs, Adams and Reynolds, both good character players, with Mr. Reynolds hav- ing a shade the better of Adams in make- up and work. Mr. Rolfs has written some tuneful music for his numbers, one, "The Jack-in-the-Rox" especially, and a chorus of four girls are utilized, with changes of costume. The comedy is not subtle, nor is the story tersely told. The audience laughed loudly and immoderately at some of the comedian's sallies, and applauded the remainder of the piece. When it is known that the sketch was given the worst possi- ble position it could have had, closing the show, and following a somewhat similar offering in construction, the reception re- ceived was equivalent to a solid hit. Still Mr. Rolfe should employ the pruning knife, cutting off some minutes by condensing the dialogue to make the whole run faster, and it might be advisable to have a more child- like atmosphere; vaudeville likes 'kids" so give it what it wants. The setting is nearly perfect for the idea. "Paradise Al- ley" ought to remain in vaudeville for a long time. .S'/mc. William A. Dillon. Songs. 13 Mins.; One. Twenty-third Street. Judging by the success of William A. Dillon at the Twenty-third Street Theatre this week, his first New York vaudeville showing, there is many a future head- liner who has eschewed the varietv Btase to remain in the background of the legiti- mate. It will not be long before Mr. Dillon will be featured on the vaudeville billboards if he can continue to produce songs of the same calibre he is singing this week, and sing them as well as he now does. Mr. Dillon is the author 01 "Every Little Bit Added to What You Have Got, Makes Just a Little Bit More." He has evidently restricted several verses for his own use, and the song brought him a riot of applause Tuesday evening. For an encore he did an impersonation ot •Jack Lorimer, which, while excellent and j leasing, was overshadowed by the re- membrance of the humor of his previous selection. Mr. Dillon also sang two par- ody verses on "Cood-bve. Little dirl," the fust receiving any amount of laughter. while the second should be omitted for that reason. The opening number was a stuttering lyric, with a very funny finish, and this placed him in the good graces of the house immediately, Mr. Dillon affects an exaggerated style of fashionable dress- ing, and he might enlarge this. lie is dif- ferent from the singers of Songs and paro- dies we have seen and heard. Dillon knows his points and makes them tell, with a musical voice to help him along. Placed "Number .V on the bill, he was the hit of the show for amusement, and could accept any position on a program, his presence alone being a guarantee that lie would hold it down to the satisfac tion of the management and the audience. The vaudeville manager ought to culti- vate the business acquaintance of William A. Dillon. He's new and he's good; as good as the best. Sime. Newhouse and Carroll. Acrobatics. 13 Mins.; Full Stage. Grand Opera House, Brooklyn. Newhouse and Carroll have evolved a ieal novelty in acrobatics, both as to the routine of work on the parallel bars and the dressing and mounting of the spe- cialty. The setting shows a stream with an arched bridge crossing it. The man is seated at the highest point, in regulation Summer outing clothes, fishing. A "Sum- mer girl" in fluffy frock and hat crosses the bridge just as the fisherman has "a bite.'' In the excitement a "breakaway" arrangement is sprung, the bridge col- lapses and the rails of the bridge become a pair of parallel bars. All this occupies but a few minutes, and the pair get down to the acrobatic and gymnastic work immediate- ly. All the tricks are neat and smoothly executed and even in the opening place the act scored. I'ush. Mile. Lucille Murger. "Parisienne Chanteuse." 6 Mins.; One. New York. Of course everyone doesn't visit the burlesque shows, but when you drop in the Murray Hill Theatre in the afternoon and see sixteen girls wearing a style of dress that a Frenchwoman, especially im- ported for the New York theatre, has elaborated upon somewhat, you are inclined to smile if there is nothing else on view. With Mile. Lucile Murger. on the Ameri- can stage for the first time this week, there is nothing else, excepting two songs sung in the French language and a funny dance. "Mile. Murger is a good dresser and has stunning jewelry, with a pretty good 'shape.'" That was liow she was described by a woman in the audience. That is also about how the rest of the audience who did not under- stand French "sized" up the singer. On "shape" she may draw, for she frankly exposes all of her own through the first costume while dressed in tights, draped on one side by a long green clonk. It's not sensational any more. What Mile. Mur- ger required <»n Monday evening was a rehearsal, an interpreter and a steamship ticket home. Simr. Kara. Juggler. 16 Mins.; Full Stage (Interior). New York. When you see Kara you see them all and none of the other jugglers are doing some of the tricks Kara shows on his American reappearance. It is claimed, and deductions bear it out in part, that Kara is the originator of a number of juggling feats which have been shown in New York since he left here. For in- stance there is an American doing a couple of tricks suggested by Kara's work and the foreigner could not have seen the American while the American may have heard of Kara, who did the tricks before