Variety (Dec 1931)

Tuesday, December 8, 1931 VAMDE HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 35 RUSS CQLUMBO Crooner . 9 Mine. Paramount, Brooklyn Coiumbo Is a dnch bet at tho Brooklyn Paramount. That waa shovn on his flrst eight days. Be- ■ eldes which he's growing In favor. On personality alone he shines up to' fethme attention especially In Brooklyn, but indicative of what may follow to a certain degree else- where. - His voice Is the baritone type'4nd because he's distinctly a crooner, must : stand' comparison with others, ."Which might be -the best way to find his niche.- . ■ There's a double angle. That's because he entertains and looks like a draw bet. Combining these two qualities makes him a class figure and an aggressive attraction. For the next ,8 weeks or so he'll show only at the Brooklyn Fara:mount. He's in his second week currently. It's told of Coiumbo that besides tils voice he .carries instrumental ability, playing the flddle, guitar and piano. Additionally he hoofs, too. • . When caught : he. used, his voice only. Paramount people already say they'll change Cblumbo's - routine weekly to show ofC his other enter-: tertairiment proclivities. If Co- iumbo is' aji automatic copy of Crosby as may be claimed Par's booking policy must be considered in using both Crosby and Coiumbo ' at. the same time. However, iand merely for the ah- aiytlcali ■ Coiumbo on his ' crooning alone Is a novelty. That's like all crooners who are-either the subject of fad or .creators of the same. They last only BO long and some last longr er through the Imagilnations of -in- experienced bookers or. theatre op- erators.' Columbo's stage life may thus depend on his handling mostly were only song's. However, if his other attalnments prove anything, he can' overcome bad' handling if it occurs. ' Coiumbo as a singer and like Croisby is of limited range and stock Within 'that range and along par- ticular song types. On general poise and delivery Coiumbo is smooth and uses that currently popular trickle for the well known s.a. ' Currently and when caught, Co- iumbo took the linale centre spot with the pit band on stage. He de- livered four numbers, apparently all tavs he yodels over the air, so that they are mostly known and expected by the customers. Bhan. COL. 8N00PNAGLE and BUDO Comedy 16 Mins.; One Coliseum The Snoopnaglc and Budd combo as a radio commercial are the 'Tastyeast • Gloom Chasers' over CBS, the two men doing a'hoke comedy exchange of dialog, with Budd introducing the Colonel as a gag lecturer. For vaude they bring a mike to the stage, ruae ampUflers and repeat the familiar line of com- edy by-play they send over the air. Snoopnagle of the turn is F. Charles Taylor; a portly tyjpe of comic who assumes d dead pan at- titude and gawky, awkward style of working. Budd is Budd Hulick. While he works straight and feeds the Colonel, he also sings in Imita- tions of BIng Crosby attd Rudy ■Vallee. With an air. popularity respon- sible for their vaude appearance, the two seemed to maike the grade pretty easily in ain RKO nabe house. It's-the nabes then that will take kindly to repeat of their air work on the stage. At times the. ampliflers didn't seem to be giving the team the best of it, but the laiigh average at this house' wo^ in their favor at the flnieh.. They, include a. travestied bit of announcing ala Husing and McMamee on a football game, with the Colonel getting spontaneous re^ suits on that 'hello. Mama' greet- ing. Aniong the Colonel's imitations was one of Calvin Coolidge. The ,CooUdge bit was far better than r the Al Smith impression they also \isedj On the air they have done more characterizing, .but on a vaude breaik-lh they couldn't stay all n:ght. As it was, 16 minutes seemed plenty. tlark. ^RMA WARD and GIRLS (S) Acrobatic 10 MIns.; Full Stage Coliseum • Erma Ward at one time worked, alone. Now she has Ave girls who go through a series of nifty groiind acrobatics prior to her entrance for her. handswlnga suspended. In midair by one arm. . • .' Opening includes some corking Individual stunt's and gives a fast, effective buildup for Miss Ward's feat. Dressing of the girls adds to their appearance and is-a relief from the customary clrcusy and gymnastic outfits. ' One of the girls announces that Miss Ward is the champion one- hand swing artist of the world and requests the audience to count the swings. Miss Ward had run them up to 80 and was still swinging as the curtain dropped. All the girls were on for a ground finale. Mark. JUNE CARR AND CO. (1) Songs. Dances . 17 Mins.; Two ', Coliseum June Carr was Dave. Schooler's vaudeville partner up to recently. In her new turn Miss Carr is as- sisted by Dan Harden,- a nice look- ing boy who presides at the platio, Blngs and does some splendid team work With her. . The act itself does not appear to be routined properly. It break^ In the middle to. permit Harden to start a vocal inning. A novelty is the tapping both Miss Carr and .Harden dp on a special mast cover- ing the- pilano. ' The hokey comedy dance at, the end scored decisively. Plenty of talent In the combo. Properly adjusted, it would register much stronger. ifark. 'THE STREET SINGER' Baritone 10 Mine.; Full Hippodrome Billed aa 'The Mystery man of the Air,' this baritone is a straight concert baritone apparently with no experience of vaudeville. Stands motionless in the center oi a full stage snuggled up closely to the microphone and sings in the plat- form .manner, the voice being re- layed through an araplifler, here turned up. enough to Stir the hair of the front row customers. Singer is a sustaining member of CBS. "Voice has the radio quality and very clear diction, but with such mechanical aids there is, no way to Judge its true worth. Singer lias a neutral personality and uses no sho-wmanshlp. Sings several pops and folk songs, and. closes with 'Pagliacci,' for a tumultuous vote of favor at this performance. What suggests a splendid voice is spoiled by a cold style of pres- entation. Accompaniment by a wo- man pianist. Rush, JULES HOWARD and CO. (60). Comedy, Singing 16 Mine.; One and Three (Special) Orpheum ' • Last caught by "Variety* in a three-people act, Jules Howard has doubled his support for a comedy boxing turn in three scenes that clicks nicely for the family trade. Going back to the Harry Watson, Jr.; 'Tell 'em what I done to Phila- delphia Jack O'Brien, thing, with the mushy East Side' lln^o. How- ard brings out plenty of laughs.. ■Three different scenes — gym, dressing room and ring:—are spilt by songs in one by the straight who does the fighter's manager, and by a hefty miss' who apparently was picked for her size as a laugh stirrer when falling for the palooka. Both, do fairly well -with the vocal assignments. Howard is the bum scrapper throughout, with this angle built up for laughs. Bit in ring with a tough contender had - the folks up here of a Friday night relishing it all. ~ Third on a slii-act show and over nicely. Char. FOUR COMETS Dahoing 11_ Min.j One Hippodrome . Two boys and two sirls (1<>lng regulation tap steps and acrobatic routines. All capital dancers, but the turn has little to distinguish it from the score or so of similar acts. AH four tumble and girls do some striking acrobatic stuff, but there is a great abundance of the same kind of material and it has to have some dl.stlngulshlng quality to set it apart. Thin modest number liaa'nt. Rush. TOMMY LADD and MONA LEE Songs and Dancing 8 Mine.; Three Alhambra, Paris Act is made up of Tommy Ladd, formerly . Mlstlnguette's. dancing partner, arid Mona Il.ee, dancer— both Americans. Opens In three, with the couple In evening, clothes doing a scmlTracrobatic ballroom dance. Curtain closes, with Ladd coming back solo In sailor's mess kit, doing a small dance, intercepted by Kngllsh lyrics. Stage to three again, with girl coming on In a dress of Hlmsy material, which .she strips, later to do a strictly acro- batic dance with somersaults, being nnally Joined by her partner. Closes on an acrobatic dance by both. Much faster than most European acts, and very well received. Com- petition between couturiers to'get advertising from the show business resulted in Molync.ux placing the girl >ind»>r contract,to wear nothing hilt floth<>s Piiiiplled by him. PAUL TREMAINE ORCH. (14) Orchestra, Songs . 18 Mins.; Full State This is Paul Tremalne's first ap- pearance . In Ne\ii Tork in. many months. For years,' up to the past spring, the Tremalne orchestra was featured at Joe Toung'Si a Broad- way chowmelnery. Since then Tre- malne has been touring. At the' chop place, on a WABC wire; Tremalne featured spirituals. Now in vaudeville the spirituals are still the feature of the band, . but due to vaude time limits,, they are 'forced to cut the rendition down to the proverbial bone.. Despite this the band still devotes a large por- tion of its time after the half-way mark to Spirituals. These for the' main part are sung by musicians as solos. 4nd c'hpruses. Instrumenta- tion of ^spirituals is barely present, except as shadowy accompaniment for the warbling. It might promote more if Tremalne cut part of the singing and used the. time for in- strumentation instead. During the opening the band playia a medley of pops. There are 14 men besides Tremalne, with the brasses standing out in number and prom- inence; A harpsichord is Included. The. arrangements are good, not only for the entire group, but per- mitting for the brasses and strings, and hero and there a soloist, to stand out individually. MAURICE AND CORDOVA RE- VUE • Dance Flash 18 Mins.; Full (Sjsecial Lyric Not bad as is for family time ex- hibition. Better assurance of' book- ing, and better houses will come with, minor changes. Blonde, prima donnia. carried is presently the weak point.. Bhe works in three numbers. Maurice ,and Cordcva, ballroom type dancers, make changes for each of their numbers, prima-and the two feriime pianists doing specialties be- tween. . Young ladies at- the pianos In a vocal number do very nicely, but the prlma's flrst two specialties; done Straight, let the. act down scri- busly. Later as the girl who meets the sailor, to go to the pictures,- the built up scene stirs better reaction. There are a few laughs 'there, too. Main dance team Is spilt up in one Instance, enabling Maurice to double as the sailor. Miss Cordova has a single Spanish castanet number ahead. A fair hand dowii here. Char. HITA ROYCE (3) Dancing, Singing 17. Mine.; Full (Special) Seth St. - Dancing acts should see this one. Not to. copy as vaude always does when something new and original comes to the fore, but to see actual proof ; that dancing In this age can be made 100% entertaining. The 'Truth*. number used for the flrst dance bit wherein Miss Royce and the brothers tell what they think while doing a trio dance num- ber, plants the act. The number is funny and -well perforined. Miss Tina delivers a pop to okay results. A tribute to Anna Pavlowa In the dying swan toe number is a swell change of pace, quickly picked up again by the Reiss. boys in some smart singing and hoofing. Finish again is a surprise and punches the act ovefr. Eart. MELODY REVUE (8) Flash 14 Mine.; Full (Special) Lyric Somewhat clumsily played and routined flash carrying a flve-plece band combination, sax member of which doubles for a Russ Coiumbo fav, Of supporting trio, male single dancer stands out, sister team counting for little. It's a flash that's short on both color and entertaipr ment. Male specialty dancer, on twice. Is a fair enough hoofer, but 'the full dreiss he wears looks two sizes too strong. It'hurts the youth's show-- ing. Sis team, after their Intro bit, are^a long time In getting .on; but it matters little. Band fair In Its playing as a small-tlmc outfit for houses of this callbi-e. . Solo work by the sax player, whose voice registers nicely, proves oke, but there's too much of It in one price. Char. THE JOVERS IMusical Clowns, 12 Mine.; Full, Hippodrome ' Obvious an importation from .England. Two' men in red nose grotesque clown getup. Open with concertina and guitar interrupted by the antique .spider business. . Knockabout, with quite a little talk, and finish -ivlth—of ail things^— the 'Puii on a Broomstick' routine with a trapeze. Material' so old it's new all over again and some for the men and their style. Routine hasn't been done around to this reporter's knowledge since the days of Morris and Morris at the old "^nctorla, and may be it could be blown up to a classic-re- vival. Jtush. ■ PALACE, CHICAGO Chicago, Deo.-Bw -If Gus Van harbored any concern about his future as a single away from the home sector, the payees that greeted him at tlie week's ini- tial performance here'certainly did all they could to completely , dispel It. Van walked on to a. whac'king ovation and had them perfectly in- tent as he dished out a finely mixed and spiced casserole of songs aa only that lad can. prepare it. They yelled for more and he fed It to them, coming back for four en7 cores, and only getting away, after he had explained that tlie orchestra had run out of rehearsed numbers. Van pliayed tlie Palace In October, 1930, as a single, Sharing headline honors -jvlth him dn a bill that' is far above 'the Pal- ace's recent average, ai'e-Sam White and. Eva. Puck. This pair of youth- ful, vets also: had everything their pwh way. THey chortled plenty at the team's burlesque oh a dramatic tidbit culled from the stage of the mauve decade and gave way to the White-Puck brand of legmania forcing back the pair for. a couple of encores. For the latter Eva arid Sani trotted out their 'Girl Friend* number and the 'Good Bye My l.ady Love! bit they did in 'Sho-wboat.' Middle of the bill was filled by the showmanly and resourceful Hugh Skelly and his bunch of three lookers and a rimle straight. Skelly liEis the material and a corkerino of an act tiiat clicks'with a bang as long as he is at the! helm, directing the movements .of .his crew.. "Thlrig Is inclined to slow up during his brief abserices frorii the' stage, but this pacing problem requires Is a slight shifting around of the dance dunibers. Comic's broadcast, of a hojieymboners' brought the laughs .rolling in over the foots. Precocious.. Geraldine and Joe larided solidly - In the deuce niche. Sister can sell a song with $ome of the best of therii far beyond h<er ■years, with her imitations of Ted Lewis, Chevalier apd Fannie Brlce winning her one plaudit bouquet after another. Joe showed h€ could not only bat-out a pop number, biif give a flock of the better acrobats cards arid spades when it comes to hitting off a headspin, a nip-up or a wHIrldwlnd somersault, kids are worthy of takirig'thls spot on any. three-a-day bill. M. Marinoft and his canine actors opened the show with smooth pre- cision. Turn has novelty and can't help netting the admiration of the dog-loving population. • 'The Tip Off is the Screen cyno- sure of the week. Lower fioor was filled at the end of .the flrst show, with a promlsirig trihkle on the way In following this break. RKO, L. A. Los Angeles; Dec. 4.. Snappy show that Is well spotted, building all the way^ is current at the RKO and long on laughs.. Four locally booked turns are Geddle and Geddle, acrobatic opener; White, Gateson and White, in the deuce spot; Light and Sliver, and Roy Cummlngs, latter billed as a speela] attraction. Opening acts* one virtue Is inter- est In the girl understander,' who performs in a manner comparable with a male in the same spot. White, Gatewood and White, male dance trio with- a girl hoofer, confine themselves to buck and winging, with one comedy routine that can be developed for nice eight laughs. Over pleasingly. Ben Light, radio pianist, and Frank Stever, baritone, click with their music, especially the ivory tinkler with his trick fast stuff. He needs some stage seasoning, but has an appeal In his fingers. Stever could take an opening number better suited to his low voice. Gagging by Roy Cummlngs, fed by Florence Roberts, with chewing of the back-drop played for all It's worth. - Not as funny as Cummlngs' falling out of the box act, but plenty of giggles... Regular quartet of acts led oft by Will Aubrey In 'ono'with his guitar and gags, a few slightly tinged. Au- brey could dispense with some of that fiddling around he does with his hat, detracting from himself. Just to show this cradle of adagio dancers what It's all about, Gracella, a local girl, and Theodore do their nifty, well-sold routlries, backed by plenty of production and two sing- ers. 'Sleeping Princes' and 'Tarzan' routines were what they wanted, the latter topping the .finale with the girl's high dive. . Seed and Austin rated ncx!t to closing with their roughhousc knockabout, rocking the house with the Dave .Seed clowning. .Similarity bet-ween the Cummlngs-Roberts worinanhandling and the b't'? be- tween Seed and the tail fcm .stmlght W.1S not noticeable enough to hurt either. Closing, Don Valerlo on iho tight strand -vvas backed by a dancing sister team and did nicely, If un.sen- .satlonally. In the few minutes al- loted. Bill runs 75 minutes dnd has more laugh.s than usi'ially seen here In thrf.'O weeks. Three-quarters of a hou.sc down.stairs second day matl- npo. PIfturo, 'A Uangerous Affair' (Columbia). . i LYRIC After six weeks of eight acts and' shorts, a change in vaude bookers and a boost in prices among other developments, it's now six stage at- tractions, a feature and the usual filler down here. At no change In prices. . On whole a fairly good show for the bargain huntei-s, but busi- ness Saturday afternoon, while a. Uttle better than it has been, didn't come within scores of seats in- filling the lower fioor. . Feature is 'Pagan Lady'. (Coi)." On change in policy to Include longies. Lyric takes second run on film product. Mess* Broadway has first -call on the Columbia program for the "Times Square area; That house also has first I'un 6n the Tif- fany product,. which will ptobiably also come in here. ■ All -other prp-. grams 0 are pretty well sewed up dowhto'u-n on second run. Pi-eviously Lyric had nearly chlo- roformed Its audiences with a. meiss of shorts, most, of them Educiatlo'nal. With the new policy the Independ- ent operation-plays only one, a twor reeler, . 'The Taniale -Vendor' (Edu- cat) arid Universal news as filler. . . Front of the house looks better than It did, as does the lobby, both of which have received better dress- ing. If the shows maintain -tlie bar- gain-hunting standard of current layout, the house has an even chance of doing better business than with the eight .acts and nearly as many ,- shorts in. place of a feature. It la less, mongrel,- Lyrlc Is an old house, havlner posts inside and sometimes as a vaudeville theatre closely reminding, of the old Proctor's '23d and 126tta Streets, but it could look leas like a. relic of the old days. Those two cheap electric signs under, the an- nunciators, one for a'dance hall, the other .for a pop restaurant nearby, only add to the crudeness. Also^hey distract attention, which is probably -why the advertisers went for the concession. The Dows are coritlnuing to book the vaude'Into the 42rid streeter. In tho six-act bill . currently provided there cannot. be riiuch cause for complaint when considered in its. entirety. Portions of the show jaxi decidedly smalltiriiish. with the'mn not'playing as smoothly as desired, probably through . fault of poor backstage operation, biit otherwise it's palatable for the low-spenders. Wilson Aubrey Trio of horizontal' bar workers opens in a' good act of Its kind. Bar work, much of it away from the usual, is far better' than the wrestling in 'one' which strives for laughs but doesn't get many. Better to close' with the other. No. 2, Margaret Padula, who, the Pianist tells, haa reduced a little. No lie, and Miss Padula looks her best. She has an entirely pleasing routine of song numbers differently presented, with a Halgrwaving closer through toss on screen of hit num- ber scene'shq did In 'Hit the Deck' (Radio). On . next Joe Whitehead and Car- vet, latter a killer on looks. It's an oke act of talk and dancing. Fourth, Maurice and Cordova Revue (New Acts) Just so-so. Main weakness la In the prima donna carried. . . Next to closer is Cliff Nazarro, who twice Saturday mentioned he - was recently at RKO's Jefferson. Maybe for prestige. Young Nazarro was' liked in his songs and chatter,, but in provoking that encore it looked like he . had friends in the house. And a couple of those Indigo gags. . -. Another flash. Melody Revue (New Acts), brought up the tail. Like the Maurice-Cordova attrac- tion; which Is a Uttle better than this one, it has its weak points. A flash act that's short on flash. Char. HIPPODROME An irregular bit of booking at the Sixth avenue hangar this week. Show, has two monologlsts and an overplus of contortion dancing girls, no less than four of the eight acts, having this specialty eitber as its- mainstay or as an incidental. Noth- - ing stands out froni<a flat level of fair entertainment and the program pattern is shapeless. ' Comedy is weak in both quantity, and quality, and the performance has no build. It - it were turned round it would play about the same. Screen feature Is 'Over the Hill' (Fox), substituted at the last min- ute for ^Secret Service' (Radio). Plenty of room around 4:30 of this Saturday afternoon. Four new acts- In the layout ■which may have had something ♦'J do with its sketchy playing^ Tho newcomers or returns are Clemens Belling, juggling, trained dogs and dancing girls In a strange medley; Four Comets, dancers; 'The Street . Singer,' radio, name, and The Jovers, obviously typical Importation from the British 'alls (all New Acts). First of the monologlsts to try 'his luck was Milton Douglas, listless, wisecracking single who divides hia entertaining stint with an audience plant about 50-60, but gives him no l>llilng. Douglas several times starts to sing and Indi'cates an agreeabfe baritone,, though he never . really gives-It a workout. The plant crpsHflres volubly from a box, comes up to do, a dance on,roller skates. (Continued on page 37)